HL Deb 03 May 1995 vol 563 cc1374-6

3.2 p.m.

Lord Judd asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the relationship between the European Union and the Southern African Development Community; and what role they advocate for the European Development Fund in this respect.

Lord Inglewood

My Lords, the European Union and the Southern African Development Community maintain a regular dialogue at ministerial and official level on a wide range of political and developmental themes. The European Development Fund can be used to fund EU/SADC initiatives.

Lord Judd

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for that reply. Does he agree that the economic, social and political strengths of both South Africa and members of the southern African community in the future lie in the success that they make of regional co-operation; that their regional co-operation relates very closely to the regional co-operation in Europe; and that the EDF is the way in which the efforts of Europe as a whole are drawn together in making a success of the future of southern Africa? Can he give the House an assurance that the Government will remain fully committed to the EDF in the years ahead?

Lord Inglewood

My Lords, the noble Lord is right. The relationship between the European Union and the SADC is important. It is an important element in the future relationships between our corner of the globe and southern Africa. As part of that, the EDF has an important role to play. Within that context and indeed within the wider context, we are committed to the EDF.

Lord Taylor of Gryfe

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that in this House yesterday the representative of UNICEF spoke on the deplorable situation in Rwanda? Is he further aware that he paid a compliment to the role of Her Majesty's Government in the affairs of that unfortunate country but was extremely disturbed that the European Union had played no role whatever in discharging its responsibilities in that area?

Lord Inglewood

My Lords, I was not aware of the remarks to which the noble Lord refers. I am glad to hear that the representative feels that the British Government's part has been significant. Obviously, I am upset to hear the comments made about the role of the European Union. I shall report them back to my noble friend Lady Chalker.

Lord Judd

My Lords, I am sure that the House will be grateful for the assurance that the Government are committed to the EDF. Can the noble Lord go a step further and assure the House that the Government will rigorously oppose any reduction in the resources available for southern Africa through the EDF and indeed will give a lead in ensuring an increase in those resources?

Lord Inglewood

My Lords, as the noble Lord knows, one of the high points of our aid programme is our work in southern Africa. He will also know that negotiations are still going on about the future funding of the EDF. We are concerned because an increasing amount of our total aid budget is swallowed up in multilateral programmes rather than in bilateral programmes. In order to ensure the future strength of our bilateral programmes, which have been given such a clean bill of health by the OECD, we have made it clear that we cannot continue to contribute the same amount to EDFVIII as we have done for the EDFVII contribution. However, I cannot give details of our position which remains confidential because we are still negotiating. Nonetheless the amount will still be substantial.

Lord Mackie of Benshie

My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that the most practical aid to South Africa itself would be to assist in the development of housing, schooling, water and sanitation in the shanty towns of South Africa, thereby giving the people, who have great expectations, some prospect of an improvement in the future?

Lord Inglewood

My Lords, in September last year the Prime Minister and President Mandela signed a memorandum on development co-operation which sets out the agreed areas of focus for £60 million worth of UK bilateral aid to be provided over a three-year period. The main areas of focus are education, good governance, health, rural development and small enterprise development. As the noble Lord will see, that covers many of the points to which he drew attention.

Forward to