§ Mr. RathboneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he last attended a meeting of the Pompidou Group on Drug Misuse; and what plans were discussed for co-operation with similar groups elsewhere, such as the Andean Parliamentary Drugs Commission.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggPompidou Group Ministers meet every two or three years to set a programme of work for officials to take forward. My right hon. Friend attended the most recent ministerial meeting which was held in London in January 1987 under the chairmanship of my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Putney (Mr. Mellor), then Minister of State, Home Office.
There is no formal arrangement for co-operation between the Pompidou Group and the Andean 199W Parliamentary Drugs Commission. There are, however, frequent exchanges of views between representatives of the Group's member states and their counterparts from similar regional groupings elsewhere.
§ Mr. RathboneTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is being done to improve working relations and co-operation between the Pompidou Group on Drug Misuse and each of those parts of the European Community Commission involved in drug misuse-related matters.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggWith a view to developing a consistent European approach to drug-related problems, in 1986 the Pompidou Group invited the Commission to participate in its activities. A Commissioner attended its ministerial conference in January 1987, and Commission staff take part in its periodic meetings of officials and experts. It is for the Commission to decide upon its representation at such meetings.