§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what recent suggestions his Department has received from non-governmental organisations in regard to policy proposals for Her Majesty's Government's delegation to the fourth review conference of the non-proliferation treaty in Geneva in August 1990.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerNone.
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§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what specific assistance in energy conversion and electricity production technologies, including pollution abatement controls, have been made available to each Comecon member state in eastern Europe in each year since 1979; and what plans there are to increase assistance in the future;
(2) what technologies designated to improve energy efficiency in the domestic, commercial and industrial sectors have been made available to eastern European member states of Comecon since 1979.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonMy Department has a cooperation agreement with the Soviet Union covering:
- (a) oil and gas
- (b) energy efficiency
- (c) coal, and
- (d) electricity production.
A number of Comecon countries also have access to the results of the Department's passive solar design R & D programme through the United Kingdom's participation in the UN Economic Commission for Europe's energy efficiency programme.
The Department participates in a scientific collaboration agreement with Hungary. Other assistance to Comecon countries in the energy field is given through trade, within Comecom rules: energy efficiency technology, for example, has been supplied to a number of Comecon countries. As I said in my speech to energy technologists at Cambridge recently, developments in eastern Europe underline this area as an important market for the future and I believe there are real commercial opportunities for the United Kingdom.