§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultation took place with Her Majesty's Government over the revised EC document COM(95) 389 final "The Implementation of a Special Financial Co-operation Measure for Turkey"; what agreement was reached regarding provisions for human rights and democracy in Turkey as part of the EU aid package for that Government; what reasons were given for not extending the consultation upon the revised document to the United Kingdom Parliament; and if he will make a statement. [16001]
§ Mr. David DavisWe welcome this financial co-operation measure, which supports the customs union with Turkey which came into force at the beginning of this year.
The draft measure was subject to the usual procedures for parliamentary scrutiny in the UK. The UK has been fully involved in subsequent discussion of this measure in the Council and working groups. We do not believe that the final text, which we hope will be adopted in the Foreign Affairs Council on 26 February, was sufficiently different from the original draft to require further parliamentary scrutiny.
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Subject to: Investigation by Parliamentary Commissioner Scrutiny by Audit Commission Scrutiny by HAO Statutory provisions for open government Performance indicators Provisions under citizens charter British Council Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Britain-Russia Centre Yes No Yes No Yes Yes British Association for Central and Eastern Europe No No Yes No Yes Yes Commonwealth Institutes in London and Edinburgh No No Yes No Yes Yes Great Britain-China Centre Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission No No Yes No No Yes Westminster Foundation for Democracy No No Yes No No No Commonwealth Scholarship Commission No No Yes No No No Crown Agent's Holding and Realisation Board No No Yes No No No The measure makes provision for the Council to take appropriate action if democratic principles, the rule of law and basic human rights are violated.