§ Keith VazTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assistance the Government has given to each EU applicant country in terms of bilateral aid. [78872]
§ Mr. MacShaneI refer my hon. Friend to the answer given him by my right hon. Friend the then Minister for Europe on 21 June 2002,Official Report, column 636W. The UK pays 19.6 per cent. of EU pre-accession assistance.Bilateral assistance is ongoing and comes from a number of areas. DFID provides significant assistance through its bilateral programme. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides assistance to applicant countries through its bilateral action plans, command programme budget allowances and through functional departments (e.g global conflict prevention fund).