§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK has been invited to participate in the defence summit being held by EU countries on 29 April; and what his policy is on a core group of EU countries developing common defence policies independently of the wider European Union. [109156]
§ Mr. HoonNo. The Belgian Prime Minister has invited his counterparts from France, Germany and Luxembourg to a multilateral meeting on 29 April to discuss defence issues. The character and nature of these countries' defence policies and the linkages between them, outside the framework of the European Union, is a matter for them.