§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are supporting, both financially and by sharing information and other practical help, the South-East Europe Co-operation Initiative for combating trans-border crime; and how they assess its potential for dealing with illicit small arms and trafficking in persons. [HL3265]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe UK does not currently provide any funding to the South-East European Cooperative Initiative (SECI), which is still not operational. The UK has, however, encouraged SECI to focus on a limited number of deliverables, in line with Europol standards. These are essential for SECI effectively to fulfil its principal function, namely the exchange of intelligence information between participants. Individual countries decide whether to mount operations based on this information. In the meantime, the UK retains an observer in Bucharest to assess SECI's capacity and the UK will review its position if and when significant progress can be demonstrated.