§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, further to his statement on the outcome of the Council of Environment Ministers' meeting in Brussels on 24 November,Official Report, 29 November, columns 200-1, he has assessed whether the implementation of the Berne, Bonn and Ramsar conventions alone would provide an adequate means to protect threatened species and threatened habitats in the European Economic Community.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe best way to achieve effective nature conservation in the European Economic Community is for each member state to implement legislation which meets its own conservation needs, fulfils its international obligations and takes account of its own institutional frameworks and social structures. As I made clear in my previous answer, at the Environment Council on 24 November there was general support for the United Kingdom's view that the Community could most usefully assist member states, where appropriate, to implement fully the Bern, Bonn and Ramsar conventions.