§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to ensure that the Lomé talks result in European Economic Community aid making provisions for more staff and resources for environmentally sustainable projects.
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§ Mr. Chris PattenThe Community has already made clear the importance that it attaches to protecting the environment and has reaffirmed its willingness to step up co-operation with its African, Caribbean and Pacific partners in this area under the next Lomeé convention.
It is for the Commission to decide how its staff complement is distributed but I certainly hope that it will give due weight to enhancing its own capacity to cover environmental concerns. We ourselves are temporarily financing a forestry expert to work within the Directorate-General for Development.