§ 39. Ms. HoeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on United Kingdom relations with Switzerland.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesWe have excellent relations with the Swiss, who are, not least, important trading partners. We have welcomed Switzerland's application to join the European Community, and during our EC presidency will work towards the opening of formal accession negotiations as soon as possible.
§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list all the bilateral and multilateral agreements negotiated between the United Kingdom and Switzerland since 1979.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydTen bilateral agreements have been negotiated between the United Kingdom and Switzerland since 1979. In the same period, 136 multilateral agreements were signed or accepted by the United Kingdom and Switzerland or accepted by the United Kingdom on behalf of dependent territories.
Copies of computer printouts giving basic details of the agreements have been placed in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 24 June,Official Report, columns 208–9, what information he has on bilateral and multilateral agreements between the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe Foreign and Commonwealth Office has records of 123 bilateral agreements with Switzerland since the early 1800s. There are also records of well over 2,000 multilateral agreements to which the 593W United Kingdom is a party. All would need to be checked to ascertain Swiss involvement. This could not be done except at disproportionate cost.