§ Mr. EvennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on recent developments in the Council of Europe.
§ Mr. Garel-JonesThe House will know that the United Kingdom assumed the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe following the ministerial meeting on November in Strasbourg.
During the six months of our chairmanship, we intend to give priority to the programmes for assistance to the new democracies of eastern Europe, and to the reform of the human rights machinery. We shall also encourage an objective look at the operation of the Council in terms of its internal structures, its relationships with other organisations and its management procedures.