§ Ms QuinTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU conference on regional stability held in Paris. [15687]
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe stability pact concluding conference which took place in Paris on 20–21 March was attended by all participating States of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The Pact's aim has been to help nine prospective members of the EU—Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—resolve problems, especially concerning frontiers and minorities, before enlargement, by promoting good neighbourliness on the basis of OSCE principles. The conference adopted the stability pact and transferred it to the OSCE which is entrusted with its implementation. The EU joint action under the common foreign and security policy has now been successfully completed.