§ Ms ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government of Paraguay are required to settle the indigenous peoples' land claims in the Paraguayan Chaco before the second phase of the EU project on sustainable development in the Paraguayan Chaco begins; and if this is a precondition for the United Kingdom Government voting for the second phase to proceed. [7704]
§ Dr. Liam FoxWith other EU member states, we approved a proposal for the sustainable development of the Chaco region of Paraguay in September 1994. Approval was given subject to several conditions, one of them being that the Government of Paraguay would be required to settle the indigenous peoples' land claims in the project region before the start of the second operational phase. UK support for the second phase of the project remains conditional on this requirement being met.