EU and NATO Enlargement Costs

HL Deb 15 July 1996 vol 574 cc39-40WA

Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in view of the estimate by the US Congressional Budget Office that NATO enlargement could cost between 60 billion and 120 billion dollars, the Answer given by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 17th June (WA 1) in which she states that "it is impossible to predict accurately" the costs of NATO or EU enlargement indicates that these enlargements are being pursued without any general understanding of the likely size and distribution of these costs.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

The wide range of the estimates made by the Congressional Budget Office underlines that it is impossible to predict the costs of enlargement accurately. In taking forward NATO and EU enlargement we will naturally take full account of the differences between the two organisations and of the financial consequences.