§ Mr. LamontTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representative offices, where some staff have diplomatic immunity, the EU has around the world; what are their running costs; how many staff they employ; and what proposals he has to bring about reductions in the cost of the offices and the number of staff. [18092]
§ Mr. David DavisThe European Commission has 128 representative offices overseas, employing about 2,400 personnel of which some 600 are Brussels-based Commission officials. The granting of diplomatic privileges and immunities for the staff of the representative office is a matter of local custom. For 1996, the budget for the representative offices was £152 million, inclusive of salaries and running costs.
We take every opportunity to press for the terms of service of Commission officials to take full account of the tight budgetary constraints which affect all EU member Governments.
§ Mr. LamontTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the EU will be spending(a) in the current year and (b) in each of the next five years, on publicity and information offices; and what plans he has to bring about reductions in these amounts. [18093]
§ Mr. DavisThere is an overall budget of 110,800,000 ecu for all EU information and communication activities in 1997. The budget is set annually and so spending for the next five years has not yet been fixed. The Council agreed to cuts in this budget for 1997, but spending was restored by the European Parliament.