The Earl of Carlisleasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will offer placements in government departments to civil servants of the "5 plus 1" nations seeking to become full members of the European Union, rather than conducting twinning relations by e-mail as proposed. [HL212]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)Her Majesty's Government are keen to help all 10 Central European EU candidate countries enhance their administrative capacity to implement European legislation by offering short-term placements in Whitehall departments.
The UK will continue to offer a range of concrete measures to support the candidates' preparations for membership.
In addition to, rather than as an alternative to, short-term inward placements, we are pursuing other initiatives, such as visits, outward placements and direct electronic links between experts, as well as participation in the Phare Programme's twinning scheme.