HC Deb 16 January 1998 vol 304 c335W
Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the cost of the staff employed by the European Commission who are based in countries outside the European Union; and how many such staff are employed. [23029]

Mr. Doug Henderson

We do not hold this information. I will write to the hon. Member in due course, having contacted the European Commission.

Mr. Yeo

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff employed by the European Commission are based in Barbados; what are their functions; and what is their cost to public funds. [23028]

Mr. Doug Henderson

The Commission has six Brussels-based staff at its Delegation in Bridgetown, Barbados, as follows: Head of Delegation, two Economic Advisers, Rural Development Administrator, Social Development Adviser and Technical Adviser.

They are mainly involved in administering the Community's aid programme.

The cost of running the Delegation in Barbados comes from an overall budget for Commission Delegations in third countries which in 1996 was ECU 194,558,200 (about £130 million). The UK share of this sum was approximately 15 per cent. or £20 million.