§ Ms WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the environmental assessment procedure for European Commission expenditure in respect of European aid programmes in developing countries. [25885]
§ Clare ShortThe European Commission's "Environment Manual" for development assistance—originally modelled on DFID' s "Manual of Environmental Appraisal"—provides comprehensive guidance on environmental assessment procedures for development projects. Member States monitor environmental appraisals450W and comment on Commission project proposals before giving final approval for funding. Our experience from this process is that the extent to which assessment procedures are taken into account in project design and implementation varies across the Commission.
The Commission is making efforts to improve its systems. It has held meetings with environmental advisers from Member States' development organisations, including DFID, to exchange views and best practice. An independent evaluation of the environmental performance of EC-funded programmes in developing countries was completed in December 1997. DFID will receive and comment on the report shortly. We will continue to examine ways in which the Commission's systems can be further improved, taking account of the evaluation's findings.