§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development, (1) pursuant to her answer of 5 May 1998,Official Report, column 276, on Stabex, what steps she has taken to press for the reform or abolition of the Stabex programme; [44317]
(2) what mechanisms exist to ensure that the European Commission takes account of her Department's views on environmental and social impact in Stabex funding proposals; [44316]
(3) if she will place in the Library records of the Government's recommendations to the European Commission on Stabex funding proposals. [44312]
§ Clare ShortThe UK clearly set out its position on Stabex for the Commission and other Member States in the Government's paper on the future of Lomé in October 1997. I have placed a copy of this paper in the Library. There has been strong opposition to the abolition of Stabex from some Member States in subsequent discussions on the EU' s negotiating mandate for the successor to the Lomé Convention. However, the UK has been negotiating vigorously to reform this instrument, most recently at the Development Council on 18 May which my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State and I attended.
449WI refer the hon. Member to my answer to him of 5 May 1998, Official Report, column 276, on the procedures my Department uses to assess Stabex projects. There are no formal mechanisms under the Lomé Convention to ensure the UK's views are taken account of by the Commission. Information on the views my Department has fed to the Commission on Stabex proposals could be gathered only at disproportionate cost.