§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the Court of Auditors reports into the MED programmes of the European Union; and if she will make a statement. [80003]
§ Mr. FoulkesThe only Court of Auditors report into the MEDA programmes during this Government was Special Report No. 1/98 in respect of bilateral financial and technical co-operation with non-member Mediterranean countries. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State submitted and explanatory memorandum on this report to Parliament's European scrutiny committees on 23 April 1998.
The Government share criticisms of the MED programme made in this report, and in previous Court of Auditors reports into the MED programmes' structural adjustment support measures (1995) and decentralised co-operation (1996), and in the report by the Committee of Independent Experts published in March this year.
The MED regulation expires at the end of 1999. In negotiations on its successor, the Government are seeking to improve the poverty focus and quality of management of the programmes. These reports have informed our approach.