§ Audrey WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development which country receives most overseas development aid from the European Union; and if she will make a statement on how the priorities for aid are determined. [69898]
§ Clare ShortIn 1997, the latest year for which figures are available, Bosnia Herzegovina received most EU official development assistance, £132.34 million in EU official development assistance, which the share attributed to the UK was 15.12 per cent.
The Government inherited from the previous Administration a situation in which EC aid spending is both skewed against the poorer countries and often of poor quality. In December we published and placed in the Library our strategy to improve that performance. We are actively seeking support for our strategy in the Commission and the European Parliament and among Member States.