HC Deb 16 February 2000 vol 344 cc543-4W
Mr. Jim Murphy

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the previously planned meetings, and their subject, between his Department and its Austrian counterpart which have been cancelled since the formation of the new Austrian Government. [109869]

Mr. Straw

No meetings between my Department and its Austrian counterparts have been cancelled since the formation of the new Austrian Government, since, so far as I am aware, none were planned.

Mr. Jim Murphy

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many bilateral meetings were held between his Department and its Austrian counterpart in each of the last five years; and what subjects were discussed at each meeting since May 1997. [109902]

Mr. Straw

My Department does not hold a central record of bilateral meetings with counterparts in other European Union member states. But bilateral meetings with Austrian counterparts in recent years have includeda visit to Vienna by the United Kingdom's then K4 Co-ordinator on 16–17 September 1997; a visit I made to Vienna on 14 May 1998 for talks with the then Austrian Ministers of Interior and Justice; and a return visit to London 25 November 1998 by the then Austrian Interior Minister.

All three meetings were in connection with the United Kingdom and Austrian presidencies of the European Union and covered a variety of topics on the Justice and Home Affairs Council agenda.