§ Mr. WorthingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if contributions to ECHO are voluntary for members of the European Union; and if she will change her contribution to ECHO based on its past performance. [121098]
§ Clare ShortNo. ECHO is funded, as are other EC external programmes, from the EC budget, to which member state contributions are mandatory. The UK contribution, under a formula agreed in 1992, will be 17.95 per cent. this year.