§ 23. Mr. HealeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the state of bilateral relations between Britain and Luxembourg. [154110]
§ Mr. VazRelations with Luxembourg are traditionally very good. Ministers and officials have frequent contact with their Luxembourg counterparts at EU meetings. There were also four substantive bilateral ministerial meetings in 2000, including a meeting between the two Prime Ministers in London. The Under-Secretary of State for Social Security, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) visited Luxembourg on 21 March to speak on welfare and pensions reform and meet her opposite numbers and there are plans for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to have talks with his opposite number Madame Polfer. Trade relations thrive, with the UK exports to Luxembourg reaching £219.8 million last year.