§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the role of the Common European Security and Defence Policy in the conflict with Iraq. [87311]
§ Mr. HoonAs the Government have stressed repeatedly, no decisions have been taken with regard to military action in Iraq. Military action there is neither imminent nor inevitable. The European Security and Defence Policy allows the EU to launch military operations where NATO as a whole is not engaged. Any European Security and Defence Policy operation would be within the scope of the Petersberg tasks, which are defined in the EU Treaty as: "humanitarian and rescue tasks, peace-keeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking".