§ Mr. HawkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the European Commission on delays in payments of money owed by the commission to charities and NGOs. [28879]
§ Clare ShortDelays in payments by the European Commission to NGOs have been discussed on many occasions by member states, including the UK, and the600W commission. We and others have urged the commission to take the steps needed to improve the handling of such payments since the delays are often excessive and cause real hardship to the organisations and individuals concerned. The commission has improved the management systems used to process those payments and we understand that the delays have been reduced but remain of concern. This is also the case with many payments for implementation of EC programmes in developing countries, where we are also promoting reform. We stay in close touch with UK NGOs about this issue and will continue to monitor the position with them.