§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral statement of 24 June 2002, on the Seville European Council, if he will itemise the assistance the EU has given to the Balkans to which he was referring in his reply to the hon. Member for Linlithgow. [647411
§ The Prime MinisterBetween 1990 and 2000, the UK provided £74 million of bilateral assistance for reconstruction and development in the Balkans. This was in addition to the £1.7 billion provided by the EC, to which we contributed £330 million. Together with the £3 billion provided by the remaining EU member states, this amounts to a total EU contribution of £4.8 billion. Since 2000, up to the present date, the EC has committed a further £1.2 billion. In addition, we have allocated £40.6 million as a bilateral assistance since 2000.
The EU has also offered generous trade preferences. These allow tariff free access into EU markets for 95 per cent. of industrial and agricultural products.