§ Anne ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations Her1258W Majesty's Government have undertaken (a) within the UK and (b) with European partners in arriving at the new criteria on arms export components.[69507]
Mr. O'BrienThe other factors referred to by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in his response to the question from the hon. Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping), 8 July 2002,Official Report, columns 650–52W, were the result of extensive discussion within Government. Since they were an elaboration of existing policy covering a limited category of cases, we did not conduct consultations outside the Government within the UK. But we conducted two rounds of consultations with other EU Member States to check carefully their approach in such cases. Our consultations confirmed that other EU MS recognise the need for a special approach in such cases.