§ Mr. PoundTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the UK will continue to uphold the OSCE embargo on the export of weapons and military equipment to Azerbaijan. [74951]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienHMG remains committed to the OSCE arms embargo against both Azerbaijan and Armenia, which we interpret as covering all goods and technology controlled under entries in Part III of Schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 (commonly known as the military list).
In September 2002, the Government approved an export licence application for demining vests for the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Actions.
In January 2002 the Government approved a similar request for protective jackets for demining operations to Azerbaijan.
855WThe decision was made in accordance with our practice occasionally to make an exemption to our interpretation of the embargo by approving exports of non-lethal military goods to humanitarian, media or peacekeeping organisations where it is clear that the embargo was not intended to prevent those exports and there is a strong humanitarian case for them.
Date Location Business October 2002 1 Brussels GAERC 2 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 3–4 Brussels Convention Plenary: Subsidiarity & Legal Personality working group conclusions; interim reports on Charter & National Parliaments working groups 3–4 Brussels Transport & Telecommunications Council 8 Brussels ECOFIN 8 Brussels Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs Council 10 Copenhagen EU/India Summit 11–12 Nyborg Internal Market, Consumer Affairs & Industry Meeting (Ministerial Informal) 14 Brussels Fisheries Council 14–15 Brussels Justice & Home Affairs & Civil Protection Council 16 Brussels EU Commission: Annual Report on Candidate Countries 17 Brussels Environment Council 17 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 20 Luxembourg EU Trade (Ministers Informal) 21–22 Brussels General Affairs Council 24–25 Brussels European Council 28–29 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 28–29 Aalborg Patent Protection: Ministers & EU Commissioners 28–29 Brussels Convention plenary: Giscard to release his constitutional text; Charter working group conclusions; preliminary reports on conclusions of Economic Governance and Complementary Competences working groups. November 4 Brussels Culture Council 5 Brussels ECOFIN 6 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 7 Brussels Health Council 7–8 Brussels Convention Plenary—Complementary Competences and Economic Governance working group conclusions; preliminary reports on conclusions of Simplification, National Parliaments, Security and Justice working groups. 11–12 Brussels Education, Youth & Culture Council 14–15 Brussels Internal Market, Consumer Affairs & Tourism Council 18–19 Brussels General Affairs & External Relations Council ([...] Defence) 21 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 25–26 Brussels Budget Meeting 25–26 Brussels Industry & Energy Council 28 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 28–29 Brussels Justice and Home Affairs & Civil Protection Council December 2 Brussels Meeting On Macro Economic Dialogue (Ministerial Trokia) 3 Brussels ECOFIN 2–3 Brussels Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs Council 4 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 5 Brussels Transport & Telecom Council 6 Brussels Transport & Telecom Council 9 Brussels General Affairs Council 10 Brussels Environment Council 12–15 Copenhagen European Council 16–17 Brussels Fisheries Council 19 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 20 Brussels Justice And Home Affairs & Civil Protection Council 20–21 Brussels Convention Plenary-External Action and Defence working group conclusions January 9 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 9 Brussels Agriculture & Fisheries Council (to be confirmed) 16 Brussels Meeting of the Praesidium 20 Brussels EUROGROUP (evening) 20 Brussels Convention Plenary