HC Deb 12 January 2004 vol 416 c520W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of the EU have taken place since his appointment; and how many he has attended. [147343]

Hilary Benn

Since my appointment as Secretary of State for International Development on 5 October 2003, there have been three meetings of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) of the EU and one Informal Meeting of EU Development Ministers on 24 October.

Two GAERCs each year have a 'development' session. I attended the last such session in November 2003. My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, represented the UK at the Italian Presidency's Informal Meeting in October, while I was in Madrid attending the Iraq Donor's Conference. For your information, I have listed the dates of all the GAERCs that have taken place since my appointment:

  • 13–14 October 2003
  • 17–18 November 2003
  • 8–9 December 2003.