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Non-food Crops
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he is taking to promote long-term development of non-food crops; and what assessment he has made of the potential for development of non-food crops in the UK. [91589]
Mr. Rooker
[holding answer 19 July 1999]: We believe there is considerable potential to develop the use of non-food crops in the UK. The Ministry's Agri-Industrial Materials Branch promotes the use of crop derived raw materials at workshops and other events and through its dedicated Website. The Ministry spends around £1.1 million per annum on strategic research on non-food crops with a number of projects looking at the potential for these renewable raw materials. Most recently the Ministry's Central Science Laboratory has led an EU project on the opportunities and constraints for non-food crops and the report will be published in the autumn. We
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are currently examining the scope to support the establishment of energy crops under the new Rural Development Regulation.
Official Documents
Mr. Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of all those official documents of the last Administration which have been seen by (a) him, (b) other Ministers in his Department, (c) special advisers in his Department and (d) non-career civil servants appointed since May 1997 in his Department. [92168]
Mr. Michael: A large number of official documents were generated during the period of the previous Administration, many of which were published or put in the public domain. Since May 1997, the Welsh Office has been guided by the convention governing access to the papers of a previous Administration as set out in the Prime Minister's reply on 24 January 1980, Official Report, columns 305-07.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
European Union
17. Mrs. Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to meet his European counterparts to discuss institutional reform of the European Union. [90473]
33. Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which institutional questions are on the agenda of the next IGC; and if he will make a statement. [90490]
Ms Quin: The Cologne European Council on 3-4 June decided that an Inter-Governmental Conference should begin in early 2000 to prepare the Union's institutions for enlargement.
Preparations for the IGC are now beginning. We expect the Finnish Presidency to hold meetings at both official and ministerial level in the coming months.
EU Enlargement
19. Dr. Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in what measures the UK has participated to assist candidate members of the EU to meet the terms of environmental directives prior to entry. [90475]
Ms Quin: The UK fully supports the important goal of helping all the applicant countries meet the EU's environmental standards, and we are working to achieve this through projects for the Know How Fund, through the EC's Twinning Scheme and through contributions to PHARE and other funding programmes.
22. Mr. Russell Brown:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to meet his European counterparts to discuss the enlargement of the European Union. [90479]
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Ms Quin:
As I mentioned in the House earlier today, enlargement is a key priority of the Government and of the European Union. It, therefore, is a constant feature of all my contacts with my colleagues from EU member states and applicants. Our next full discussion will be at the Foreign Ministers' Informal Meeting in Finland on 4-5 September.
21. Mr. Gordon Prentice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Pakistan and India concerning the situation in Kashmir. [90478]
28. Mr. Flight:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Kashmir. [90485]
36. Ms Moran:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the United States Government on the conflict in Kashmir. [90494]
Mr. Sarwar:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions the Government have had with representatives of the Indian and Pakistani Governments about the current military action over Kashmir. [90481]
Mr. Hoon:
I refer hon. Members to the answer given earlier by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to my hon. Friend the Member for Slough, (Fiona Mactaggart), Official Report, columns 956-57.
23. Mr. Fabricant:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current state of bilateral relations between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar. [90480]
Ms Quin:
Our bilateral relations with Spain are generally good. We work together on a wide range of EU, NATO and other issues and want our relations to continue to improve. But we have made clear to Spain on several occasions that recent actions affecting Gibraltar, notably at the border, are unacceptable and counterproductive. We will continue to defend Gibraltar's interests while looking for ways to ease tension and increase confidence through dialogue and co-operation.
25. Dr. Palmer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Kosovo. [90482]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
NATO'S key objectives have been achieved. There are now 33,000 KFOR troops in Kosovo, under the command of General Sir Michael Jackson. KFOR's objective is to provide robust and even-handed support for all the citizens of Kosovo regardless of ethnic, religious or cultural background. The Secretary-General of the UN has made appointments to the key positions to the UN Mission in Kosovo whose work is underway. The UK will continue to play a leading role in support of both KFOR and UNMIK.
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26. Mr. Oaten:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to discuss the issue of former prisoners of war with the Japanese Government. [90483]
Mr. Hoon:
The view of successive UK and Japanese Governments is that the issue of compensation under the San Francisco Peace Treaty has been settled.
We regularly discuss with the Japanese ways to promote reconciliation.
27. Mr. David Atkinson:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on parliamentary participation in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. [90484]
Mr. Tony Lloyd:
We welcome and encourage parliamentary interest in the work of the United Nations (UN) and its organs. To this end, we organise and fund an all-party visit by Members of Parliament to the UN during the General Assembly every year. This provides an opportunity for participants to exchange views with senior UN representatives and to bring their insights back to their parliamentary work in London. We also support the strengthening of the ties between the Interparliamentary Union and the UN under their 1996 Co-operation Agreement; and between the Council of Europe and the UN.
9. Mr. Gapes:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the prospects for peace in the middle east. [90486]
32. Mr. Burden:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress of the middle east peace process since the general election in Israel. [90489]
Mr. Hoon:
I refer my hon. Friends to the answer given earlier today by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to my hon. Friend the Member for Morley and Rothwell (Mr. Gunnell), Official Report, column 960.
30. Mr. Jim Murphy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to assist the Palestine National Authority to develop the economy in its territory. [90487]
Mr. Hoon:
We support the Palestinian economy with a programme of bilateral aid and our contribution to EC aid programmes. We are providing £50 million in bilateral aid over the next three years. Aid projects include the development of health and infrastructure facilities, support for refugees and technical assistance for economic negotiations. Our total bilateral aid since the signature of the Oslo Accords amounts to over £122 million. In addition, we expect to contribute a further £55 million through EC aid programmes in the next five years.
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