You will wish to know that the Council took the above Decision on 25 August and that we were unable to carry out Parliamentary Scrutiny on this Commission proposal in advance of its adoption.

  The speed with which the Commission proposal was handled meant that we were unable to inform your Committee of the proposal before its adoption by the Council, as Parliament was in recess. The security situation in Liberia had rapidly deteriorated and the need to provide financial support for the peacekeeping operation had become urgent.

  The Council decision was to approve the use of EDF funds for peacekeeping purposes in Liberia. EDF funds are normally used for longer-term development work, not for responding to emergency situations, as in this instance. The UK supported this decision on the basis that this was a special case. For the EDF funds to be effective in responding to the crisis in Liberia, funds needed to be accessed and a decision needed to be made quickly to enable timely release of funds. A written proposal was sent out to Member States on 20 August, after being circulated to the Council Secretariat, and responses were requested from Member states by 22 August (by fax).

  I regret that we were unable to go through the formal scrutiny procedures prior to a decision being made although my predecessor has since provided you with an Explanatory Memorandum on the Council Decision.

15 October 2003