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Bosnia
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the agency for intelligence and documentation set up by the Republic of Bosnia's Interior Ministry and of its compliance with the terms of the Dayton agreement. [20743]
European Parliament
Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what buildings are currently rented by the European Parliament; and what buildings are being built for it. [20987]
Mr. David Davis: The European Parliament currently rents the following buildings:
in Luxembourg:
BAK building
NHE building
Schuman building
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Senningerberg building
Tower building
in Strasbourg:
palais de l'Europe
IPE O, IPE I, IPE II, IPE III
in Brussels:
Belliard I, Belliard II, Belliard III and Belliard IV
Eastman building
Remorqueur building
Remard building
Van Maerlant building
D 1, D 2 and D 3 buildings
A second building is under construction in Strasbourg, and is due for completion by the end of 1997.
European Parliament
Mr. Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the allowances payable to Members of the European Parliament in 1996. [20986]
Mr. Davis: The following allowances are available to MEPs in 1996:
Travel--within the EU, 0.76 ecu or £0.64 for every km up to 400km, and 0.38 ecu or 0.32 for every km thereafter. Outside the EU, the cost of the return fare by the most direct route.
Subsistence on official travel--within the EU 219 ecu or £184.05 per day. Half this amount, plus hotel costs, outside the EU.
General office expenses--3,099 ecu or £2,604.40 per month.
Secretarial assistance--8,937 ecu or £7,510.65 per month.
Morocco
Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs that representations Her Majesty's Government have made to the Moroccan Government over the sentence imposed on Kelthoum Ahmed Labid El-Ouanat from Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement. [21006]
Mr. Hanley: The Guardian article of 9 March drew our attention to this case. We have now raised it with the Ministry of Human Rights in Morocco.
Competitive Tendering (Contracts)
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many contracts for goods or services have been awarded in each of the last three financial years by his Department and its executive agencies after competitive tendering; and what was the total combined value of these contracts. [21029]
Mr. Hanley: The number of contracts competitively tendered and their value for each of the last three years is not centrally available.
Council of Minsters (Decisions)
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out each article of the consolidated "Treaties of the European Communities and Union"--cm 3151--which provide for decisions of its
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Council of Ministers to be determined by unanimity or common accord, stating the purpose of each and the category of the power so bestowed relating to (a) appointment of persons, (b) the execution of principal duties or obligations laid down in the treaties, (c) decisions concerning future use of qualified majority or other forms of voting for specific purposes, (d) requirements for unanimity to prevent action by others, (e) approval of conventions under treaty powers and (f) other. [21157]
Mr. David Davis: I refer the hon. Member to the European Commission report to the intergovernmental conference study group on the operation of the treaty on European union which was deposited in the House on 12 June. 1995. Annex 7 of the report contains a list of treaty articles subject to unanimity. Unanimity is generally reserved to areas of particular sensitivity. It is not objectively possible to classify articles subject to unanimity on the basis requested by the hon. Member.
Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what dates and at what locations the Council of Ministers of the European Communities decided under the terms of article 236 of its treaty to convene intergovernmental conferences on (a) economic and monetary union and (b) political union. [21158]
Mr. Davis: The European Council meeting in Strasbourg in December 1989 convened an intergovernmental conference on economic and monetary union. The June 1990 European Council in Dublin convened a second intergovernmental conference on political union.
European Court of Justice
Mr. Marlow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions in each of the last 10 years the judgment of the full European Court of Justice has been contrary in principle to that of the advocate general. [21024]
Mr. David Davis: The EC treaty lays on advocates general the duty to assist the European Court of Justice by making reasoned submissions on cases brought before the court, acting with complete impartiality and independence. The ECJ is not bound to follow an opinion. In any given case, it may agree or disagree with any of the legal arguments in the opinion. Notable examples of cases where the court has disagreed strongly with the Advocate General include the recent Graham ruling on invalidity benefit and the Faccini Dori, case, where the court ruled out the possibility of horizontal direct effect for directives. An attempt to make a comparison of the kind requested by the hon. Member would inevitable oversimplify reality. Judgments can of course be contrary to elements of an opinion without overturning it entirely.
Kashmir
Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has (a) requested and (b) received about Indian security forces erecting a fence on land within the United Nations line of control in Kashmir; and if he will make a statement. [21518]
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Mr. Hanley: We are aware of recent press reports that the Government of India are erecting fending in the vicinity of the line of control. We have not requested information about this. We remain concerned about the situation in Kashmir and continue to urge restraint by all concerned.
CSV Media
Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the sources from within the European Commission from which CSV Media receives financial support, indicating in each case the level of funding. [20510]
Mr. David Davis [holding answer 12 March 1996]: CSV Media received the following funding from the European Commission for 1995-96:
£752,247: European social fund
£63,690: European regional development fund
£50,000: European Commission campaign on race
£145,000: Play Safe in Europe campaign
PRIME MINISTER
Ministerial Responsibility (Bristol)
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the duties of the hon. Member for Monmouth (Mr. Evans) in respect of the city of Bristol. [20601]
The Prime Minister: My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth is helping to promote local regeneration in his role as sponsor Minister for Bristol.
Parliamentary Questions
Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Prime Minister (1) what has been the total cost of answering questions to the Prime Minister in each Session since 1989-90; [21175]
- (2) what was the cost of answering (a) an oral and (b) a written parliamentary question to the Prime Minister from (i) Opposition and (ii) Conservative hon. Members in each parliamentary Session since 1989-90. [21455]
The Prime Minister: The information as requested is not available.
Overseas Visits
Mr. Hall: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a list of Ministers who have requested prior assent from the Prime Minister under "Questions of Procedure for Ministers", paragraph 74, for payment from public funds to meet the expenses of spouses accompanying Ministers on overseas visits; and if he will indicate which requests were granted and which were refused for each year since 1990. [17494]
The Prime Minister [holding answer 1 March 1996]: Complete records of such requests prior to 1995 have not been retained. The following Ministers were accompanied by their spouses on overseas visits at public expense in accordance with "Questions of Procedure for Ministers" from 1995 onwards.
18 Mar 1996 : Column: 15
| Country | Minister | |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | ||
| 2-10 January | Bangladesh/India/ Pakistan | Mr. and Mrs. Hurd |
| 25-26 January | Paris | Mr. and Mrs. Forsyth |
| 30 January--5 February | Japan | Mr. and Mrs. Heseltine |
| 3-6 February | France | Mr. and Mrs. Gummer |
| 2-5 March | USA | Mr. and Mrs. Rifkind |
| 18-19 March | Carcassone | Mr. and Mrs. Hurd |
| 19-26 March | South Africa | Mr. and Mrs. Hurd |
| 7-9 April | France | Mr. and Mrs. Clarke |
| 7-12 April | Zimbabwe/South Africa/Namibia | Mr. and Mrs. Rifkind |
| 28-30 April | Germany | Mr. and Mrs. Rifkind |
| 21-31 May | USA | Sir Patrick and Lady Mayhew |
| 27 May--6 June | Latin America | Mr. and Mrs. Hunt |
| 17-27 August | Caribbean | Mr. and Mrs. Newton |
| 12-19 September | Russia | Mr. and Mrs. Eggar |
| 16-22 September | Cuba/Jamaica | Mr. and Mrs. Taylor |
| 18-29 September | Australia/New Zealand | Sir Patrick and Lady Mayhew |
| 29 September--1 October | Spain | Mr. and Mrs. Clarke |
| 30 August--15 September | Asia | Mr. and Mrs. Hanley |
| 10-12 October | Slovenia | Lord and Lady Cranborne |
| 20-22 October | Spain | Mr. and Mrs. Gummer |
| 1-8 December | Australia | Lord and Lady Fraser |
| 29 December--10 January | UAE/Far East | Mr. and Mrs. Portillo |
| 29 December--9 January | Indian sub-continent | Mr. and Mrs. Howard |
| 1996 | ||
| 2-5 January | India | Mr. and Mrs. Arbuthnot |
| 15-25 January | Hong Kong/China | Mr. and Mrs. Nelson |
| 8-15 April | Asia | Mr. and Mrs. Hanley |
| 12-16 April | Bulgaria/Italy | Mr. and Mrs. Clarke |
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