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National Missile Defence

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his Department's policy is in relation to National Missile Defence. [135044]

Mr. Vaz: I refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee's Inquiry on Weapons of Mass Destruction; and to the Government's response to the Committee's recommendations, which was presented to Parliament on 24 October.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has held with the United States Secretary of State about National Missile Defense. [134945]

Mr. Vaz: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has regularly discussed this issue with a range of US interlocutors, including the US Secretary of State.

Kursk Submarine

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Russian claims of NATO involvement in the loss of the submarine Kursk. [135037]

Mr. Vaz: No NATO or UK assets were in the location at the time of the sinking of the Kursk submarine on 12 August.

Single European Foreign Policy

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the development of a single European foreign policy. [135021]

Mr. Vaz: The Government want Europe to have a strong voice in international affairs and are committed to pursuing this through the intergovernmental mechanisms of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The Prime Minister launched the European Defence Initiative to strengthen the CFSP and the European contribution to NATO. The EU's CFSP is an increasingly important means of achieving the UK's national foreign policy objectives. The Government, and most member states, favour maintaining the intergovernmental approach to CFSP.

AIDS (South Africa)

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Development on how to assist the South African Government to combat the spread of AIDS. [134923]

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Mr. Hain: The HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa is a major development policy priority for the UK Government and there is an on-going dialogue between FCO, DFID and other Government Departments on HIV/AIDS policy both at the international level and within the African region.

At the international level, recent examples include coordination with DFID for the UN Security Council Resolution on HIV/AIDS and ongoing UN discussions on HIV/AIDS. Health, including HIV/AIDS, is an important part of DFID's second White Paper due out this autumn, the FCO has worked closely with DFID on this.

At a regional and country level FCO works closely with DFID in implementing country strategies, each of which have HIV/AIDS prevention and care as a major priority.

In November 1999, while in South Africa, the Prime Minister announced a package of assistance, worth £22.7 million, to Southern Africa to support the battle against HIV/AIDS. The package includes a development cooperation agreement with the South African Ministry of Health focusing on reproductive health service programmes in selected provinces, as well as HIV/AIDS information awareness and education programmes for young people.

The UK Government's development assistance also aims to build South African capacity to play a constructive role in regional development issues such as HIV/AIDS.

Single Currency

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had, and on what dates, with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland about the timing of a future referendum on British participation in the single European currency. [135007]

Mr. Vaz: The Secretary of State meets his Cabinet colleagues on a regular basis and discusses a wide range of issues.

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the political factors affecting his assessment of the desirability of the United Kingdom replacing the pound with the euro. [135042]

Mr. Vaz: The Chancellor of the Exchequer said in his statement on 27 October 1997, Official Report, columns 583-88, that

the determining factor as to whether Britain joins a single currency is the national economic interest, and whether the economic case for doing so is clear and unambiguous.

He also stated that

there is no constitutional bar to British membership of EMU.

Ex-President Milosevic

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he intends to take to ensure that ex-President Milosevic is brought to trial. [134947]

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Mr. Vaz: We have made it clear to the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that we will expect it to meet its international obligations in a spirit of partnership with the international community. This includes cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia.

Iraq

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of Iraq's access to weapons of mass destruction. [134922]

Mr. Hain: Up until their withdrawal from Iraq in December 1998, UN weapons inspectors consistently reported to the United Nations Security Council that serious gaps remained in Iraq's declarations on chemical and biological weapons and ballistic missiles. We are deeply concerned that weapons inspectors have been unable to operate in Iraq for approaching two years. Hence the importance we attach to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gaining access to Iraq at the earliest opportunity.

Biological Weapons Convention

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of current Russian compliance with the provisions of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. [135041]

Mr. Hain: The United Kingdom makes global assessments on compliance with all arms control regimes, including the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), which draw upon intelligence sources. We do not comment on intelligence matters.

Russia is a state party and depositary Government of the BTWC and is currently participating in the negotiations in Geneva on a compliance protocol to strengthen the convention. We very much hope that these negotiations will be successful, as such a protocol would improve transparency of the activities which could be abused for the development of biological weapons and provide internationally agreed mechanisms with which to pursue compliance concerns.

Lord Levy

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the role of Lord Levy has been in the Middle East during the past three months. [134944]

Mr. Hain: During the past three months Lord Levy has been to Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt. In Israel he met Prime Minister Barak, President Katsav and other ministers. In the Palestinian Authority he met President Arafat and other senior Palestinian figures. In Jordan he met King Abdullah and various other ministers. In Egypt he met Foreign Minister Moussa and various other senior officials. He also accompanied the Foreign Secretary during his recent visit to the region.

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International Criminal Court

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in the establishment of an International Criminal Court. [134946]

Mr. Hain: To date the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has been signed by 115 states and ratified by 22. The court will be established once 60 states ratify. A Preparatory Commission completed two important subsidiary documents to the statute at its last session in June.

Moscow Visit

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit Moscow. [134920]

Mr. Vaz: The Foreign Secretary has no plans at present to visit Russia.

EU (Co-sovereignty)

Dr. Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is towards the proposal of the German Foreign Minister for co-sovereignty between states within the European Union. [135039]

Mr. Vaz: The Government welcome all contributions to the debate on Europe's future. Our own views were set out by the Prime Minister in his speech in Warsaw on 6 October.

European Charter of Fundamental Rights

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the relationship between Articles 3 and 13 of the draft European Charter of Fundamental Rights. [134820]

Mr. Vaz: Article 13 (freedom of the arts and sciences) is a general statement of the principles in ECHR Article 10, as far as it applies to arts and sciences. The latter article allows limitations. The freedom of research in Article 13 must be interpreted consistently with Article 3 and subject to the limitations permitted under Article 10 ECHR.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money he estimates will need to be set aside for implementation of the draft Charter of Fundamental Rights for (a) legal aid for cases brought under it and (b) legal costs for Her Majesty's Government to defend against claims. [135569]

Mr. Vaz: None. The charter is a political declaration and is not legally binding. It brings together in a single document fundamental rights, freedoms and principles that already exist within the EU.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those UK agencies covered by Article 36 of the draft Charter of Fundamental Rights. [135573]

Mr. Vaz: The charter will be a political declaration of rights, freedoms and principles and is not legally binding. Article 36 deals with the principle of the EU Institutions

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respecting access to services of general economic interest. The article reflects Article 16 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and does not create any new right.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his policy towards inclusion of Article 12.2 in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. [135568]

Mr. Vaz: Article 12.2 of the charter is a restatement of the existing principle set out in Article 191 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to Article 23 of the draft Charter of Fundamental Rights, he proposes to adopt measures for specific advantage in favour of the under-represented sex in the work force; and in which case men are the under-represented. [135567]

Mr. Vaz: No. The charter is a political declaration of rights, freedoms and principles recognised within the EU, and is not legally binding.

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