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EU Passports

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the European Commission's plans for a new design for EU passports. [139785]

Mr. Vaz: The European Commission is studying whether there are ways of improving the security of travel documents, including passports. No official proposals have yet been put forward. The Commission have made it clear that they have no intention of proposing the replacement of national emblems with EU stars. The Government will look at any proposals to improve security on their merits, and will oppose any ideas that have no practical security justification.

EU Voting Procedures

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications of Article 207(2) TEC section 2 of the draft Treaty of Nice, on the removal of individuals from posts; and if the section applies to other posts identified as subject to QMV. [139917]

Mr. Vaz: Article 207(2) would have no implications for individuals already in post. Were it to be adopted by the Conference it would mean qualified majority voting being used for the appointments of their successors.

Sierra Leone

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations were made to the Sierra Leone Government to accept those elements of the Lome peace accords over which it expressed doubt; and if he will make a statement. [139847]

Mr. Hain: We were in close and regular touch with the Government of Sierra Leone during the Lome peace negotiations, in Lome itself and in Freetown. The Government of Sierra Leone had to make a number of difficult choices in the negotiations. But it negotiated and signed the Lome Peace Agreement freely in the expectation that it would form the basis for lasting peace and stability in Sierra Leone.

European Council

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if decisions of the European Council which require unanimous agreement require the assent of representatives of (a) all member states or (b) only those member states present at the meeting. [139971]

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Mr. Vaz: Decisions of the European Council require unanimous agreement of all member states. In practice Heads of State and Government are always represented at the European Council.

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the members of the European Council to instruct its Secretariat to publish as soon as is practicable after the conclusion of the Nice Summit, the text of the Treaty agreed and the text of current EU treaties as they would be following its ratification; and to make such publications available for an appropriate period prior to the formal signing of the Treaty. [140524]

Mr. Vaz: All key papers put to the Intergovernmental Conference are published on the Council Secretariat website www.europa.eu.int. The Treaty agreed at Nice will be presented as soon as possible to Parliament in the form of a Command Paper.

EU Transparency

Mr. Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he has taken to encourage his counterparts to increase transparency and openness in the European Union; what proposals have been put forward to increase access to papers and deliberations of the Council of Ministers; what mechanisms exist for the public to find out what documents are discussed in (a) council meetings and (b) Coreper; and if he will make a statement on the United Kingdom's position on the report by Michael Cashman MEP on transparency in EU institutions. [140551]

Mr. Vaz: A new Regulation on public access to Council, Commission and European Parliament documents is currently being negotiated, and is due to be adopted by May 2001. The Government are pushing for the easiest possible access to the widest range of documents. The report by Michael Cashman MEP set out the European Parliament's proposed amendments to the Commission's proposal. The UK can support many of these. Council documents are listed on a public register which is available on the internet at www.ue.eu.int.

Peacekeeping College

Ms Oona King: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made with establishing the Peacekeeping College in Britain; and if he will make a statement. [140845]

Mr. Hain: The establishment of a UN Military Staff college is one of a number of reforms of UN peacekeeping which we have been pursuing with UN partners and the UN Secretariat. In October, the UN Secretary-General directed the Secretariat to produce concrete recommendations based on the proposals put forward by member states for such a college. Officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence are now liaising on the practicalities of how to take forward the UK proposal with the Secretariat.

Qualified Majority Voting

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, for the purposes of the Government's policy on qualified majority voting, Treaty Articles 24 TEU; 62(2)(a) TEC; 62(2)(b)(ii) TEC;

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62(2)(b)(iv) TEC; 62(3) TEC; 63(2)(a) TEC; 63(3)(b) TEC; and 66 TEC fall within the definition of border controls. [140966]

Mr. Vaz: The Government consider border controls to be the ability to control the flow of persons across the UK's frontiers. We have made clear we will insist on retaining unanimity for frontier controls.

Iraq

Mr. Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) qualifications and (b) experience are required of his Department's civil servants dealing with claims to the United Nations Compensation Commission regarding Iraq; and what changes have been made to the requirements in the last 10 years. [141153]

Mr. Hain: I shall write to my hon. Friend shortly, and place a copy of my letter in the Libraries of the House.

Middle East

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of (a) Syrian control and influence in Lebanon and (b) Syria's role in respect of terrorist violence to be directed against Israel by Hezbollah and other groups in the vicinity of the Israel-Lebanon border. [141092]

Mr. Hain: Relations between Syria and Lebanon are a matter for their respective governments. We condemn all acts of terrorism whatever their origin, cause or motive and are also greatly concerned by any violations of either Israeli or Lebanese sovereign territory across the UN 'Blue Line'. We continue to urge the Lebanese government to re-establish its control in the south and call on all parties to exercise restraint and to refrain from acts of provocation. We have encouraged Syria to use the influence it has to support regional calm.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Iran concerning (a) its policy on Israel and (b) the Middle East Peace Process. [141093]

Mr. Hain: We regularly discuss the Middle East Peace Process with the Iranian Government, and continue to encourage them to play a constructive role in the region.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the supply of arms and materials to Hezbollah (a) from Syria and (b) from Iran through Syria. [141091]

Mr. Hain: We have serious concerns about the continuing activity of Hezbollah as an armed faction in South Lebanon and their attacks across the UN-designated 'Blue Line'. We have strong counter-proliferation concerns over arms supplies of any sort to paramilitary groups and bring these concerns regularly to the attention of governments in the region, including Syria and Iran.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent

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representations he has made to Syria concerning (a) Hezbollah violence against Israel and (b) the Middle East Peace Process. [141090]

Mr. Hain: The Secretary of State raised both of the issues to which the hon. Member refers at his meeting with President Bashar Al-Asad in Damascus on 12 October.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the Government of Iran's policy on supply of arms to Hezbollah paramilitary forces in Lebanon. [141087]

Mr. Hain: We have a long-standing concern about Iran's record of support for terrorist groups, which we regularly raise with the Iranian Government.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Iranian policy in respect of the Middle East Peace Process. [141094]

Mr. Hain: Iran has recently publicly adopted a more moderate stance towards the Middle East Peace Process. We continue to urge it to do so.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of links between the Government of Iran and Hezbollah. [141089]

Mr. Hain: The Iranian Government maintain high level political contacts with Hezbollah.

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent attacks have been mounted by Hezbollah paramilitary forces against Israeli military and civilian targets in the vicinity of the Israel-Lebanon border. [141088]

Mr. Hain: The Government condemn all breaches of either Lebanese or Israeli sovereign territory and call upon all sides to respect the UN delineated "Blue Line" and continue to urge all parties to exercise restraint and to refrain from acts of provocation.

Since Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon on 24 May there have been several minor infringements of the Blue Line by both sides.

In addition Hezbollah have carried out two significant attacks against Israeli forces. These attacks took place in territory occupied by Israel in 1967 and not in Israel itself. On 7 October Hezbollah fired mortars at Israeli positions near Mount Dov as cover for the operation to kidnap three IDF soldiers. On 26 November Hezbollah detonated a roadside bomb about 1km from the Blue Line in the Occupied Golan. Since 7 October Israeli forces have regularly violated Lebanese airspace, including high altitude observation flights as far north as Beirut and low level helicopter flights over the south, one of which landed in a Lebanese village. In response to the two Hezbollah attacks, Israeli forces have also mounted operations against targets in south Lebanon.

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