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FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Iraqi Civilians

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office what assistance the United Kingdom plans to provide to (a) Iraqi civilians hit by coalition missiles or bombs and (b) the family survivors of Iraqi civilians killed by the coalition invasion of Iraq. [105588]

Mr. Ingram: I have been asked to reply.

The United Kingdom takes its responsibilities toward the Iraqi people extremely seriously. Coalition forces are taking the utmost care to minimise the impact of the conflict on civilians and to provide humanitarian assistance where appropriate.

Anglo-French Relations

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his oral answer of 25 March 2003, Official Report, column 153, on Anglo-French Relations, if he will publish the (a) analysis and (b) methodology behind that analysis of the cost of enlargement of the European Union; and if he will make a statement. [105782]

Mr. MacShane: In my reply I inadvertently quoted a figure of 1.75 billion euros; this should be up to £1.75 billion. The estimate of the positive economic effect on UK GDP from enlargement is taken from a study by Baldwin R. E., J. F. Francois & Fortes R. (1997) "The costs and benefits of eastern enlargement: the impact on the EU and central Europe", Economic Policy, No. 24, April 1997. The study estimates have been updated to 1999 GDP figures and prices.

Cyprus

Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the use of force in Northern Cyprus on 25 March to prevent the holding of a referendum on the Cyprus peace plan in the village of Doganci (Elye); and what action he is taking in response to the arrest of Erdogan Sorakin, Ahmet Barcin, Izzet Izcan, Niyazi Duzgun, Mehmet Bicen and Ali Gulle, political and trade union leaders in Northern Cyprus. [105831]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 31 March 2003]: We have followed the events of 25 March with great concern. We deplore any interference by the Turkish Cypriot authorities which curtails the Turkish Cypriots' rights of assembly and of free, peaceful expression of their political views. We have protested to the Turkish Cypriot authorities and continue to monitor the situation closely.

EU Enlargement

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK of the proposed enlargement of the EU. [105674]

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's estimate is of the effect of enlargement on Britain's contribution to the EU budget. [106067]

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Mr. MacShane: The Copenhagen European Council agreed Euro25.1 billion of payments for the new member states between 2004–06. This means the overall annual net cost of enlargement is less than one-thousandth of the GDP of the EU-15. And the UK's share of any additional cost will continue to be limited by the abatement.

The Government publish forecasts of the UK's net contribution to the EC Budget as a whole rather than individual elements. Latest estimates of the UK's net contribution are set out in the footnote to table B17 of the November 2002 Pre-Budget Report (Cm 5664).

Mr. Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the consequences of the enlargement of the EU on the work load of the European Court of Justice; and what plans he has for reforms to allow the Court to deal with the consequence of enlargement. [106066]

Mr. MacShane [holding answer 31 March 2003]: We expect an increased work load for the Community Courts after enlargement. The Government supports an effective European Court of Justice (ECJ). Changes under the Treaty of Nice will facilitate the allocation of work between the ECJ and the Court of First Instance (CFI), and provide for judicial panels to be attached to the CFI. Each new member state will appoint one judge to each court. The Government have been fully engaged in discussions in the Future of Europe Convention which are looking at various improvements relating to the work of the courts including how to improve the enforcement of EC law.

Kuwait

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the future use of the accumulated resources of the Kuwait Compensation Fund. [105265]

Mr. Mike O'Brien: The UK has supported the work of the UN Compensation Commission since its creation in 1991 and four out of six categories of claims arising from the illegal invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1991 have been resolved. 25 per cent. of Oil for Food funds continue to be paid to the UNCC. It would be open to the Security Council to change these arrangements in the future.

Somalia

Mr. Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government recognises Mr. Jama Ali Jama as the President of the Puntland State of Somalia. [105622]

Mr. Straw: The UK recognises States, not Governments. We do not recognise "the Puntland State of Somalia".

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Commercial Confidentiality

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what guidance her Department issues to civil servants on how to deal with

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claims from organisations that the information they provide to the Department is commercially confidential. [105559]

Clare Short: DFID officials are required to follow the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Debt Relief

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to her answer to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam of 26 March, concerning debt stock reductions, how many of the qualifying HIPC countries have started to receive their debt relief. [106110]

Clare Short: To date, 26 countries out of a total of 37 eligible countries have qualified for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, and will receive over US$62 billion in debt relief. Of these, eight countries (Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda) have reached Completion Point. At this stage, they receive an irrevocable reduction in their stock of debt. The remaining 18 (Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia) are receiving interim relief on their debt servicing payments. During this stage of the process, these countries are no longer required to make any further payments on the debt to be written off. We expect most of the remaining 18 countries to reach Completion Point within the next two years when they, too, will receive irrevocable debt relief. It is difficult to predict when the other 11 countries will qualify for HIPC relief, as many are still affected by conflict or severe governance problems. We expect the Democratic Republic of Congo to reach its Decision Point when the Transitional Government is installed and the Central African Republic, Comoros and Cote d'lvoire to do so later this year if appropriate progress is made. The remaining countries (Burundi, Congo Republic, Liberia, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan and Togo) are a long way from qualifying, as they are affected by conflict or have serious governance concerns. But if the Sudan peace makes progress then debt relief will be made available to Sudan.

Eritrea

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much development aid her Department has given to Eritrea in each of the last four financial years; and whether she plans to increase this in the next financial year. [105429]

Clare Short: The total development aid that my Department has provided to Eritrea in the most recent financial years for which we have figures available is:

	£ million
1998–99	0.868
1999–2000	0.438
2000–01	2.385
2001–02	1.511

In addition we have provided support to Eritrea

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through the European Commission, where our share of European Development Fund 8 is 12.69 per cent. Our imputed share of EC contributions to the EC in the most recent four years that we have data for is:

	£ million
1997	0.7
1998	0.6
1999	0.7
2000	0.7

We do not have a development partnership with Eritrea. We will continue to make a contribution to meeting urgent humanitarian needs, and to the consolidation of the peace process. We will also continue to assess the scope for helping with economic and political reform.

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Eritrea. [105430]

Clare Short: DFID continually monitors the humanitarian situation in Eritrea. In addition we have regular contacts with UN and international NGO relief organisations, and our Embassy in Eritrea regularly reports on humanitarian matters.

A visit by DFID officials at the end of January confirmed our view that there are significant humanitarian needs in the country, with high rates of malnutrition demonstrated in many areas, particularly in the Anseba and North Red Sea zones. Our humanitarian assistance, which has focused on meeting the most urgent needs, has amounted to just over £3.35 million since the beginning of 2002.

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions her Department has had with the United Nations Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Eritrea on aid reserves in Eritrea. [105431]

Clare Short: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave the hon. Member for Guildford (Sue Doughty) on 26 March 2003, Official Report, column 244W.

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