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EU Summit

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what outcomes he hopes will be achieved at the EU summit on 29 October. [186787]

Mr. MacShane: I expect the EU Constitution to be signed by Heads of State and Government of EU member states.

EU-US Economic Output

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what forecasts he has received of the relative levels of economic output in the EU and the US in 2010. [186652]

Mr. MacShane: GDP per head in the EU has been persistently lower than that in the US in recent decades. This, allied with the significant demographic challenge that the EU will face in coming years, emphasises the need for significant structural reform if Europe is to close the gap with the US in output per capita.

The Government's February progress report on European economic reform and recent submission to Mr. Wim Kok's Lisbon Mid-Term Review Group, highlight these challenges and set out the Government thinking on how Europe can successfully rise to those challenges.

Copies of both Government papers are available in the Library of the House.

European Constitutional Treaty

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Minister will attend the signing ceremony of the European Constitutional Treaty on 29 October. [186649]

Mr. MacShane: I cannot confirm at this stage which Minister will attend.

European Neighbourhood Policy

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the impact of the European Union's European Neighbourhood Packages on the UK's diplomatic relations with Russia. [186747]

Mr. Rammell: The UK strongly supports the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy, which offers partner countries closer co-operation in areas of mutual interest, in return for political and economic reform.

The UK maintains close relations with Russia, including through the EU-Russia relationship. We have discussed the European Neighbourhood Policy with Russia and explained how we see it contributing to stability on Europe's eastern borders, which is in both our and Russia's interest.

These packages complement the UK's bilateral relations with Russia.
 
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Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the decision to exclude Belarus from the European Neighbourhood Policy; what steps the Government have taken since that decision was taken to end the isolation of Belarus from the European Union; and what steps the Government plan to take to address this situation. [186368]

Mr. MacShane: The UK wants Belarus to become a democratic, stable and increasingly prosperous partner for the enlarged EU. However, Belarus's continuing poor record on human rights and democracy is an obstacle to a closer relationship. We and EU partners have set out the steps that Belarus would need to take in return for ratification of a Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCA) and eventual full association with relevant regional EU initiatives, potentially including the European Neighbourhood Policy.

While measures such as restrictions on ministerial contact with the regime remain in place, we do not believe in isolating the people of Belarus. We are doing all we can to bolster civil society and promote democracy, using bilateral programme funds disbursed through our embassy and working via multilateral institutions.

The EU continues to support the people of Belarus in areas including addressing the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe, health education, environment, trans-border and regional co-operation, border management and independent media.

Ferhat Kaya

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Turkish authorities regarding the arrest and alleged torture of Ferhat Kaya. [186730]

Mr. MacShane: UK officials have raised the case of Mr. Kaya with the Turkish authorities on several occasions, most recently at a senior level at the last round of our Human Rights Dialogue with Turkey on 15 July in London. The trial of 11 police accused of beating and torturing Ferhat Kaya on 5 May began on 20 June after a doctor's report certified Mr. Kaya's injuries. Our Embassy in Ankara continues to monitor Mr. Kaya's situation.

Former Soviet Bloc Countries

Mr. Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what research his Department has commissioned regarding the possibility of further former Soviet Bloc countries applying for membership of the European Union. [186738]

Mr. MacShane: No such research has been commissioned.

Any European state may apply for EU membership in line with Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union.

Israel

Mr. Tony Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent
 
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assessment he has made of the effects of the security barrier being built by the Government of Israel on Palestinian communities; what representations he has received from non-governmental organisations on the effects of the wall on their work in the occupied territories; and what representations he has made to Israel about minimising possible detrimental effects. [187070]

Mr. Rammell: We remain concerned about the negative impact of the barrier on communities near it. We note that the Israeli Supreme Court has ordered changes to the route of the barrier because of similar concerns.

We receive regular representations on this subject from NGOs working in the Occupied Territories. In response, we encourage the Israeli Government both to consider more seriously the humanitarian impact of its actions there, and to give NGOs clear guidelines to help them maximise the effectiveness of their support for affected Palestinian communities.

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to renegotiate the EU-Israeli Association Trade Agreement. [187464]

Mr. MacShane: We have no plans to renegotiate the trade elements of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Lisbon Agenda

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the mid-term review of the Lisbon agenda in 2005. [186623]

Mr. MacShane: The Government set out their vision for a more focused, results-oriented Lisbon process in a paper submitted to Wim Kok, Chairman of the Lisbon Mid-Term Review Group chair and EU partners in June. The Government are pressing for:

greater focus on economic prosperity as a key to social cohesion;

increased accountability of national governments in delivering reform;

better use of Community rules and instruments to deliver reform, including use of non-regulatory approaches, highlighting the role of the state aids rules and showing how Community spending can better be aligned with the Lisbon agenda; and

key reforms needed to meet Lisbon targets, including reducing the regulatory burden on business, strengthening the Single Market, improving employment flexibility and opening up EU markets to the benefits of global trade.

Copies of the Government's submission to the Lisbon Mid-Term Review will be made available in the Library of the House and can be accessed at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/9A9DB/Mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy062004.pdf)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures he will take in order to achieve the targets of the Lisbon Agenda. [186651]

Mr. MacShane: The Government set out their priorities for European economic reform in their progress report in February. Copies are available in the Library of the House. Priorities are to:
 
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promote effective EU regulation—reduce the burden on EU business and ensure that any new legislation encourages not stifles economic growth;

strengthen the Single Market, with a more pro-active competition policy, further reform of the state aid rules, and by making the Single Market a reality for services as well as goods;

to improve the functioning of Europe's labour markets to deliver more and better jobs, including through implementation of Mr. Wim Kok's Employment Taskforce recommendations;

promote enterprise and innovation, including through new European Centres of Enterprise—local centres of excellence in enterprise policy;

promote a successful conclusion to the Doha Trade round; and

strengthen the transatlantic economic relationship, by tackling the barriers to trade and investment between the EU and the US.

The Government continue to work closely with their partners to promote action on all of these priorities, including through the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy, chaired by Mr. Wim Kok. We submitted our vision for a more focused, results-oriented Lisbon process to the Mid-Term Review Group in June (copies will be made available in the Library of the House and can be accessed at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/9A9DB/Mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy062004.pdf)

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