16 Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean
(29704)
9865/08
COM(08) 319
| Commission Communication: Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean
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Legal base |
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Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 1 December 2010
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Previous Committee Report | HC 19-xvii (2008-09), chapter 7 (14 October 2009); HC 19-xv (2008-09), chapter 1 (29 April 2009); HC 16-xxix (2007-08), chapter 6 (10 September 2008) and HC 16-xxiv (2007-08), chapter 5 (18 June 2008); also see (29029) : HC 16-i (2007-08), chapter 2 (7 November 2007)
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Discussed in Council | 16 June 2008 General Affairs and External Relations Council and 20 June 2008 European Council
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Committee's assessment | Politically important
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Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
16.1 The March 2008 European Council "approved the principle
of a Union for the Mediterranean which will include the Member
States of the EU and the non-EU Mediterranean coastal states"
and "invited the Commission to present to the Council the
necessary proposals for defining the modalities of what will be
called "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean"
with a view to the Summit which will take place in Paris on 13
July 2008."
16.2 The Barcelona Process (a.k.a. the Euro-Med Process)
was launched during the 1995 Spanish Presidency between the EU
and its Mediterranean partners Algeria, Egypt, Israel,
Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia
and Turkey (Libya has observer status since 1999) with
the aim of building "a space of dialogue, peace, security
and shared prosperity". At the outset, now nearly 14 years
ago, the Commission described this as "a turning point in
Euro-Mediterranean relations". On examining the most recent
Commission Communication on the Process in November 2007, the
previous Committee concluded that, in reality, it had become impossible
to judge the extent to which the Process was merely processing,
rather than achieving concrete outcomes; and that, with approximately
4.7 billion committed in 2000-06 and a further 1.3
billion earmarked for 2007-10, it was time to examine the Process
more closely, via a debate on the Communication in the European
Standing Committee.[73]
That debate took place on 22 January 2008.[74]
16.3 During that debate, there was some, perforce
limited, discussion of President Sarkozy's idea of a "Union
of the Mediterranean", which would apparently have been restricted
to Mediterranean EU Member States and the Mediterranean partners.
However, Chancellor Merkel opposed the notion that EU funds should
be used in this way for the benefit of only some Member States
hence the compromise embodied in the European Council
Conclusions, which includes all 27 Member States and all 700 million
people on both sides of the Mediterranean (now including Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Monaco).
The Commission Communication
16.4 The Communication (which the previous Committee
considered on 18 June 2008)[75]
sets out the rationale for the Process and a vision for enhanced
co-operation. The intention was to build on the existing process,
but add a number of higher-profile projects to give added impetus
and visibility. Funding arrangements were somewhat imprecise.
The Commission noted that the EU and its Member States already
provided significant funding in the Mediterranean region,[76]
but that "to bring added value to existing arrangements,
the "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean"
should be designed to mobilise additional funding for the region,
mainly through regional projects", and that "its added
value will very much depend on its capacity to attract more financial
resources for regional projects." While saying that there
could be no prior earmarking of EU funds, the Commission said
that "certain projects which fit with the objectives of EU
regional programmes can be considered for funding",[77]
and also that additional funding for regional projects and activities
should come mainly from the following sources:
private
sector participation;
bilateral
cooperation from Member States;
contributions from Mediterranean partners;
international financial institutions,
regional banks and other bilateral funds;
the Euro-Mediterranean Investment and
Partnership Facility (FEMIP), which was created in 2002 as a tool
to foster private sector development in the Mediterranean region
and combines EIB loans with EU-budget resources to provide technical
assistance, risk capital and interest rate subsidies;
the ENPI, as well as the other instruments
applicable to the countries covered by the existing Euro-Med Process.
16.5 In his accompanying Explanatory Memorandum,
the then Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(Mr Jim Murphy) shared the concerns of other Member States that
the Barcelona Process, "though useful, needed a strategic
refresh." The Union for the Mediterranean would "upgrade
this important relationship." The Communication offered "a
realistic assessment of what has been achieved, and the areas
for further development." The European Neighbourhood Policy
had primarily been an instrument of bilateral cooperation between
the EU and each partner country; it had been less successful at
promoting regional integration and cohesion; the projects identified
by the Commission were "potentially promising" and would
help "fill that gap." He would explore the specific
proposals the Commission had made on governance arrangements with
EU and Mediterranean partners, before detailed modalities were
submitted for approval in November 2008, when EuroMed Foreign
Ministers would meet. He "tended to favour a light Secretariat
(with Commission involvement) which would help to coordinate the
Process effectively." He would "update the Committee
in the autumn as this debate unfolds", after the formal French
Presidency launch in Paris on 13 July 2008.
16.6 The previous Committee asked the then Minister
to write after the July Summit to let it know the outcomes. They
also noted a number of questions that came to mind. The Commission
talked of the need for additional funding. But a great deal of
money had been spent so far, with only limited outcomes. They
wondered if more money was the answer; where would it come from;
and what would ensure that it was spent effectively.
16.7 They also asked to know in due course the arrangements
envisaged for the proposed secretariat in particular,
how it would fit in with the existing modalities of the Barcelona
Process; how those modalities would be changed; and how those
changes would lead to better outcomes, more visibility and more
real ownership by the Mediterranean partners than had been the
case hitherto under the Barcelona Process.
16.8 In the meantime, they retained the Communication
under scrutiny.[78]
The then Minister's letter of 21 July 2008
16.9 A letter from then Minister for Europe of 21
July noted that the Summit was attended by the then Prime Minister,
and that the Foreign Secretary had helped to finalise the Summit
Declaration, which set out the purpose of the UMed and the areas
for action reinforcing the Barcelona process.[79]
Some useful work had been conducted on energy, environment, and
political dialogue. The Summit had been a valuable occasion to
bring political leaders from the EU and the Mediterranean together,
with a number of highly symbolic moments. Looking ahead, the then
Minister said that he would write to the Committee during the
autumn about "discussions around the governance and funding
of the Union for the Mediterranean, which will need to be resolved
in advance of the November Foreign Ministers' meeting." For
his own part, the then Minister said that:
he
would "continue to argue for a light secretariat with well-defined
objectives", and "would have concerns about any EC Budget
funds being called on to finance the administrative structures
proposed";
projects that were to be supported by
the EC Budget should come from existing rather than additional
resources; and
there should there be no diversion of
funding within the European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument
framework.
16.10 The previous Committee thanked the then Minister
for this comprehensive update, and looked forward to hearing more
from him as discussions continued (including, at some stage before
proposals were finalised for discussion in November, the answer
to its earlier questions). They also asked to know what aspects
of the Declaration he considered to be of particular value. In
the meantime, the document was retained under scrutiny.
The then Minister's letter of 22 April 2009
16.11 A response finally appeared in a letter of
22 April 2009 from his successor, the then Minister for Europe
(Caroline Flint). She said that "the creation of UMed remains
an important political issue to the United Kingdom", and
was "a potentially useful tool to promote dialogue on security,
the environment, confidence building and business and to implement
projects along these lines." The then Government wanted to
ensure that "the good work" carried out under the European
Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument and the EU's Association
Agreements in the region continued unaffected; to keep its funding
light, shared between all partners and focused on delivering tangible
projects in the region; and with "key objectives" of
"inclusivity and to create a true partnership between the
EU and the Mediterranean countries."
16.12 The Minister then reported that the 3-4 November
2008 Marseilles Summit had agreed:
Barcelona
as the seat for the Secretariat. No details were developed for
the Secretariat other than, at UK insistence, language was inserted
into the declaration that the EU's share of the funding should
come from existing European Neighbourhood Partners Instrument
allocations;
the Secretariat would have a Secretary
General from a Southern Mediterranean Partner country and five
confirmed Deputy Secretary General slots: tacitly agreed to go
to Malta, Italy, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Greece
(there was disagreement over a sixth position which Turkey could
hold, which France, as UMed Co-Presidency, was attempting to resolve
by talking to Turkey and Cyprus). The Secretary General and each
of the deputy Secretary Generals would be given a specific area
of competence;
the development of the Secretariat's
Statutes, funding and mandate would be taken forward at working
level;
Israel had dropped its concerns over
Arab League involvement, ending the suspension of UMed meetings,
which had "prevented much of the detail around governance
and funding, especially the planned Secretariat, being fully defined
and discussed."
16.13 The then Minister also outlined the matter
of the UMed Co-Presidency: the Paris summit in July 2008 had agreed
that there would be two co-presidents of UMed, one from the Southern
Partners rotating every two years and one from the EU, held by
the EU Presidency of the time. It was suggested that France could
remain as UMed co-presidency for two years so as to add consistency
to the process. The matter was resolved with the French and Czech
Governments agreeing that France would remain as Co-President
of UMed working alongside the current Czech EU Presidency. The
Government had continued "to emphasise the importance of
adhering to existing rules on external EU representation."
16.14 Finally, the then Minister outlined the state
of play on the Secretariat: despite the suspension, negotiations
within the EU focused on preparing the Statutes to establish the
secretariat and govern its operations. The then Minister wanted
to ensure that there was Council oversight and approval of the
draft texts and that procedures were put in place to ensure effective
coordination within the EU in relation to the future activities
of the Secretariat, and had asked for greater discussion on how
UMed would tie in with existing EU work in the Mediterranean region
and an agreed EU position before further discussion of this outside
the EU. The then Minister was in particular "pushing for:
Clear
text in the Statutes, clarity on their status and an agreed EU
position before any wider discussions with the non-EU UMed members
take place;
Normal EU coordination procedures to
apply for the creation of an EU position on the work of the Secretariat
once it is established; and
Ensuring that the prerogatives of the
European Parliament are respected, particularly on monitoring
the budget."
16.15 Noting that "the basis for the establishment
of the UMed Secretariat flows from the Ministerial declarations
and UMed has always been a fluid and informal process", the
then Minister said that she expected further discussion in the
EU regarding the Secretariat Statutes along the lines set out
above, "although at this stage we do not expect a Council
Decision", and undertook to update the Committee "as
negotiations progress."
The previous Committee's assessment
16.16 The contrast between the aspirations set out
in the then Minister's opening remarks particularly "inclusivity"
and "a true partnership between the EU and the Mediterranean
countries" and everything that followed was, the
previous Committee felt, striking, and gave little comfort to
those who struggled to see how this initiative was likely to lead
to any improvement on the Barcelona Process. At the practical
level, politics and horse-trading were already prevalent: otherwise,
why create five confirmed Deputy Secretary General slots before
working out what they were going to do? On all other aspects of
the Secretariat and funding, it seemed that everything was still
to be determined.
16.17 The previous Committee therefore continued
to retain the Communication under scrutiny, pending further information
from the then Minister including answers to its questions
concerning how more money was likely to be the answer, when 6
billion had been spent or committed thus far on the existing Process;
where it would come from; and what would ensure that it was spent
effectively. When that was forthcoming, the previous Committee
also asked the then Minister to explain what the "existing
rules on external EU representation", to which she had referred,
were, and how they had been protected; and also to explain how
the statutes could properly be adopted other than by a Council
Decision. The previous Committee also take the opportunity to
remind her that they had asked her predecessor to tell us what
aspects in particular of the lengthy Paris Summit Declaration
were considered to be of particular value.[80]
The then Minister's letter of 20 July 2009
16.18 The then Minister for Europe (Baroness Kinnock
of Holyhead) says that the previous Government shared a number
of the previous Committee's concerns about the UMed process, "in
particular the current uncertainty about its funding and the EU's
relationship with the body", and was "working hard to
tackle these issues and seek greater clarity as we move forward."
However, "the actual process is still in its infancy with
progress badly affected by two lengthy suspensions of discussions".
Meetings had now resumed and "we will be playing an active
role to shape the process and address our concerns."
16.19 The then Minister then sought to address each
area of the previous Committee's concerns as follows:
DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERALS
"Keeping the Secretariat light and functional
remains a key priority for the United Kingdom. You raised in this
respect the creation of several Deputy Secretary General (DSG)
posts. The number of DSGs was instigated by the French co-presidency
at the Foreign Ministerial Meeting in Marseille in November 2008
in order to gain political agreement from several partners who
were threatening to block the process. We would like to keep the
number and roles of the DSGs under review and subject to a revision
at the end of their first three-year term.
FUNDING
"You raised several points on funding, asking
"how more money is likely to be the answer, when 6
billion has been spent or committed thus far on the existing Process;
where it would come from; and what would ensure that it is spent
effectively". UMed is made up of several different elements:
the Secretariat which will oversee a variety of projects (yet
to be implemented) and sectoral processes continuing from the
Barcelona Process, e.g. on migration and water, including at Ministerial
level. This means that funding for the whole process comes from
a variety of sources.
"So far, UMed's costs have been limited
as there is no Secretariat and few activities: only the circulation
of documents and support to some countries to attend meetings.
Once a permanent Secretariat is established, most of its core
activities, such as local staff and administration, will be funded
from the European Neighbourhood & Partnership Instrument's
(ENPI) regional funding streams administered by the European Commission
(EC). EC funding should be kept within existing resources, respecting
the Financial Framework, consistent with what the UK secured in
the Paris and Marseille declarations. The actual building will
be provided free of charge by the Spanish authorities. The core
budget and local staffing costs will be supplemented by those
Member States who wish to provide additional voluntary contributions.
At this stage we do not envisage additional UK funding.
"The Barcelona Process (EuroMed) has been
funded by the Commission since it was founded in 1995. This funding,
which has gone on largely successful programmes such as migration,
should not be confused with UMed funding. The ENPI budget for
the Southern Partners is about 1 billion Euros per year and is
kept under constant review. Only a very small percentage of this
goes to UMed. EC funding will be monitored and agreed in the same
way as all ENPI funding and the normal rules will apply. The draft
Statutes of the Secretariat require the Secretary General to submit
annual accounts and work plans to the Senior Officials to ensure
oversight of spending and impact.
"It is too early to establish what percentage
of overall budget will be met by the European Commission but there
is agreement through the Marseille declaration to keep costs as
light as possible. There was also agreement in Paris and Marseille
that funding needs to be shared between the North and South shores
of the Mediterranean. But some EU member states and some partner
countries see the Secretariat being a larger entity. We will resist
this approach.
PROJECTS
"UMed is neither a donor organisation nor
a funding body. We expect UMed projects to be funded from a wide
variety of sources including by member states, the private sector
and bodies such as the World Bank, European Investment Bank and
European Commission. Project bids can come, and are coming, from
groups of states or the funding bodies themselves looking for
implementing partners. We expect the Secretariat to provide support
in finding project implementers and funders, and we have stressed
and secured the need for value for money.
EU EXTERNAL REPRESENTATION
"You asked what the existing rules on external
EU representation are and how they are being protected. The procedures
applicable to representation of the EU in international bodies
have largely evolved as practice rather than being founded on
Treaty provisions, although Article 300 EC Treaty is relevant
in this regard. Broadly speaking the position is as follows:
- "For matters falling within
the exclusive competence of the Community an agreed position will
be worked up in the relevant working group based on a proposal
from the Commission and will be presented by the Commission in
the body concerned;
- "For matters falling within the shared competence
of the Community and the Member States a common position may be
developed which may be presented by either the Commission or the
Presidency as appropriate;
- "For matters falling within Member States
exclusive competence, the Member States may agree to develop a
coordinated position which the Presidency may be tasked to deliver
on their behalf in the relevant body.
"We value France's ongoing role in UMed
and their leadership in pushing forward the UMed project. We were
pleased to note that the new Swedish EU Presidency's opening statement
at the last Senior Officials meeting on 6 July, stressed that
the EU will have a coordinated position on all UMed matters prior
to engaging with non-EU UMed members. We strongly support this
as it is essential that the EU speaks with one voice and in line
with existing treaty obligations.
SECRETARIAT & STATUTES
"You asked how the statutes could properly
be adopted other than by a Council Decision. The UMed Secretariat
is intended to remain responsive and flexible, with the Statutes
kept under review to ensure they are suitable for its purpose.
The Statutes will form the terms under which the Secretariat will
operate and are being discussed by an informal drafting group.
"The basis of the draft Statutes has been
drawn from the Paris Declaration, adopted by all Heads of State,
and the Marseille declaration, adopted by Foreign Ministers. We
expect the Statutes to go to the Senior Officials Group after
discussion by the informal drafting group. They should then go
to Foreign Ministers for final agreement. We do not expect this
to be easy. And partner states could attempt to renegotiate elements
with which they were not content, delaying adoption of the Statutes.
PARIS DECLARATION
"You asked what aspects of the Paris Summit
Declaration we considered to be of particular value. The Prime
Minister and Foreign Secretary agreed the Paris Declaration and
we see value and substance in the whole document in creating a
strong Union for the Mediterranean. The sections on political
commitments and reaffirmations of policy on the Middle East Peace
Process, Non-Proliferation of weapons and a strengthening of dialogue
between all parties were of paramount importance. What was most
important to us was that the document sets out the creation of
an organisation which can take forward the implementation of work
on energy security, climate change, migration and the other priorities
the Declaration mentions."
The previous Committee's assessment
16.20 As helpful as the then Minister's response
was, the previous Committee noted that, as she had made clear,
the whole exercise continued to be bedevilled by politics, leading
to slow progress and a top-heavy Secretariat with, still, no clearly-defined
jobs to do. Moreover, there was no guarantee that British views
on the nature of the Secretariat and the governing Statutes would
prevail. With a Secretary General and five (possibly six) Deputies,
all of whom would need staff, the previous Committee found it
hard to see how the machinery could ever be "lean".
16.21 The previous Committee also continued to find
it difficult to grasp the legal basis upon which it was being
set up. The then Minister seemed to suggest that the Declarations
issued after the meetings in Paris (heads of government) and Marseilles
(foreign ministers) were sufficient. The previous Committee said
it was not aware of any precedent, whereby an organisation rooted
in the EU and spending EU money, which was (rightly) required
to submit accounts and work plans to senior officials, had been
set up on this basis. Instead, they felt, it would be necessary
for there to be a Council Decision in order to adopt the Statutes,
once they had been agreed. They accordingly asked the Minister
either to agree with this analysis or explain why she did not.
16.22 In the meantime, they continued to retain the
document under scrutiny.[81]
The Minister's letter of 1 December
16.23 The Minister for Europe says that it has recently
been brought to his attention that the Committee has not received
a reply and is "therefore writing to put this right."
16.24 The Minister begins by referring to the previous
Committee's concerns that about the legal basis upon which the
UMed was being set up and its suggestion that an EU Council Decision
would be appropriate in order to adopt the Statutes of the Secretariat
once they had been agreed. He explains that UMed is an inter-governmental
body that sits outside the EU institutional structure and, as
the EU is not itself a Party to UMed, there was no formal requirement
for a Council Decision on adoption of the Statutes (which were
finally adopted on 3 March 2010).
16.25 However, he says, in recognition of the need
to ensure Ministerial oversight of the work of the Secretariat,
Council Conclusions were also agreed, welcoming the adoption of
the Statutes, on 10-11 May. He notes that UMed's legal underpinning
is unique, it being a political initiative between participating
States rather than an international organisation. Though the Political
Declarations, building on the existing Euro-Mediterranean Partnership,
were judged an adequate way forward, the Secretariat has full
legal personality under Spanish law. The EU funding for its
operation will come from a general contingency fund, for use at
the Commission's discretion, within the European Neighbourhood
Policy Instrument (i.e., the Financial Regulation that underpins
the European Neighbourhood Policy).
16.26 The Minister then goes on to say that the following
means of oversight of the Secretariat have also been secured:
- "The European-Mediterranean
Parliamentary Assembly can join Senior Officials' meetings;
- "The Secretary General must report regularly
to the Senior Officials on the Secretariat's activities, including
a mid-term review of the annual budget.
- "The budget, structure and work programme
of the Secretariat must be unanimously agreed by Senior Officials;
- "Any European Commission contributions to
the Secretariat must be agreed by the EU's European Neighbourhood
Partnership Instrument management committee and will be subject
to Commission audit procedures.
- "There must be an annual audit by an external
auditor appointed by Senior Officials."
16.27 With regard to the previous Committee's concerns
about the proposed structure of the Secretariat, the Minister
says:
"The Statutes state that the Secretary General
will be assisted by six Deputy Secretaries General. The Secretary
General is responsible for the overall running of the Secretariat
and will have full executive authority over its functioning, subject
to the powers reserved to the Summit, the Foreign Affairs Ministers'
Conference, the appropriate Sectoral Ministerial Meetings or Senior
Officials. The key responsibilities of the Secretary General are
set out in the Statutes. These include proposing the tasks and
responsibilities of the Deputy Secretaries General, each of whom
will lead one of the six divisions responsible for implementing
the Secretariat's Work Programme, a copy of which was enclosed
with my letter of 11 November and which has since been approved
by Senior Officials. The guidelines agreed by Senior Officials
for the elaboration of the Secretariat's Staff Regulations require
that the Regulations include a detailed organigramme with job
profiles. Senior Officials have made clear that the Staff Regulations
will have to be approved by Senior Officials before the 2011 budget
can start.
16.28 On the budgetary aspects, the Minister says:
"The Statutes state that the Secretariat
will have a lean structure and we will continue to work to ensure
that the organisation is as lean as possible. In the negotiations
on the budget we pushed as hard as we reasonably could to secure
reductions in what appeared to be excessive allocations, including
personnel costs. The UK was among a small minority of EU Member
States pressing hard for reductions and we pressed until there
was insufficient support from other Member States to continue
doing so, bearing in mind the strong pressure to have a budget
in place for the start of the Secretariat's first full year on
1 January. The budget which has now been agreed by Senior Officials
totals 6.25 million, which is less than half the total originally
proposed, and I believe it represents an acceptable compromise
after a long and difficult negotiation involving all 43 UfM participants.
"Although we were not able to reduce all
the costs in the budget as far as we would have wished, including
personnel costs, we have ensured that there are safeguards in
place to monitor closely the performance and expenditure of the
Secretariat and to ensure that there is proper financial management.
The Statutes require the Secretariat to provide Senior Officials
with an annual financial report on administrative costs and expenditures.
The Statutes also state that there must be an annual audit by
an external auditor approved by the Senior Officials. The European
Community Regulation governing the European Neighbourhood and
Partnership Instrument, which is the part of the EU budget that
is being used for European Commission funding of the Union for
the Mediterranean, entitles the Commission and the Court of Auditors
to perform audits of the Secretariat as a condition of EU funding.
It should also be borne in mind that the European Commission will
release the EU's contribution to the Secretariat budget in instalments
during the year and not in one lump sum, so the Commission will
retain some control over the rate at which the budget is spent.
In addition, next year will be the Secretariat's first full year
of operations and the results achieved will help to provide a
benchmark for its future personnel and financial needs."
16.29 Finally, the Minister notes that the UMed Summit
was due to have been held in Barcelona on 21 November was postponed,
for a second time, because of the lack of progress on a resumption
of direct talks in the Middle East Peace Process, and that a new
date has not yet been set: "Although this is disappointing,
it should not affect the ability of the Secretariat to become
fully operational and to make substantial progress on developing
and promoting projects during 2011."
Conclusion
16.30 We are grateful to the Minister for clarifying
the basis upon which the UMed process has been established, the
Statutes have been adopted and funding provided.
16.31 We commend the efforts he has made to instil
some financial discipline into the arrangements, given the uphill
struggle involved. Time alone will tell if they are fruitful,
and if, the continuing negative political backdrop notwithstanding,
the Secretariat is able to live up to the Minister's expectations.
16.32 We now clear the document.
73 See headnote: (29029) -: HC 16-i (2007-08), chapter
2 (7 November 2007). Back
74
See http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmgeneral/euro/080122/80122s01.htm. Back
75
See headnote: HC 16-xxiv (2007-08), chapter 5 (18 June 2008). Back
76
See HC 16-xxix (2007-08), chapter 6 (10 September 2008), Annex
1. Back
77
Ibid. Annex 2. Back
78
See headnote: HC 16-xxix (2007-08), chapter 6 (10 September 2008). Back
79
See HC 16-xxix (2007-08), chapter 6 (10 September 2008), Annex
1. Back
80
See headnote: HC 19-xv (2008-09), chapter 1 (29 April 2009). Back
81
See headnote: HC 19-xvii (2008-09), chapter 7 (14 October 2009). Back
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