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Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order: Review

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Ministerial Statement.

A review of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 and the accompanying codes of practice is being undertaken by officials in the Northern Ireland Office.

The review, which aims to bring the existing PACE legislation and the codes of practice in Northern Ireland into line with that in England and Wales, will adopt much of the new or amended legislation and revisions to the codes of practice introduced by the Home Office as a result of their fundamental review of PACE in 2002.

It is my intention to issue a draft Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order and associated codes of practice for consultation in autumn 2004 with the aim of them becoming operational by summer 2005.

Council of Europe and Western European Union: Information Bulletin

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Prime Minister has placed in the Library today the latest information bulletin on the activities of the United Kingdom delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of Western European Union covering the period November 2002 to October 2003.

Afghanistan Pledge

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for International Development has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.

Afghanistan remains a high priority for the Government. A lot has been achieved during the past two years. Around 3 million refugees have been helped to return to Afghanistan. Improvements have been made in education, with more than 4 million children back at school. Thirty seven per cent of pupils are now girls, up from 5 per cent in 2001. Twelve million children have been immunized against polio and 16 million against measles since 2002, saving 30,000 lives. Women are increasingly taking part in politics and the

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new constitution guarantees women 25 per cent of seats at the new parliament and equal rights and duties before the law. But there are still challenges ahead.

As part of the UK's continuing commitment to Afghanistan I will be announcing, at the donor conference taking place in Berlin on 31 March and 1 April an increase in our assistance to at least £500 million over five years. This represents an increase of 150 per cent on our original commitment for the reconstruction of Afghanistan made in Tokyo in January 2002 to provide £200 million over these five years (the financial years 2002–03 to 2006–07). So far we have provided £110.5 million of this. This new pledge will include at least £75 million a year for reconstruction, plus assistance for counter-narcotics and conflict prevention.

One of the major challenges Afghanistan faces is security, particularly in the south and east of the country, and the need to tackle the drugs trade. The UK is working to support the Afghan police and helping to build a new Afghan national army. We are also assisting with the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of former combatants. Our new financial commitment will help to address all these issues.

Falkland Islands: Airlinks

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): I made a Statement to this House on 19 January on airlinks between the Falklands and Argentina (Official Report col. WS39). I would like to report on developments since then.

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Rammell) travelled to Argentina on 16 to 17 February on a preplanned bilateral visit. He held talks on a wide range of international, regional and bilateral issues. The question of airlinks featured in talks with the Argentine Foreign Minister, Dr Rafael Bielsa. The talks were frank and constructive and they made some progress. Some proposals were discussed which they each agreed to look at further. These proposals primarily focussed on temporary arrangements for charter flights for 2004. Mr Rammell made clear that any arrangements would need to be acceptable to the Falkland Islanders.

Regrettably, shortly following the visit, an article appeared in an Argentine newspaper, giving details of the talks and wrongly asserting that a "deal" on airlinks had been agreed. As Mr Rammell has indicated, this was not the case.

Mr Rammell spoke subsequently to Falkland Councillors. They concluded that the proposals for temporary arrangements did not meet their concerns. However, they agreed that we should continue to discuss the issue with the Argentine Government with a view to securing a permanent solution to the question of charter flights rather than having further temporary arrangements.

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We are now taking this forward with the Argentine Government, with the full agreement of councillors. I will keep the House informed of progress.

European Union: Forthcoming Council Business

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: The forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union is as follows:

Date	Location	Event
March
1–2	Cork	ASEM Finance Deputies' Meeting
2	Brussels	Environment Council
3	Brussels	COREPER 1
3	Brussels	COREPER 2
4–6	Co. Clare	Youth Ministerial Conference
4–5	Brussels	Employment, Social Policy, Health & Consumer Affairs (Ministerial Informal)
8	Brussels	Meeting of Eurogroup
8–9	Ankara	EU Ministerial Troika with Turkey
8–9	Brussels	Transport, Telecom & Energy Council
9	Brussels	ECOFIN
10	Brussels	COREPER 2
10	Brussels	COREPER 1
11	Dublin	EU/Russia Ministerial Meeting (Troika)
12	Brussels	COREPER 1
17	Brussels	COREPER 1
18	Brussels	COREPER 2
18	Ottawa	EU Canada Summit (Troika)
18–19	Dublin	OECD Ministers Conference
19	Brussels	COREPER 1
22	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
22–23	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC)
24	Brussels	COREPER 1
24	Brussels	COREPER 2
24–25	Brussels	Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee
25–26	Brussels	EUROPEAN COUNCIL
30	Dublin	EU/Ukraine Ministerial Meeting (Troika)
30	Brussels	Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal)
31	Brussels	COREPER 1 April
2	Punchestown	Meeting of Eurogroup
2–3	Punchestown	ECOFIN
7–8	Co. Wicklow	Ministerial Conference on Communicating Europe
16–17	Tullamore	GYMNICH
17	Co. Kildare	ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting
26–27	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC)
26–27	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
27	Luxembourg	EU/Russia Permanent Partnership Council (Troika?)
29–30	Brussels	Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee
29–30	Brussels	Justice & Home Affairs (Ministerial Informal) May
6–7	Dublin	EuroMed Foreign Ministers
7	Limerick	Meeting of Ministers with responsibility for Equality
9–11	Killarney	Agriculture Informal Ministerial Meeting
10	Brussels	Meeting of Eurogroup
11	Brussels	ECOFIN
11–12	Cork	Health Ministers Consultative Meeting
14–16	Waterford	Informal Meeting of EU Environment Ministers
17–18	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC)
19–20	Offaly	Informal Budget Committee
21	Moscow	EU/Russia Summit (Troika)
23–25	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
24–25	Brussels	Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee
24–25	Brussels	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
25–27	Co. Galway	Conference on Islands and Territorial cohesion— Meeting New Challenges
27–28	Brussels	Education, Youth & Culture Council
27–31	Dublin	Ministers and Directors General of Public Administration
28	Guadalajara	EU-Latin America/Caribbean Summit June
1–2	Luxembourg	Health Council
1	Dublin	Development Ministers' Meeting
1	Luxembourg	Meeting of Eurogroup
2	Luxembourg	ECOFIN
8	Luxembourg	Justice & Home Affairs Council Meeting
10–11	Luxembourg	Transport, Telecom & Energy Council
14–15	Luxembourg	General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC)
17–18	Brussels	EUROPEAN COUNCIL
21–22	Luxembourg	Agriculture & Fisheries Council
21–22	Brussels	Meeting of the Economic and Financial Committee
28–29	Luxembourg	Council Meeting of EU Environment Ministers July
1	Brussels	COREPER 2
2–3	Maastricht	Competitiveness (Informal)
7	Brussels	COREPER 1
7–8	Brussels	COREPER 2
8	tbc	EU-Ukraine Summit
8–10	Maastricht	Social Policy (Informal)
9–10	Amsterdam	Transport (Informal)
12–13	Brussels	General Affairs & External Relations (GAERC)
12–14	Rotterdam	Informal Ministerial Education Youth and Culture
14	Brussels	COREPER 1
15	Brussels	COREPER 2
16–18	Maastricht	Environment (Informal)
19	Brussels	JHA Council
19	Brussels	Agricultural and Fisheries Council
22	Brussels	COREPER 2
23	Brussels	COREPER 1 AugustNo meetings planned

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