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Lord Greaves: I agree entirely with the noble Baroness.
Baroness Byford: I thank the Minister for her response. I do not read into the noble Lord's amendment any suggestion that he is trying to prevent people who have access from using it. That ought to be made clear. While the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, will speak for himself, it is certainly my opinion is that where there are restrictions on certain activities that are or are not permitted to be undertaken under the CROW Act, they should apply to this Bill as well. If I am wrong, so be it, but certainly it is not the intention to prevent people using a right of access. Rather it is to define clearly what they can do when they have such access.
Lord Livsey of Talgarth: I have always been suspicious of people who know it all. All I can say to my noble friend Lord Greaves is that one never stops learning. But of course he had the benefit of spending many hours considering the CROW Act, which I did not have at the time. I have learnt a great deal. I do not seek in any way to remove rights conferred under previous Acts of Parliament. That is certainly not the purpose behind tabling the amendment.
Before I withdraw it, I want to point out that there is in fact a need to define access in the Bill. I have learnt from the remarks just made by both my noble friend and the noble Baroness that such a definition should encapsulate previous legislation. When considering the definitions of what is set out in this Bill, there ought to be a form of words which encompasses in perhaps two sentences all that has been said during the past five minutes or so. I am sure that it is not beyond the wit of legislators to devise it.
I am grateful for this useful short debate. Before I withdraw the amendment, I should like to thank the noble Baroness and her colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Bach, for the understanding and constructive way in which they have considered our amendments and come back with improved material during the course of our deliberations in Grand Committee. We look forward to the Report stage. I also thank the Deputy Chairman of Committees and her colleagues for the way in which our business has been conducted. Without further ado, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Bill reported with amendments.
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton: Perhaps I may thank the Hansard writers for their work.
The Committee adjourned at twenty-four minutes before eight o'clock.
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Written Statements
Monday 14 November 2005
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Afghanistan: UK Deployments
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Drayson): My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
As previously announced by the Prime Minister (Official Report, Commons, 30/6/04, col. 286), the United Kingdom is committed to deploying the Headquarters Group of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps to lead the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from May 2006 to February 2007. In addition, the Secretary of State for Defence has previously informed the House (Official Report, Commons, 7/7/05, col. 479) of preliminary plans to support the expansion of ISAF by establishing a British-led provincial reconstruction team in the province of Helmand, in southern Afghanistan. The aim of both would be to help restore Afghanistan as a secure and stable state and prevent the country again becoming a haven for global terrorists.
The ISAF is led by NATO, which is planning the expansion of the ISAF into the south and east of Afghanistan. Once those plans mature, individual allies, including the United Kingdom, will be able to take final decisions on deployment and on the nature of the capabilities that may be required. In advance of that, however, it is sensible to begin British preparations for a potential deployment. These are necessarily based on national planning assumptions that may need to be adapted in the light of NATO's conclusions and the final positions taken by individual allies and partners, including the UK.
In the first instance, the tempo of work to prepare the ground in Helmand for a possible British deployment is being increased. Those activities are initially likely to involve some 250 troops. Preparations are also under way in the United Kingdom. Some units, predominantly drawn from 16 Air Assault Brigade and the Joint Helicopter Command, will shortly commence collective training on a contingency basis. Similarly, the procurement of certain equipment enhancements that may be needed for a deployment of this nature is under way.
These necessary measures are prudent military preparations for a possible future deployment. They do not mean that these units or capabilities will be committed to southern Afghanistan in 2006. No final decisions have yet been made. Should the United Kingdom decide to commit additional forces to the ISAF in 2006, a full statement will then be made to the House as soon as possible.
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EU Development Ministers: Informal Meeting
The Lord President of the Council (Baroness Amos): My right honourable friend, the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
On 23 and 24 October, I chaired a meeting as presidency of the EU Development Ministers in Leeds. The agenda items were as follows:
South Asian Earthquake Jan Egeland, the United Nations Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, briefed Ministers on the urgent need to respond to the south Asian earthquake. He called for more aid, particularly for shelter and helicopters. Ministers agreed that more money and help needed to be given and reiterated that co-ordination was vital both in the humanitarian phase and as reconstruction began. Commissioner Louis Michel announced that the Commission had asked the European Parliament to approve the release of an additional €80 million of EC funds in 2005–06, of which €30 million would be for humanitarian aid and the remainder for reconstruction. That would be in addition to the €110 million of support already committed by member states and the Commission. Further pledges were expected at a UN meeting in Geneva on 26 October. Ministers also agreed to work to strengthen the EU and UN's capacity to respond to future disasters.
Reform of the International Architecture Ministers discussed the need to ensure that the international development architecture was fully equipped to respond to the challenge of delivering more and better aid to help maximise progress towards meeting the millennium development goals. There was recognition of the EU's leading role in the international development system and therefore the leading role that it should play in shaping its future—particularly as the EU will account for two-thirds of DAC aid by 2010.
Mark Malloch Brown, the UN Secretary-General's chief of staff confirmed that the UN Secretary-General would appoint a team of experts to develop a proposal, in consultation with development partners and donors including the EU, for the reform of the UN development and operational architecture. That could include proposals for more tightly managed development, humanitarian and environmental entities. Ministers strongly supported the need to signal a high level of interest in and political support for reform to the international development system.
Ministers noted the paper circulated by the Netherlands on UN reform but agreed that engagement should not be limited to the core group of EU and non-EU countries, referred to in the paper as the "G13". Instead, the EU as a whole should actively support UN reform, including the strengthening of country-level resident co-ordinators. Austria confirmed its intention to take forward work on UN reform during its presidency of the EU.
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Ministers also discussed EU aid effectiveness, noting the importance of providing sustainable and predictable funding and the need to address issues of aid distribution. The presidency confirmed that the 21–22 November General Affairs and External Relations Council would include the annual orientation debate on how to improve and monitor the effectiveness of European aid.
Putting Trade at the Service of Development Peter Mandelson, European Commissioner for External Trade, emphasised the importance of achieving a good outcome for developing countries from the Doha development round. He urged Development Ministers to help demonstrate that the EU is ready to put trade at the service of development, reinforcing Europe's role as a force for good in the world. That meant that we needed to deliver on the obligations stemming from last year's framework agreement, including providing our partners with significantly improved agricultural market access. He highlighted the need to push hard for a development "down payment" for Hong Kong. That should include other OECD countries following the EU's lead in giving Everything But Arms (EBA) access to all least developed countries; achieving the right degree of differentiation in trade rules; and commitment to dedicate significantly increased resources—at EU and national levels—to help poorer countries build their capacity to trade. Development Ministers agreed that, although the negotiating specifics were clearly a matter for trade colleagues, they had an important role to play in ensuring priority concerns of developing countries were addressed before and after the WTO ministerial in Hong Kong.
Ministers agreed on the importance of increased market access for products in which developing countries had comparative advantage, especially agricultural products; the need for all agreements to reflect the different levels of development of developing countries and the fact that there were millions of poor people working in middle-income developing countries, especially in agriculture; and the fact that south—south trade had to be part of the solution for development in least developed countries, while recognising that that was no substitute for action by the EU. Ministers highlighted the importance of an urgent WTO response to the plight of west African cotton producers, as set out in a paper circulated by France.
Ministers emphasised the importance of ensuring that economic partnership agreements were successful development tools and that an effective mechanism for monitoring implementation was needed as soon as possible. Ministers agreed that increasing support to help developing countries build their capacity to trade was a high priority and called for the presidency and Commission to put forward a proposal on the EU's possible contribution to an enhanced aid-for-trade package ahead of Hong Kong. Ministers also noted that many developing countries would look at sugar as a test of EU support for their concerns and that transitional assistance for sugar producers needed to be made available in 2006.
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Development Policy Statement (DPS) Discussions on the development policy statement clarified some important issues. There was consensus that poverty eradication remained the primary objective, while globalisation provided the context in which development was pursued. There was broad agreement that, although our development objectives for working in low-income countries and middle-income countries were the same, the way in which we implemented and approached development assistance would be different, according to partner countries' situations and needs.
There was agreement on the need for a shared EU vision for development and for the EU to work together more effectively and more coherently, in line with the Paris Declaration. Doubts were expressed on the need for and feasibility of a single thematic framework for all EU development activities. However, it was important to indicate in a comprehensive way common objectives and principles and a shared understanding of the breadth of activities needed to eradicate poverty.
There was broad support for the EC to underline its areas of excellence; building on its strengths and experiences and to identify where at community level we needed to further develop expertise. However, there was recognition that that should not restrict the Commission from working in other areas. What is needed is a balance between the need to concentrate efforts in country, while retaining the flexibility to respond to a range of partner countries' priorities.
Discussions on the development policy statement will continue at working level, with the aim of reaching consensus on a tripartite statement between the Council, Commission and Parliament by November.
EU-Africa Partnership Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank emphasised the need for the EU strategy to identify the comparative advantage of EU institutions in the international donor community; to recognise the importance of anchor countries because of their influence on low-income countries; and, to work through and build capacity in existing African institutions. Ministers agreed that strengthening African institutions was particularly important.
Ministers welcomed the Commission's Africa Communication, which will form an integral part of the overall EU Strategy for Africa to be agreed at the December European Council. Ministers agreed that the November GAERC should adopt positive conclusions—broadly in line with the outline discussed by COREPER the previous week—on the communication. Ministers highlighted the importance of peace, security and migration and other issues, and the need to ensure that we got the right balance between the different elements. Ministers noted that enhancing political dialogue was a key element, including participation of civil society and parliamentarians in Africa. Ministers also agreed on the need to follow up and effectively monitor implementation of EU commitments on more and better aid.
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European Development Fund (EDF) There was agreement that the Council should consider the non-financial elements of a possible EDF10, especially in relation to effectiveness, without prejudice to the outcome of discussions about the 2007–13 financial perspective (EC budget).
Sudan/Darfur There was agreement that both the UN presence in southern Sudan and the African Union force (AMIS) in Darfur needed strengthening and that capacity building of the African Union to manage peacekeeping operations was essential. Delegations agreed that the benefits of the comprehensive peace agreement were not yet being felt in Sudan, which threatened hopes for long-term peace. All atrocities were unacceptable. Member states agreed to give any evidence of specific atrocities to the sanctions committee and the International Criminal Court.
Food Crisis in Southern Africa Delegations agreed that the EU should continue to provide significant support to countries affected by food shortages in southern Africa. Zimbabwe was highlighted as a particularly difficult case following the misreporting of harvest figures. Commissioner Louis Michel suggested that future EDF allocation criteria should reflect food security levels.
Ethiopia/Eritrea Delegations noted with regret the fact that relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea remained difficult, as did the situation in Ethiopia following the elections.
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