EU CO-OPERATION PROGRAMME FOR NON-PROLIFERATION
AND DISARMAMENT IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Letter from the Chairman to Rt Hon Denis
MacShane MP, Minister for Europe, Foreign and CommonwealthOffice
Thank you for the Explanatory Memoranda dated
5 July which Sub-Committee C considered at its meeting on 8 July.
The Sub-Committee are again concerned that insufficient
time is being allowed for parliamentary scrutiny. The Explanatory
Memorandum states that the document was due to be agreed one week
after the document was sent to the Committee. This is highly unsatisfactory;
although I understand that in the event no agreement is now expected
until September.
This extension is fortuitous as the Committee has
decided to hold the document under scrutiny until certain concerns
on the co-operation programme have been answered.
First, the Explanatory Memorandum fails to outline
how much money is being spent by the UK bi-laterally, and by the
EU as a whole, on non-proliferation and disarmament projects in
Russia. Please would you provide a full breakdown of the money
already spent and that committed by the UK, the EU and the UK
through the EU.
Secondly, we wonder why, if two long-standing projects
cost less than £4 million, has the UK committed to spend
up to $750 illion over 10 years?
The Sub-Committee hope to be able to consider your
response and to decide whether to clear the document from scrutiny
at their meeting on 9 September. I would accordingly welcome a
reply by 1 September.
9 July 2004
Letter from Rt Hon Denis MacShane MP to
the Chairman
Thank you for your letter of 9 July enquiring
about the European Union Co-operation Programme for Non-Proliferation
and Disarmament in the Russian Federation.
I am sorry your Committee felt that they did
not have enough time to clear the original EM. However, we believed
at the time that the original Joint Action would be extended.
Now discussions are currently taking place at working group level
for a new EU Joint Action, which may result in the work of this
project being able to be spread over a wider geographical scope.
It is hoped that agreement on this new Joint Action will now be
reached in September. A draft copy will be sent to the Committees
for your consideration when we receive a new text. I hope our
answers below will help clarify some of the financial aspects
of the EU's involvement in Russia so far.
You enquired about the current levels of funding
by the UK bilaterally, the EU as a whole, and the amount spent
by the UK through the EU on projects in Russia. Bilaterally, the
UK has committed to spend up to $750 million over 10 years through
the G8 Global Partnership. This was announced by the Prime
Minister at the G8 Summit in Kananaskis, 2002. As stated in the
2003 Annual Report of the G8 Global Partnership, the UK spent
approximately £14.11million on projects under the Global
Partnership during 2002-03. The estimated expenditure for 2003-04
is £37.5 million. A full account of this expenditure will
be included in the 2004 Annual Report, which will be published
in the Autumn.
The EU also promotes co-operative risk reduction
activities and the safe and secure dismantlement of WMD-related
resources in Russia. To this end Member States have committed
27.1 million Euro from the EU's CFSP budget since the Joint
Action was enacted in 1999. The budget for 2003-04 is 9.6 million
Euro. The UK's share of this budget is currently around 15 per
cent. Therefore we have-contributed approximately £2.7 million
to EU projects in Russia since 1999 (£0.95 million for 2003-04).
This is in addition to the UK's G8 Global Partnership Programme.
EU activities are co-ordinated with Member States to avoid unnecessary
duplication. For example, the EU works with the UK on the procurement
of electricity equipment for the electricity substation at Shchuch'ye,
and contributes £1.4 million towards this project.
The other area of EU activity is under the auspices
of the Commission's Tacis programme. Launched by the EC in 1991,
the Tacis Programme provides grant-financed technical assistance
to 12 countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and mainly
aims at enhancing the transition process in these countries. From
the EU contribution of nearly 160 million Euro to Russian programmes,
127 million Euro has been allocated to the International Science
and Technology Centre (ISTC) in Moscow for reconversion of weapon
experts to work with peaceful projects. Some 23 million Euro have
been used for Tacis projects in the field of Nuclear Material
Accounting and Control. Six million Euro have been directed to
the destruction of chemical weapons and 4 million Euro to reconversion
of weapon production facilities.
4 August 2004
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