Letter from Geoff Hoon MP, Foreign and
Commonwealth Office
EVIDENCE SESSION WITH SUB-COMMITTEE C, 10
JANUARY 2007
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address
the Committee last week. I found it both useful and stimulating.
This letter aims to cover the outstanding points from that session.
BATTLEGROUPS
As the Committee has identified, the UK has
committed itself to providing one of the two EU Battlegroups due
to be on standby in the second half of 2008. The Government will
of course have to take into account circumstances at that time,
but despite the complexities and evolving nature of our other
ongoing commitments, we remain confident that this standby commitment
can be fulfilled.
MOLDOVA-UKRAINE
BORDER MISSION
The current mandate of the EU Border Assistance
Mission expires in November 2007 and any decision to extend the
mission will be taken on the basis of a formal request from the
Ukrainian and Moldovan authorities. However, whilst both sides
continue to express full support for the mission, there has, as
yet been no formal application to extend it. It is therefore not
possible to say at this stage whether the mission will be extended.
The Government's view of the EU Border Assistance
Mission is that it has proven to be a success and an excellent
example of the EU making a practical contribution to a resolving
a difficult dispute.
MIDDLE EAST
PEACE PROCESS
Lord Tomlinson asked for an estimate, in percentage
terms, of the EU's contribution to the Palestinian Administration
Areas. Unfortunately we do not yet have the figures for all of
the declared[1]
donations for 2006. However, in 2005 the total contribution of
the EU Member States and the EU Commission was roughly 43 per
cent (approximately £260 million of £606 million total
declared donations). In 2006, the total contribution of the EU
Member States and the EU Commission was approximately £450
million.
IRAN
The Committee asked about a Financial Times
article on 9 January headlined "Europe and the US seek
to raise pressure on Tehran in wake of UN resolution". The
article speculated that the EU might implement measures against
Iran beyond those required by UN Security Council Resolution 1737.
The EU is planning to give effect to the provisions
of SCR 1737 through a Common Position and Regulation, consistent
with its practice in relation to other sanctions regimes. Member
States and the Commission will be discussing the contents later
in the month. There are certainly precedents for the EU implementing
measures beyond those agreed by the Security Council. But I would
not want to pre-empt the outcome of those discussions. Although
this is a fast-moving issue, we will of course keep the Parliamentary
Scrutiny Committees informed of developments and deposit the proposed
Common Position and Regulation once these become available.
The Financial Times article also discusses
whether Iran will meet its obligations. Iran has not yet responded
formally to the Resolution. In Resolution 1737, the Security Council
asked the Internal Atomic Energy Agency Director-General, Dr Mohammed
El-Baradei, to report within 60 days on Iranian compliance. It
will then review the situation. The Security Council has made
clear that it will impose further measures if Iran has not by
then complied. It has also agreed to suspend the implementation
of measures if and for as long as Iran suspends all uranium enrichment
related and reprocessing activities.
SOMALIA
The Committee asked about the EU's position
on the situation in Somalia. The EU supports the position of the
International Contact Group on Somalia, as set out in the Contact
Group's Communique from its meeting in Nairobi on 5 January 2007
(enclosed). EU Foreign Ministers will be discussing the situation
in Somalia at the General Affairs and External Relations Council
on 22 January 2007, where we anticipate that the Council will
set out the EU position in greater detail.
Geoff Hoon
17 January 2007
1 NB some Arab states do not declare all of their funding
to the Palestinians, and so we can only calculate declared contributions. Back
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