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Kosovo

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Malloch-Brown): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (David Miliband) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

On 17 February the Parliamentary Assembly of Kosovo was convened for an extraordinary session at which Prime Minister Thaçi read out Kosovo’s declaration of independence. The declaration made clear that Kosovo was a democratic, secular and multi-ethnic republic and that its leaders would promote the rights and participation of all communities in Kosovo. The declaration in particular committed Kosovo to implementing fully the obligations contained in UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari’s comprehensive proposal for

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a Kosovo status settlement, including its extensive minority safeguards. And the declaration invited and welcomed an international civilian presence to supervise implementation of the comprehensive proposal, an EU rule of law and police mission (EULEX) and a continuation of NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR). The declaration was endorsed by all parliamentary members present.

The declaration took place following exhaustive negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina aimed at finding a mutually agreed resolution to Kosovo’s status. UN Special Envoy Ahtisaari had presided over 14 months of intensive negotiations before concluding an agreement was out of reach. An EU-Russia-US troika facilitated an additional four months of talks, with EU member Ambassador Ischinger concluding that the parties would not be capable of reaching agreement if negotiations were to be continued, in whatever format.

My Statement of 11 December noted that, against this backdrop of inconclusive negotiations, almost all in the international community were agreed that the status quo in Kosovo was unsustainable. This is a point that had been underlined by the European Union, the UN Secretary General and the Contact Group. My Statement made clear that we could not therefore allow the status process to grind to a halt, having learned in the 1990s the cost of an indecisive international response to developments in the Balkans. In the view of the Government, it would be important for the EU to play a leading role in bringing the status process through to conclusion. The UN Special Envoy’s comprehensive proposal, balancing independence with strong minority safeguards and international supervision, remained in our view the only viable way forward.

Since my Statement, the Government have worked hard to ensure the necessary international community resolve and engagement to solve the Kosovo issue. The Government strongly support the decision at the December European Council that the EU should play a leading role in implementing a settlement defining Kosovo’s status.

Against this background, the General Affairs and External Relations Council met on 18 February, the day following Kosovo’s declaration of independence. EU Ministers agreed that the EU should play a leading role in strengthening stability in the region. The EU has given effect to this commitment through a series of steps:

in terms of ensuring security and justice sector reform, the EU has agreed on the deployment of an ESDP Policing and Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) consisting of 2,200 international personnel. This will be the largest civilian ESDP mission to date;in terms of ensuring Kosovo’s political development and good governance, the EU has now agreed on the appointment of an EU Special Representative to Kosovo; the EU has agreed to make a major contribution to the international civilian office which will oversee settlement implementation; and

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the EU has committed itself to the promotion of Kosovo’s economic and political development. The Commission will use community instruments to take this forward and is planning to organise a donors conference.

EU Ministers were clear in their view that Kosovo constituted a sui generis case which did not set any precedent.

Taken together, these decisions amount to a clear and united EU approach towards contributing to Kosovo’s future and to delivering stability in the Western Balkans region. I welcome the leadership that the European Union has shown in tackling this European foreign policy challenge.

EU Ministers also discussed the issue of recognition. There was agreement that this is a matter for national governments and the Council acknowledged that it was for member states to decide, in accordance with national practice and international law, on their relations with Kosovo.

Bringing all these elements together—the unsustainable status quo; Kosovo’s commitment to the stringent safeguards in the UN Special Envoy’s comprehensive proposal; and the international support for settlement implementation and, increasingly, recognition—the Government consider that UK recognition of Kosovo is fully justified. Our firm view is that it is the best way of resolving Kosovo’s status, ensuring regional stability and solving this last remaining issue from the break-up of the Former Yugoslavia. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister wrote to President Sejdiu on 18 February indicating to the Kosovo Government that the United Kingdom recognises Kosovo’s independence. I have also written to Prime Minister Thaçi proposing the establishment of diplomatic relations. At least 16 other countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the US and Turkey, have also either recognised Kosovo or indicated their intention to do so.

Kosovo’s independence will bring a long-awaited certainty and permanence to Kosovo’s identity, marking an end to nearly nine years of political and economic limbo But it will also be just the beginning of a challenging journey ahead, building a stable, sustainable, multi-ethnic and democratic country. It will be important for Kosovo’s Assembly and Government to adhere faithfully to the undertakings made in their declaration of independence. It will also be important for all sides to refrain from action that risks provoking or increasing ethnic tensions.

The UK will make a full contribution in support of Kosovo’s efforts. The UK will second approximately 70 personnel to the ESDP mission and about 10 to the International Civilian Office. We will maintain our current contribution of around 140 troops to KFOR as well as maintaining a battalion on stand-by as part of the NATO operational reserve force. And in terms of development, the UK has committed £23 million in bilateral assistance to Kosovo over the next three years.

As Kosovo moves forward, there will remain a need to address the regional dimension. We recognise how difficult an issue Kosovo’s independence is for Serbia. Despite the difference of view with Belgrade on Kosovo, the Government will remain keen to

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maintain a co-operative and warm bilateral relationship. We will also want to assist Serbia and the other countries of the region to move towards European standards and EU accession. The interim political agreement offered to Serbia following the January General Affairs and External Relations Council was a sign of the EU’s commitment to Serbia’s progress. There remains a compelling strategic case for enlargement to the Western Balkans as a whole so that this region can share in the security, stability, and prosperity that the EU offers.

Ministry of Defence: DEL

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Des Browne) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Defence departmental expenditure limits (DEL) will be increased by £1,247,750,000 from £35,594,551,000 to £36,842,301,000. Within the DEL change, the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

£000s
	Change		New DEL
	Voted	Non-Voted	Voted	Non-voted	Total
Resource	2,419,624	-200,000	36,857,168	83,088	36,940,256
Near-Cash in RDEL	597,750	30,989	24,417,425	511,932	24,929,357
Capital	428,000	-	8,119,626	744	8,120,370
Depreciation*	-1,599,874	200,000	-8,218,325	-	-8,218,325
Total	1,247,750	-	36,758,469	83,832	36,842,301

* Depreciation, which forms part of resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

The changes to the resource and capital elements of the DEL arise from:

the take-up of the department's end-year indirect resource flexibility totalling £1,621,874,000 to reflect latest TLB forecasts of outturn of indirect resource expenditure;an increase in the RfR2 of £566,000,000 direct resource DEL and £380,650,000 capital DEL to reflect the forecast costs of peacekeeping operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Balkans;the transfer of £424,000,000 indirect resource DEL from RfRI to RfR2 to cover depreciation, cost of capital and impairment forecasts with no overall impact on DEL;a transfer out of £750,000 to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Rregulatory Reform;the take-up of capital end-year flexibility (EYF) of £40,000,000 resulting from the sale of QinetiQ in 2005-06, as agreed with Treasury;drawdown of £200,000,000 from the department's (unvoted) unallocated resource provision to reflect

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the increased (voted) indirect resource DEL forecast of outturn for RfR1 with no overall impact on DEL; and resource and capital transfers in from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in respect of contributions to the Balkans Conflict Prevention Pool net costs, the Global Rest of the World Conflict Prevention Pool costs, and Afghanistan capital costs of £39,850,000.

The changes to resource DEL and capital DEL will lead to an increased net cash requirement of £894,351,000.

I am placing a copy of the Ministry of Defence Votes A 2008-09 in the Library of the House.

Ministry of Defence: Review Board for Government Contracts

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton): My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Des Browne) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

The Government have accepted the findings of the Review Board for Government Contracts as detailed in their report of the 2007 general review of the profit formula for non-competitive government contracts. The board's recommendations will be implemented with effect from 1 February 2008, in accordance with arrangements agreed between the Government and

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industry, recorded in an addendum to the published report. I will be placing a copy of the report in the Libraries of both Houses.

Ministry of Justice: DEL

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Subject to parliamentary approval of any necessary supplementary estimate, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Northern Ireland Court Service (NICS) and the National Archives (TNA) total departmental expenditure limit (DEL) will be increased as follows:

Total DEL for MoJ (RfR1, 2 & 3) is increased by £831,000 from £9,628,003,000 to £9,628,834,000 and the administration budget is decreased by £(233,327,000) from £712,716,000 to £479,389,000. This is due to a reclassification of administration budget to programme budget following discussions with HM Treasury.

Total DEL for NICS is increased by £15,918,000 from £130,570,000 to £146,488,000 and the administration budget is decreased by £(3,000,000). This is due to an increase in administration income.

Total DEL for the TNA has remained unchanged.

Within the Total DEL change for MoJ (RfR1, 2 & 3), the impact on resources and capital are as set out in the following table:

	Change		New DEL
	Voted £’000	Non-voted £’000	Voted £’000	Non-voted £’000	Total £’000
Resource DEL:	(23,439)	(204,703)	5,784,187	3,151,859	8,936,046
Of which:
Administration *	(233,327)	0	479,389	0	479,389
Near cash in Resource DEL	29,428	7,128	4,686,786	3,873,476	8,560,262
Capital **	229,868	5,560	1,001,516	35,615	1,037,131
Depreciation †	(6,455)	0	(338,389)	(5,954)	(344,343)
Total	199,974	(199,143)	6,447,314	3,181,520	9,628,834

* The total of “administration budget” and “near-cash in Resource DEL” figures may well be greater than total Resource DEL, due to the definitions overlapping.

** Capital DEL includes items treated as resource in Estimates and accounts but which are treated as Capital DEL in budgets.

†Depreciation, which forms part of Resource DEL, is excluded from the total DEL since Capital DEL includes capital spending and to include depreciation of those assets would lead to double counting.

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