Eastern Europe.
- New initiatives in Eastern Europe?
Collaborative ventures?
4. Bilateral co-operation in the defence field is just as
close. The Ministries of Defence exchanged Central Staff
Officers in October. A German airbus battalion took part in a
field exercise in Britain in September. British officers and
NCO's have been helping the Bundeswehr prepare for peacekeeping operations laying the foundations for more extensive co-operation as Germany's contribution to UN
deployment develops.
5.
In other fields too where Ministries are not represented
today there is close collaboration;
on health, we enjoy a close and effective collaboration. Issues where we work together include setting targets for health improvement, epidemiology and the sharing of data on health care systems and their effectiveness between European
Governments. A recent seminar in Munich cemented the
closeness of our work on health targets, and last year HMG was pleased to agree the secondment of a senior Health official to
the German Health Ministry for 12 months.
on education we look forward to the British/German
Colloquium on bilateral co-operation which will take place in the UK next April. This will give an additional boost to exchange and partnership at all levels including higher education and vocational education and training, and strengthen contacts with the new Federal States.
I am, at the same time, very pleased to note that the Humboldt University British Studies Centre announced by HM The Queen last year will begin its work in the 1994 academic year. At the same time Birmingham University is establishing