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Written Answers
13 MAY 1992
Mr. Goodlad: Mr. Patten, having consulted widely, does not propose to wear ceremonial dress.
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what has been the total cost of administering the office of the Hong Kong Governor in each of the last three financial years; and what is the proposed budget for 1992-93.
Mr. Goodlad: This cost is borne by the Hong Kong Government.
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those facilities and allowances currently available to the office of Hong Kong Governor.
Mr. Goodlad: These are provided and financed by the Hong Kong Government.
Mr. Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was spent on official hospitality by the Governor of Hong Kong in the last completed financial year.
Mr. Goodlad: This is the responsibility of the Hong Kong Government.
Protocol 17
Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the declaration on Protocol 17 to the treaty on European union which was agreed by European Community Foreign Ministers at Guimaraes on 1 and 2 May.
Mr. Garel-Jones: On 2 May, EC Foreign Ministers agreed the text of the following declaration on protocol 17 to the treaty on European union:
The High Contracting Parties to the Treaty on European Union signed at Maastricht on the 7th day of February 1992.
Having considered the terms of Protocol No. 17 to the said Treaty on European Union which is annexed to that Treaty and to the Treaties establishing the European Communities.
Hereby give the following legal interpretation: that it was and is their intention that the Protocol shall not limit freedom to travel between member States or in accordance with conditions which may be laid down, in conformity with Community law, by Irish legislation to obtain or make available in Ireland information relating to services lawfully available in Member States. At the same time the High Contracting Parties solemnly declare that, in the event of a future constitutional amendment in Ireland which concerns the subject matter of Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution of Ireland and which does not conflict with the intention of the High Contracting Parties hereinbefore expressed, they will, following the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union be favourably disposed to amending the said Protocol so as to extend its application to such constitutional amendment if Ireland so requests.
Vietnamese Migrants
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on Vietnamese migrants.
Mr. Goodlad: On 12 May the British, Hong Kong and Vietnamese Governments reached agreement on the second phase of the orderly repatriation programme,
59 CW87:5 Job 1-9
Written Answers
112
covering the repatriation from Hong Kong of Vietnamese illegal immigrants-that is, those who under the screening procedures agreed and monitored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have been found not to be refugees.
This second phase agreed in principle last October with Vietnam, covers those Vietnamese migrants who were already in Hong Kong on 29 October 1991 when the orderly repatriation programme was announced. Earlier arrangements covered those who arrived in Hong Kong after that date and those who, having already been repatriated voluntarily, returned to Hong Kong in the hope of collecting a further UNHCR reintegration allowance.
There are still 56,000 Vietnamese migrants in Hong Kong, the vast majority of whom will probably not qualify as refugees. Those who are screened out will be encouraged to return under the UNHCR scheme. We hope most will do so. But inevitably some will not. These will be returned under the orderly repatriation programme.
The orderly repatriation programme is based on the firm principles that nobody whom UNHCR believes to be a refugee will be returned and that no returning migrant will face persecution. The Vietnamese Government have reaffirmed their commitment not to persecute returnees and to facilitate access to them by UNHCR and others to ensure that this guarantee is respected.
Since 1988, more than 20,000 Vietnamese migrants have returned home from the region without a single substantiated case of persecution.
Angola
Mr. David Atkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the investigation into the murder of the four British tourists in south-western Angola in January.
Mr. Lennox-Boyd: The Angolan Government inves- tigation into the killings is still continuing. Our embassy in Luanda is closely monitoring progress.
NATIONAL FINANCE
Economic and Monetary Union
Mr. Leighton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the state of progress in each of the member states of the EC towards the criteria in the Maastricht treaty for economic and monetary union.
Mr. Nelson: The table shows the state of progress of EC member states with respect to the convergence criteria, as set out in article 109] of the Maastricht treaty, using the most recent and consistent data and forecasts available. Definitions are not, as yet, fully standardised for any of the indicators of convergence, and figures are therefore only indicative at this stage.
It should be emphasized that whether or not a member state is assessed to be eligible for stage 3 of EMU in the final analysis is a matter for ECOFIN judgement, acting on a recommendation from the Commission. The final decision of whether to move to stage 3 rests with Heads of State or Government. There is a presumption that these judgements will be guided by the four formal convergence
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