Oral Answers to Questions

Henry Smith Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Browne]

That is one of the subjects that we have regular dialogue with the Chinese about, and the hon. Lady is right to point out the tensions and concerns that exist in some of the countries bordering China. We continue to be vigilant in trying to ensure that that is not an area of the world where conflict is brought about or tensions rise.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

6. What recent assessment he has made of the level of political stability in the Balkans.

[The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington)]

Progress on political and economic reform in the western Balkans is uneven. We welcome the successful conclusion of EU accession negotiations with Croatia but remain particularly concerned by the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where sustained international focus is needed.

[Henry Smith]

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reply. What is Her Majesty’s Government’s assessment of the readiness of Croatia and Serbia to join the EU, given the fact that, with hindsight, Romania and Bulgaria probably acceded to the Union too soon?

[Mr Lidington]

The Croatian Government have met the conditions laid down by the Commission and supported by member states, but the European Council also agreed when it concluded accession negotiations that there should be a further stage of pre-accession monitoring to ensure that the Croatian authorities’ commitments to reform are still delivered in practice.

We look forward to the Commission’s report on Serbia’s progress on economic and political reform, which is due in December. Although the arrest of Mr Mladic was an important step forward, it does not remove the need for Serbia to do everything else with regard to internal reform and addressing regional co-operation to meet the terms of EU accession.