Lord Howell of Guildford
Main Page: Lord Howell of Guildford (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Howell of Guildford's debates with the Cabinet Office
(11 years, 9 months ago)
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Lord Wallace of Saltaire
My Lords, it may surprise the noble Lord, but I do not have the exact figures to hand. Of course, any international parliament costs a great deal more because of the travel, dual residence and so on that are involved. Members of this House who also attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe or the NATO Assembly also cost rather more than the rest of us.
Lord Howell of Guildford
Does my noble friend have any figures on the European External Action Service? Has he noticed recent criticism that it is not performing very effectively? Does he have any measure of cost versus performance for that body?
Lord Wallace of Saltaire
My Lords, I do not have that. The European External Action Service is still very much in its early stages. It is now performing rather better than when it was originally established. Multinational operations take longer to get going than others—I am looking at various people here who have served in the European Commission—and have a level of built-in efficiency.