07 Apr 16. Defence Committee – Select Committee Announcement. Oral Evidence Session: UK Military Operations In Syria And Iraq – Wednesday 13 April 2016 – Thatcher Room, Portcullis House.
Witnesses:
At 10.15am
• Richard Atwood, Director of Multilateral Affairs and Head of New York Office, International Crisis Group
• Claudia Gazzini, Senior Analyst, Libya Tripoli, International Crisis Group
The Committee will hold a further oral evidence session on its inquiry into UK military operations in Syria and Iraq. The Committee will seek to examine:
• The integration between Daesh in Iraq and Syria and its affiliates;
• The military and political strategy to counter DAESH; and:
• The impact of other external actors engaged in the conflict.
House of Commons and House of Lords Hansard Written Answers
Q
Asked by Dan Jarvis
(Barnsley Central)
Asked on: 21 March 2016
Ministry of Defence
Arms Trade
31842
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which non-UK EU armed forces procure materiel from British companies.
A
Answered by: Mr Julian Brazier
Answered on: 31 March 2016
In 2014, Europe accounted for 10% of UK defence exports, with a value of approximately £800 million. Additionally, details of all export licences granted in 2014 can be found at;
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491986/16-54-strategic-export-controls-country-pivot-report-2014.pdf,
However this cannot be treated as an exhaustive list of defence exports.
Q
Asked by Dan Jarvis
(Barnsley Central)
Asked on: 21 March 2016
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
EU Common Foreign and Security Policy
31841
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the EU’s decision-making process is for (a) humanitarian and (b) military interventions; who is involved in those decision-making processes; and what the timetable for those processes is.
A
Answered by: Mr David Lidington
Answered on: 31 March 2016
The EU’s humanitarian assistance is administered primarily by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO). Approved implementation partners submit project proposals to ECHO in response to its Humanitarian Implementation Plan. ECHO has a number of decision-making procedures available to it: the delegation procedure, where ECHO has delegated powers for emergency humanitarian work up to a limit of €3m and a maximum duration of three months); and the empowerment procedure, where the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection may take decisions relating to emergency operations up to €30m (maximum €10m for non-urgent decisions) for a maximum of six months. These decisions are subject to a consultation procedure within the Commission. Emergency decisions exceeding €10m and non-urgent decisions exceeding €2m (and all other decisions not covered by the delegated or empowerment procedures) require the approval of the Humanitarian Aid Committee (of representatives of all EU Member States). These decisions can be made by consensus or by voting, simple majority or Qualified Majority Voting, depending on the circumstances. The voting procedure has not been used in the Humanitarian Aid Committee as yet. The timeframe for the Commission’s approval will depend on the urgency of the humanitarian crisis.
EU military interventions fall under the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy. Proposals are framed by Member States and the European External Action Service. A military intervention requires two Council Decisions: one to establish the mission; and, once planning is complete, another to launch the mission. All CSDP Council Decisions require unanimity. Timescales for military interventions depend on a range of factors, such as operational urgency and planning requirements.
There are other Commission-administered programmes, aside from those administered by ECHO, which have humanitarian aspects. Typically, under these programmes, the Commission is res