Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they are providing to (1) UK and (2) non-UK residents who are planning to travel between the UK and the EU after 29 March 2019; and what steps they are taking to publicise such advice.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
For UK citizens, we are providing information on travelling to the EU after exit. All information is available online on the Government's dedicated website: gov.uk/euexit.
We keep our travel advice pages up-to-date with the latest information about individual countries. People can subscribe to these pages to be kept informed about any changes. We are also providing information to UK passport holders regarding the potential change in validity rules to the Schengen zone in a no deal scenario. People are encouraged to check their passport's validity using a free checker tool on the gov.uk website. Information for EU citizens in the UK is also available on gov.uk/euexit.
A campaign and extensive engagement is underway to give people the information they need. We are engaging extensively with stakeholders to distribute travel advice through their customer communication channels.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they are providing to UK residents about travelling to and from the EU and other European countries; and how they will publicise any such advice.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is providing updates on the GOV.UK website to advise travellers to the EU and other European countries on visas, passports, driving permits and more. We encourage travellers to check the latest information on GOV.UK/euexit before starting their journey and to sign up for email alerts.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to collaborate with other countries to seek to (1) control, and (2) conduct research into, the commercial fishing of krill close to the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has been proactive within the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to strengthen the regulation of krill fishing around Antarctica. The British Antarctic Survey has led on a range of relevant scientific activities, including with international partners, to determine the abundance of krill, the factors that influence it's distribution, and the crucial role that krill plays in the Antarctic ecosystem. Work also includes studies to explore the overlap between fishing vessels and krill-eating seabirds and marine mammals, and the risks to these predators. The UK has proposed to CCAMLR that krill fishing activities should be moved offshore to avoid any potential overlap with the foraging areas of breeding wildlife. The UK has therefore welcomed the recent announcement by the Association of Responsible Krill Harvesting Operators (ARK) to voluntarily implement such measures. The UK also recently secured agreement by CCAMLR to protect marine areas that are newly exposed by ice shelf collapse or retreat around the Antarctic Peninsula.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the non-inclusion in the recent G20 communiqué of any reference to climate change, what measures they will take to ensure that a report on progress on climate change will be included in the final communiqué issued by future G20 meetings.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The G20 Finance Ministers’ communiqué was the result of negotiation between all G20 members and invited organisations, and is one in a series of statements being issued by G20 members this year. The UK remains firmly committed to taking action to tackle climate change and to the Paris Agreement. We will continue to engage in G20 discussions in the lead up to the G20 Leaders’ Summit on 8 July.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Foreign Secretary's recent description of the EU's position on access to the single market and free movement as "complete baloney", what guidance they issue to Ministers about the appropriate terms of discourse in describing foreign governments and international organisations.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As we leave the EU, the Government wants to give British companies the maximum freedom to trade and operate in the Single Market. Ministers are clear about this objective, and are able to draw on a wide range of expertise within the FCO and across Government, to help achieve it.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assistance the United Kingdom and the European Union are providing to Ukrainian scientific institutions that have been adversely affected by the recent political instability in that country.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK and EU are providing support to scientific institutions in Ukraine in several areas though not as a consequence of recent political instability. The Royal Society is currently funding, through its Department of Business Innovation and Skills grant, two international exchanges involving Ukrainian scientists worth £24,000.
The British Council has awarded grants of up to £5000 to support the development of partnerships between Ukrainian and UK higher education institutions in 2014-15. Priority was given to applications focussed on energy. The partnerships include:
Keele University - V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ecology Department;
University of Manchester - Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas;
Energy Institute, University College London - V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University, Department of Physics and Energy;
Aberystwyth University - Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Department of Geology;
Durham University - V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University, Department of Chemistry.
The EU’s Horizon 2020 programme is funding several projects in Ukraine, such as BILAT-UKR*AINA which supports science and technology policy dialogue between the Commission, EU Member States and Ukraine. The EU Delegation in Ukraine provides funding for a number of projects in areas such as energy, environment and the sustainable management of natural resources. In addition, Ukraine is a partner country to the Erasmus+ programme, and therefore has automatic access to a number of Erasmus+ activities in the area of youth and higher education, financed through EU external and internal funds.