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Eastern Europe

Volume 175: debated on Monday 25 June 1990

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To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures he is undertaking to assist the new democratic regimes in eastern Europe.

The reforming countries of eastern Europe urgently need practical help to develop their labour markets, to fight unemployment, to increase training and retraining, and to generate a spirit of enterprise. My Department is giving a high priority to providing such help, working with and through the Government's know-how fund.In recent weeks I have visited Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and have signed agreements of co-operation in the labour market area with both Governments. This week I shall be in Poland, where I shall sign a similar agreement with the Polish Government. These individual agreements set out specific, practical measures, based on each country's particular needs, in a number of areas where my Department can help, including training and retraining, support for the development of small firms and enterprise, and the management of unemployment.