To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it is expected that the President of the European Council will convene and chair the meetings of the ATHENA Special Committee under the treaty of Lisbon if ratified; and if he will make a statement. (183518)

The Lisbon treaty does not specify who will convene and chair the meetings of the ATHENA Special Committee. Currently, the chairmanship is rotated every six months among member states.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether (a) qualified majority voting, (b) unanimity and (c) another voting procedure is used when voting in the ATHENA Special Committee. (183511)

Decisions of EU Special Committee ATHENA are taken unanimously by its members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much the UK has spent on European Security and Defence Policy training exercises under the ATHENA mechanism since January 2004. (183508)

The UK share of eligible costs under the ATHENA mechanism attributed to European Security and Defence Policy training exercises since January 2004 is £104,561.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the bank account used by the ATHENA Special Committee for EU military missions has ever been overdrawn; and if he will make a statement. (183506)

Bank accounts used for EU-led operations having military or defence implications are managed under the authority of the EU Special Committee ATHENA by: the administrator of the ATHENA mechanism; the commander of each operation (in relation to the operation which he/she commands); and an accounting officer. No ATHENA bank account may be overdrawn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) name and (b) country of location was of the bank used by the ATHENA Special Committee for each EU military mission since 2004. (183507)

The bank used by Special Committee ATHENA for each military mission since 2004 is ING-Bruxelles in Belgium.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on bank charges relating to payments from the UK’s contribution to the ATHENA mechanism in each year since 2004; and if he will make a statement. (183510)

The UK share of ATHENA bank charges that have been paid in each year since 2004 is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of the ATHENA mechanism common funding of EU military missions has been paid to NATO for use of NATO assets for EU (a) military missions and (b) military training exercises by (i) the UK, (ii) the EU and (iii) NATO member states who are not members of the EU in each year since 2004. (183512)

None. It was agreed in 2003 by the NATO and European Councils that NATO would charge the EU only for incremental or out-of-pocket costs for using NATO assets. To date it has not been necessary for NATO to charge such costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether NATO member states who are not members of the EU providing troops and resources to an EU military mission which falls under the 2002 Berlin Plus Agreement are allowed to (a) participate in and (b) be present during voting in the ATHENA Special Committee; and if he will make a statement. (183505)

NATO nations who are not members of the EU but who contribute to the financing of the common costs of an EU-led operation are considered as ‘contributing third states’. ‘Contributing third states’ are entitled to take part in the proceedings of Special Committee ATHENA but are not permitted to take part in or be present at its votes.