To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further measures the EU plans to take against any party (a) impeding the joint UN-AU hybrid force for Darfur, (b) obstructing humanitarian access and (c) failing constructively to engage in the Darfur political process, as discussed at the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting in Luxembourg in June. (218326)

The UK is ready to consider all available options to secure the effective deployment of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur and full humanitarian access to promote a peaceful resolution to the situation in Darfur. Possible steps could include an assets freeze or travel ban against individuals engaged in violence, authorising it or impeding progress. Our preference for further measures, in common with many of our EU partners, would be for UN sanctions because of their universal coverage and because they could include, for example, extension of the existing UN arms embargo to cover the whole of Sudan. The EU already has an arms embargo on the whole of Sudan.