asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the European Union has made payments to Turkey for aid or development purposes in the current or previous years; if so, of what amounts; and what inspections or other methods are in use to verify that payments are spent for the purposes intended. [HL998]

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) figures, the European Commission disbursed $187 million of official development assistance (ODA) to Turkey in 2000, $143 million in 2001, $151 million in 2002, $140 million in 2003, $303 million in 2004, $392 million in 2005 and $383 million in 2006. The Commission has also committed €2.3 billion in assistance to Turkey from 2007 to 2010 which is funded from the Instrument for Pre-Accession.

To verify that payments are spent for the purposes intended, the Commission has developed a results-orientated monitoring (ROM) process which is based on regular on-site assessments by independent experts of ongoing projects and programmes. The outcome of this process forms part of the Commission's annual report on the European Community's development policy and implementation of external assistance.

Assistance to Turkey is also scrutinised by EU member states through the management committees for each instrument. From 2007, this function is carried out by the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) Management Committee.