asked Her Majesty's Government:

What further plans they have to assist states on the eastern boundary of the European Union through the European Union Neighbourhood Policy. [HL3045]

The UK welcomes the Commission's communication of 3 April, Implementation of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2007, and its accompanying country progress reports, and will continue to support the Commission and European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) partners in building on the achievements outlined.

We support the continuing development of ENP as a means of bringing security, stability and prosperity to our eastern and southern neighbours, in line with our Global Europe strategy. An important principle of ENP is differentiation, tailoring assistance to each partner's needs, capacity and ambition for its relations with the EU. We believe this approach best accommodates the interests of each individual neighbour. We want to keep the door open to EU membership for Ukraine and other European countries which might one day meet the membership criteria.

Through our annual contributions to the EU budget, the UK contributes around £120 million per annum towards the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument which supports the implementation of the ENP.