Vol. 190 No. 5
asked the Taoiseach what arrangements exist in each of the six member states of the European Economic Community to ensure the full play of competitive private enterprise; and whether the provisions of Article 85 of the Treaty of Rome will require the amendment of the present restrictive trade practices legislation should it be decided to join the Common Market as (1) a full member or (2) an associate member.
2.
asked the Taoiseach whether this country can hope to obtain loans from the European Investment Bank under Articles 129 and 130 of the Treaty of Rome should it be decided to join the Common Market as (1) a full member or (2) an associate member.
3.
asked the Taoiseach in what respects the Court of Justice appointed under Articles 164-188 of the Treaty of Rome will be entitled to overrule the Supreme Court should Ireland join the Common Market as (1) a full member or (2) an associate member.
4.
asked the Taoiseach if he will confirm that there is no doubt that this country will be able to retain its method of raising indirect taxation through revenue customs duties, including in particular the customs duty on tobacco (by reason of the terms of Articles 95-99 of the Treaty of Rome), should it be decided to join the Common Market as (1) a full member or (2) an associate member.
5.
asked the Taoiseach whether it is clear that under Articles 92, 3 (a) of the Treaty of Rome this country will be entitled to retain its system of tax remissions on exports should it be decided to join the Common Market as (1) a full member or (2) an associate member.
6.
asked the Taoiseach what changes will Articles 67-73 of the Treaty of Rome involve in Ireland's exchange control arrangements should Ireland join the Common Market as (1) a full member or (2) an associate member.
7.
asked the Taoiseach if he will state for the last available year for each of the six countries of the European Economic Community what proportion of each £1 of revenue collected by the respective central governments was raised from (a) indirect taxation and (b) direct taxation.
8.
asked the Taoiseach what period of relief Ireland can hope to obtain under Article 226 of the Treaty of Rome should speedy removal of import restrictions cause serious difficulties immediately after joining the Common Market.
9.
asked the Taoiseach whether the E.E.C. has made clear that the reductions in tariffs visualised in Article 14.2 of the Rome Treaty will become operative only as regards new members from the date of entry of such members; and if he will give the amount of this country's total customs receipts for 1956 calculated as in Article 14.6.
10.
asked the Taoiseach whether membership of the E.E.C. by Ireland involves the basic duty date being the 1st July, 1957, as provided by Article 14.1 of the Rome Treaty; if not, what date; if the former, whether the Special Import Levies are considered duties for the purpose of the Article; and if he will give particulars of any duties imposed since the basic date.
11.
asked the Taoiseach whether there are in force in Ireland any, and, if so, what customs duties on exportation or charges with equivalent effect as specified in Article 12 of the Treaty of Rome.
12.
asked the Taoiseach whether the Commission established by the Treaty of Rome has yet laid down any provisions affecting trade between member states as provided by Article 10.2 of the Treaty.
13.
asked the Taoiseach if he can state in general terms the taxation provisions affecting industrial production in each of the six Common Market countries, and, in particular, whether they are more or less favourable than this country's in the provision of reliefs or inducements towards frequent retooling and replacement of obsolescent machinery by industry.
14.
asked the Taoiseach if he will make available to members details of the customs tariffs that are at present common to the six member states of the European Economic Community; and whether the Community has as yet published the common customs tariff at which they aim in Article 2 (b) of the Treaty of Rome.
15.
asked the Taoiseach whether the provisions of Article 25.1 of the Treaty of Rome would apply to the raw materials needed by Irish industry for further production.
16.
asked the Taoiseach whether he ascertained the period for which postponement of lowering of tariffs might be allowed in case of special difficulty under Article 26 of the Treaty of Rome.
17.
asked the Taoiseach if he will state the basic legislative and administrative provisions in regard to customs matters to which Ireland would have to approximate under Article 27 of the Treaty of Rome.
18.
asked the Taoiseach whether Ireland has at present any, and, if so, what, bilateral quotas (such as are visualised in Article 33 of the Treaty of Rome) for either imports from or exports to any, and, if so, which member states of the European Economic Community or of the European Free Trade Association.
19.
andMr. McQuillan asked the Taoiseach what were the political considerations to which he referred in a reply of 14th June, 1961 which he said would be involved in Ireland's joining the Common Market, but which he felt would not conflict with the national interests.
I propose, with your permission, Sir, to take Questions numbers 1 to 19 together.
Some of these questions, in particular, numbers 2,5,6,8 and 16 and parts of others, relate to matters which would be the subject of detailed negotiations in the event of Ireland applying for membership of the European Economic Community, and consequently it would not be in the national interest for me to indicate views on them at this stage.
As regards the remaining questions, I have decided to have prepared for the information of Deputies a White Paper on the provisions of the Treaty of Rome and the Common Market arrangements generally. This White Paper is in course of preparation and should be ready within a few weeks. Information on questions of fact and interpretation such as those raised in the questions under reply will be incorporated, as far as practicable, in the text of the White Paper. It is preferable that such information should be given in a single co-ordinated publication rather than in an unrelated, piecemeal fashion. It is intended that the White Paper, as well as summarising the provisions of the Treaty of Rome and outlining the present proposals for a common agricultural policy, will also contain informative material on Ireland's trade and other relations with the European Economic Community.
It will be understood, however, that it would not be possible to discuss the implications for Ireland of membership of the Community until the terms of accession were clarified in the course of the detailed negotiations which would follow an application for membership. A further White Paper, covering these matters, would then be published as a basis for discussion by the Dáil of the decision proposed by the Government.
I am glad, even after 19 Questions, that I have got the Taoiseach at last to do what we have been asking him to do for weeks and weeks, namely, to publish an informative White Paper. It is about time he woke up to his job.
May I express my pleasure that the Deputy has at last read the Rome Treaty.
The Deputy did so a considerable time ago.
Will this White Paper be purely factual or will it embody the Government's views and will time be given by the Taoiseach for a discussion on the White Paper?
The White Paper will be completely factual. As I told the Deputy before, the question of a discussion here would arise only if there was a proposition to be made to the House. There will, however, be opportunities upon motions which are due to come before the House to deal with aspects of this matter, if Deputies wish to do so.
Does the Taoiseach, therefore, believe it is premature for the Government to give an opinion on whether we should become members of the six European Countries of the Common Market?
I think it is premature.
Will the White Paper be furnished in ample time before the House rises so that Deputies can, by Question, get any information it should contain and which it does not contain?
It will be published with all due speed. This is not a static situation. It is changing from week to week. The time of publication of the White Paper will be determined by the course of events in the meantime.
Does the Taoiseach visualise our having to take a decision in this matter, say, before 31st July?
I do not know.
Is the Taoiseach talking of the primary or the subsequent decision? There are two—one in principle and the second after the result of negotiations.
The first decision which might possibly be taken would be to apply for membership of the E.E.C.
Or associate membership.
The second decision would be to accept membership on the basis negotiated. I do not contemplate that a situation will arise which will call for a decision in the next few weeks. This however is a situation which could change very rapidly.
The Government, therefore, may be required to make a decision between, say, 31st July, when it is expected the Dáil will rise, and the holding of an election, say, in October. The Government may be required to make this decision during the period of the Recess when the Dáil will not have an opportunity of considering any proposed decision by the Government.
The effective decision that must ultimately be taken by the Government and the Dáil will be to accept membership of the Community, if that situation should arise. The decision to seek membership would be an executive decision, although it would be a necessary preliminary step to the ultimate decision.
There may have to be a special session of the Dáil to consider it.
In the light of the Taoiseach's last observation, that the necessity for a decision might arise at any time, would it not be better, pending the issue of the White Paper, that such information as is available should be made available by way of replies to Questions for the benefit of the House so that they could be studied ad interim?
I do not think the Taoiseach is being quite frank with the House. On several occasions, he made it quite clear that no decision would be taken in regard to joining the Common Market until some decision had been taken by the British Government in the matter. So far as we are aware, no decision has been taken by the British Government in regard to joining the Common Market. Could the Taoiseach say what has brought about this rather radical change in his own attitude in the past few weeks and, in particular, since the visit to this country of Von Brentano from Western Germany?
There has been no change in my attitude.
Would the Taoiseach answer my supplementary? In view of the fact that the Taoiseach says the decision might have to be taken at reasonably short notice and that he is not able to give us any date for the publication of the White Paper, is it not better that such information as is at present available should be supplied to the House by way of replies to Questions?
In so far as Deputies may want information as to the objectives which the Government would seek in the course of negotiations, I think it would not be in the national interest that the Government should be asked to publish its views now. In so far as a Deputy may require information regarding the provisions of the Rome Treaty, regarding decisions taken by the Council of Ministers set up by the Rome Treaty or the implementation of that Treaty, I think it is better that we should try to give the House a complete picture in one document, as far as that is practicable.
That depends on how long the document is going to take.
It will not take very long.
In regard to No. 19, can we take it that whatever political considerations are involved in the provisions of the Rome Treaty will be included as part of the information which will be provided to the House in the White Paper?
The provisions of the Rome Treaty which could be regarded as having political implications will be dealt with.
May I ask the Taoiseach whether he has taken into consideration the situation that has already arisen in one country which is in the Common Market, namely, France, where the small farmers have their backs to the wall as a result of France's membership of the Common Market? Will the Taoiseach take into consideration the fact that if this country joins the Common Market without guarantees of protection, the small farmers will be wiped out?
The fact is, of course, that the agricultural provisions of the Rome Treaty are not yet in operation.
As far as France is concerned, the impact of the Common Market has been to destroy the market for the small farmers there. Today they are taking steps to blockade towns and so forth as a result of the position.
I do not think the French farmers would accept the Deputy's interpretation of their motives.
The Taoiseach should consider the welfare of the small farmer——
Will Deputy McQuillan allow somebody else to speak?
Last week, the Taoiseach indicated the Government had under consideration opening discussions with countries in the Common Market. Would he say if the Government have come to a decision in that matter and when such discussions might open?
I cannot.
Can the Taoiseach not deal with certain questions, Nos. 11 and 13, which affect our own situation and relate to factual matters concerning the position in other countries? They may arise out of the Treaty of Rome but they do not affect the implementation of the Treaty.
That information is being collected and will be made available.
When it is available, will the Taoiseach come to the House with it and not spill it out at some chamber of commerce dinner?
The Deputy would be well advised to read the speeches I made at chamber of commerce dinners.
Did the Taoiseach say the information would be supplied to the Deputy?
No. It will be contained in the White Paper.
We will put down more questions to indicate what we think the White Paper should contain.
