asked the Taoiseach if he is satisfied that the negotiating committee of the EEC are prepared to deal with Ireland as a separate entity for admission to the Community; if any discussions on these lines have already taken place; and, if so, with whom.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Membership of EEC.
2.
Agreement has yet to be reached by the member Governments of the Six on the opening of negotiations with the applicant countries and on the procedure to be used in the negotiations. Our interest in securing simultaneous accession with the other applicants is understood and accepted by the member Governments and the Commission of the European Economic Community.
I take it that it is accepted by the Taoiseach and his Government that any negotiations that take place will be joint negotiations and not separate negotiations? I further put it to the Taoiseach as a query, is it not a fact that our interest in the benefit that we may gain from membership of the Common Market will be somewhat different from that of other applicants? It is largely in agriculture that our interest will be and, therefore, does the Taoiseach not consider that separate negotiation as a separate unit on behalf of this State is most eminently desirable?
I do not know from where Deputy Esmonde got the assumption that there would be joint negotiations. There will not be joint negotiations. There will be separate negotiations. The proposal of the commission is that there would be initial negotiations on accepted procedures as a first phase and on the common policies already agreed and the second phase would be envisaged, that would be, the procedure involving mainly Ministers who would at that phase confirm the results of the first phase and concentrate then on political problems such as those imposed by enlargement of the community, institutional problems and consequential amendments in the text of the treaties. These are envisaged as being separate negotiations but the main purpose is to ensure that there would be simultaneous accession and, again, the commission, in its opinion published on 1st October, envisages simultaneous accession as well. As far as our separate interests are concerned, that is, the separate interests of the applicant countries, the Deputy can be assured that we will pursue our separate interests to the fullest possible extent.
Having regard to the information that must be available to the Taoiseach from the countries of the Six through our representatives there, would the Taoiseach care to hazard a guess as to whether, in fact, we will become a member in the near future and would he, like his predecessor, care to name a year?
That seems to me to be a separate question.
It is a separate question but, as the Deputy is aware, a summit meeting, that is of the heads of Governments of the Six, was due to take place in mid-November. That has now been postponed until early December. I cannot hazard a guess at this stage as to when negotiations will be commenced after that date. Certainly it will not be before next year.
And the Taoiseach has no idea as to whether or not we will be admitted?
We have to negotiate our entry.
Does the Taoiseach remember eight or nine years ago when everybody in Dublin was talking about going into the Common Market the next year and, when people like myself said we would not be in for an age, we were laughed at?
Yes. But nobody in Brussels, Paris or Rome would have hazarded a guess then as to when we would be in.
May I suggest that the Common Market is rather like the common mind?
Is the Deputy opposed to it?
Yes, definitely.