Vol. 261 No. 5
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the implications for Ireland of the declarations on liquid milk, pig meat and eggs made by representatives of the United Kingdom and of the European Communities on 27th October, 1970, and incorporated in the Treaty of Accession of Ireland to the EEC.
56.
andMr. Timmins asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries the implications for Ireland of the agreement in the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the Community on the special problems of hill farming; and if he will state why Ireland did not seek a similar declaration in regard to the special problems of hill farming in Ireland.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 56 together.
The declarations referred to are unilateral statements made in the course of the entry negotiations by the British and Community delegations respectively. They are not incorporated in the Treaty of Accession but are only appendices which have no legal effect or binding on member states.
In the case of the declarations on liquid milk, pigmeat and eggs, the final paragraph of the statement made on behalf of the Community delegation notes with satisfaction that the existing Community regulations concerning these products—which, of course, Ireland and the other new member states have accepted—will not have to be amended to take into account the anxieties expressed by the British delegation.
In the case of the declarations on hill farming, the Community delegation's statement acknowledges that special conditions obtaining in certain areas of the enlarged Community may require action with a view to attempting to resolve the problems raised by these conditions and, in particular, to preserve reasonable incomes for farmers in such areas, but adds that such action must be in conformity with the provisions of the Treaty of Rome and the common agricultural policy. This statement relates not to any particular member state but to the enlarged Community as a whole.
Can the Minister say, if these declarations have no legal effect, why the British sought to have them made and why Norway and other countries are seeking to have similar declarations made in respect of problems of particular interest to them? Is he aware that there appears in the directive in relation to milk marketing to be a recognition of the possible continuance of the monopoly position of the British Milk Marketing Board which could have a detrimental effect on Irish milk product exports to Britain; and is he also aware that, in relation to the hill farming declaration, there is a special recognition accorded to United Kingdom problems in this field without any special recognition being accorded to Irish problems in this field which are equally great?
I do not accept that contention at all. The Deputy asked me what the likely reason was for the British authorities seeking the annexe to the final act. This is a matter for speculation, but it is my opinion that their original intention was to have it incorporated in the Treaty of Accession itself and that this was not accepted, and when the Deputy studies the annexe added at the request of the British authorities to the final act and the commentary of the Community itself, I think he will be assured that in the case of each of the commodities mentioned in the question, any benefits that may accrue to British farming as a result of the representations made by the British Government will apply equally to other member states, including ourselves.
Will the Minister agree that there is a difference between the interests of Britain and the interests of Ireland in this context in that Britain is a food importer and we are food exporters, and in so far as these arrangements might give an advantage to food importers, it might be to our disadvantage?
On the question of hill farming, I think that they, like us, have a common interest in the maintenance of acceptable living standards for farmers engaged in hill farming and any concessions that may be made in this regard to British hill farmers will also naturally have to be available to ours.
But in relation to the other matter?
There is no selectivity incorporated in the Community's retort to the annexe to the final act submitted by the British Government.
