asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has entered into direct consultation with other member states of the European Community concerning the impact of the completion of the internal market upon those peripheral nations within the community whose level of economic development is similar to Ireland; if he will give details of such discussions and of their outcome and conclusions which may have emerged with a view to outlining what co-ordinated course of action the Government propose to take to ensure that the provision of the Single European Act with regards to social cohesion would be effectively put in place in a timetable co-terminous with the achievement of the completion of the internal market; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Consultations with Member States.
The Single European Act provides in the new Article 130B which is inserted into the EC Treaty that the implementation of the internal market must take into account and contribute to the achievement of the cohesion objectives set out elsewhere in the Act.
Since taking office, the Government have pursued a consistent policy of ensuring that the achievement of economic and social cohesion, now established by the Single European Act as one of the Community's principal objectives, is pursued in parallel with the completion of the internal market. In its Programme for National Recovery published last month, the Government stated that:
We are anxious that Ireland should play the fullest part possible in the completion of the internal market, subject to full account being taken of the possible serious difficulties for our economy from an insensitive application of some of the proposals involved and also, of course, to market-opening measures being matched by more effective Community action to achieve greater economic and social cohesion.
Since the publication of the Commission's proposals in February of this year negotiations have been in progress on what President Delors calls "Making a success of the Single European Act". These negotiations have taken place at the European Council and at the Foreign Affairs Council and they are continuing. In addition there has been a series of bilateral contacts with other member states both by way of visits by members of the Government to other capitals and visits to Dublin by community colleagues.
The Deputy will appreciate from his knowledge of how government operates that the Government pursues its interests through every means available to it, and Irish Ministers have of course taken every opportunity to advise our partners in Europe of Ireland's concerns in these negotiations. However, he will also appreciate that to reveal details of specific contacts or their outcome could be counterproductive to the negotiating process.
I would, finally, draw the Deputy's attention to the conclusions of the June European Council, to which the Heads of Government of 11 member states subscribed and which agreed that the objectives of the Single European Act could not be pursued in isolation from each other. They also spoke of the need to strike a balance between achieving the internal market and strengthening cohesion.