Alan Shatter
Question:16 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the initiative, if any, which will be taken at EC level to assist in economic reconstruction in Eastern Europe.
Written Answers. - Eastern Europe Economic Reconstruction.
Pat Rabbitte
Question:26 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Foreign Afairs if he agrees that EC economic aid should be provided for Eastern European countries without preconditions as to the sort of economic policies that these countries should adopt; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 16 and 26 together.
I advised the House on 23 November last of the developing EC initiative to assist and encourage the reform process in Eastern Europe. The EC measures are being co-ordinated with the group of 24 industrialised countries which is under the chairmanship of the European Commission.
Since last November there has been a further and still-continuing series of dramatic and welcome events in Central and Eastern Europe. The Community response, and that of the group of 24, has been keeping pace with events and has been developing to take account of changes in the situation. The actions under way include short term, emergency medical and food aid for Poland and Romania, trade concessions and EIB loans for suitable projects in Poland and Hungary. Further measures are under consideration. The most prominent of these is the proposal for a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development endorsed by the Strasbourg European Council. The Community and the other participants are now working intensively to reach agreement on the bank's statute. Proposals for a European training foundation and for a system of university level exchanges with Eastern Europe were presented to the Foreign Affairs Council on 5 February and the intention is to advance them as soon as possible. Consideration is also being given within the EC to the broader framework of the Community's relations with the States of Central and Eastern Europe. Work is proceeding on the completion of a network of trade and co-operation agreements between the EC and these countries.
While the original aid programme was directed at Poland and Hungary, which were in the vanguard of the reform process, extension of the assistance to other states of the region is now likely. Foreign Ministers of the Twelve at their meeting in Dublin Castle on 20 January signalled their agreement that a positive response should be given to requests from other Central and Eastern European countries which have embarked on political and economic reforms. Ministers also agreed on the need to respond in a way that was in accordance with the circumstances of each country.
Emergency aid such as food and medical supplies has been sent on humanitarian grounds. The purpose of the wider aid effort is to support the inter-linked processes of economic and political reform. It should assist the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to progress towards the goal they have set themselves of more market-oriented economies. It is for them to work out what courses they now seek to follow. The Community, itself made up of states following a range of economic policies, has no one blueprint it seeks to impose on others.
I can assure the House that formulating and delivering a coherent and comprehensive Community response to developments in Central and Eastern Europe is a matter to which as Presidency Ireland will afford priority.