Vol. 399 No. 12
12 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government have taken or intend to take any initiatives, during the period of Ireland's Presidency of the EC, to further the application for Austrian membership of the EC.
In accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 237 of the EC Treaty the Commission is at present examining Austria's membership application. When this has been completed, Austria's application will be fully considered in the appropriate Community bodies.
During our Presidency we have maintained close contacts with the Austrian Government. I had talks with Chancellor Vranitzky in Dublin in May on which I reported to the Dáil on 22 May. On that occasion I said that Austria's case for EC membership is a very strong one on economic, geographic and cultural grounds. Pending the submission of the Commission's opinion in accordance with the provisions of the EC Treaty it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this stage.
I am sure the Taoiseach is aware of Chancellor Vranitzky's views that Austrian neutrality is regarded by at least some member states of the European Community as an obstacle to their membership. For example, he was reported in The Irish Times of 11 May 1990 — when he spoke here in Dublin — as having expressed the view that it was regarded as a political problem. He was arguing that it should be set aside and other issues dealt with, pending whatever other developments might take place in Europe in view of the current state of flux on a range of security matters. Would the Taoiseach acknowledge that there is opposition on the part of some members of the European Community, because of Austrian neutrality, which is delaying the process of consideration of their application?
That is not quite the position. The present position is — and it is accepted fully by the Austrians — that the processing of their application cannot commence until after 1992; that is the practical consideration. The Community has so much on its plate at present, so much to digest, that there has been a positive decision taken that there will be no further consideration of enlargement until 1993. That is the primary factor in the overall position.
With regard to Austrian neutrality, the position is changing also in that regard; there is movement on both sides. I think the Austrians themselves are rethinking their position. I cannot anticipate what the difficulties might be in 1993. It is a bit far ahead to be going into any semantics at this stage. What we all know is that the whole situation is changing, the military situation, the whole structure of Central and Eastern Europe is changing; indeed Community policy is changing. Therefore, it is somewhat premature to be taking up any particular attitude.
There are two parties to Austrian neutrality.
Notwithstanding what the Taoiseach has had to say — and while appreciating the constraints on him — in view of the fact that Austria is a developed economy and because they have not sought any transitional period in terms of conditions of entry into the Community after 1993, can he give the House an assurance that the Irish Government will not impede the application of the Austrian Republic in any way for full membership of the Community?
Of course. I think we all admire Austria as a country. I think we all agree that Austria's case for membership is a very strong one on all sorts of grounds and for many different reasons.
The Taoiseach seemed to indicate that his view was that the Austrian attitude was changing in relation to neutrality. Might I draw his attention to the statement by Chancellor Vranitzky on 11 May 1990 when he gave an emphatic reply that there was no change and not likely to be any, given the context?
No, I am talking about reports since that time. We are all changing.
I hope the Taoiseach is not dashing my hopes.
I thought the Deputy would welcome changes on my part.
Not ones for the worse.
I could not change for the worse could I?
In fact there is not much room for that.
If I were to take either of the two Deputies seriously I am sure there is considerable room for improvement and change for improvement.
We will await until the Taoiseach is back among us in the ordinary way.
It will be another few weeks only.
That is right.
I want to assure Deputies that I will be as approachable as ever after 30 June.
That sounds awful.
Let us come to Question No. 13.
