Vol. 418 No. 5
49 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give details of his discussion with EC Foreign Ministers concerning the acceptance of, or amendment to, the Irish Protocol to the Maastricht Treaty; and whether Ireland's pressure to change the Protocol has led to pressure from any other country to alter their protocols.
Subsequent to the judgment of the Supreme Court on 5 March in the case of the Attorney General and X and Others, the Government decided that it would be necessary to seek an amendment to Protocol No. 17 of the Treaty on European Union to take account of the judgment. This would involve an Intergovernmental Conference to consider and agree on the necessary amendments.
In taking up the matter with partners, the Government were fully conscious that there would be a reluctance to reopen the Maastricht Treaty. We are aware that in other member states there was pressure to seek changes and that Governments would be anxious to avoid the risk that fundamental questions relating to the Treaty on European Union, which was negotiated with considerable difficulty, might be reopened.
The issue was raised at diplomatic level in Brussels and in capitals. At the General Affairs Council on Monday 6 April the issue was discussed in detail. While partners expressed full understanding of the Irish request and could readily accept the substance of our concerns, a majority of my colleagues were very reluctant to reopen the negotiations on the Treaty to enable the Irish amendment to be inserted in the Protocol. These concerns were related to the pressures in their countries which exist independently of our request to seek changes in the Treaty.
