Vol. 435 No. 9
128 Mr. Hogan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland agreed at the recent Brussels Summit that the Western European Union will implement the various provisions in respect of security policy embodied in the Maastricht Treaty; and if this represents a change of Government policy on the matter.
The section on the Common Foreign and Security Policy in the Conclusions of the European Council meeting in Brussels on 29 October 1993 states that "the Western European Union will shortly implement the various provisions embodied in the Treaty and the statement on the Western European Union".
The Treaty referred to is the Treaty on European Union. The only provision in that Treaty which relates to the Western European Union is Article J.4.2 under which the European Union may, by unanimity, request the Western European Union to elaborate and implement decisions and actions of the Union which have defence implications. The other provisions referred to in the sentence quoted above from the European Council Conclusions are the provisions of the Declaration on Western European Union adopted by the member states of the Western European Union at the time of the Maastricht European Council. The implementation of this Declaration is a matter for the member states of the Western European Union. The European Council Conclusions simply note that it is their intention to do so shortly.
