Vol. 448 No. 4
79 Mr. Davern asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the commitment given by Mr. Santer, President of the European Commission, in his address to the European Parliament to have a single currency by 1997. [2253/95]
I agree fully with the statement made by President Santer, in the course of his recent wide-ranging address to the European Parliament introducing the programme of the new Commission, that a strong single currency is necessary in order to develop fully the potential of the single market and to stimulate investment, and that a single currency will bring substantial benefits to people in their everyday lives.
President Santer also drew attention to the fact that the path towards economic and monetary union is mapped out in the Maastricht Treaty. The Treaty provides that if the European Council is to take the decision by the end of 1996 to proceed to the third stage of economic and monetary union and thereby, in effect, bring the single currency into being, a majority of member states must meet the economic and budgetary performance criteria which the Treaty lays down. President Santer stated that the Commission will insist that these criteria are strictly applied, as indeed they must be if the single currency is to receive the necessary support and to engender the necessary confidence from the outset.
The Treaty also provides that if a majority of member states do not meet the necessary conditions at the end of 1996, then those member states who do may proceed to stage three of European Monetary Union (which includes the establishment of a single currency) in 1999.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Council decided in November 1994 that Ireland meets the budgetary performance criteria, one of only two member states (with Luxembourg) to do so. This decision constitutes formal recognition of the progress made by the Irish authorities in respect of the public finances in recent years.
The Programme of Renewal commits the Government to the targets set out in the Maastricht Treaty. The Government is determined to maintain the necessary fiscal discipline to ensure that Ireland continues to meet these targets and is among those member states which qualify to engage in the third stage of economic and monetary union.
President Santer in his speech promised a catalogue of the remaining necessary work for economic and monetary union as well as a Green Paper on the conditions for the transition to a single currency. I await these with interest.
