Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 4 Jul 1996

Vol. 468 No. 2

Written Answers. - Intergovernmental Conferences.

Liz O'Donnell

Question:

33 Ms O'Donnell asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the arrangements in place for the holding of an Inter-Governmental Conference during the Irish Presidency of the EU; whether either or both of the European Council summits to be held in Ireland later this year will be constituted as an Inter-Governmental Conference; and the anticipated agenda of these summits. [14650/96]

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

As the Deputy will be aware, the Intergovernmental Conference or Intergovernmental Conference which is considering possible amendments to the European Union treaties opened in Turin on 29 March and is expected to run well into 1997. Chairing the Intergovernmental Conference will, of course, be a major priority of our Presidency. Our aim will be to advance the negotiations as effectively and expeditiously as possible in the interests of all member states and of the European Union as a whole bearing in mind the particular mandate which we have received from the Florence European Council to prepare for the European Council in Dublin in December a general outline for a draft revision of the Treaties.

Foreign Ministers have overall responsibility for the Intergovernmental Conference negotiations, and the Intergovernmental Conference meets at Foreign Minister level in principle once a month. The work of Foreign Ministers is prepared by a working party of their representatives which meets more frequently. A copy of the draft calendar of meetings of the Intergovernmental Conference during our Presidency has been lodged in the Oireachtas Library.

The question of constituting a European Council as a meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference does not arise. However, European Councils normally play an important role in Intergovernmental Conference negotiations. The Intergovernmental Conference is expected to be one of the major agenda items at the Dublin European Council in December. As I have indicated, the aim is to have for that meeting a general outline for a draft revision of the treaties.

As regards the special meeting of the European Council in October, the intention of Florence was that such a meeting would be particularly useful to keep up the momentum of the Union's business in view of the wide range of issues facing the Union over the coming period. The broad intention of the Heads of State or Government is that this special European Council would be a relatively informal meeting offering an opportunity for a strategic think-in on the major issues facing Europe in the run up to the year 2000. The meeting will therefore offer an opportunity to address the range of issues facing the Union and among other things to take note of the progress at the Intergovernmental Conference. It is not envisaged that there will be a formal agenda or formal conclusion.

As regards the question of the anticipated agenda of the European Council meeting in December, it is not possible to define this in detail at this stage.

However, the expectation is that the agenda will to a large extent reflect the priorities of the Irish Presidency. Apart from the Intergovernmental Conference this includes areas such as employment, co-operation in the justice and home affairs area including tackling the problems of drugs and associated criminality, European Monetary Union, pursuing completion of the internal market and addressing a range of issues in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy.