Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 11 Dec 1996

Vol. 472 No. 7

Written Answers. - EU Development Council.

Eoin Ryan

Question:

54 Mr. E. Ryan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the conclusions drawn or Council resolutions adopted at the Development Council in Brussels on 22 November 1996, particularly in relation to EU social and human development policy and future relations between EU and ACP countries. [23991/96]

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Spring)

The Development Council of 22 November, chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Burton, adopted resolutions on human and social development and on an integrated and co-ordinated approach in the fight against anti-personnel landmines. The Council also adopted conclusions on the integration of gender concerns into crisis prevention, emergency operations and rehabilitation. The gender conclusions and the resolution on anti-personnel landmines represented initiatives of the Irish Presidency. The resolution on human and social development was prepared jointly by the Commission and the Presidency and is based on a communication from the Commission. This resolution involves a major redefinition of EU aid policy, in line with the commitments made at the major UN conferences of recent years, in particular the social summit in Copenhagen.

The Development Council also held the first EU ministerial level discussion of future relations between the EU and the ACP states following the expiry of the Lomé IV Convention in the year 2000. While formal negotiations on a new ACP-EU arrangement will not begin until 1998, all member states, including Ireland, reaffirmed their commitment to the spirit of partnership which has characterised ACP-EU relations since the first Lomé Convention was agreed in 1975. The full texts of the resolutions and the conclusions adopted by the Development Council will be made available in the Oireachtas library.