I propose to take Questions Nos. 24, 27, 36 and 44 together. Significant progress was made at the Intergovernmental Conference during the Irish Presidency. The Dublin European Council on 13 and 14 December welcomed the outline draft treaty presented by the Irish Presidency as a good basis for the further work of the conference. Negotiations are continuing under the Dutch Presidency and the conference remains on course to conclude in Amsterdam in June. The work of the conference since January has been focusing in particular on certain issues where most work remains to be done, notably flexibility, certain sensitive institutional questions and the area of justice and home affairs. While a further three months of difficult negotiations remain, the prospects are that the outcome will be satisfactory from the Irish point of view.
Flexibility is one of the most important questions being examined by the Intergovernmental Conference. The issues involved are both sensitive and complex. The concept of flexibility in the European Union is not new. The current treaty provisions on economic and monetary union, for example, provide for significant flexibility. However, the manner in which the concept is developed in the treaty will be of the greatest significance for the future of the European Union. There are essentially three types of flexibility under discussion at the conference. The first approach would be to provide for flexibility on a case by case basis whereby one or more member states, while not being bound by a decision, would not prevent others from implementing it. The second approach, so-called "predetermined flexibility", would involve establishing in the treaty detailed provisions with a view to flexibility in a particular area. The third type of flexibility under discussion is the so-called "enabling clause" approach which would involve setting out general principles in the treaty to be respected in any case of flexibility as well as enabling clauses specific to one or more of the three pillars of the EU establishing the institutional mechanisms according to which flexibility could be applied.