The Government welcomes this report as further evidence of the importance which the Oireachtas places upon the Treaty of Amsterdam as the next necessary step in European integration. Tonight's contributions are timely as the referendum campaign on the treaty is moving to its final phase.
At its special meeting of 24 April last, whose report is the occasion of tonight's statements, the Joint Committee on European Affairs expressed concern at the level of publicity which has been given to the issues involved in the referendum on the Treaty of Amsterdam. I wish, therefore, to avail of this opportunity to set out the facts on the important matter of information to the public in the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty. My account will illustrate the action which the Government has taken in the circumstances in which it finds itself in relation to this referendum, to help to ensure that all eligible voters will be in a position to make an informed decision on the treaty in the referendum. This action began long before the Government, on 20 April last, decided that the Amsterdam referendum would be held on 22 May. To understand the true position, it is necessary to go back to the Intergovernmental Conference which negotiated the treaty of Amsterdam. For various reasons, not least the approach taken by the previous Government to the negotiations, that Intergovernmental Conference was conducted in a notably more open fashion than previous Intergovernmental Conferences.
This treaty was negotiated in a more open fashion than earlier EU treaties. Deputies who were in Government at the time will recall that transparency was a hallmark of the Intergovernmental Conference which negotiated the Treaty of Amsterdam from March 1996 to June 1997. Throughout the negotiations both the European and national parliaments, including our own, were kept regularly informed of the state of play. There were regular briefings for the media. The general outline for a draft revision of the treaties, which was drafted by the Irish Presidency and submitted to the European Council in December 1997, was clearly and succinctly written in language intended to be readily understood by interested members of the public. Copies of this document were sent to all public libraries and to a large number of NGOs and other interested groups who had made submissions to the Department of Foreign Affairs during the negotiation of the treaty.
Following the conclusion of the Treaty of Amsterdam in June 1997 and its signature in October, the Government immediately set about the preparation of a White Paper on the Treaty of Amsterdam with the objective of contributing to an informed public debate about it. A full day of statements on the treaty in Dáil Éireann on 16 October last, as well as numerous parliamentary questions to the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs throughout last autumn about, for example, the progress of work on the White Paper, served to keep a focus on the treaty throughout the period of preparation.
The Government's White Paper on the Treaty of Amsterdam, which was launched by the Minister for Foreign Affairs on 26 January, is probably the most comprehensive and comprehensible account of the treaty produced anywhere in Europe. It has been acknowledged as such by our EU partners, by applicant countries and by the EU institutions as well as within Ireland. It is written in purely objective, factual, non-advocative terms. Opponents as well as supporters of the treaty are agreed on this. In addition to Irish and European parliamentarians and the press, the White Paper was sent to all public libraries and to all third level educational institutions. The media were briefed about the treaty at the time of the launch. The Government is pleased to note the intensified coverage which is at last being given to the subject in the press and the electronic media, now that the referendum campaign is in high gear.
Just days after the publication of the White Paper, the Department of Foreign Affairs produced a Summary of the White Paper in both Irish and English language versions. Availability of this 30-page summary, free on request, was widely advertised in the national press on 1 and 2 February, well in advance of the referendum campaign. Since the campaign began requests from individuals and groups for copies of the summary have accelerated perceptibly. The Government is pleased that the summary, like the White Paper, has been praised by opponents as well as supporters for its clear, balanced and succinct account of what the treaty contains. As noted in the conclusion to its report, the joint committee recommended this summary to the Houses of the Oireachtas and to the public as giving succinct but comprehensive coverage of the issues involved. On a recent popular radio programme entirely devoted to the treaty, panellists representing both sides agreed in characterising the summary as the single best starting point for anybody who wishes to be informed about what the Treaty of Amsterdam means. I invite Deputies to play their part in letting it be known that the summary of the Government's White Paper remains available to members of the public and that it can be obtained free on request to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Arrangements are in place to ensure that any voter seeking to be informed about the treaty is in a position to get a copy of this very readable summary. It has been provided in both languages to all public libraries and citizens' information centres with the indication that they may seek further copies in order to meet requests from members of the public. In addition, it remains open to any member of the public to request the summary in either language directly from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Claims have been made that it is difficult to obtain a copy of the text of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Some have even suggested that the position with respect to the availability of the treaty text is somehow sinister, but I reject this. The text of the treaty, in English and Irish which is also a treaty language, went on sale in the Government Publications Sales Office in Molesworth Street after the treaty was signed last October. This is standard practice. It is exactly the practice which was followed with respect to the more ambitious Maastricht Treaty. I assure the House, therefore, that the text of the treaty is available. Since late October last, the Government Publications Office has at all times been in a position to meet sales demand for it. As we move into the final stage of the referendum campaign, the treaty text is still available from the Government Publications Office. Moreover, as already stated in this House more than once, the text of the Treaty of Amsterdam has for several months past been available on the Department of Foreign Affairs website. I have read that at this stage it is available on the websites of most political parties, with the notable exception of the party which has sought to make an issue of its inaccessibility, and on the website of at least one broadsheet national daily newspaper.
To compare unfavourably the limited availability of the Amsterdam Treaty with the dissemination of the Good Friday Agreement to every household is to overlook a fundamental difference between the two documents. The Good Friday Agreement is an entirely new, stand-alone treaty and it is not the subject of a Government White Paper. The Amsterdam Treaty consists entirely of amendments to earlier treaties to which the people have consented in three previous referenda. Inevitably, it is a highly referential rather than a stand-alone document. Since the action of the Danish Government tends to be cited in various connections in regard to this referendum, the House might note that the Danish Government sensibly decided, in view of this characteristic, not to circulate the Treaty of Amsterdam to every household.
The Treaty of Amsterdam has been considered in this House and in the Seanad at several stages since it was concluded. In reporting to the House on 10 July after the European Council of June 1997 at which the treaty was concluded, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs made a comprehensive presentation of the content of the new treaty. Following its signature by Foreign Ministers on 2 October, all parties in this House and a number of Independent Deputies made statements on the Treaty over several hours on 16 October. In March the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1998, passed all Stages in the Dáil giving rise to extensive debate at each Stage. The Seanad's consideration of the
Bill on 1 April also prompted numerous contributions from Members on the Treaty. On these occasions the Minister for Foreign Affairs and other members of the Government set out the Government's position on the Amsterdam Treaty and on the related amendment which it is proposed to make to the Constitution in considerable detail. To suggest, therefore, that the Oireachtas has not paid sufficient attention to the Treaty is simply untenable.
For the first time in an EU referendum campaign there is an independent statutory commission which is charged with providing information on the referendum proposal in a way that is fair to all sides. The Referendum Commission, which is chaired by Mr. Justice Finlay, has already distributed one bilingual information booklet entitled An Overview: Your Questions on the Amsterdam Treaty Referendum Answered to every household in the country. Public libraries and citizens' information centres have received copies of a fuller publication entitled Your Voice, Your Choice: An insight into the Amsterdam Treaty for members of the public to consult. A second bilingual booklet setting out the cases for and against the Treaty as reflected in submissions made to the commission by proponents and opponents of the Treaty will reach households in the course of this week. The commission is also making extensive use of the electronic media to disseminate material on the Treaty.
By legislating to establish the Referendum Commission the Government has made provision for the production at public expense of material which constitutes a basis on which all voters can begin to inform themselves about the Treaty and its implications.
I note from its report that the committee, of which I am not a member, received submissions from a number of bodies including the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation and the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed. I was struck by the fact that employment featured as a matter of common concern to these disparate bodies. Provided the provisions of the new Title on Employment are activated and developed in a meaningful way they will make a real difference to efforts throughout Europe to combat unemployment. At a minimum they represent a significant step forward in the co-ordination of the employment policies of member states and an essential complement to the creation of a single market with a single currency.
The committee also received submissions from the Peace and Neutrality Alliance and the National Platform. In this regard I can be brief. The Treaty explicitly states that EU policy shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states. This reference was originally inserted in the Maastricht Treaty to take account of Ireland's policy of military neutrality. Successive Governments have made clear that if ever the issue of an EU common defence were to arise in the future it would be put to the people for their decision in a referendum. An EU common defence would be such a major undertaking that it would require major Treaty reform, a further intergovernmental conference and, in Ireland's case, a referendum.
Far from eroding neutrality, the inclusion in the Treaty of peacekeeping, humanitarian, crisis management and peacemaking tasks is fully in line with our long standing commitment to UN peacekeeping and is to be welcomed. While the essentially intergovernmental nature of the CFSP will be maintained, the preparation, adoption and implementation of decisions in the foreign policy area will be improved. This will help the EU to play a role in the future commensurate with its responsibilities on the Continent.
Some opponents of the Treaty focus on very particular points in it with which they disagree. This approach leads them to argue that the State should withhold consent to the Treaty and seek to renegotiate those parts to which they object. Such arguments fail completely to understand the way in which the member states come to agreement within the EU. It must be understood that not ratifying the Treaty would throw its entire contents into doubt.
I would like to draw attention to one example of what would be lost. In the negotiations related to the EU's institutions Ireland remained firm on the right of each member state to nominate a full member of the Commission and this is reflected in the provisions of the Protocol which deals with institutions. Were the Amsterdam Treaty prevented from coming into force all bets would be off. There could be absolutely no assurance that this crucial principle would emerge intact from a second round of negotiation. Indeed, given the dissatisfaction of a number of partners, not including Ireland, with the outcome on institutions, it would be folly to endanger what was secured at Amsterdam with respect to the composition of the Commission.
In the field of social protection it has been said that the ending of the UK opt out from the Social Protocol and its integration into the Treaty is of no relevance to the Irish voter. On the contrary, this development is highly relevant to Ireland's competitive position vis-a-vis the UK within the Single Market. Competitive advantage is not just a matter of exchange rates. By joining with the other 14 member states the UK has ended the breach on social policy which opened up at Maastricht and cleared the way for the development of a unified social policy throughout the EU.
Were the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty to be blocked, no member state would be in a position at EU level to insist on the retention of those parts of the Treaty which it particularly likes and to seek to renegotiate those which it likes less. The negotiations for the Treaty were conducted with a view to arriving at a package of measures which relate to each other and form a whole. The Treaty was concluded as a coherent, if modest, whole. The Government is convinced that all Irish interests were well served in the negotiation of this Treaty and in its outcome. The Treaty of Amsterdam has a great many merits and no negatives for Ireland.
The past century has been one of progress for the country. We look forward with optimism to the opportunities the next millennium will bring. There are two great steps to be taken on 22 May. One is the ratification of the amendment to the Constitution to the Northern Ireland peace agreement and the other is the ratification of the Amsterdam Treaty. They are inextricably linked in the totality of relationships on the island and the future development of the country. I hope the nation will ensure that a strong positive decision is made so that we may continue to give our representatives in Europe continued support in their efforts to ensure Ireland plays a positive role in Europe's future and benefits from a growing economy in the EU.
