Gay Mitchell
Question:3 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his priorities for the Helsinki EU summit. [25684/99]
Ceisteanna–Questions. Priority Questions. - Helsinki EU Summit.
Before turning to the substance of the Deputy's question, it may be useful if I set out for the House how the Helsinki European Council has been prepared. The Council of Ministers has advanced the preparatory work for this European Council in the normal way, namely in Brussels, with all member states participating, under the direction of the Presidency. It remains for the General Affairs Council on 6 December to review the state of the preparations as a whole and to finalise work on issues for which it has particular responsibility. In parallel with this multilateral process, the President of the European Council, Prime Minister Lipponen, has been engaged in pre-Helsinki bilateral consultations with Heads of State or Government in capitals. As the Taoiseach told the Dáil yesterday, Prime Minister Lipponen was in Dublin on Tuesday, 30 November. His tour will be completed tomorrow and the Presidency will then make a final determination as to the issues it will propose for discussion at Helsinki and the manner in which it proposes to handle them. These decisions are the prerogative of the Presidency.
The main foreign policy issues for discussion at Helsinki will be enlargement, common security and defence policy, the Intergovernmental Conference and the functioning of the Council in the perspective of enlargement, together with a small number of external relations issues, notably Russia, including Chechnya and the western Balkans security pact. I shall touch briefly on the Government's approach to these matters. Heads of State or Government will also consider economic policy co-ordination post-EMU, a proposed package of employment measures, environment issues and possibly taxation questions. A short millennium declaration is expected to be adopted.
With regard to enlargement, we hope that the Helsinki European Council will provide the impetus to a broadening and deepening of the enlargement process, along the lines recommended by the Commission in its 13 October composite report. The question of whether to confer candidate status on Turkey is also likely to be discussed in this context.
The Presidency will present a progress report to the Helsinki Council in response to the conclusions of the Cologne European Council on European security and defence matters. It is expected that this progress report will cover all aspects of crisis management, with the aim of enhancing the EU's ability to act at an early stage to prevent and resolve conflict, and to prevent and manage the kinds of crises which we have seen in the Balkans during this decade. The current aim of the EU, as set out at Cologne, is to take the necessary decisions in this area by the end of the year 2000. Discussion in preparation for the Helsinki Council has focused on the question of decision-making structures for Petersberg Tasks. Also of importance is the issue of the EU's ability and capabilities in this area.
The Government's priority for the Helsinki Council in this area is that progress should be made in terms of the Amsterdam and Cologne objectives. The focus set out in Cologne is on the Petersberg Tasks, and not on collective defence. Security and defence issues within the EU are intergovernmental matters, subject to the sovereign decision of the member states. It is accepted that participation in the Petersberg Tasks is a vol untary and sovereign decision for member states in each and every case.
Additional InformationThe Presidency will be submitting a report to the European Council taking stock of options in relation to the Intergovernmental Conference which is due to open early next year. On the basis of that report, Heads of State or Government will seek to confirm the agenda of the conference. Like most member states, Ireland favours a limited agenda which should focus on the institutional questions which need to be addressed before enlargement, notably the three such issues already identified, namely the size and composition of the Commission, the weighting of votes in the Council and the possible extension of qualified majority voting in the Council.
The European Council will also have before it a report from the General Affairs Council containing guidelines and recommendations for reform of the functioning of the Council with a view to ensuring its effectiveness in an enlarged Union. Such practical improvements, which must as appropriate respect existing balances, are important. I also expect Heads of State or Government to have an opportunity to discuss relations with Russia and the conflict in Chechnya.
Clearly the EU's role in south-eastern Europe will be a priority for the Summit. In this context the Heads of State and Government are likely to discuss the stability pact. Much of the discussion in the framework of the stability pact has been diffuse and lacking in direction. The EU needs to give more direction to the stability pact.
Is the Minister of State aware that when I asked the Taoiseach about these matters on 16 November, he told the Dáil that he did not know whether Mr. Solana would have a report ready for the Helsinki Summit, he did not believe that he would, and that the summit would concentrate on enlargement. Will the Minister say how that statement can be reconciled with a statement made on the same day by Mr. Solana in the European Parliament in which he said he would be reporting on these matters to the Helsinki Summit? Does she agree that it is time we put up front the evolution of security, defence policy and defence matters in the European Union and stopped trying to pretend that evolution is not taking place? When are we going to get an up-front statement from the Government telling the people what is actually going on. Much has happened – the double-hatting of Mr. Solana, the report of the so-called Three Wise Men, the St. Malo Declaration, the Cologne Declaration, and now the Helsinki Summit. In the second half of next year the French Presidency will certainly move these things on. When can we expect the people to be told that this is happening?
I cannot comment on state ments the Taoiseach made. Unfortunately, I am not aware of those statements. I tried to outline in my reply the various issues which will come up for discussion, and they are on the agenda for the Helsinki EU Summit. Clearly, the Presidency will be submitting a report to the European Council, taking stock of options in relation to the Intergovernmental Conference which is due to open early next year. On the basis of that report, Heads of State or Government will seek to confirm the agenda of the conference. Like most member states, Ireland favours a limited agenda which would focus on the institutional questions which need to be addressed before enlargement, notably, the three such issues already identified, namely, the size and composition of the Commission, the weighting of votes in the Council, and the possible extension of qualified majority voting at the Council.
The European Council will also have before it a report from the General Affairs Council containing guidelines and recommendations for reform of the functioning of the Council with a view to ensuring its effectiveness in an enlarged Union. Clearly the Union's role in south eastern Europe will be a priority for the summit. In this context, the heads of State and Government are likely to discuss the stability pact.
Will the Minister of State raise another issue at the Helsinki meeting? This is my concern that the Schengen agreement is being operated in such a way that not only will citizens of the 13 EU member states have free access to the European Union without passports, with the exclusion of Britain and Ireland, but that Norway and Iceland will also have access even though they are not members of the European Union. At the Helsinki meeting, will the Minister of State raise the possibility of Irish citizens travelling throughout the European Union on a lesser document than a passport but one which identifies the bearer as a citizen of the European Union, for example a driving licence?
I will raise this with the Minister in his preparations for the Helsinki summit. I assume the Schengen matter will be part of the discussions although I note that the issue of Schengen did not arise in the reply drafted by my Department. I will raise the matter and have an official do a note to the Deputy in that regard.