Jim O'Keeffe
Question:3 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if Ireland is committed to EU enlargement and to the integration process. [22364/00]
Ceisteanna–Questions. Priority Questions. - EU Enlargement.
The Government's position on EU enlargement is clear and has not changed since the last time I answered questions on this topic in the House. Ireland is a strong supporter of the current enlargement process for strategic reasons of peace and for economic reasons. We look forward to welcoming the new member states when they have satisfactorily completed their negotiations and have demonstrated their ability to assume the obligations of membership. Enlargement will provide important economic opportunities for new and existing member states alike. Enlargement will also give us the opportunity to address outstanding problems on our continent, including such vital issues as organised crime and a better functioning relationship with Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union. In addition, an enlarged European Union can play a more important and more credible role in world affairs.
Enlargement negotiations are now at a substantive phase. The forthcoming Commission assessment reports on enlargement, due in early November, should be helpful in making the necessary decisions to give a renewed impetus to the process. The European Council in Nice in December will have to weigh up the achievements of the process to date and chart the course for the coming years with a view to stimulating further progress and giving a very clear positive signal to the applicant countries that their efforts will be rewarded in the foreseeable future.
Ireland has benefited enormously from EU membership. We have, at the same time, contributed constructively to the Union's development, politically and institutionally. The decade ahead will bring its own momentous happenings, not least of which will be enlargement. These developments will influence the necessary integration process leading to the further construction of the Union. Ireland views this prospect positively. We are in favour of integration. It does not mean centralisation or federalisation, rather the further development and improvement of the manner in which Europeans freely co-operate and work together while respecting diversity.
I am pleased to receive confirmation from the Minister of our official position on enlargement and integration. Does he accept there are many concerns on the part of those of us who appreciate our membership of the European Union arising from the comments of his colleague, the Minister, Deputy de Valera, who specifically stated that she was not in favour of closer integration in Europe? Does he further accept that there is concern on our part arising from the vote by his Fianna Fáil colleagues in the European Parliament against enlargement?
Does he also accept that the ethos of his party will be questioned arising from the document circulated yesterday, A Programme for Civic Education for Second Level Schools, which mentioned that the European Union consists of 12 member states? Those who compiled it did not seem aware of the accession of Finland, Sweden and Austria. Does the Minister agree those mixed signals create a view that there is not an undivided approach on the part of the Government in favour of enlargement and deeper integration?
I am happy to deal with the misrepresentations on these matters which the Deputy has repeated. I have a copy of the speech of the Minister, Deputy de Valera, and nowhere in it does she state she is against integration.
Regarding the MEPs, it has been the policy of successive Governments, including those of which the Deputy was a member or which he supported, that we are opposed to co-decision between the Parliament and the Council regarding Common Agricultural Policy decisions. I would rhetorically ask whether Fine Gael has changed its position as Fianna Fáil has certainly not done so.
Would the Minister accept that, when speaking on integration in Boston, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Deputy de Valera, said it was a move she would not favour? Does he further accept that his colleagues in the European Parliament voted against a resolution in favour of a report on enlargement? They used an excuse about a non-binding paragraph regarding the budget but they voted against enlargement. That is not the kind of parish pump representation we need in Europe or the kind of mixed signals we need coming from Ireland.
How does the Minister account for the document he circulated yesterday which did not seem to recognise there were 15 EU member states?
The Deputy only recently took over this portfolio following a reshuffle and I admire his tenacity on his first day.
This is not my first day dealing with foreign affairs. I was dealing with this subject before the Minister.
There was no vote against integration. They voted for 12 separate reports in favour of enlargement regarding 12 different countries. What they voted against was the co-decision powers which the Brok report intimated should exist concerning the Common Agricultural Policy. Successive Governments, including that of which Deputy John Bruton was leader three years ago, have taken the view that this is not Irish Government policy. Is it being suggested that Fianna Fáil MEPs are to be criticised for upholding the position of successive Governments on powers of co-decision, or has Fine Gael changed its line?
Nothing can change the fact that they voted against enlargement.
That is the simple point. The misrepresentation of that point by Fine Gael speaks more about the bankruptcy of its ideas on powers of co-decision than anything else.
We have run out of time on this question.
What about the programme of education for schools?