Written Answers. - Cuban Blockade.
Proinsias De Rossa
Question:
13
Proinsias De Rossa
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
the Government's position in relation to the blockade of Cuba; if it is the Government's position to continue to support this blockade; if that position represents the common position of the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[8395/01]
The Government's position in relation to the US embargo against Cuba is clear. We are opposed to it, and we wish to see it brought to an early end. We have regularly supported resolutions in the UN General Assembly calling for its lifting, most recently on 9 November last year when the resolution, co-sponsored by Ireland, was carried by 167 votes in favour to three against, with four abstentions.
The European Union's Common Position on Cuba, to which we subscribe, does not seek to bring about change through coercive measures. Rather, its aim is to promote a dialogue which will encourage a process of transition to pluralist democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as a sustainable recovery and improvement in the living standards of the Cuban people.
EU member states carry on normal bilateral relations across the standard spectrum of contacts from trade to culture, and have actively developed their economic relations with the island to such an extent that the EU is now Cuba's leading foreign investor, principal trade partner, premier source of tourists, and largest provider of development aid and humanitarian assistance.
The European Union would very much wish to move to an even closer relationship with Cuba of the kind obtaining with other Latin American countries, and which usually finds expression in the shape of a formal co-operation agreement. However, in order to assess the conditions for the kind of special partnership involved in such a structured co-operation agreement, the EU, as the Common Position states, must evaluate developments in the policies, both internal and external, pursued by Cuba "according to the same standards that apply to EU relations with other countries, in particular the ratification and observance of international human rights conventions".
Regrettably, the Cuban Government continues to fail to observe its international obligations in respect of many fundamental human rights. It was for this reason that on 4 December last, following a meticulous examination of the conditions prevailing in Cuba, the EU General Affairs Council was reluctantly obliged once again to renew the terms of the Common Position, pending a change in Cuban policy regarding human rights and freedoms which would enable Havana to accept the standards applied by the EU to all countries – without any discrimination – wishing to have the kind of enhanced relationship with the Union implied by an institutionalised co-operation agreement.
Nevertheless, in the meantime, as the Council decision of 4 December last makes clear, "it is essential that the EU should deploy further efforts to engage the Cuban authorities in a constructive and frank dialogue on a variety of issues of common interest that may actually produce tangible results, particularly in the political, economic and civil rights spheres. Confidence-building measures should thus continue to be implemented in the spirit of the Common Position, which will be maintained as the basis of EU-Cuban relations".
The Government will work to ensure that the European Union maintains its efforts to try to develop a new basis for a better relationship with Cuba, which might lead in time to a fully fledged partnership.
In this connection, I welcome the presentation of credentials to President McAleese last week of the first Cuban ambassador to Ireland in reciprocation of the accreditation last year of Ireland's first ambassador to Cuba.
