Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 14 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 3

Written Answers. - European Council Meetings.

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

200 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Defence the meetings, formal and informal, of European Union Councils relevant to his position or portfolio held since June 1997; the number of such meetings personally attended by him; and the details of the person who led the Irish delegation at such Council meetings when not attended by him. [23324/03]

Minister for Defence (Mr. Smith)

The Deputy will be aware that there is no EU Defence Ministers Council. Meetings of EU Defence Ministers are held either as part of a General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting (GAERC) in association with Ministers for Foreign Affairs (decision making forum) or as an Informal Defence Ministers meeting (non-decision making forum). I have attended a total of 15 meetings of EU Defence Ministers. In addition, Deputy Cowen, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Deputy Brennan, Minister of State at the Department of Defence, Deputy Davern, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food and Mr. Michael O'Donoghue, Assistant Secretary General of my Department have represented me at a further four meetings. I also received an invitation from the German Minister for Defence to attend a meeting of European Defence Ministers at Bonn on 28 May 1999 in order to, inter alia, exchange views on developments, such as the Kosovo crisis, in advance of the EU Summit at Cologne. Due to prior commitments I was unable to attend and Ireland's Permanent Representative to the Western European Union, Ambassador Eamonn Ryan, represented me at the meeting.

Details regarding the informal meetings are as listed in the table below:

Meeting	Location	Dates	Delegation
Italian Presidency (July-December 2003)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Rome, Italy	3-4 Oct. 2003	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
Greek Presidency (January-June 2003)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Athens, Greece	14-15 March 2003	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	19 May 2003	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
Danish Presidency (July-December 2002)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Rethymnon, Crete	4-5 Oct. 2002	Mr. M. O'Donoghue, Asst. Sec. Gen. Department of Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	19 Nov. 2002	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
Spanish Presidency (January-June 2002)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Zaragoza, Spain	22-23 March 2002	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	13-14 May 2002	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
Belgian Presidency (July-December 2001)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Brussels	11-12 Oct. 2001	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC – Capabilities Improvement Conference	Brussels	19-20 Nov. 2001	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
Swedish Presidency (January-June 2001)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Brussels	6 April 2001	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	14 May 2001	Deputy N. Davern, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food

Meeting	Location	Dates	Delegation
French Presidency (July-December 2000)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Paris, France	22 Sept. 2000	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	20-21 Nov. 2000	Deputy Brennan, Minister for State at the Department of Defence
Portuguese Presidency (January-June 2000)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Lisbon, Portugal	28 Feb. 2000	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	20 March 2000	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	13 June 2000	Deputy Cowen, Minister for Foreign Affairs
Finnish Presidency (July-December 1999)
EU Defence Ministerial En Marge of GAERC	Brussels	15-16 Nov. 1999	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
German Presidency (January-June 1999)
Occasional Meeting with other Defence Ministers on margins of Western European Union Ministerial Council	Bremen, Germany	10 May 1999	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Bonn, Germany	28 May 1999	Ambassador E. Ryan, Ireland's Permanent Representative to the Western European Union
Austrian Presidency (July-December 1998)
EU Informal Defence Ministerial	Vienna, Austria	3-4 Nov. 1998	Deputy M. Smith, Minister for Defence