Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 20 Nov 2003

Vol. 575 No. 1

Written Answers. - Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

118 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 41 of 13 November 2003, his views on the revised EU Security Strategy proposed by EU High Representative, Javier Solana; and the implications for the defence policy of the Government. [27929/03]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

123 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the revised EU Security Strategy submitted by EU High Representative, Javier Solana, for approval at the General Affairs and External Relations Committee meeting; if the Government supports it in total; and if not, the aspects of the proposal regarding which the Government has reservations or which they will be pressing to change prior to adoption by the EU Heads of State in December 2003. [27926/03]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 123 together.

At the European Council on 19 to 20 June 2003, Secretary General-High Representative Javier Solana presented proposals for an overall EU strategy in the field of foreign and security policy. The document reflected a holistic approach to security issues which was very much in keeping with Ireland's approach in this area.

In the light of a number of workshops on the proposed EU security strategy that have recently taken place, a further iteration of the document was circulated to Foreign Ministers at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 17 November 2003. The final text is to be presented to heads of states and Government at the European Council in Brussels on 12 to 13 December 2003, at which time the security strategy will be made public.

Ireland would hope that the document presented to the European Council in December would continue to reflect a holistic approach to security and an emphasis on aspects such as the centrality of the United Nations and the importance of the upstream dimension to security problems, such as conflict prevention.