Eamon Gilmore
Question:1 Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach if he has received the agenda for the June 2008 summit of EU leaders; his priorities for the summit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14620/08]
Ceisteanna — Questions.
EU Summits.
Enda Kenny
Question:2 Deputy Enda Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he has received an agenda for the June 2008 meeting of the European Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17128/08]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.
I have received an annotated draft agenda for the meeting of the European Council on 19 and 20 June which covers the ratification and preparations for the implementation of the Lisbon treaty; freedom, security and justice issues; the western Balkans; and external relations, including the "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean".
This draft agenda predates the referendum here last week. The result of the referendum will, inevitably, feature significantly in our discussions. I will formally advise my European Council colleagues that the Irish people have rejected the proposal to amend our Constitution to enable ratification of the Lisbon treaty.
The members of the Council, who negotiated and agreed the draft treaty, and who agreed to a number of specific provisions to address Irish concerns in that process, will wish to understand the reasons this rejection has occurred. In my discussions with my colleagues, I will be stressing that the people have spoken and that the Government accepts the result.
I also will emphasise the need for all of the EU and its member states, not just Ireland, to reflect on what such a vote means and to play their part in working together to examine the possible ways forward.
As to their wish to understand the reasons for the result of our referendum, I will, to the best of my ability, reflect the range and depth of the debate and the main issues which featured in it. I will stress it is far too early yet to draw conclusions but that the Government will take the time required to take stock of all the elements that may have contributed to the outcome. I also will stress the need to consider what has happened and its implications in a calm, constructive and collective manner. I will underline that there can be no question of hasty answers or quick fixes.
Above all, I will stress that we now are entering a process of extensive consultation both domestically and with our EU partners. I will welcome the initial message of solidarity that was apparent at the meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council yesterday. I also will take the opportunity to restate to the Council my views that the vote does not mean Ireland is turning away from the EU or that it implies a desire to stand aside from engagement with our EU partners.
First, I am glad the Taoiseach has stated the Government accepts the result of the referendum and that he has communicated this to his European colleagues. It is important that everyone accepts and respects the decision the people made on Thursday. Therefore I ask whether he accepts, and if he will ask his European colleagues to accept, that based on that decision, the ratification of the Lisbon treaty now cannot be completed by the 27 member states as was required.
Second, the Taoiseach indicated he would address the issue of the reasons for the treaty's rejection. Does he accept the necessity for some time to be taken, both as between this country and our European partners and within this country, to reflect on the result and to understand fully the reasons the treaty was rejected and people voted as they did? I refer to the need to understand more fully the deep-seated unease that exists among people about the future in respect both of our relations with Europe and of the economy, people's livelihoods and so on. In doing all this, we need to reflect and understand the will of all the people, both those who voted for and those who voted against the treaty. While there was a clear decision, it also is fair to state that opinion was fairly evenly divided and the views and opinions of all the people, both those who voted for and those who voted against, must be reflected.
Finally, does the Taoiseach accept — I understand from his answer he probably does — that although the treaty itself was rejected, the vote did not constitute a rejection of the European Union and that the overwhelming majority of the people want this country to play a constructive and progressive part in building the future of Europe?
As Members are aware, for a treaty to come into effect all states first must ratify it. Our national process and tradition in Ireland was to have a referendum on it. Other national processes exist in which countries wish to indicate where they stand in respect of the treaty and they are entitled to so do. Whether it comes into effect depends on whether all states ratify it and clearly, the decision last Thursday means we are not in a position to ratify. When the Lisbon treaty was agreed at the Heads of State and Government level, we agreed collectively that all states would proceed to ratification and would put the question consistent with their national processes. This process is ongoing, 18 member states have done so and there have been indications that others wish to continue to do so. We must respect this in the same way we expect our referendum to be respected.
What is clear is that we are now in an uncertain situation about our future relationship with Europe, where the European Union wants to go and our place in it. My job is to try to ensure that Ireland remains very much engaged with the Union, that the decision made is respected and that we consult with others as it is a treaty between 27 countries. I want to hear their concerns now that this has occurred in Ireland and to see if there is a way forward. The political implications are not simply for Ireland, but there are wider legal and political implications for the Union as a whole in terms of the direction in which it wants to go.
A treaty was brought forward after seven years of discussion and involved compromises on all sides. We cannot now come to a hasty conclusion at this stage. I have indicated my position on it and we must see where we go from here. We are in uncertain waters. If we were ratifying the treaty, we would be able to say where we were going. The law on the treaties is clear. All parties to the treaty must ratify it for it to come into effect.
Does the Taoiseach agree it is too soon to rush to conclusions on what the decision means for what is required to move things forward? Does he have any plans to put in place a process by which the opinions of people who voted last Thursday can be ascertained in order to ratify a different treaty? How does he see the future panning out? I accept his point that each country will proceed to make its own decision and just as we would not wish them to tell us what to do, we are not telling them how to ratify it either. That is a matter for each individual country. However, if the other 26 member states proceed to ratify the treaty, how does he see that playing out? Is he assured by the fact the Minister for Foreign Affairs was told yesterday that the other 26 countries would not proceed without Ireland, and that a way will be found where all 27 member states will move together? There does not seem to be as many takers for the early idea of a two-speed arrangement.
Does the Taoiseach accept that the decision was made last Thursday and it is not possible to put the same proposition to the people a second time? When he addresses his colleagues on Friday, what answer will he give them to those questions?
I have already made it clear that we are in uncertain and uncharted territory. I cannot anticipate the outcome of discussions which have yet to take place, the concerns I will be able to express and the responses others may give to me. I do not expect that to be resolved this week, the following week or the week after. The process of engagement must now begin where we assess the reasons for the vote and see if there are ways we can address those concerns. I do not know whether we can address those concerns, some of which are contradictory. People voted against the treaty for a range of reasons. Different people had different perceptions and a different view of what the treaty involved, which may or may not have been objectively based on the treaty provisions. To what extent can the Government or the Irish people be assisted in addressing some of those concerns remains to be seen. We must assess and take stock of last week's result. I intend to start a process that will garner as accurate a picture as possible for the motivation and reasons behind the votes on all sides. That does not take away from the fact that a majority voted "No" last Thursday and that fact of life must be dealt with.
In the spirit of solidarity that has always been part of the Union's methodology, other member states indicate that they wish to hear from us and to enter into a process of consultation and dialogue to see whether there is a way forward so that the objectives of the EU can be achieved and its citizens can be best served by the Union being effective etc. As was said during the campaign, there is not a plan B or a plan C. This was the outcome of long and deliberate negotiations on the treaty. A judgment was given by the Irish people last Thursday and that reality must be accommodated in terms of the discussions that must take place among the 27 member states, in view of the law on the treaty which states that it cannot be ratified unless everyone agrees to it.