I am glad to have the opportunity today to inform this House of the most recent developments in the process of preparation for the forthcoming Intergovernmental Conferences on Political Union and on Economic and Monetary Union.
We are engaged in the creation of a greatly enhanced degree of integration and dynamism in the community both as an inevitable follow-on to the process which saw the adoption of the Single Act in the mid-eighties and the pressure of events in Central and Eastern Europe in the last year.
I think it is useful to recall the extent to which the relatively modest objectives of the Single Act have been amply achieved in the last three years: the completion of the Single Market is well on target with nearly three quarters of the necessary proposals adopted or close to adoption; the cohesion dimension of community policies has been established and additional funding is now on stream with the doubling of the resources of the structural funds; the Community has adopted a substantial profile in the environment area which has assumed such vital importance as a major world-wide preoccupation; an effective research and technological development policy is being developed enabling action to be taken at community level thus increasing the efficiency of the community in this vital area; the reform of the decision-making procedures has allowed the Council to take decisions by qualified majority thus speeding up the process. It has also allowed the Commission to improve its implementation procedures and has given the European Parliament a considerable degree of real influence in the legislative field; and finally, the provisions on political co-operation have enabled the member states to co-operate effectively in the sphere of foreign policy reflecting the influence which the member states possess in international issues.
The success of the Single Act which was, as I have said, greater than we might have expected three years ago, was bound to create a demand for a more ambitious approach to closer integration. The initiative launched in June 1988 at the Hanover European Council to revive the movement towards economic and monetary union culminated in the decision to commence negotiations next month on the shape of the union.
The initiative on economic and monetary union encouraged a similar initiative to seek closer political union. During our Presidency in the first half of this year, we were able to lay the foundations for the work of the second Intergovernmental Conference which will consider the Treaty amendments required to bring about closer political union.
Events in Central and in Eastern Europe have given added urgency to the process of closer integration. One cannot but be struck by the fact that little more than 12 months ago most of the regimes which had been imposed on the countries of that region seemed solidly entrenched and unlikely to be easily removed. Indeed, the former German Democratic Republic was celebrating its 40th anniversary with full ceremony and confidence. Within a matter of weeks the whole political landscape had changed completely and relations with the region became an even greater priority for the community. It was essential to support the new democratic governments which were emerging and needless to say the Community, which was already taking action to support Poland and Hungary, again took the lead in co-ordinating the international effort on behalf of the other countries.
This work and in particular, the unification of Germany was a major theme of the Irish Presidency. At the first Dublin European Council in April, we were able to give a warm welcome to the new Germany and to express satisfaction that unification was taking place under a Community roof. The member states recognised the importance of unification for the Community as a whole and for that reason were prepared in Council to speed up their examination in the Council on the interim measures required to accommodate the former East German provinces in the Community. Work has also proceeded rapidly on the detailed transitional measures which are now virtually agreed.
The commitment of Germany and of Chancellor Kohl in particular to the process of closer economic and political integration played no small part in achieving the understanding and full co-operation of partners in the unification process.
It is not only the countries of Central and Eastern Europe which are looking to the Community as a model for future development. The last year has seen an intensification in relations between the Community and the countries of EFTA. Negotiations are at present under way on the European economic area or, in other words, the virtual extension of the internal market to those countries. Furthermore, Austria has announced its candidacy for accession to the Community and there are indications that other EFTA member states such as Norway and Sweden are reassessing their positions on the question of accession. Needless to say we welcome these developments.
It is against this background that I would now like to consider the process of closer integration, economic and monetary union and political union.
The Italian Presidency has announced that the Intergovernmental Conferences on these issues will open in Rome on 14 December. It is worth recalling that at the June European Council in Dublin the member states agreed, in effect, that the negotiations should be finished in time to allow national ratification procedures to be completed and to enable the results of the conferences to come into force by the end of 1992. I am sure that Senators will appreciate that the timescale involved is quite tight and I am glad that today we have the opportunity to have an initial look at the key issues involved. I am sure that we will be discussing them again on a number of occasions in the next two years.
The Strasbourg European Council agreed to convene an Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union. The Conference will draw on the very considerable preparatory work which has been done during the Irish Presidency and so far under the Italian Presidency.
Economic and monetary union was a major issue on the agenda of the Rome European Council on 27-28 October. At that meeting, eleven member states were able to agree that the preparatory work done so far constitutes a basis for the Intergovernmental Conference. These member states, of which Ireland is one, agreed on the principle elements which should guide the work of the conference — the United Kingdom was unable to go along with the majority. The eleven agreed on a number of fundamental issues: we settled on the main aims of economic union which include greater economic cohesion; for the final phase of monetary union we accepted the need for a new monetary institution. This will comprise the central banks of the member states and a new central organ and will exercise full responsibility for monetary policy. In the final phase of EMU, exchange rates will be irrevocably fixed and the Community will have a single currency — the ECU; the second phase of EMU will start in January 1994 subject to certain conditions being fulfilled. Real convergence between the economies of the member states is one of these conditions; at the start of the second phase the new monetary institution will be set up with certain interim tasks; and a procedure has been established for preparing the move to the third and final phase of EMU. Before this happens there is to be a report to the European Council on the operation of the second phase, in particular, the progress achieved on real convergence.
The Irish approach to economic and monetary union has been one of very strong support for the process. We attach major significance to two factors. First, we give equal weight to the economic and monetary aspects of integration. If monetary union were to go ahead more rapidly than economic union it would not be in our interest and it would not serve the Community's interest either. Thus we will be pressing to ensure that this crucial parallelism is recognised in the course of the negotiations.
Secondly, we take the view that integral to economic and monetary union is a commitment to effective policies at Community level to achieve economic and social cohesion.
Our commitment to economic and monetary union is complete. In line, for example, with the analysis contained in the NESC Report on Ireland in the European Community, we will be seeking an outcome to the Intergovernmental Conference which will ensure that the periphery is afforded the same opportunity to benefit as the centre. There can be little doubt that the centre will benefit from greater integration. The experience of the last three years with the completion of the internal market has underlined this fact.
Structural funding is important and we welcome the ideas put forward by the Commission on a possible widening of the eligibility criteria for access to the funds. However, I would stress that we regard cohesion as a dimension which, as the Single Act provides, should inform all of the Community's common policies. The funds on their own perform a vital function and will continue to do so but it is important to avoid the temptation to assume that the Community's commitment to cohesion ends with the funds.
I have outlined the circumstances in which the community's commitment to political union led to the decision to convene an Intergovernmental Conference next month. This decision was taken in Dublin in June and since then the preparatory work has proceeded. The Commission has produced its formal opinion and Parliament's opinion will be considered at this month's plenary session in Strasbourg next week. Together with the discussions by Foreign Ministers and Heads of State and Government at the European Council, the preparatory work is now well under way — though it is still, understandably, behind the progress achieved in the preparations for the Intergovernmental Conference on Economic and Monetary Union.
During our Presidency four broad headings were established for the work on political union: the overall objective and scope of political union; the democratic legitimacy of the union; the efficiency and effectiveness of the Community and its institutions; and the unity and coherence of the Community's international action.
Before I comment on each of these issues I would like to touch on the principles of our approach to the negotiations on political union.
First, we believe that a fundamental principle of our policy is that the development of the European community should be based on a growing community of interests in the economic and social field. Secondly, nothing in the current exercise should diminish the Community's role as a unifying force in Europe based on its commitment to democratic values, success in improving the living standards of its peoples, its commitments to international peace and prosperity and its openness to the rest of Europe and to the wider world. As far as Ireland is concerned this is a vital role. It is one which has proved its value especially in recent years and it will have to be maintained during the forthcoming negotiations.
Thirdly, the two IGCS should contribute to the effective operation of the Community. This will involve a significant and coherent advance in the internal efficiency of the Community and in its ability, together with its member states, to work more closely and constructively with the other countries of Europe and internationally.
Fourthly, as I explained in my remarks on economic and monetary union, we attach considerable importance to a strengthening of the Community's economic and social cohesion. An extension of the role of the Community and of its competences must take account of the cohesion dimension and of the need to provide the means — not only financial means — required to achieve this.
Looking more closely at the four subject areas being considered in the preparations for the intergovernmental conference next month I would like to refer briefly to the issues involved.
As regards the scope of political union, Ireland will consider a widening of the competence of the community very carefully. It has been suggested that they should be a move away from the existing arrangements for unanimous voting. I would observe that the move to greater use of majority voting under the Single Act has proved beneficial and while each case will be considered on its merits this experience will have to be borne in mind. We will also look carefully at the other issues which arise under this heading — subsidiarity and citizenship where we feel there are positive implications for the development of the Community.
I would like to spend some time on the issue of democratic legitimacy which will be of interest to Senators in the light of the meeting in Rome later this month of the Congress of the European Parliament and National Parliaments. This Initiative by the European Parliament is very welcome and in line with the forward position which the Parliament has adopted in encouraging the movement towards closer integration in the Community. After all much of the progress in recent years stems directly from the initiative of the late Altiero Spinelli and his colleagues in the Parliament when in 1984 they produced a Draft Treaty on European Union.
This work is being continued in the present Parliament and its Institutional Affairs Committee has now produced draft proposals for amendments to the treaties in a number of areas. These proposals, once they have been considered by the full Parliament in plenary session, will form an important contribution to the work in progress to prepare for the Intergovernmental Conference.
Parliament stresses in particular the need to rectify the democratic deficit in Community decision-making — a theme which is likely to be taken up at the congress in Rome. Naturally the Parliament argues that it should be more directly involved in the Community's decision-making procedures even to the extent of a right of co-decision. In Parliament's view the evolution of powers from the member states to the Community has been to the benefit of the Council of Ministers and at the cost of parliamentary control.
I have no doubt that in the course of the Intergovernmental Conference on Political Union new provisions will be adopted to increase the Parliament's involvement in decision-making. However, two points are worth bearing in mind in this regard.
First, the members of the Council are members of their national Governments and thus responsible to their national legislatures. In most cases they are also members of those legislatures. The Council has, therefore, a full democratic mandate. Secondly, from the point of view of a member state such as Ireland, our relative share of the membership of the Parliament is small and the degree to which we can influence decisions, though valuable, is less than that available to us at the level of the Council.
Turning to the question of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Community, in my view it is vital that the Community, which now plays such a crucial role in the lives of its citizens, should be able to respond effectively to the tasks which it has assumed. This will involve a review by the Intergovernmental Conference of the operations of the institutions. We will be able to consider improvements but these should not be at the expense of the existing balance between them which we feel is correct in the light of developments in European integration in the foreseeable future.
A further aspect of the debate on political union, and one which will be considered by the Intergovernmental Conference, is the proposal that the unity and coherence of the Community's action vis-a-vis the rest of the world should be enhanced, including by the adoption of a common foreign and security policy. The European Council at its meeting of 28 April agreed that the Community would act as a political entity on the international scene. The examination by the Intergovernmental Conference of a possible foreign and security policy is in the logic of that decision.
The past two years have seen fundamental changes in Europe. The end of the Cold War and progress by the Central and Eastern European countries towards democratic government, a market economy and full respect for human rights have made possible a dramatic reduction in tension. Military forces are being reduced and the two alliances which confronted each other during the Cold War now face basic questions about their future role. The CSCE process has played a vital part in helping forward these developments and has provided a framework within which it has been possible to move towards a new concept of security in Europe. We believe it can continue to make an important contribution and are in favour of providing it with institutions and giving it a role in areas such as conflict prevention and verifying military and security commitments. It can also provide a forum for disarmament negotiations among the 34 member states.
We are therefore at a time of new problems and new questions, and we and our partners in the Community must look at the area of foreign and security policy in a new and quite different perspective.
At the European Council in Rome, 11 member states of the Community, including Ireland, were able to agree that these new developments required us to subscribe to the objective of a common foreign and security policy with a view to strengthening the identity of the Community and the coherence of its action on the international stage. This will be an action open to the world and will give a special role to development policy. The Community will also seek to strengthen its links with other European countries and will look for closer structures for co-operation.
The Presidency's conclusions after the European Council made it clear that while there is agreement on the overall objectives, the content and the detailed rules of the role of the Community in relation to a common foreign and security policy are yet to be defined. The process of definition will be a gradual one and will be without prejudice to the obligations arising out of security arrangements to which member states are already parties. The position of the Government, and of successive Irish governments, is that if the community were at some stage to embark on arrangements for its own security and with its own security concept, then Ireland, as a fully committed member state, would be willing to consider participation. Developments in other areas are building up an increasingly powerful bond between the member states and peoples of the Community and leading towards a territorial unit with increasingly close economic, social and political ties. The question to be addressed is whether there is now emerging a common security interest of the Twelve also and whether a structure can be found which would give that interest expression.
The Single European Act already refers to political and economic aspects of security. The notion of security might also cover aspects of disarmament or the defence of the community and its citizens from international terrorism. There are different views as to what should be included. A common security policy is however unlikely to include military or defence aspects for some time, since a number of the member states most concerned see this as an area for NATO or the Western European Union.
Questions such as what a common foreign and security policy could cover, how such a policy could be introduced in terms of the treaty and given existing obligations of member states, how decisions should be taken and what institutional and structural changes will be needed to enable the new policy to be implemented effectively, will be addressed by the Intergovernmental Conference. It will be open to us, as well as to others, to put forward our views in the negotiations at the Conference.
In dealing with the range of issues to be discussed by the Intergovernmental Conferences our approach in any one area, such as this one, will be determined by the progress made across the whole integration front; specifically, the degree of concrete solidarity shown in what is decided will be a very important element in determining our position.
I have tried to sketch out the main issues arising in the crucial negotiations which are about to commence. The process which is now under way towards much closer European integration will have a major influence on how the Community develops as we move into the next century. I look forward in the course of this debate to hearing the views of Senators on the issues which I have raised.
