Is cúis áthais dom é an Bille seo a phlé os comhair an tSeanaid ar an ocáid tál hábhachtach seo.
I am grateful for the opportunity to address Seanad Éireann on the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1998. I propose to deal first with the Bill which, in practice, involves setting out a number of the salient features of the Treaty of Amsterdam. That done, I propose to draw the attention of the House to certain other aspects of the Treaty which I consider of particular importance and interest.
The constitutional amendment proposed in this Bill will permit the State to ratify the Treaty of Amsterdam. It will also make clear that the State is explicitly authorised, subject to the prior approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas, to exercise the options and discretions provided by or under the three Articles and two Protocols to the Treaty which are named in the proposed new Article 29.4.6 of the Constitution. In brief, Article 1.11 covers police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, Article 2.5 allows for "closer co-operation" under normal Community business, known as the First Pillar, and Article 2.15 inserts a new Title IIIa into the EC Treaty and covers visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to free movement of persons. The second Protocol sets out how the Schengen arrangements are to be integrated into the framework of the European Union. Inter alia, it provides that Ireland or the United Kingdom or both countries — who have not signed up to the Schengen agreements — may at any time request to take part in some or all of Schengen. The Council will decide on such a request. The fourth Protocol establishes the position of the State in relation to Article 2.15. Ireland and the UK are exempt from the provisions of the new Title IIIa as long as they maintain the common travel area arrangements, although they may either together or individually participate in the adoption of specific measures. Ireland has stated in a Declaration to the Final Act that it intends to exercise its right to take part in the adoption of measures under Title IIIa to the maximum extent compatible with maintenance of the common travel area.
Article 1.11 of the Treaty of Amsterdam provides for the replacement of Title VI of the Maastricht Treaty by a new restructured Title VI or Third Pillar, which will be concerned exclusively with provisions on police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. The new restructured Third Pillar has three Articles under which options may be exercised by any member state. These options or discretions enable a member state first to adopt a convention established by the Council — once they have been adopted by at least a majority of the member states such conventions shall come into force for those member states; secondly to agree to accept the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice to give preliminary rulings at the request of national courts on points of Community law relating to a wide range of makers adopted under the Third Pillar. Within this option there are two sub-options, namely, states may decide whether any of their courts or tribunals may request preliminary rulings or whether only courts and tribunals of final instance may do so. Third it enables a member state to join in the new provision in the Third Pillar for closer co-operation among at least a majority of member states.
With regard to Article 2.15 and the second and fourth Protocols, all of which relate to free movement of persons, Ireland secured a number of opt-outs, with the possibility of opting in on certain conditions. This is an ideal arrangement. Our right to preserve the common travel area with the United Kingdom is confirmed, but we and the United Kingdom may also request to participate in any actions at the level of the Union where we consider it to be in our interests to do so. The possibility for this State to opt into actions under Article 2.15 and the second and fourth Protocols having been expressly negotiated, it is in the Government's view appropriate that the State be given the power to avail itself of these options.
Ireland and the UK do not participate in the Schengen co-operation system, which has developed outside the EC/EU Treaty framework. For the 13 member states which are involved, and for all new member states in the future, the Treaty of Amsterdam will bring Schengen into the EC/EU Treaty framework. The Schengen acquis consists of a comprehensive series of measures aimed at the gradual abolition of checks on persons crossing internal borders between participating states. These measures are in the following areas: the harmonisation of visa and asylum policies; police and security co-operation; the harmonisation of provisions on weapons and ammunition; judicial co-operation; the development of common information systems in relation to entry; the granting of visas, and police co-operation.
Under the second Protocol, Ireland and the UK will not be bound by what has already been agreed in Schengen. We will be able, however, on certain conditions to opt in at any time to some or all of Schengen and take part in any new proposals to build further on it. Schengen deals with a range of issues such as borders, immigration controls and policing which overlap with the provisions of the new Title IIIa on visas, asylum, immigration and other policies related to free movement of persons. Other areas of Schengen co-operation will be dealt with in the new Third Pillar.
Article 2.5 of the Treaty of Amsterdam will add general provisions to the European Community Treaty which will allow a group of member states less than the full membership to use the Union's institutions to develop "closer co-operation" between themselves under the First Pillar. To ensure that the introduction of general "flexibility" provisions would not, over time, damage the coherence and solidarity of the Union, the Treaty defines a tight framework of rules to govern the circumstances in which flexibility provisions may be invoked. The rules specify that the exercise of closer co-operation should aim at furthering the objectives of the Union, respect the principles of the Treaties and the single institutional framework of the Union, only be used as a last resort, concern at least a majority of states, not affect the acquis communautaire, be open to all member states and comply with the specific additional criteria applicable to closer co-operation in the First and Third Pillars. Beyond these general rules, explicit limitations apply to the exercise of closer co-operation in the First Pillar.
From what I have said about the specific Articles and Protocols, it will be clear that they concern matters which are important to the citizen and which could impact directly on him or her. It is the Government's view that should it wish in the future to take up the options in question, it should first lay a proposal in this regard before the Dáil and Seanad. I am pleased that the Government's proposal in this sense, which is intended to enhance democratic accountability, has met with considerable and widespread support.
Since the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam in October of last year, the text has been made available to all Members of the Oireachtas. The Treaty has been the subject of a comprehensive Government White Paper, a summary of which was also produced in Irish and in English. Given that published material about the Treaty is widely available at this point, I do not propose to rehearse exhaustively the main provisions of the Treaty. The House will agree that they are extensive and touch upon a wide range of concerns of direct relevance to the citizen.
I wish to explain the ways in which the Treaty of Amsterdam will benefit the citizen and improve the effectiveness, accessibility and democratic accountability in the EU. These are issues which were an important part of the backdrop to the Inter-Governmental Conference which negotiated the Treaty. I shall also outline the Treaty provisions aimed at a more effective and coherent external policy.
The Treaty of Amsterdam shows that debate within and between the member states of the European Union is increasingly focused upon real issues of personal rights and freedoms as well as economic wellbeing. EU citizens are entitled to have a voice in the direction taken by the Union and to have the work of their Ministers in Council and of their other elected representatives relate directly to their daily lives. In this regard I pay tribute to the previous coalition Government for bringing us to this point. It behaved honourably in relation to the production of the Treaty through its involvement in the Inter-Governmental Conference and broad participation in the negotiations. The coalition is now in Opposition but it continues in a decent and responsible way to support the Treaty.
In this decade it became common to speak of a "democratic deficit" within the EU. The implication of this phrase was that a great deal more had to be done to enhance the Union's legitimacy in the eyes of individual citizens. Clearly, democratic legitimacy is both a sine qua non of the development of the Union's institutions and the ultimate guarantee of their effectiveness.
The Amsterdam Treaty is a positive step towards a more accessible and clearly responsive EU. Parliamentary involvement at all levels in scrutinising and debating EU legislation and other proposals for the Union's development was a clear winner at Amsterdam. The powers of the European Parliament have been indisputably enhanced. The European Parliament will now be a real and substantial "co-legislator" with the Council in an extensive range of areas. This expanded role, together with the proposed simplification of the "co-decision" procedure itself, will significantly enhance the effectiveness of the dialogue between the Council and the Parliament. In addition, the quality and extent of European Parliament input, first into the Reflection Group and later into the Inter-Governmental Conference, contributed to a widespread appreciation of its actual and potential role, whence the favourable outcome.
In terms of the maturing of the European Union's system of ensuring democratic input and accountability, one notable feature of the Amsterdam Treaty is that the European Parliament is not the only democratic body to emerge with an enhanced role. National Parliaments have always had a part to play within the Union in holding the Governments of the member states responsible and accountable at national level. Nevertheless, concerns were evident throughout the Inter-Governmental Conference that better recognition should be secured for the importance of the role of national Parliaments. The Treaty of Amsterdam achieves this in two principal ways: by improving the information flow to national Parliaments and by enhancing the role of COSAC, which brings together representatives of the European Affairs committees of national Parliaments.
A number of Senators are Members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs. They will be aware that under the new Treaty, COSAC may make any contribution it deems appropriate for the attention of the institutions of the Union. The Treaty also stipulates that COSAC has a particular role to play in making a contribution on matters relating to the application of the principle of subsidiarity, to initiatives in the area of freedom, security and justice which might have a direct bearing on the rights and freedoms of individuals and to questions regarding fundamental rights.
The Treaty of Amsterdam is unique among EU Treaties in that, from the start, the aim of the negotiation was to place the European citizen at the centre of its provisions. The White Paper which was published by the Government in January includes a most thorough account of the specific initiatives in the Treaty which are aimed at addressing the concerns and aspirations of the citizen. Under this heading I wish to focus on a number of these areas, namely, the principles on which the Union is founded, employment and social policy, measures to combat discrimination, environment, consumer policies and public health and transparency.
The Treaty will reaffirm the principles on which the European Union is founded — liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. It will make respect for these principles a condition which must be met by any state which applies to join the Union. Unemployment is a major concern of Governments and citizens across the EU, where 18 million people, close to 11 per cent of the workforce, are unemployed. The average unemployment rate in the Union among young people is now over 20 per cent. This is an issue of such importance that a special summit meeting was held in Luxembourg last November devoted solely to the challenge which unemployment poses to our societies.
The Treaty of Amsterdam creates a new Title in the EC Treaty dealing with the question of employment, which will directly follow, and will be an appropriate complement to, the Title in the EC Treaty which deals with economic and monetary union. Under the provisions of the new Title, member states are now to regard promoting employment as a matter of common concern and they are to co-ordinate their action in regard to it in the Council. The objective of a high level of employment is now to be taken into consideration in all other Community policies.
With regard to social policy, the breach which had opened up in the Union since Maastricht, when the UK would not accept the Social Chapter, has been healed. It has been cured. This will allow for the further development of a single social policy throughout the Union. The Treaty also provides that for the first time there will be an explicit legal basis in the EC Treaty for action by the Council to deal with social exclusion by means of incentive measures. The agreement to do this arose from a proposal made and pressed by Ireland during the negotiations. Importantly, unanimity will not be necessary for the adoption of such measures.
The Treaty of Amsterdam incorporates a provision which empowers the Council to adopt measures to combat discrimination on the grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. The Treaty provisions designed to ensure respect for the principle of equality between men and women are strengthened.
With regard to the environment, the concept of balanced and sustainable development will now be highlighted. This concept was approved by the World Environment and Development Summit in Rio in 1992. A reference to achieving balanced and sustainable development will be added to the EU's objectives as outlined in Article B of the EU Treaty. The EC Treaty will also be amended to incorporate the concept. Should a member state wish to maintain or introduce national provisions in relation to the environment which are stricter than in other member states, they may do so subject to Commission approval that they are not an obstacle to the Single Market.
Consumer protection has rightly become a major concern in the member states and at the level of the Union. With the increased level of trade in goods and services which the Single Market is bringing about, concerns were expressed at the Intergovernmental Conference about the corresponding need to improve the rights of the consumer. The provisions of the EC Treaty are to be strengthened with a greater focus on consumer rights including the right to information. There will also be a specific requirement to take consumer protection concerns into account in implementing all other Community policies and activities.
In the related field of public health the new Treaty will add provisions to the EC Treaty which allow the Community to set safety standards for human organs and blood derivatives. It also permits the Community to take public health measures against animal and plant diseases. However, with a view to accountability, the Treaty will recognise that fundamental responsibility for health services and medical care will remain at member state level.
The EU's power to combat crime, particularly crimes such as terrorism, trafficking in persons, offences against children and illicit trafficking in drugs and arms, will be significantly strengthened. Primary responsibility for action in pursuit of criminals will remain with national police forces.
New provisions are now to be added to the EC Treaty which will ensure a higher degree of transparency by means of greater openness and more access to documents of the main institutions. A new article in the EC Treaty provides that any citizen of the EU or any person or legal entity residing in it shall have a right of access to the European Parliament, Council and Commission documents subject to principles and conditions to be defined. In this regard a new provision will also be added to the EC Treaty which will allow any citizen to write to any of the Community institutions or bodies in one of the Treaty languages, which include Irish, and expect that any reply received will be in the same language.
A major area of work of the Intergovernmental Conference related to the external policy of the EU. The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 established the Common Foreign and Security Policy at a time of profound and rapid change in international life as the Cold War came to an end. However, conflicts in former Yugoslavia, in parts of the former Soviet Union and in areas of Africa have been evidence of a continuing instability in international affairs. Accordingly, the EU members agreed at the Intergovernmental Conference that the CFSP should be made more effective, coherent and visible. Decision making procedures have been improved with a view to enabling the EU to act more rapidly and effectively on the international stage. As at present, a member state cannot ultimately be outvoted where important national interests are involved. There will be improved planning and secretariat support for the Presidency of the day and the Council.
The EU is founded on principles of democracy and human rights. The CFSP provisions of the new Treaty reflect the concern of citizens that the EU should enhance its contribution to international peace and security commensurate with its economic strength and its political responsibilities. Ireland's tradition of a principled, constructive and engaged foreign policy finds strong expression through our involvement in CFSP, which enables us to join with our EU partners in pursuit of the goal of international peace and justice.
In a positive response to the new crises and challenges of the post Cold War world and in light of a joint proposal made by Sweden and Finland, which was supported by Ireland, the Petersberg tasks of peacekeeping, humanitarian actions and crisis management have been included in the Treaty. These tasks will be carried out by the Western European Union at the initiative of the EU. The EU member states who are not members of any military alliance — Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Austria — will be entitled to participate in these missions on a case by case basis if they so wish. The inclusion of the Petersberg tasks is in line with our long-standing record of contributing to UN peacekeeping operations. It responds to the new situation where the UN is increasingly mandating regional organisations to undertake peacekeeping and crisis management tasks. In this regard I wish to pay tribute to the Defence Forces and to express my deep appreciation of their enormous commitment to peacekeeping. They have been heroic and patriotic and in many instances their members have laid down their lives in the interests of international peace.
The Treaty provides for the progressive framing of a common defence policy which will be structured around the development of the EUWEU relationship, already established in the Maastricht Treaty, with particular focus on the Petersberg tasks. Ireland's policy of military neutrality remains unaffected by the provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam. As was the case in the Maastricht Treaty, the Treaty of Amsterdam explicitly states that the EU's policy shall not prejudice "the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states". This reference was inserted into the Maastricht Treaty to take account of Ireland's particular policy of military neutrality.
Like the Maastricht Treaty, the Treaty of Amsterdam evokes the concept of a future EU common defence only as a possibility, not as an agreed objective of the EU. Neither an EU common defence nor the integration of the Western European Union into the EU are objectives in the Treaty of Amsterdam. They remain mere possibilities and are subject to a number of locks: first, they would require a consensus decision in the European Council, where Ireland has a veto; second, even if the European Council were to take such a decision this would be subject to adoption by each member state in accordance with its own national requirements; third, the Government has given a commitment that a referendum would be held if the issue should arise for decision in the future and I reiterate that commitment; and, fourth, an EU common defence would require substantial Treaty revisions and a further Intergovernmental Conference, in which each member state has a veto and these substantial Treaty revisions would have to be put to the people in a referendum. Far from representing a threat to Ireland's policy of military neutrality, the EU is a response to the new challenges of the post Cold War world. Ireland should play a full part in this endeavour.
As I have said on previous occasions, the Treaty of Amsterdam is a good deal for Europe, Ireland and for the citizen. It strengthens and amplifies the impact of integration and co-operation for the citizen in direct and meaningful ways. The Treaty seeks to complement rights already in existence in member states with provisions at EU level which will bring added value for the EU citizen. I accept that many of the useful provisions of the Treaty can appear to lack glamour, but I believe their worth will be amply demonstrated in years to come. I strongly recommend that citizens should familiarise themselves with the main points of the Treaty of Amsterdam and I predict that the beneficial effect of the Treaty's provisions, taken cumulatively, will be evident to all after the Treaty has come into force.