EU Presidency Engagements

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 May 2013

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Questions (134)

Andrew Doyle

Question:

134. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will give details of the recent Western Balkans Conference that was recently held at Farmleigh; if he will provide the complete list of bilateral meetings that he had with EU member states and other non-EU member states; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25857/13]

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

As part of the programme for the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade organised a conference entitled ‘10 Years after Thessaloniki: An appraisal of the EU perspective and challenges in the Western Balkans’ at Farmleigh on 24 May 2013. This event was co-sponsored by the Institute of International and European Affairs. The purpose of the Conference was to mark the tenth anniversary of the Thessaloniki Summit, which gave a formal political commitment on the part of all EU member states to the perspective of the Western Balkans states’ accession to the European Union, and adopted a concrete set of steps that would lead to this aim – the Thessaloniki Agenda.

The 10th anniversary of the Thessaloniki Summit marked an appropriate juncture at which to assess the results of Thessaloniki Agenda and to reflect on the progress made by the countries in the region towards EU integration, the difficulties encountered along the way, and the outlook for completion of the process. The Conference brought together leading politicians, senior officials, and experts on the region to analyse some of the challenges and fundamental questions that relate to the Western Balkans today. Topics addressed included the evolution of the accession process, the sustainable economic development of the Western Balkans, and the future of enlargement in the Western Balkans.

In the margins of this conference I held bilateral meetings with Ms. Vesna Pusi, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Croatia, and with Dr. Miroslav Laják, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs for Slovakia.