Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 September 2016
30. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he attended the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Bratislava on 26 September 2016; the issues discussed; if he spoke out against any attempt to create a standing EU army; and if he informed his colleagues that Irish neutrality was non-negotiable. [27137/16]
View answerThis is similar to the last question and has to do with EU Defence Ministers. I wish to find out whether the Minister of State was in attendance, he took the position to which he has just alluded, or it was the Minister for Defence, the Taoiseach, who attended the meeting in Bratislava of EU Defence Ministers.
Dáil and Government business has precluded my attendance at the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Bratislava which started yesterday, 26 September, and continued into this afternoon. Accordingly, the Minister for Defence is being represented by the Secretary General of the Department of Defence. This is an informal meeting and, as such, no decisions are being taken on any matter. Issues for discussion at the meeting include an exchange of views on the implementation of the EU global strategy and the Commission-led European defence action plan; an exchange of views on the implementation of the joint EU-NATO declaration made recently at the Warsaw summit, including taking stock of the progress achieved; and discussions on Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, missions and operations, with a focus on Libya, the Mediterranean naval mission Operation Sophia and the CSDP missions in the Sahel.
As I stated in reply to a previous question, there are no proposals to create a standing EU army. This issue did not feature in any discussion and it is not on any agenda. I also reiterate that the Treaty of Lisbon does not provide for the creation of a European army.
While I accept that it is an informal meeting and welcome the clarification that it is the Secretary General of the Department of Defence who has travelled to represent the Minister of State, has he been specifically instructed to state categorically that Ireland is a neutral country, that we have no interest in the creation of a common army, that we will not countenance any change to the current position and that we would rather look towards reversing some of the common defence strategies the European Union seems to be undertaking? While I accept that there are no decisions to be made, it is at these informal meetings that different views from different countries are sought and they end up forming the basis on which future policy is made. It is very important that Irish representatives are very clear from day one, otherwise there will be situations in which proposals will emerge later that will be contrary to the position taken by the State.
I tried to change the date of parliamentary questions to the Minister for Defence from today in order to be able to attend the meeting in Bratislava. Unfortunately, I was told a motion would have to be tabled in the House to change the date of parliamentary questions. The Dáil was not sitting during the summer months when I realised I would to have to answer parliamentary questions on the same date as the meeting in Bratislava.
I do not believe I have to instruct the Secretary General on our policy. He fully understands our policy of neutrality and I can assure the Deputy that he will defend it. Ireland remains constitutionally debarred from participation in a common EU defence policy. The legally binding Irish protocol to the Lisbon treaty ratified in the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution provides that any decision to move to a common defence will require a unanimous decision of the European Council. It would be a matter for member states, including Ireland, to decide in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon and the respective constitutional requirements whether to adopt a common defence policy. I repeat that Ireland has no plans or proposals to change its policy of neutrality.
The two main EU Defence Ministers who are publicly seeking to move closer towards EU defence co-operation, having a new military headquarters and swifter deployment on overseas missions are the French and the German Defence Ministers, Ursula von der Leyen and Jean-Yves le Drian. They put forward specific proposals in recent times which, by the looks of it, were to be discussed informally at the conference yesterday and today. The Minister of State may be able to clarify this, but as far as I know, we did not submit our own paper or circulate a brief to journalists on our position which would be in total opposition to the paper produced by them.
The Deputy will be well aware that there has been a proposal for some time now that the European Union should establish a joint operational headquarters to support the planning and conduct of its civil and military operations. A permanent joint civil and military operational headquarters appropriately configured could potentially deliver more effective and responsive Common Security and Defence Policy operations in support of the United Nations, international peace and security, a position Ireland has supported and does support. This issue will be considered in the context of the implementation plan for the recently published EU global strategy for foreign and security policy until such time as detailed discussions have taken place between member states. It is too early to predict what the actual structure might or might not look like.
I reiterate that everyone in Europe understands Ireland's position on neutrality and no one would welcome me or anyone else questioning it.
