Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
64. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to clarify if a policy change took place from the use of the term UN multilateralism to rules-based international order; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39216/23]
View answerA commitment to strengthening the global multilateral system is a consistent focus of both Ireland’s foreign policy, and the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. This is reflected in the government’s core foreign policy statements, including The Global Island: Ireland’s Foreign Policy for a Changing World, A Better World: Ireland’s Policy for International Development and The Department of Foreign Affairs Statement of Strategy, 2023 to 2025. The Treaty on European Union also states that the Union’s action on the international scene shall be guided by the principles which have inspired its own creation, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
The concept of a rules-based international order is widely understood to refer to the series of international laws, legal principles, rules, norms and institutions which have facilitated and regulated international interactions and multilateral cooperation in the modern era. In this regard, it is important to say that the idea of rules-based international order is intended to refer to the universal body of commitments and obligations that make up the international multilateral system, and which allow countries to cooperate with one another on a vast array of issues including trade, development and sectoral partnership and coordination, and to which all, or the vast majority, of states have subscribed. In that sense, while the UN Charter and international law are an integral part of this, they do not constitute it alone.
This body of international laws, legal principles, rules, norms and institutions has facilitated and regulated Ireland’s peaceful cooperation with other countries for decades, as part of multilateral organisations such as the UN, and has and will remain a core component of the country’s foreign and security policy.
The terms mentioned by the Deputy, are in this sense, not mutually exclusive and the government will continue to act to uphold the rules-based international order, with the UN Charter at its heart, that underpins Ireland’s security, and promotes stability, justice, equality and sustainable development.
