I attended the European Council in Strasbourg on 8 and 9 December, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Gerard Collins. Minister of State, Deputy Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, also attended.
I have arranged for a copy of the Presidency Conclusions to be placed in the Library in the usual way. As these record the outcome of the Council in some detail, I will confine myself here to commenting on what was discussed and to the programme for the Irish Presidency.
First, however, I should like to pay tribute to the courtesy, efficiency and decisiveness with which the Council was run by President Mitterrand and the French Presidency generally, aided by the Council Secretariat and the Commission. The general arrangement of the Council's business and the services provided could hardly have been bettered. That the Summit was a spectacular success is universally acknowledged. It represents a major move forward in the affairs of the Community. The conclusions document is a record of substantial achievements.
This is a time of historic change in the Community and in Europe as a whole. It is a time of new hope for all Europeans, East and West. Momentous events are taking place daily. The ideological walls that kept people apart are crumbling as surely as the Berlin Wall. Patterns which had been fixed for two generations since the Second World War are shifting and changing with almost unbelievable rapidity.
It was against this background that the Strasbourg Summit took place, and in reporting on it I will deal also with the work of the Irish Presidency commencing in January when we will have the responsibility for carrying forward the work of the Community, both internally and externally, for the next six months.
Essentially the work at Strasbourg was concentrated on three areas:
—First, we discussed the internal affairs of the Community. The main areas were the completion of the Internal Market, Economic and Monetary Union and the Social Charter. Other aspects were economic growth, research, audio visual capacity and the improvement of the quality of life of the people of Europe, generally.
—Second, the relationship of the Community with other European countries and in particular the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the European Free Trade Area and the Mediterranean States.
—Third, external relations and the Community's international obligations and its relationship with countries and regions for which it accepts a special responsibility.
The proceedings in Strasbourg opened with a statement by Mr. Baron, the President of the European Parliament, in which he set out the Parliament's position and priorities.
The Council then went on in formal session to consider progress towards the completion of the internal market. We noted the satisfactory pace of progress and that with the internal market beginning to assume final shape its positive effects are being felt throughout the Community. Important decisions have been taken during the French Presidency in the regulation of financial services, and significant progress has been made on the control of company mergers, on road cabotage and air transport guidelines.
The European Council also outlined where it would like to see decisive progress in the near future, such as the opening of public procurement in telecommunications and other essential services; the development and interconnection of trans-European transport, communications and energy networks; and measures to combat tax evasion following the liberalisation of capital movements, as well as a resolution of the problems connected with indirect tax harmonisation.
The Council discussed a number of associated policies aimed at ensuring that economic progress is shared throughout the Community through closer economic and social cohesion and through active policies on the environment. We noted with satisfaction the unanimous agreement on the arrangements for the setting up of the European Environment Agency in 1990. The General Affairs Council is to take an early decision on the location of the agency's headquarters.
Other matters dealt with under this heading included research, audio visual, the free movement of persons, and a People's Europe. Under this particular heading, we agreed on the progressive abolition of border formalities, noting the need at the same time for such measures as may be necessary to combat terrorism, crime, and the menace of traffic in drugs.
The single market has already led to a significant increase in investment throughout the Community and to the creation of new jobs — which are projected at about five million for the period 1988 to 1990.
A major advance at Strasbourg was the adoption of the "Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers" by 11 member states by way of political declaration. Ireland has always fully supported the concept of the Social Charter, and the thinking behind it, which is that the Single Market must be accompanied by a positive social dimension. At Strasbourg I gave Ireland's full support to the adoption of the Charter, which is an important declaration of fundamental rights and objectives.
The preamble explicitly recognises that the completion of the internal market is the most effective means of creating employment. The Charter is fully in line with what has been a cardinal principle of Government policy here since 1987, expressed in the Programme for National Recovery, that:
The social consensus contributes to the strengthening of the competitiveness of undertakings of the economy as a whole and to the creation of employment [and that] it is an essential condition for ensuring sustained economic development.
The Charter covers rights and objectives in relation to freedom of movement, freedom of association, equitable pay, working time, the conditions of employment of part time and temporary workers, the development of vocational training, social security and social protection, safety and health at work, protection of young workers and the protection of the elderly and the disabled.
The Commission's Action Programme to implement the Charter will now be undertaken by governments, the Commission, employers and employees working together to guarantee the improvement of working conditions and, at the same time, maintaining efficient, competitive undertakings and a healthy economic environment for investment and growth, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Social Charter and Action Programme will not conflict with what is our prior social requirement, namely that of employment. The principle of sub-sidiarity has been accepted. Only those tasks that could be better achieved at Community level will be subject to Community action, with other aspects left to the member states for implementation through legislation and the procedures of free collective bargaining. Some account had necessarily to be taken of the enormous diversity of practices in the employer — employee relationship across the Community. The text which has emerged from the negotiations and which we have adopted represents a reasonable balance and a broad consensus.
Progress towards Economic and Monetary Union is now under way. The Council welcomed the agreements reached by the ECOFIN Council and the initiatives taken by the Central Bank Governors in order to strengthen the coordination of economic policies and to improve the co-operation between Central Banks. These decisions prepare the Community for the first stage of EMU to start on 1 July 1990. The Council decided by majority that an Intergovernmental Conference should be convened to prepare amendments of the Treaty for stages 2 and 3 of the programme. This Conference will meet, under the auspices of the Italian Presidency, before the end of 1990. It will draw up its own agenda and set the timetable for its proceedings.
The Commission will submit before 1 April a composite paper on all aspects of EMU. This paper will respond to the questions identified by the high level working group, established under the French Presidency. The Commission paper will deal, inter alia, with the economic and social cohesion dimension, and with the issue of democratic accountability. The General Affairs and ECOFIN Councils will use the period before the opening of the Conference to ensure the best possible preparation, and the proceedings, as a whole, will be examined by the General Affairs Council in preparation for the Dublin European Council, next June.
On the external relations of the Community, the Council indicated its hope that at the ministerial meeting on 19 December a decision will be taken to begin negotiations so that the Community and EFTA can, at the earliest opportunity, reach agreement on strengthening their co-operation in accordance with their multi-lateral commitments. The Council further indicated its hope that the negotiations to be opened in the first half of 1990 will produce arrangements for institutional co-operation which are fully in keeping with these principles.
In relation to Central and Eastern Europe, we said that the Community has taken and will take the necessary decisions to strengthen co-operation with the people of those countries seeking freedom, democracy and progress. The Strasbourg Council approved the creation of a European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to promote productive and competitive investment in the States of Central and Eastern Europe so as to assist the transition towards a more market-orientated economy and to speed up the necessary structural adjustments.
We also confirmed the Community's readiness to participate in the creation of a Stabilisation Fund for Poland with combined contributions from the Twelve of more than half the resources of the Fund, which is to receive £1,000 million. The Council referred to the need to grant Hungary, after agreement with the IMF, an adjustment loan of the same amount.
Under the heading of Political Co-operation, the Council discussed: The Middle East, Lebanon, The Euro-Arab Conference, Southern Africa, Ethiopia, Chile and Central America. The Conclusions of the Council on these subjects are available to Deputies. I will, therefore, confine myself here to the more important elements of the discussion, so far as Ireland is concerned.
I have already mentioned the substantial steps taken or proposed by the Community to help in the historic movement in Eastern Europe towards democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. The Council acknowledged that "such a profound and rapid development would not have been possible without the policy of openness and reform led by Mr. Gorbachev".
The Council expressed its support for the German people to regain their unity through free self-determination, in conditions of peace and stability, in full respect of all relevant agreements and treaties, and respecting the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, and in a context of dialogue and East-West co-operation. It was emphasised that this "has to be placed in the perspective of Community integration". On the occasion of the opening of the Berlin Wall, I sent a message to Chancellor Kohl conveying our support and best wishes on an historic occasion for all Germans.
With the prospects of progress on disarmament, and against the background of greater freedom of movement of persons and ideas, and respect for human rights, the whole climate in Europe is being transformed. The European Council was conscious of the tremendous responsibility placed on the Community in these circumstances to assist the process of change and to give support to the countries which are embarked on the road to democracy.
In relation to Central America, Ireland has demonstrated its full willingness to play its part in the peace process as a country which understands the immense political and socio-economic difficulties of the region, by contributing troops to the UN Force ONUCA. We are making preparations for a meeting within the San Jose framework here in Dublin during our Presidency involving the Foreign Ministers of the Central American countries, the four Contadora States, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, and our EC partners. The purpose of this meeting will be to help the Central American countries concerned to strengthen democracy and political stability, so that they can lessen the economic and social deprivation which forms the basis of most of their problems.
At the conclusion of the Strasbourg Council, I had a meeting lasting about half-an-hour with the British Prime Minister, Mrs. Thatcher. At the meeting I conveyed our concern over the case of the Birmingham Six, where, in my view, the arguments for reopening the case are unanswerable. We also discussed bilateral issues and welcomed the establishment of the Anglo-Irish Parliamentary Group. We considered the situation in relation to Northern Ireland and the prospects for political progress there. As the communiqué issued after the meeting notes, we were agreed in our condemnation of violence and on the constant need to improve security co-operation. We emphasised, in particular, the possibilities that would open up if violence were to end.
We discussed the current state of affairs in the Community and reviewed at some length many of the major issues the developments.
It is already clear that the changes both within the Community and in Eastern Europe will have a profound effect not alone on the whole of Europe but throughout the world. The Community's response to these developments will be of crucial importance. New policies and structures are required to deal with them. The Irish Presidency will be called on to guide and shape the Community's response in the coming months.
Great care and maturity are called for. If the events of the past months have shown us anything, it is that history will not fit neatly into the constructions of politicians, diplomats, and administrators. Who could have foreseen last summer the emergence of non-Communist governments in Poland or Hungary, or the radical changes that the power of the people have brought in East Germany and Czechoslovakia? These events require new thinking, to use Gorbachev's phrase, by all European states, but in particular by the members of the Community.
Some have seen the developments in Eastern Europe as presenting the Community with a dilemma; that it would have to choose between proceeding with its own policies or greater unity and integration or supporting the heroic efforts of the peoples of Eastern Europe. But in reality no such choice is necessary. On the contrary, both developments are interdependent and, I believe, reinforce one another in a powerful and dynamic way, and this was confirmed at Strasbourg.
The Community of Twelve is built on solid principles of democracy, individual freedom, respect for human rights, the rule of law — values which we sometimes lose sight of in the minutiae of Community legislation and the complexity of negotiations. But it is important to recall that the Twelve can pool their economic interests and can build common European institutions, precisely because we share these basic values. For the past 30 years, the Community has given to Western Europe a period of peace, stability, and prosperity never before seen in modern European history. The values on which the Community is constructed are values that the peoples of Eastern Europe are now demanding for themselves; and they look to the Community to help them achieve them and to rebuild their economies. It would be more than ironic, it would be a betrayal of the hopes of all Europeans if, at the very moment when the success of the Community is so manifest, the member states were to falter, or change course, and fail to move on steadily to a more coherent unity.
The Community really has no alternative but to strengthen its own integration and at the same time reach out to the other countries of Europe with whom we share a common civilisation and help them to realise their hopes.
These will be the key tasks of the Community under the Irish Presidency in coming months.
I have already had extensive discussions with Community partners and with President Delors on these questions. Ministers have been fully involved with their opposite numbers in member states and in the Commission in developing their work programmes. In early January, the Government will meet with the full Commission in Dublin to co-ordinate the Presidency's and the Commission's efforts and to focus on priorities for the next six months. This meeting arises from our wish to work closely with our Commission colleagues in expediting progress in every sector.
While it is difficult in these volatile times in European politics to predict what may happen in coming months, I feel I can outline where the primary focus of the Presidency activity is likely to fall.
First, we must get on with completing the internal market. The Community is now at the halfway point in the creation of the single market — a market of 320 million people without barriers or restrictions to trade and with a combined purchasing power of over £3,300 billion. This great enterprise, which has the objective of removing all the frontiers between the 12 countries so that there will be complete freedom of competition in the supply of goods and services throughout the Community on equal terms, has breathed new life and vigour into a Community which for some years has lacked direction and purpose. Already, European industry has responded to the challenge and the project has evoked widespread interest around the world. It is imperative for the future of the Community, for the welfare of its citizens, and for the prosperity of its industry that the momentum of this work be maintained and target dates adhered to.
This will be the basic work of the Irish Presidency. Much has been achieved in the three years since the adoption of the Single European Act, but it was only natural that the more difficult issues would be left to the last. Tax harmonisation, animal and plant health controls, the free movement of people, public purchasing, energy, and financial services are among the issues that the Irish Presidency must address. On some of these, such as tax harmonisation, Ireland has very definite concerns which we wish to have resolved.
Our objective is clear. We wish to see borders come down within the Community, and we will work closely with our partners and the Commission to this end. We want to see substantial achievements over the coming months on the further liberalisation of air transport and of telecommunications services. Transport and communications are at the heart of a modern economy, and we have seen already the benefits that flowed from the first phase of the air transport package in the form of cheaper fares, market access, and wider choices. The Irish Presidency will give high priority to proposals in these areas and will make every effort to ensure their early adoption.
Second, we will take up the preparations for economic and monetary union. The logic of the internal market in which there will be a free flow of people, goods, capital and services requires the closest co-ordination of national economic and monetary policies. Furthermore, the very success of the single market and of the European Monetary System established ten years ago has encouraged member states to opt decisively for further policies, which will create the conditions of stability and coherence in which satisfactory economic growth and increased employment opportunities can be achieved.
Ireland fully subscribes to this view. At Madrid in June and again in Strasbourg last weekend, we supported the objective of progressive movement towards economic and monetary union. The first phase is scheduled to come into operation on 1 July next year, and it will fall to the Irish Presidency to ensure that the necessary decisions and preparations have been made by that date. The Commission will produce before 1 April next year a composite paper, which will cover all the different aspects of EMU and include a comprehensive analysis of the issues that will arise. At that stage, there will be four principal documents on the table; the main Delors report, the report of the high level working party established by the French Presidency, the British document and the Commission paper. On the basis of these four documents, the preparatory work from the IGC can proceed.
It is no overstatement to say that economic and monetary union will involve the most fundamental changes in economic relationships between member states since the original Treaties. No one underestimates the enormous importance and gravity of the task. Member states will have many national interests to concern them and the implications for particular sectors of their economies to worry about. The negotiations will be complex and will have to deal with issues of substance and with far-reaching implications.
Despite suggestions to the contrary, it should be understood that Britain, in fact, accepts the overall objective of progress toward economic and monetary union. Britain does not, however, believe that the process set out in the Delors report is the only way to achieve it. Their main difficulty with the Delors report is that it does not envisage a proper system of democratic accountability for economic and fiscal policy in the integrated Community. Britain, however, is fully committed to the single market and also to stage one of the Delors Programme.
Third, we will concentrate on the environment and make a major effort to formulate a comprehensive coherent Community policy for the environment. As the threat of military confrontation recedes, the presistent pervasive danger to the natural environment of our planet emerges as the real common enemy.
The warming of the earth's atmosphere, and its implications for the world's low-lying areas and for food production; the destruction of the tropical forests, and the spread of desertification through drought and soil erosion; the depletion of marine life and the effects of acid rain on lakes, rivers and forests, all contribute to the grave threat of an irreversible deterioration in the conditions necessary to sustain life on this planet.
It is no longer simply a question of seeking cleaner air and water for the sake of the beneficial effects on public health and the quality of life important though these are. The challenge is greater than that. The very atmosphere of our planet is threatened by our activities. Pollution knows no frontiers, recognises no walls, respects no particular political ideology. What is required is a new, enlightened approach to global management, which recognises the interdependence of all forms of life on this planet. Much of the knowledge, the resources and the skills needed to meet the challenge are available, if effectively utilised in an informed and scientific manner. This is an issue which demands effective international action and where the European Community is uniquely placed to act and to take initiatives.
Within the Community we must press ahead with effective action on immediate issues like vehicle emissions, water standards, waste disposal, and the protection of wildlife. At the international level, we can use the unrivalled expertise of the member states and the stature of the Community in international affairs to press for international action on global issues. In this connection, we will work to have a strong Community position for the review next June of the Montreal Protocol on the ozone layer, which in our view did not go far enough in limiting the production of chlorofluorocarbons. The conservation of tropical forests is at the top of the international environmental agenda and must be a major item on the agenda of the Environment Council during the next six months. We intend also to take up the linked question of climate change with a view to developing a common approach on key policy issues in international fora, and in particular at the World Climate Conference to be held in November next year.
The Community must create a new framework of relations with our European neighbours. This development is the subject of animated and continuing discussion these days throughout the Community. Everyone is aware of the enormous challenge which the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe present. There is also the need for a new relationship with EFTA and to develop the Community's relations with the Mediterranean countries. Further afield there lies the difficult terrain of the Community's dialogue with the US and Japan. The GATT negotiations offer an opportunity to strengthen the world's multilateral trading system. The Community's relations with its partners in Latin America, ASEAN, the Lomé countries and the Arab World all demand continuing attention.
The Community calmly faces the dramatic changes taking place in Eastern Europe. It accepts its historic responsibility to adopt forward looking policies and measures to support the peoples of Eastern Europe in their efforts to achieve democratic freedom. The very existence of a successful Community of democratic countries freely co-operating with each other must surely have been a shining light to the oppressed peoples of Eastern Europe in recent decades. We have clearly demonstrated our desire to help them change over to democratic political structures and sensible economic régimes. The Community's role has been recognised by the other OECD countries, and the Commission acts as co-ordinator of aid to Poland and Hungary from all 24 OECD members. The 24 are meeting in Brussels at ministerial level today to consider their overall approach, the adequacy of what has been done so far, and what further measures are necessary.
The Irish Presidency has been requested by the European Council to ensure the commencement of negotiations in January 1990 on the setting up of a European Bank for reconstruction and development. The States of Central and Eastern Europe will be able to participate in the capital and management of the bank, in which the member states, the Community and the European Investment Bank will have a majority holding. Other countries, and in particular the other member countries of the OECD, will be invited to participate. The Community will encourage and support economic reform in these countries. It has concluded trade agreements and, for the most part, co-operation agreements with Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, and the agreement with the USSR should be signed by the end of the year. Other measures under consideration, in this area, are approval in principle to the granting of observer status to the USSR in the GATT, and proposals to allow nationals of Central and Eastern Europe to take part in a number of educational and training programmes similar to Community programmes. Of particular importance also was the request to the Council to take the requisite decision at the beginning of 1990 for the establishment of a European training foundation, the purpose of which is to provide managerial and technical skills where these are needed.
The Twelve's relations with the other democratic countries of Europe are of great importance at a time when the overall picture of Europe is changing from day to day. The six EFTA countries are the nearest to the Twelve, geographically, politically, economically and as trading partners. They are all fellow members of the Council of Europe, where the democratic European States which respect human rights meet together. The Community has embarked on an effort to find new structures to deal with this important relationship. A ministerial level meeting between the Community and EFTA takes place on 19 December and this will lay the groundwork for future relations between the Twelve and the Six. The conclusions of the European Council include an expression of the hope
that the negotiations to be opened in the first half of 1990 will produce appropriate pragmatic arrangements for institutional co-operation ...
Mr. Gorbachev has at different times made proposals for a meeting of the Heads of Government of the 35 participating States in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe before the end of next year and for the scheduled 1992 Helsinki CSCE follow-up meeting to be brought forward. Developments in Europe and in the CSCE as a whole will make it necessary to look very carefully at these and other proposals aimed at ensuring that the CSCE process continues to play its indispensable part in the affairs of Europe, with the full participation of the United States and Canada.
The changes we are seeing in Eastern Europe are all, fortunately, taking place peacefully. It is, nevertheless, a time of turmoil that must be carefully managed. Both President Bush and President Gorbachev have shown their sensitivity to the requirements of the situation. This was one of the notable outcomes of their meeting off Malta ten days ago. I have already noted the central importance of the Community in these developments, both as an example of what is possible and an anchor of stability during the transition. A strong Community, in close co-operation with the other European democracies in EFTA, will play an essential role in ensuring the stable evolution of the new Europe which we all welcome. The decisions taken at Strasbourg are a good beginning. We are determined to continue along this path during the next six months.
The issues I have just outlined will constitute the major focus for action in the next six months, but they are not the only matters with which our Presidency will have to deal. Other priorities on which Ministers will be actively engaged during the Presidency include the fixing of agriculture prices for 1990-91, a key issue for Ireland and for the Community; there will be new Commission proposals to promote rural development. At our recent meeting in Brussels President Delors and I discussed the need to develop policies to emphasise the importance of the countryside and to offer country dwellers a viable alternative to rural exodus. This is an important issue for our Presidency, and we intend to pursue these proposals vigorously in coming months; in the health area, we will promote Community programmes on cancer, AIDS, drugs and alcohol abuse. In this connection the Presidency will lay particular stress on actions in favour of young people; in relation to budgetary policy, it will be necessary to conduct an examination of the financial perspectives of the Community up to 1992, to ensure that the necessary resources are available to fund Community programmes in coming years; Ireland has a particular interest in policies to promote economic and social cohesion, and the recent decisions on the Structural funds are a major contribution in this area. This is a central element of Community policy as set out in the Single Act. Economic and social cohesion is essential to underpin the internal market and EMU integration; the internal market must be complemented by the development of the Community's social dimension. Europe will mean little, if it does not bring real and tangible benefits to our peoples and improvements in their living and working conditions. Some of these will flow from the internal market itself and from structural, agricultural and other policies. But we cannot leave it at that. Positive measures are needed to ensure that all share in the benefits of European integration. Following the adoption of the Charter by 11 member states, the follow-up action programme for its practical implementation will now be taken up by the Social Affairs Council and the Commission.
It is clear that the next year will be one of great challenge for the Community and its member states. The issues I have touched on are at the core of the Community's development and of European integration and they have a great relevance for broader international politics. In many respects the Community has now the economic and political attributes of a super power. The policies that the Twelve have pursued through European Political Co-operation have ensured it international respect and leave it well placed to discharge its responsibilities in the uncertain period ahead.
We can also see how, over the last five years, the European Community has become much more meaningful and significant to the Irish people. It has become a reality which can be seen to affect their daily lives, not something distant and remote, of interest only to politicians.
There is an increasing awareness of ourselves as Europeans, of belonging; a familiarity with the towns and cities, the languages and customs of the Community countries. This outlook and these feelings will deepen as we move steadily towards European Union. One of the conclusions of the Strasbourg Summit states:
All Community policies in the economic and social spheres contribute directly and indirectly to consolidating a common sense of belonging. This movement must be broadened and accelerated by the adoption of concrete measures which will enable European citizens to recognise in their daily lives that they belong to a single entity.
A practical objective that we must set about during the Irish Presidency is to achieve the greatest possible degree of progress in eliminating border restrictions on the free movement of the people of the Community throughout the 12 countries.
We must work to bring the Community closer to the day when it will be possible to buy a ticket at a reasonable price at any Irish seaport or airport and travel freely to any part of the Community with no restrictions, formalities or bureaucratic interference of any kind.
We take over the Presidency from France, a nation that has given much to European politics and civilisation and to the Community, as evidenced by the success of the past six months and the Strasbourg European Council. We hope to build on that success so that, when we hand over to our Italian colleagues in July of next year, we will be able to record substantive progress towards a more united Europe.
I believe too that it would be desirable during our Presidency to arrange an opportunity to look ahead to the future beyond the single market and the present process of integration. We must find time at some stage to lift our eyes from the immediate and pressing concerns of the Community and seek to perceive, be it only in outline, the Europe that is likely to emerge during the remaining years of this century.
Europe is clearly coming to a new sense of unity. The unmistakable trend of events in Eastern Europe and the manifest desire of the six countries of the European Free Trade Area for closer links with the Community demand that we look again at the vision of Europe of the founding fathers of the Community.
Swift said "Vision is the ability to see that which is invisible". The words of the Treaties of Paris and Rome can now be seen to have been prophetic. The founding fathers resolved to "create the basis for a broader and deeper community among peoples long divided by bloody conflicts". They were determined "to lay the foundation of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe" and were resolved "to ensure the economic and social progress of their countries by common action to eliminate the barriers which divide Europe". Thus were the banners of unity, progress and friendship unfurled for us by those who had the will to turn their dream of European unity and peace into practical achievements. Their vision brought economic and social progress which now unites 320 million Europeans.
Those who proposed the original treaties had no limited vision of Europe. Has the time come for us in the same spirit to look beyond a Europe of Twleve? I hope, therefore, that during the Irish Presidency we will be able to devote some time to seeing how the Community of Twelve might, again in the words of the Treaty of Paris, "lay the foundations for institutions which will give direction to a destiny henceforward shared" among all the peoples of Europe.