Vol. 461 No. 8
5 Mr. B. Ahern asked the Taoiseach the membership and frequency of meetings of the European Co-Ordination Committee; and the role, if any, this committee is playing in the co-ordination of Ireland's forthcoming EU Presidency. [2971/96]
The European Co-Ordination Committee is composed of senior officials from all Departments and is usually attended by our permanent representation to the EU. The committee generally meets once a month and is chaired by me. The primary role of the committee is to oversee the formulation and implementation of Irish policy on key European issues. The committee has for some time over-seen preparations for Ireland's Presidency of the EU. To this end, the committee established two subcommittees, the Presidency Interdepartmental Administrative Planning Group and the Presidency Interdepartmental Co-Ordinating Committee, to handle the detailed work on presidency preparations. These subcommittees are chaired by officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and have representatives from all Departments. The subcommittees have reported on a regular basis to the European Co-Ordination Committee.
The Government has now constituted a Ministers and secretaries committee to oversee the co-ordination of the Irish Presidency from both a policy and an administrative view point. The group is chaired by the Taoiseach and comprises the Tánaiste, the Minister for Finance, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Social Welfare——
One could not leave him out.
——the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the secretaries of each of the Departments represented. I am a member of the group and the Minister for Tourism and Trade and the secretary of that Department will also participate in the group when appropriate.
How many meetings has the ministerial group, chaired by the Taoiseach, had to date?
The inaugural meeting of the group took place in the past three weeks.
Since I tabled my question.
As regards the membership and frequency of meetings of the European Co-Ordination Committee and its agenda, will the Minister outline the principal aims of our Presidency?
The main obligation of any Presidency is to ensure an efficient, effective and impartial approach to the discharge of the business of the European Union. With the timely and careful preparation made, Ireland's Presidency will put us in a position to move the agenda of the Union forward in important respects. A major preoccupation in 1996 for the European Union and the Irish Presidency will be the Intergovernmental Conference which will be convened by the Italian presidency in Turin on 29 March and is likely to continue through our Presidency. Ongoing preparations for the move to the third stage of European Monetary Union will be a major element of the Irish Presidency.
The Dublin European Council in December 1996 will also consider the annual report on employment policy in the European Union. The issue of employment will be a major concern for our presidency, as it is at the top of the EU agenda. Other important issues expected to be part of the Union's agenda during our Presidency include a range of third pillar issues such as drugs, immigration and organised crime. Matters likely to be on the external relations agenda include the reconstruction of former Yugoslavia, the strengthening of relations with the US and deepening of relations with Russia, as well as the further development of relations with the countries of central and eastern Europe and with the Mediterranean states in the wake of the Barcelona conference. There might be some movement on the Syria-Israeli peace track during our term.
Is the Minister concerned that as we approach the launch of the Intergovernmental Conference in Turin on 29 March there is no agreement on its agenda? Mr. Jean Monnet, the father of Europe, and his associates have clearly stated there will be major problems with the Intergovernmental Conference. As Ireland is taking over the EU Presidency in a few months, does the Minister or the Taoiseach know how they will organise the conference? Our Italian partners are in no position to do so at present. During the last Intergovernmental Conference in 1986 the Single European Act was on the agenda. In 1990 it was Maastricht and economic and monetary union. However, we do not know its agenda this time, although enlargement and restructuring have been mentioned. It is called the absent agenda in many international newspapers. In what way will the Irish Presidency try to deal with this shambles?
It is not fair to describe it as a shambles. It would be useful if the House debated the reflection group report. I represented Ireland on the reflection group for six months last year and we presented what was called an annotated agenda — a term devised by the Irish. That annotated agenda sets out the alternatives. In addition, the Western European Union made some proposals in relation to its role as its Treaty expires in 1998. Since the publication of the reflection group report, which was noted by the European Council at Madrid, a number of countries have taken different approaches to the Intergovernmental Conference issue. They have raised many different issues and how they might be approached. The reflection group was not a negotiating forum; our job was to identify the issues and how to approach those on which we did not unanimously agree. We were unanimous in some areas, for example, the Maastricht Treaty criteria for European Monetary Union and planning an analysis unit in the second pillar. Otherwise, we outlined the issues and a number of possible approaches to them.
That is the basis of the agenda in addition to whatever input different member states and different organs of the Union — for example, the Commission — wish to make. Far from being a shambles, we have an agenda from which to work during the Intergovernmental Conference. It will depend on how far the Intergovernmental Conference wants to go in the context of enlargement and of making the existing Union more efficient, effective, transparent and relevant to the citizens by dealing with such issues as employment and drugs as best it can.
Has Ireland put the matter of trans-boundary pollution on the agenda for the upcoming Intergovernmental Conference, and if not, why not?
The environment is on the agenda, but trans-boundary pollution is on the agenda at my request. While we will raise and pursue these issues, decisions made at the Intergovernmental Conference will be made on an intergovernmental basis, that is, by unanimity. We can only achieve our aims by agreement.
The reflection group report is the reason I say it is a shambles. It is a catalogue of disagreements on all the major issues. The report just lists the member states which disagree on all the main problems. The launch of the Intergovernmental Conference in Turin will be a glittering affair with no agreed agenda. I asked the Minister — he cannot give me an answer because nothing is being done — to indicate how the Irish Presidency will ensure the Intergovernmental Conference is of some value to Europe.
The Deputy's view on the reflection group report is not shared by others. I spend some of my time each day reading international reviews of different aspects of European policy. There is a universal view that the reflection group report was a good one which did its job. Its job was not to negotiate but to identify the issues and set out ways of tackling them. It is now up to the negotiators to negotiate on that basis. People come into this House and make statements about things they do not quite understand.
We will have the important work on the Intergovernmental Conference, as referred to by the party leader. The Minister of State listed the objectives of the Irish Presidency, which are unemployment and justice. I raised this issue in this House on a number of occasions. Will the Minister of State agree, even at this late stage, that the environment — not just transfrontier but environmental issues generally — should feature as one of the main objectives of our Presidency? Why is the improvement, maintenance and protection of our environment generally not included as an item every time?
We are mentioning the priority issues. The environment, specifically the question of nuclear safety and related dangers, is an ongoing issue about which we are concerned. I assure the Deputy that it is getting priority consideration and I will reinforce that arising from the points made today.
Environment should be a priority item on the agenda.
We will ensure it gets the attention it deserves.
