Pat the Cope Gallagher
Ceist:51 Mr. Gallagher (Donegal South-West) asked the Minister for Tourism and Trade if he will give details of his priorities for Ireland's forthcoming Presidency of the EU. [13368/96]
Written Answers. - EU Presidency.
I will be concentrating on three main areas during the forthcoming Presidency of the European Union — the internal market, EU external trade policy and tourism.
In relation to the EU internal market, I will chair two meetings of the internal market council on 25 October and 26 November. My priorities will be:
—to review the functioning of the internal market and to initiate any action required in the light of the Commission's report on the effectiveness of the internal market, which is due to be published later this year; to facilitate the work being carried out by the Commission in the area of legislation simplification; to oversee the completion of the "Citizens First" initiative, which is designed to inform EU citizens of their rights in the internal market; to progress the work being carried out to assist the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to align their legislation to that of the EU as part of their preparations for accession; to seek to adopt measures relating to the free movement of doctors, foodstuffs, the Community Customs Code, pressure equipment, two or three-wheeled vehicles and motor vehicle frontal impact.
In the external trade area, I will represent the EU Presidency at the first Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in Singapore on 9-13 December. In preparation for this conference, I will host a meeting of EU Trade Ministers in Dublin on 18-19 September. My objective for the December WTO Conference will be to ensure a strong EU contribution and an outcome reflecting the EU priority of consolidating and developing the multilateral trade system.
My priority in the tourism area will be to make progress on the proposed EU Multi-Annual Programme for Tourism, having regard, in particular, to the economic importance of the tourist industry throughout Europe and the need for member states to address together its development. I will chair a meeting of the Tourism Council on 24 October.