Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 1 Dec 1998

Vol. 497 No. 5

Written Answers - Multilateral Agreement on Investment.

Trevor Sargent

Ceist:

68 Mr. Sargent asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to the approach being adopted by the French authorities in relation to the Multilateral Agreement on Investment negotiations to which Ireland is a party; if she will be instructing Ireland's negotiators to support the French position in relation to the negotiations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25346/98]

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. T. Kitt)

Negotiations on a Multilateral Agreement on Investment, to be known as the MAI, were held under the auspices of the Organisation for Economic co-operation and Development, OECD, in Paris. It was intended that the MAI would be a free—standing, international treaty, open to all countries willing and able to meet its obligations. As a small country with a high dependence on trade and foreign investment Ireland would tend to favour a multilateral approach to dealing with regulatory issues that involve governments.

Concerns were raised in the course of the negotiations on a number of issues including national sovereignty, labour and environment, culture, dispute settlement, extra-territoriality, regional integration and the needs of developing countries. In April 1998, governments decided to engage in a period of assessment and further consultation and to have no further negotiations for six months. France announced in October 1998 that it would not continue with the negotiations. Negotiations on the MAI have ceased. Therefore, the question of whether Ireland's negotiators should support the French position does not arise.

I met Monsieur Jacques Dondoux, the French Minister of State with responsibility for Trade, on 5 November last and we agreed that there was still a recognised need for a multilateral framework for investment. France has suggested that the World Trade Organisation, WTO, would be the most suitable forum to negotiate such a framework. Many other countries, including Ireland have already expressed this view. For example, last April, at the OECD ministerial meeting in Paris I argued in favour of using the WTO to negotiate investment rules. This position was also set out in a reply to parliamentary questions on 21 April 1998. One of the main arguments in favour of this approach is that it would facilitate the full participation of developing countries in the process. However, there would need to be a consensus in the WTO before negotiations can commence there.