Willie Penrose
Ceist:133 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Defence the meetings, if any, he has had with Ministers of Defence of the other EU countries; the number of these meetings; and the decisions reached. [5015/99]
Written Answers. - EU Meetings.
At the invitation of the Austrian Minister for Defence I attended a meeting of Defence Ministers of the member states of the European Union in Vienna on 3 and 4 November 1998.
The invitation from the Austrian Minister was extended in September last year when Austria held the Presidency of the EU. The meeting, a once-off and informal event, was non-decision making in character and was held outside the institutional framework of the EU. No decisions or conclusions were reached and no final document was produced. Defence Ministers of all the 15 EU member states, including the EU neutral states, attended as well as the Secretary General of the Western European Union (WEU). Discussions focused primarily on the development perspectives of European peacekeeping and crisis management with particular emphasis on the practical effect of the inclusion of the Petersberg Tasks in the Treaty of Amsterdam. This reflected a recognition that the need to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts, such as those that have occurred in the former Yugoslavia, is the current key security challenge facing the UN and the international community as a whole. I found this an area of great interest and importance for Ireland in view of our strong commitment to European integration and in consequence of our long history of support for peacekeeping operations. These two fundamental concepts are brought together in Ireland's readiness to contribute to Petersberg Tasks on a voluntary and case-by-case basis as is our right in accordance with our observer status at the Western European Union. On the basis of our voluntary and long peacekeeping experience, Ireland is ready to make a continuing contribution to strengthening the international community's conflict prevention and crisis management capabilities and I made this known during the course of the meeting. Ireland has, along with our fellow neutral EU member states, and many other non-NATO states, moved into a new dimension of regional peacekeeping through our participation in the Stabilisation Force in Bosnia – SFOR. The Vienna meeting provided a timely opportunity to share experiences in the peacekeeping area with those other countries with which we have much in common.
The focus of the meeting was very firmly in the area of peacekeeping and crisis management. My contribution to the discussions was in that context. I was pleased to have had the opportunity to contribute to the meeting and to indicate Ireland's approach to the issues raised.
I am not aware of any plans for further meetings of this nature.
Apart from the Vienna meeting, I have had occasional informal discussions with other European Defence Ministers on the margins of Western European Union Ministerial Council meetings as the occasions presented.