Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Nov 2001

Vol. 544 No. 5

Written Answers. - EU Presidency.

Thomas P. Broughan

Ceist:

40 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the preparations which have been made for the Convention on the Future of Europe agreed by the Council of Ministers on 8 October 2001; the way in which the Irish representation on the convention will be selected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29229/01]

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

58 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has had discussions with his EU colleagues with a view to the future of Europe in the context of the next intergovernmental conference in 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29321/01]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 40 and 58 together.

The Nice European Council in December 2000 agreed there should be a wider and deeper debate about the future of the European Union, to culminate in a further intergovernmental conference in 2004. It was also agreed that the Laeken European Council in December 2001 would agree on how the process would be carried forward in the interim, and that the following questions should, inter alia, be addressed: the delimitation of powers between the Union and the member states; the status of the Charter of Fundamental Rights; the simplification of the treaties and the role of national parliaments in the European architecture.

What the Nice Declaration describes as "the need to improve and monitor the democratic legitimacy and transparency of the union and its institutions, in order to bring them closer to the citizens of the member states" was also identified as an overarching theme of the process, and I regard it as fundamental to the success of the "Future of Europe" debate.

During the current Belgian Presidency, Foreign Ministers have had a number of discussions on the "Future of Europe" process, most recently at the General Affairs Council on Monday. Heads of Government also addressed the matter during the informal European Council at Ghent on 19 October. Final agreement on the Laeken Declaration will of course be for next month's European Council. While no draft text has yet been made available by the Presidency, it is expected that the Laeken Declaration will fall into three parts: a short analysis of the challenges facing the Union; arrangements for a convention to carry the process forward during 2002-03 and an account of the topics to be addressed by the convention.

There is broad consensus on the structure and purpose of the convention to be established. It would involve representatives of the member states, national parliaments, the European Parliament and the Commission, together with representatives of the applicant states. The convention would begin work in the first half of 2002 and would meet for about a year. The views of civil society would be sought through a structured network of existing organisations. There would be a substantial gap, or firebreak, between the end of the convention and the start of the Intergovernmental Conference proper, which is likely to take place during our EU Presidency in 2004. The convention would be asked to bring forward options for consideration by the Intergovernmental Conference, which would however retain sole authority for negotiating and agreeing any eventual treaty changes.

It is likely that the topics which the convention will be invited to discuss will take as their starting point the four items identified at Nice, while perhaps being rather wider in scope and being framed in a more general way. The Government in discussion to date has argued for a focused agenda which helps the European Union to concentrate on the challenge of reducing the disconnection between it and its citizens. Once a formal decision has been taken on the establishment of the convention, the Government will in due course nominate a representative to it. It will be for the Oireachtas to nominate its own representatives once arrangements are finalised.

In follow-up to the Gothenburg European Council conclusions, the Belgian Presidency has asked all of the member states to submit to it, in advance of Laeken, a short, one-page, account of the current state of national debates on the "Future of Europe." The Government will prepare a short and purely factual account of the establishment and early proceedings of the National Forum on Europe. Obviously, any reports or other documents which the forum may itself eventually prepare would be forwarded to other member states and, once it is established, the convention.