Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 March 2004
54 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Defence the extent to which he has discussed with his EU colleagues Ireland’s participation in European and defence security procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9500/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI refer the Deputy to the reply I gave to Question No. 27 on 5 February 2004.
During the Italian Presidency an informal meeting of Defence Ministers was held in Rome on 3 and 4 October 2003 and an EU Defence Ministerial en marge of the General Affairs External Relations Council, GAERC, was held in Brussels on 17 November 2003.
Meetings of Defence Ministers provide a useful forum for Ministers to exchange views on the continued development of the European Security and Defence Policy, ESDP, in particular the development of EU capabilities to carry out Petersberg Task operations.
Two meetings of EU Defence Ministers will be held during Ireland's Presidency. The first informal meeting will take place in Brussels on 5 and 6 April 2004 and the second will be held in the framework of the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 17 and 18 May 2004. As part of my preparations for Ireland's Presidency of the EU I met informally with a number of my counterparts both en marge of previous ministerial meetings and through visits to capitals. The purpose of these discussions was to exchange views on Ireland’s mandate for the Presidency.
