Tánaiste outlines key issues as EU Treaty negotiations reach crucial stage

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dick Spring, TD, has identified a number of key issues arising at the Intergovernmental Conference to review the EU Treaty.

Speaking at the European Public Information Centre in Dublin today, Mr Spring said that there were some sensitive institutional questions relating to the balance between the more populous and less populous Member States. "The key to a satisfactory outcome on these issues will be the willingness of every Member State to listen to the concerns of its partners. ... Ireland is sensitive to the concerns of partners and partners must also be sensitive to our concerns. ... No Member State attaches greater importance than Ireland to an effective and independent Commission. We continue to believe that preserving the right of all Member States to nominate a full member of the Commission is not only compatible with that objective but necessary for the effectiveness of the Commission".

In the institutional area, the Tánaiste said that "the number of decision-making procedures should be reduced; the co-decision procedure, which maximises the role of the European Parliament should be extended to several new areas; and the provision for qualified majority voting under the first pillar (e.g. on matters to do with the Single Market) should be extended".

New provisions in the area of Justice and Home Affairs are likely to include a strengthening of the Treaty basis for cooperation in the fight against international crime. The Tánaiste referred to the question of incorporating within the Treaty "the agreements which have already been reached by thirteen Member States in the context of Schengen cooperation. Ireland accepts that some degree of flexibility is both appropriate and necessary given that there are in a sense two separate areas of free movement within the Union - on the one hand the Schengen area and on the other hand the Common Travel Area between the United Kingdom and Ireland. However,

we will continue to insist that differentiation is kept to a minimum and that whatever differentiation proves necessary takes place in an overall coherent framework involving all fifteen Member States".

On the strengthening of the Union's external policy, the Tánaiste said that "this should involve an improvement and streamlining of the functioning of the Common Foreign and Security Policy notably by making the decision-making procedures more flexible, by strengthening the Troika arrangements for the external representation of the Union and by introducing a planning and an analysis capacity in the Council Secretariat which should strengthen significantly the Union's ability to respond rapidly and in a coherent way to international developments. It should also involve the incorporation of the Petersberg tasks in the Treaty so as to allow the Union to develop its action in support of peace more effectively. A strengthening of external policy also means strengthening the capacity of the European Community to act on behalf of its Member States in external economic relations notably in the World Trade Organisation".

Mr Spring referred the the question of introducing mechanisms in the Treaty to provide for what has been called "flexibility" or "enhanced cooperation". " Whatever is decided by the Conference in this area will be of great significance for the future development of the Union. Any new provisions in this area would have to respect certain principles. ... The single institutional framework must be preserved. Enhanced cooperation should essentially be a last resort. ... As regards the Common Foreign and Security Policy, we believe that a constructive abstention mechanism would provide a significant and appropriate form of flexibility", the Tánaiste said.

In other areas, the revised Treaty is likely to contain significant new provisions on employment; explicit recognition of the objective of sustainable development; consumer protection; strengthened provisions in the area of public health; and greater transparency in the operation of the Union.

Referring to the question of how a future enlarged European Union will be financed, the Tánaiste said that the Commission would be coming forward with its proposals after the conclusion of the IGC. Mr Spring stressed that "enlargement will bring a welcome new stimulus to the European Union. However, the associated costs must not be met at the expense of the EU's programmes in the existing fifteen". He said that the negotiations on the future of the EU Structural Funding will be crucial ones for this country. "Important structural changes have taken place in Ireland in recent years. That our output per head is now at the EU average, as against 64% of that average a decade ago, is a very remarkable development. The benefits we have received under the European Union's Regional Policy have contributed very substantially to this development".

"After 1999 a great deal will still remain to be done to secure our long-term competitiveness. Our economic growth, dramatic though it is, is far too recent to allow the build-up of wealth which would allow us to do this on our own. I believe that the Commission recognises this and I am confident that it will make provision for our continuing development needs in the new Financial Perspectives. We will also be concerned to ensure that the EU's agricultural programmes remain properly funded. Despite the development which is taking place in other sectors of our economy, agriculture remains a crucial cornerstone, and one which as we know is under pressure from a variety of sources. It is essential that appropriate provision be made for the agricultural sector and for rural development generally", the Tánaiste said.Top