| Author (Person) | Davies, Eric | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series Details | 12.1.04 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Date | 12/01/2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ireland's sixth Presidency of the Council of the European Union commenced on 1 January 2004. Under the slogan 'Europeans - Working Together', the Presidency Work Programme identified four priority objectives for the country's six months in charge of the Union's affairs:
Whilst possibly the last Presidency under the six-month rotating system, Ireland's is the first to fully comply with the Conclusions of the Seville European Council, intended to ensure greater coherence between Presidency programmes. Ireland's priorities were thus drawn up in conjunction with the succeeding Dutch Presidency under an Operational Programme for 2004, and are also consistent with the Council's longer-term Multi-annual Strategic Programme for 2004-2006. Background Holding the Presidency of the EU has traditionally given a Member State the opportunity to promote its own agenda - albeit within the framework of priorities set by the European Council and in the context of developments initiated by other Presidencies. Because the Member State holding the Presidency of the EU is responsible for setting agendas and chairing meetings, its six-month tenure offers possibilities for influencing actions and decisions beyond those which it might normally expect. However, in order to prevent fragmentation of the Union's overall development, with each successive Presidency promoting completely different priorities, a system developed under which a 'Troika' of Member States - the last, current and next holders of the Presidency of the Council - cooperated at Foreign Minister level to ensure some level of consistency between them. The Treaty of Amsterdam altered the composition of the Troika, which now comprises the Foreign Minister of the Member State holding the Presidency, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and a representative of the European Commission - usually the Commissioner for External Relations. The June 2002 Seville European Council put continuity of the Council's work on a more formal footing by establishing both a Multi-Annual Strategic Programme and an annual Operational Programme for the Presidency. The Work Programme of the Irish Presidency is the first to reflect this 'coherent and strategic approach' to the work of the Council, having been developed in cooperation with the succeeding Dutch Presidency in the context of the Operational Programme for 2004 and as part of the wider Multi-Annual Strategic Programme for 2004-2006. Priorities and challenges The introduction to the Programme of the Irish Presidency of the EU, Europeans - Working Together, states: 'Ireland's Presidency in the first half of 2004 comes both at a time of hope and challenge for the European Union. Ten new Member States will join the Union on 1 May 2004. The Irish Presidency is committed to ensuring that the goodwill and expectation created by the historic ending of the post-war division of Europe is harnessed and made to work in the interests of the people of Europe, and of the wider world. Working together, Europeans can leave behind the divisions of the past and build a better Europe for all.' (The theme of 'Working together' was described by Prime Minister Ahern as one of 'rugged practicality ... which captures a vision of the people of the European Union working as a team, striving together to achieve our ambitious common goals and objectives' - see 09.01.04: Statement by the Taoiseach to the Bertelsmann Foundation in Berlin). The Programme goes on to identify four 'priority objectives' on which the Presidency 'will target its energies and focus [its] work'. The objectives - all of which have the potential for being difficult to manage - are: 1 - To ensure the successful enlargement of the Union 10 new Member States will join the Union on 1 May. Considerable effort has already gone into ensuring their smooth integration into the existing system. Representatives of the 10 have been integrated into meetings of the Council and other bodies, and the Acceding States have adopted the acquis (the body of existing EU law). There are still concerns over the ability of some administrations to manage tasks such as the distribution of EU funds, but considerable progress has generally been made towards preparing for accession. (A 'Day of Welcomes' will be held on Saturday, 1 May, with each new Member State being officially welcomed into the EU by an Irish city or town. Bray, Cork, Drogheda, Galway, Kilkenny, Killarney, Letterkenny, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford are the ones selected. Further details of the Day can be seen in Priorities for Arts, Sport and Tourism). The biggest obstacle to a successful enlargement is the Union's inability to agree on a Constitutional Treaty, intended to modify the way in which the Union works in the light of the forthcoming expansion from 15 to 25 members. The Irish hoped that the previous Italian Presidency would resolve the problem of the Constitution, but the December 2003 Brussels European Council ended without agreement. Whilst Ireland must now seek to pick up, the pieces left by Italy's failure, the Irish are in no great hurry to embroil themselves in the argument over voting rights which led to the Treaty being abandoned. Rather, the Irish - respected within the EU for their diplomatic skills - will take soundings amongst Member States prior to reporting to the March European Council. An agreement on a Constitution is not necessarily expected under the Irish Presidency; it seems quite likely that the issue will pass to the Dutch, who take over in July. (Further background to this issue can be seen in European Sources Online: In Focus Whilst the failure of talks on the Constitution was attributed to the intransigence of Poland and Spain over voting rights, other contentious issues also remain to be resolved. As a Catholic country, Ireland wants the Constitution to include a reference to God. Speaking to the European Parliament in November 2003, Irish President Mary McAleese said 'The Irish government has indicated that it would welcome such an inclusion if consensus can be reached on suitable language.' (European Voice: Enlargement celebrations might also be marred by threats to limit the size of the Union's budget. Shortly after the failure of the Constitutional talks, a number of Member States pressed for the Union to limit the size of its budget. In January the European Commission is expected to publish a paper on the funding of the Union between 2007-2013, and to follow that with firm proposals in July. Ireland will initiate discussions on the issue, but will be aware that his is also a very delicate subject: existing Member States do not want to see their contributions to the EU budget rising inexorably, while new ones will not want to feel that they are being denied resources previously made available to poorer members of the Union. In addition to new members, enlargement will also bring new neighbours. Within its 'enlargement' priority, Ireland has therefore stated that it will pursue 'The opportunity offered by enlargement to develop a stable and comprehensive framework for relations with neighbouring states', with the aim of '[working] with our neighbours to achieve an extended zone of stability to the east and south.' Russia might prove a difficult neighbour to deal with. The EU had serious concerns over the 'Yukos affair' prior to President Putin's success in December's parliamentary elections, and is worried that Russia might be shifting away from democracy. The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was criticised over his dealings with Russia's President Putin during Italy's EU Presidency, particularly for failing to criticise human rights abuses in Chechnya - something which Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern has vowed not to shy away from (see European Voice: 2 - To pursue the Lisbon Agenda The March 2000 Lisbon European Council set the European Union the goal of becoming 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion' by 2010. Progress towards that goal will be reviewed at the Spring European Council, which is seen as an opportunity 'to give renewed vigour and dynamism to the Union's programme for economic, social and environmental renewal' (the Lisbon Strategy). Speaking to the European Policy Centre in December, Ireland's Permanent Representative to the European Union, Anne Anderson, said that, although the Lisbon Strategy has already achieved some success, the initiative - and therefore, presumably, the Union - faces a 'fundamental problem', because 'the public [do] not understand it, the media [is] bored with it and the business community [is] losing faith in ever achieving the jobs and growth goals' (European Policy Centre: Priorities of the Irish EU Presidency). Nevertheless, in a speech to the on 9 January, Bertie Ahern confirmed that growth and employment will be the Presidency's priorities for the Spring European Council and that 'we will therefore concentrate on growth, competitiveness, employment and sustainability' (Statement by the Taoiseach to the Bertelsmann Foundation in Berlin). 3 - To strengthen the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice After stating that 'The people of the Union wish to live, work and carry on business in a peaceful, secure and safe environment', the Work Programme goes on to identify relevant issues, under the following headings: Immigration and Asylum 4 - To promote the European Union in the wider world 'Europeans - Working Together' states: 'Working together, the European Union and its partners can make a major contribution to the promotion of a fairer, peaceful and more secure world. To do this, it must become more active, more coherent and more capable. No single State or group of States can tackle the complex problems of today's world. Effective multilateralism remains the best means of improving global security and extending the benefits of peace, development and respect for human rights to everyone.' Within this overall priority of raising the Union's profile on the world stage - a recurring theme for successive Presidencies - Ireland has identified three specific areas on which it wishes to focus: cooperation with the United Nations (particularly 'on key peacekeeping and crisis-management tasks'), the Union's relationship with Africa, and transatlantic relations (the Presidency 'will work to strengthen the EU-US relationship and other key partnerships on the basis of shared interests and values'). Ireland's period in office will also see the European Parliament elections in June (in which the new Member States will participate) and the Irish will be responsible for identifying a successor to Commission President Romano Prodi, whose term ends in October. Underpinning all of Ireland's Presidency ambitions is its determination 'to manage its Presidency responsibilities in an effective, fair and balanced manner in the interests of the European Union as a whole' and to 'conduct business in an open and transparent manner.' (During her presentation to the European Policy Centre, Ambassador Anne Anderson was said to have noted that the demands of enlargement would leave Ireland little scope for 'national self-indulgence' - see Priorities of the Irish EU Presidency). Further information within European Sources Online European Sources Online: In Focus
European Sources Online: European Voice
European Sources Online: Financial Times
Further information can be seen in these external links: EU Institutions Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU European Commission
Think Tanks European Policy Centre
Media organisations BBC News Online
Eric Davies Background and reporting on the week's main stories in the European Union and the wider Europe. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Countries / Regions | Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
