White Paper calls for closer EU integration

Date: 28/03/1996

By Rory Watson

THE Irish government has no intention of abandoning the country's traditional policy of military neutrality as the Union tries to strengthen its security and defence voice in the world.

In a wide-ranging White Paper on foreign policy being debated by Irish MPs today (28 March), the government also sets out its case for closer EU integration.

The policy document stresses that neutrality has provided the country with an international reputation for impartiality, and declares that would not be changed “unless the people of Ireland decide otherwise in a referendum”.

The Fine Gael/Labour Party/ Democratic Left coalition government confirms it will not be asking for Irish membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation or the Western European Union.

However, it intends to investigate the benefits of participating in Partnership for Peace and is exploring ways of being involved in various humanitarian and rescue tasks on a case-by-case basis under the Petersberg Declaration.

The White Paper represents a major attempt by the government to present to the public the international choices and responsibilities facing Ireland.

Tabling the document this week, Foreign Affairs Minister Dick Spring explained that he wanted it “to contribute to a sense of ownership of Ireland's foreign policy by all the people of Ireland”.

As the Union launches the Intergovernmental Conference this weekend and Ireland completes preparations for its EU presidency in the second half of this year, the White Paper focuses heavily on the country's role in Europe.

EU membership has undoubtedly been of major benefit to Ireland. By the end of last year, total net Union transfers to the country since accession had reached some 22.5 billion ecu. The bulk of these came from the Common Agricultural Policy and regional and social funds.

But the White Paper underlines that membership is about more than free trade and financial transfers. It notes that the past two decades have witnessed “an increase in national self-confidence, a strengthening of our identity and an increase in our international profile”.

It also spells out the government's commitment to closer integration among EU countries. This is particularly true for judicial and internal affairs, where it argues for a complete review of the largely ineffective intergovernmental provisions now provided for in the Maastricht Treaty to tackle drug trafficking and international crime.

The paper identifies five key challenges facing the EU: ensuring balanced economic development, guaranteeing greater transparency in the way business is conducted, equipping itself with the means to act effectively on the world stage, achieving enlargement and continuing the process of ever-closer union among its peoples.

It predicts that if the challenges are met successfully, “they can be transformed into opportunities for deepening and extending the process of European integration”.

The White Paper's section on the Union is in stark contrast to the contents of a similar exercise carried out by the British government earlier this month. While Ireland sees scope for further EU development and rejects any move towards “pick-and-choose” policies or a straightforward free trade area, the UK wants to ring-fence any increase in EU responsibilities.

Dublin shies away from revealing its detailed approach to the IGC, but sets out strategic considerations which will determine its negotiating stance. It will oppose any suggestion of an exclusive inner core of member states, or moves to undermine the Union's basic institutional structure.

It is equally hostile to any attempt to make the Union more intergovernmental and less communautaire, and to efforts to use the IGC as a way of altering the broad balance between member states. In that vein, it rejects out of hand any possible attempt to deprive the country of a European Commissioner.

Ireland is lining up firmly behind those countries which favour a reduction in the number of decision-making procedures. It also envisages an increase in the power of the European Parliament by extending MEPs' shared legislative rights with governments and argues for more majority voting in the Council of Ministers.