Dáil Éireann - Volume 557 - 13 November, 2002

Written Answers. - Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Summit.

Mr. J. Higgins Mr. J. Higgins

  145. Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the planned attendance of an Irish delegation at the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Summit in Prague in November. [21351/02]

Mr. J. Higgins Mr. J. Higgins

  184. Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if the Government will be represented at the EAPC meeting in Prague; if so, the person who will attend on behalf of the Government; and the purpose of attendance. [21734/02]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen) Brian Cowen

  Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen): I propose to take Questions Nos. 145 and 184 together.

  As a participant in the Partnership for Peace, Ireland also takes part in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. The EAPC is the political structure which acts as an important forum for discussions in the broad Euro-Atlantic area on matters such as the future development of peacekeeping as well as on non-military areas of possible co-operation, such as disaster relief in Europe. Grounded in the basic principles of the UN Charter and the OSCE basic documents, its work complements and reinforces the work of other international organisations.

  The Government will be represented at the meeting of the EAPC in Prague on 22 November by Minister of State, Deputy Roche.

  Since joining PfP and the EAPC in December 1999, Ireland has been represented at ministerial level at the separate six monthly meetings of Foreign and Defence Ministers from the EAPC countries. The EAPC meeting is quite separate from the NATO summit that is taking place on the previous day. Representatives from 46 countries are invited to participate in the EAPC meeting, including representatives from other European neutral and non-aligned countries, Austria, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.

  The EAPC meeting in Prague is expected to focus on the future direction of PfP and of the EAPC in the twenty-first century. Attendance by Ireland at the meeting will help to facilitate the development of practical co-operation between EAPC participants in the peacekeeping area. This already takes place in a UN mandated context in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Irish personnel participate alongside NATO and non-NATO troop contingents as part of the KFOR and SFOR missions.

  Ireland's attendance at the Prague meeting is in keeping with the terms of Irish participation in the EAPC as set out in the presentation document of Ireland for PfP. These terms were approved by this House in November 1999.

  The presentation document stated, inter alia, that Ireland's participation in PfP is in full accordance with Ireland's policy of military neutrality which has always been pursued in tandem with full and active support for collective security, based on international law.

538

[538]   Our priorities for PfP membership remain focused on co-operation in relation to peacekeeping and humanitarian operations. In this context the EAPC provides a forum whereby we can pursue our priorities on the basis of terms we ourselves have established. The EAPC also facilitates lreland's support for ongoing work in areas such as conflict prevention, civil emergency planning, global humanitarian action against mines and the challenge posed by the illicit transfer of small arms.

  The other neutral and non-aligned members of the EU – Austria, Finland and Sweden – together with Switzerland, pursue their objectives in a similar way in the EAPC framework.

Dáil Éireann 557 Written Answers. Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Summit.

Questions

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