U.S.-EU Cooperation
'Ireland’s Presidency Priorities in the field of external relations': Minister for European Affairs Roche: March 29, 2004
Minister of State Mr. Dick Roche today addressed the Conference of Foreign Affairs Committees at Dublin Castle. Minister Roche discussed the progress Ireland had made on its priorities in the field of external relations to date and briefed the Committee on the further work the Presidency aims to complete over the next three months.
Minister Roche told the Committee that support for effective multilateralism, the transatlantic relationship, human rights, the EU's relationship with Africa and the implementation of the EU Security Strategy were the key strategic themes that inform Ireland's approach in the field of external relations.
Below is the full speech by the Minister
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am delighted to be here with you today to discuss Ireland's Presidency priorities in the field of external relations. It is particularly apt that this Conference takes place at the exact mid-point of the Presidency. We have an excellent opportunity this afternoon to review 'where we are at' so to speak and the further work we have to do over the next three months.
Many of you will be familiar with the key strategic themes that inform our approach in the field of external relations; support for effective multilateralism; the transatlantic relationship; human rights; the EU's relationship with Africa and the implementation of the EU Security Strategy.
In addition, we have stressed throughout our Presidency the importance of the Union being coherent in its policies and effective in its actions. The EU is only serious - and is only taken seriously - as a global player when its representatives speak with one voice.
We are not in the business of using these six months to advance specific narrowly-defined national interests. We are working hard to define and project a common EU stance on issues of global importance. And I think, by and large, that we are achieving the level of cohesiveness and cooperation that we aimed for at the outset. In the external relations arena, as in other areas, we are reflecting our Presidency theme: 'Europeans - Working Together'.
You are all aware that external affairs agenda on the Union is now truly global in its scope. In the time available today, it is not possible for me to give a full account of our programme across the entire global spectrum. What I would like to do, however, is give a sense of the progress we are making in the key strategic areas which we have identified as of particular importance.
EU & The UN
I have already mentioned some strategic themes that resonate throughout our Presidency. Support for effective multilateralism is at the top of that list. It is at the heart of the European Security Strategy. We believe in multilateral solutions because we believe unilateraI action simply can not provide solutions to problems as complex and as multi-faceted as those we face.
The United Nations is the pivotal actor in the maintenance of global peace and security and we are committed to working ever more closely with the UN to promote shared values and achieve shared goals. It has been a central aim of our Presidency to harness the EU's substantial, and growing, political weight to strengthen the United Nations so that it is equipped with the legitimacy and authority it needs to fulfil its unique role.
Last September, Secretary-General Annan gave the membership a clear critique of the problems facing the UN - the inefficient working methods of the General Assembly and the need for the Security Council to regain the confidence of States by demonstrating its ability to deal effectively with the most difficult issues.
On the first aspect, the Union has been actively engaged at the UN in pressing for the implementation of the important resolution adopted last December on revitalizing the work of the General Assembly.
On the more fundamental question of boosting the effectiveness of, and trust in, the collective system of security, the Secretary-General established last November a High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change which will report at the end of this year. As Presidency, we are coordinating the EU's contribution to the work of this Panel, to assist it in its important task of analysing current as well as future threats to peace and security and assessing how best collective resolve can meet these threats.
This will not be about grandiose plans to reinvent the UN or change it beyond recognition. It will be about fashioning a coherent view on comprehensive, integrated and early responses to the threats facing countries at risk of instability, whether those threats come in the familiar form of HIV/AIDS or chronic poverty or as the more recent threats of terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
REGIONAL ISSUES
A second important aspect of the Union's support for effective multilateralism has been to "mainstream" the issue into our contact with other regions.
In addition to the Union's practical support for building African peacekeeping capacity, the EU and the African Union have been engaged on the preparation of a joint declaration on effective multilateralism which is expected to be adopted by the EU-African Union Ministerial Troika on 1 April.
The theme of effective multilateralism will also feature prominently in the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit in Mexico in May, the EU-Japan Summit in Tokyo in June and at the Asia Europe Meeting's Foreign Ministerial Meeting, known as ASEM, in Ireland in April.
Another key element of our support for an effective multilateral system is EU- UN is peacekeeping and crisis management. We are working with the UN to implement our Joint Declaration on Cooperation in Crisis Management, particularly in terms of practical cooperation in training and planning for peacekeeping operations.
We also are cooperating closely on establishing an EU rapid reaction capability to assist in the establishment of a new UN peacekeeping operation or in tasks temporarily beyond the capacity of the standing UN mission. Rapid reaction capability is an area on which Secretary General Annan laid particular emphasis in his meeting with Minister Cowen in January.
It is essential that the Union has the ability to deploy peacekeeping missions rapidly in situations where an immediate presence on the ground may be key in averting conflict and bloodshed. As we approach the tenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, the need for timely and appropriate intervention in such circumstances in rightly receiving our close attention.
ESDP
Crisis management has always been at the heart of the Union's European Security and Defence Policy. Work in this area is central to our Presidency approach of supporting and strengthening effective multilateral means of dealing with conflict and challenges to global security.
A multilateral approach is also key in countering the threat of proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and in promoting disarmament. This is reflected in the EU WMD Strategy which was adopted by the European Council in December 2003. As Presidency, we have been concentrating our efforts to implement this strategy on strengthening the international system of non-proliferation, pursuing universalisation of multilateral agreements and reinforcing strict implementation and compliance with these agreements.
HUMAN RIGHTS
In the human rights field, we have been aiming throughout our Presidency to be practical and imaginative in promoting human rights around the globe. An initiative that we are particularly focused on is the adoption of EU Guidelines in support of Human Rights Defenders. While the Union has always attached importance to the protection of human rights defenders, support has largely been on an ad hoc basis. The Irish Presidency is developing specific policy guidelines in order to strengthen the EU's support for human rights defenders and we expect that these will be adopted before the end of our Presidency.
THE MIDDLE EAST
An inevitable overarching priority throughout our Presidency has been and will continue to be the situation in the Middle East. The European Union continues to believe that the path to peace is set out in the Roadmap drawn up by the US, the EU, the UN and Russia. But, as is all too obvious from recent events on the ground, the implementation of the Road Map is yet to come about.
There can be no doubt that the extra-judicial killing of Hamas Leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and seven other Palestinians by Israeli forces a week ago today has exacerbated an already difficult situation. It will make more difficult our efforts to bring about progress in the Peace Process. The fact is however, that there is no realistic alternative to the provisions contained in the Road Map. Unilateral separation will not bring a just, lasting and secure peace. As Presidency, we have promoted the idea of taking a series of small, but concrete and visible steps which the two sides could implement together.
The Taoiseach - who will address you later this afternoon - was to have attended the Arab League Summit in Tunis today. The last minute cancellation of the Summit is very regrettable. We had planned to use the opportunity to urge support from Arab Partners for our overall approach.
However, we remain in close contact with the leaders of the principal Arab States to ensure that momentum in the Peace Process is not lost. Foreign Minister Cowen is visiting Cairo and Damascus this week and will emphasis the need for a concerted effort to advance our common goals of peace and security in the region through a just resolution of the conflict.
We also had planned in Tunis to start the process of active consultation with the countries of the region on the Union's Strategic Partnership towards the Mediterranean and the Middle East Region. As foreseen by the European Security Strategy, the Union is committed to developing a more strategic approach to our relationship with the Middle East region. Last week, both Foreign Ministers and the Heads of Government welcomed the Presidency's interim report on the Strategic Partnership. We remain committed to developing our strategic approach and to ensuring the consultation with Arab partners is a core element of this process.
I want to stress the fact that the Union does not see itself as lecturing the region to embrace greater levels of democracy, press freedom, and so forth. Yes, we wish to see such developments come about. However, we can only advance matters in the desired direction through continuous consultation and partnership with the region itself. Let me turn from cross-cutting thematic priorities to our relationships with key bilateral partners.
EU-US RELATIONS
Clearly, the transatlantic relationship is central to the Union's external relations agenda and continues to be a core element of our Presidency programme. We in Ireland have made clear our view that the European Union needs to adhere to the basic foreign policy triangle of a reinforced Common Foreign and Security Policy, a firm attachment to the UN and a strong transatlantic relationship.
There is no doubt that close, ongoing and pragmatic cooperation between the European Union and the United States is indispensable if we are both to advance the many foreign policy objectives that we share in common. As a group of nations with over 40% of the world's GDP and a similar share of world trade, we have an absolute responsibility to exercise our respective roles as global players responsibly, in support of peace, security and prosperity.
The EU-US partnership stands at the heart of the developing international reality, as it has done for fifty years. The enduring strength of our relationship, which has weathered dips and troughs over the years and will continue to do so, is greater than any single dispute that we may encounter, political or economic
As Presidency, we see it as our role to continue to re-build and restore the transatlantic relationship after the divisions experienced last year over Iraq. We have been working closely with the US across a wide range of issues, including Afghanistan, Iraq, cooperation on counter-terrorism, on non-proliferation issues and our strategic approach to the Middle East.
The EU-US Foreign Ministerial Troika in Washington earlier this month - which Minister Cowen co-chaired with Secretary of State Colin Powell - was an important milestone in this cooperation and has set the tone for what I expect to be a very successful and fruitful EU-US Summit in Ireland in June.
EU-CANADA
Relations with Canada have also progressed substantially during our Presidency with the adoption this month of a new EU-Canada Partnership agenda at the EU-Canada Summit in Ottawa. This will further enhance our co-operation in foreign and security policy, justice and home affairs and, importantly, in tacking global issues including climate change, and poverty in developing countries.
Canada and the EU share fundamental values - democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. We now have a mechanism to cooperate in bringing forward practical initiatives in support of these values.
AFRICA
Africa has been high up our agenda this Presidency's agenda and the coming weeks will see a particularly sustained period of engagement with our African partners. Next week will see the EU-African Union Troika and the EU-South Africa Troika meetings at Ministerial level here in Dublin. This will followed by a visit which Minister Cowen will make to Ethiopia and Eritrea, Rwanda and Burundi.
Key elements of our discussions with African partners will be support for African peacekeeping and conflict prevention, debt and effective multilateralism.
Foreign Minister Zuma's attendance at the Troika in Dublin will also provide us occasion to celebrate with her the 10th anniversary of the ending of apartheid. In a world where sometimes the challenges that we face seem intractable, it is a welcome opportunity to recall that conflicts do end, that injustice can be rectified, that reconciliation is achievable and that the future can be promising.
We have also been working hard to enhance the Union's strategic relationship with Asia. The EU Troika, led by Minister Cowen visited India, Pakistan and Afghanistan last month. The Troika expressed the Union's support for the positive steps India and Pakistan have been taking towards resuming dialogue and cooperation in recent weeks. The visit was also an opportunity to stress the EU's firm commitment to Afghanistan's reconstruction needs.
This commitment will be evident next week at the International Conference on Afghanistan in Berlin when the Union will pledge continued assistance to Afghanistan in its transition to a secure, stable and just society.
Mid-April brings the fifteen EU Foreign Ministers and Commissioner Patten together with the ten Asian Foreign Ministers at the ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Ireland. The Presidency is working to energise this process, which is the principal forum for dialogue between the EU and Asian partners. We are encouraged by the interest of the Members in re-invigorating ASEM, and are confident that with serious engagement by both sides, we will address important issues of substance, such as the enlargement of ASEM.
There are complex issues facing the EU-Asia relationship which we must resolve; how best to ensure the future of ASEM, and its enlargement; how to strengthen our relations with Asian partners and manage issues of concern, such as the review of the EU's Arms Embargo on China. The Union's relationship with Asia is vital and we continue to work hard, consistently and transparently with our partners in the region to establish robust and honest cooperation.
RUSSIA
Moving nearer to home, it is clear that the enlargement of the Union from 15 to 25 gives an added impetus to the relationship between the European Union and Russia. We are committed to building a strategic partnership with Russia based on common values and interests but also on open and frank dialogue.
The Assessment Report on EU-Russia relations was adopted by the General Affairs and External Relations Council last month and this provides us with a sound basis for work towards the EU-Russia Summit in Moscow at the end of May. Along with the Commission, we as Presidency are working extremely hard to ensure that the extension of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with Russia is extended to the new Member States by 1 May, without precondition or distinction.
THE BALKANS
Furthermore, we are determined to ensure that we extend the zone of peace, security and prosperity that is the European Union to the 385 million people who will be our next-door neighbours when we enlarge to 25.Enlargement must not create new dividing lines in Europe. We need to get our relationships with our neighbours, new and old, right. In this, the experience and insights of many of the acceding states are key. What are for the Union new next-door neighbours have been their next-door neighbours all along.
The Union has also reached a juncture where our shared understanding with the countries of the Western Balkans is that their future lies within the EU. As Presidency, we are committed to the full implementation of the Agenda agreed last June at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki. We strongly support the efforts of the countries of the region as they pursue wide-ranging and difficult reform processes.
The challenges are significant. Events in Kosovo over the past few weeks make this abundantly clear.
But what is also clear is that we now have a well-defined path for the eventual integration of these countries fully into the European Union family. This political perspective provides the context within which peaceful and prosperous societies can emerge from the dark days of intercommunal and ethnic violence.
Ladies and Gentlemen
I have given a brief and a broad outline of our thinking and our actions in the external relations field. I have by no means covered everything and I would welcome your comments and feedback of the overall conduct of the Union's foreign policy by our Presidency.
'Europeans Working Together' is the overarching sentiment that will continue to inform our work as Presidency in this area. We are a Union of 25 member states, with 450 million people and a quarter of the world's GDP. We are indisputably a global player.
We must play our role with greater cohesiveness and unity of purpose, while maintaining faith with the principles and values which have served Europe so well for half a century and more.