Debate on the conclusion of the extraordinary European Council meeting which held in Dublin on the 25th April with the participation of Charles HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach and President in office of the Council. He is joined by Helmut KÖHL, Federal German chacellor. Lothar de MAIZIERE, RDA Prime Minister, take also this opportunity to visit the EP and participate to a conference of the presidents open to all members.

debate

plenary session

EU - Germany (T)

KOHL, Helmut (DE)

HAUGHEY, Charles J. (IE)

DE MAIZIÈRE, Lothar (DE)

Conclusion of the extraordinary European Council meeting in Dublin (25 April): extracts from the debate with the participation of Charles HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, At our meeting in Dublin, you President Baron rightly reminded us that there are less than 1000 days left before the 1992 deadline. 1000 days. Five presidencies.

Arrival oh Helmut KOHL, West German Chancellor

Arrival of Lothar DE MAIZIERE, Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic

Welcome from members for Lothar de Maiziere in the chamber

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, At a time when freedom and democracy are being restored in central and Eastern Europe and progress is being made in arms control and in negotiations, it is now possible and necessary to develop a wider framework of peace, security and cooperation on our continent. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, European Council decided. While member states will maintain their existing security arrangements, the community and its member states will play a leading role in all proceedings and discussions within the CSC process and in efforts to establish new political structures or agreements based on the Helsinki principles.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, The CSCE can play a vital role in the wider framework and should be developed in new directions. There is now wide agreement on the desirability of holding a meeting of the CSC at the highest level before the end of this year. That meeting can start the process of further development of the CSCE, a development which should be well balanced. This further development will provide us with the occasion to encourage pluralist democracy and the rule of law, observance of human rights, economic cooperation and cooperation in the field of culture. Even before the CSCE summit, the community has made an essential contribution to economic cooperation and the CSCE.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, This was done, as you know, at the Bonn economic conference last month. Next month in Copenhagen, we bring about a stronger commitment to human rights. The conference on the human dimension there. The Mediterranean dimension and the CSC will be further developed at the meeting in Parliament in May aka in September, the twelve hour committed to a secure and stable balance of forces in Europe at lower levels and hope that significant and early progress in this direction can be made at the Vienna negotiations on conventional armed forces in Europe and confidence and security building measures.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, Last year, President Bush and Secretary of State Baker called for a new relationship between the United States and the European community. Responding to this call, the European Council expressed the desire of the twelve to further strengthen the community's transatlantic relationship based on regular contacts at the highest level. Council expressed its satisfaction with the understanding which as president of the European Council, I reached with President Bush earlier this year on the holding of a meeting between the US and EC Council presidents during the term of each Council presidency. The Council saw this and other regular meetings, including meetings with the commission, has provided a good framework for the further expansion of relations between the community and the United States.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, Council also discussed a different sort of trade. A sinister one, which represents a major and growing threat to the people of Europe. That is the internationally organised criminal traffic in narcotics. It is not possible to exaggerate this menace. The damage inflicted by drug addiction, particularly to hundreds of thousands of young people, is one of the great shames of our civilization. Recently you had the opportunity to hear in this chamber from the President of Colombia. In a moving and eloquent address about the violence and criminality associated with the drug trade, he made it clear that the problem was one with grave international consequences which required international solidarity to deal with.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, Time has come for the community to fully and openly acknowledge the massive international dimensions of the illegal drugs trade and the absolute necessity for member states to act together urgently and comprehensively to combat it. An organised international criminal organisation can only be defeated by international cooperation among the forces of law and order. We discussed this in Dublin and asked the high level coordinators group Scilab in close consultation with the commission to report on measures to bring about more effective coordination and on priorities for action by the community and member states in the context of a concerted action against drug abuse and illicit production, distribution and sale of narcotic drugs.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, During the course of the tour of the community capitals, which I undertook in preparation for the Council Dublin, it became clear that there was a widespread realisation among the members of the council that the community needed to review the nature and pace of its own internal integration. In response to the rapidly changing situation in Europe. There was a determination that the objectives laid down in the Single European Act must be fully and effectively achieved in all respects. This includes the completion of the single market and the achievement of economic and monetary union.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, There are also there was also a definite view that if the European Union is developed in a rounded and coherent way, we must move positively to political union. The debate, which took place at the Special Council on the question of internal integration, was perhaps the most constructive and which I have taken part. At any European Council, I believe that the outcome represents a decisive step forwards towards a more united, integrated community.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, At our meeting in Dublin, you, President Baron, rightly reminded us that there are less than 1000 days left before the 1992 deadline. 1000 days. Five presidencies. To meet the deadline, which we must all the community institutions must work together to ensure the delays are kept to a minimum. And difficulties quickly resolved. I would like to express my appreciation of the excellent cooperation which the Irish presidency has received from parliament and the chairpersons of the committees.

SOUNDBITE (English), Charles J. HAUGHEY, Irish Taoiseach, In the time that remains, I am confident that that cooperation will will enable us to complete a satisfactory agenda of measures which will contribute to having the monumental task completed by December 1992. Member states, too, must be assiduous in translating community requirements into domestic law where necessary so that we can all keep faith with the people of Europe and present them with a free market they have been promised on the 1st of January 1993.

SOUNDBITE (German), Helmut KOHL, West German Chancellor, "In a free and united Europe a free and united Germany &mdash; that was Konrad Adenauer's grand vision. A vision is now becoming reality. The Federal Government has always sought to ensure that the process of Germany's unity occurs within a stable European framework. My aim is to ensure that the processes of German and European unification occur as harmoniously as possible and, as far as possible, within largely the same time frame and in closest possible coordination with our friends, partners and allies. This is reflected in the key sentence of the conclusion drawn at the special summit meeting in Dublin: 'We are pleased that German unity is being achieved under a European roof."

SOUNDBITE (German), Helmut KOHL, West German Chancellor, Now the substance of the conclusions of Dublin say, and I quote, "We are pleased to note that German unification is taking place under European roof." Well, ladies and gentlemen. Several milestones which brought us to this occasion. First, free elections. The first ones in the DDR for 58 years in March and local elections in May. Negotiations between the Federal Republic and the government of the DDR, a first meeting foreign ministers in the two plus four on the 5th of May in Bonn and a special summit of European communities at the end of April in Dublin. Those were four milestones

SOUNDBITE (German), Helmut KOHL, West German Chancellor, Our partners, we're grateful to them this in Dublin. Unanimously without reservation, they said were for a united Germany along this line, and we have a special reason to thank the commission and its president, Jacques Delors. They helped us in a very thorough and friendly fashion in clearing this way to the future. But I'd like to express to thank you all include you expressly in this vote of thanks, which I'm addressing to you. Because European Parliament right at a very early period switched into the preparatory work and gave us your support. And you've got your committee and soon it's going to come to Bonn and then later on in Berlin to carry on its deliberations. And I will take the opportunity to generate thorough discussions with this committee.

SOUNDBITE (German), Helmut KOHL, West German Chancellor, In Dublin our partners looked looked at the very difficult economic and social problems which are linked with our unification. I think very often people outside don't really understand the ramifications because there is no historical precedent. What happens now has he given a new cover, a new framework? It's very difficult for people from outside of the process to understand this need. I repeat what I said in Dublin. And what the president has just mentioned in his report, it is the aim of our policy and above all, I repeat of my policy, is that the process of European unification and the process of German unification should go ahead in parallel and as fast as possible make his swift progress as possible and we, in the Federal Republic, have intention not to off burden the bill onto the weaker countries. I've said that often in the past and I repeat it now. 

SOUNDBITE (German) Lothar de MAIZIERE, RDA Prime Minister, It is an extraordinarily moving moment for me to stand here or rather sit in front of you as prime minister of the first democratic government of the GDR. This encounter. Today we thank the people in the GDR who began to take their fate into their own hands in the autumn of 1989.

SOUNDBITE (German) Lothar de MAIZIERE, RDA Prime Minister,By peaceful means, they denied their human right to democracy, freedom and self-determination, and respect and dignity of each individual. In this way they remembered the spiritual values and traditions that once originated from Europe, which profoundly founded the European union of peoples.

SOUNDBITE (German) Lothar de MAIZIERE, RDA Prime Minister,We stand up for these values at the stage of German unification. They guarantee the realization of the vision of a European Germany to promote the convergence of our continent.