EU leaders act to allay Irish fears on neutrality

European Union leaders meeting in Seville have granted a vital declaration to Ireland enunciating that the Nice Treaty did not impinge on Ireland's traditional concept of neutrality.

The declaration came at the end of the first session of the summit, being held in the Spanish city of Seville, in a bid to put the Irish's people mind at rest that neutrality and EU membership were not incompatible.

The Irish government also released a separate declaration yesterday afternoon highlighting the country's commitment to EU common foreign and security policy and at the same time stressing that this did not conflict with the country's concept of neutrality.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said that "facts now speak for themselves". The EU declaration, he added, "confirms that there is no threat to our traditional policy of military neutrality".

A determined Mr Ahern, who recently won a new electoral mandate in his country, said he was strongly committed to using all his energy to persuade the Irish people to approve the Nice Treaty in a referendum likely to be held in October. The Irish people rejected the treaty in a referendum held last year.

Mr Ahern said he was aware that neutrality and non-alignment was an issue in Malta and stressed that the EU declaration on Ireland's neutrality should be "useful" to Malta because it confirms that there was nothing in the legal terms of the Nice Treaty that impinged on neutrality.

"The declaration helps Malta," Mr Ahern said during a news conference in reply to a question by The Times.

He recalled that he had visited Malta last year and remembered that neutrality featured in the country's debate on EU accession.

The issue of the declaration on the Irish neutrality featured prominently in the first day of the summit. Mr Ahern, accompanied by his foreign minister, Brian Cowen, yesterday presented Ireland's national declaration on military neutrality to his EU counterparts.

The purpose of the declaration is to make clear, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Treaty of Nice poses no threat to Ireland's neutrality. The declaration confirms that this understanding was also shared by all 15-member states.

The EU declaration recalls that under the terms of the Nice Treaty, the policy of the Union shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states. Ireland has drawn attention in this regard to its traditional policy of military neutrality.

The EU Council acknowledges that the Nice Treaty does not impose any binding mutual defence commitments. Nor does the development of the EU's capacity to conduct humanitarian and crisis management tasks involve the establishment of a European army.

The declaration says that the EU recognised that, like all member states, Ireland would retain the right, following the entry into force of the Treaty of Nice, to make its own sovereign decisions, in accordance with its Constitution and its laws, on whether to commit military personnel to participate in any operation carried out under the European Security and Defence Policy.

The Irish government's national declaration states that Ireland recalls its commitment to the common foreign and security policy of the EU as set out in the Nice Treaty. Ireland confirms that its participation in the EU's common foreign and security policy does not prejudice its traditional policy of neutrality.

The Irish declaration notes that the treaty makes it clear that the EU's security and defence policy shall not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states.

In line with its traditional policy of military neutrality, the Irish declaration adds, Ireland is not bound by any mutual defence commitment.

Nor is Ireland party to any plans to develop a European army. Indeed, the Nice European Council recognised that the development of the EU's capacity to conduct humanitarian and crisis management tasks does not involve the establishment of a European army.

The Irish declaration notes that:

¤ Ireland is not party to any mutual defence commitment.

¤ The country is also not a party to any plans to develop a European army.

¤ Ireland will take a sovereign decision, on a case by case basis, on whether the defence forces should participate in humanitarian or crisis management tasks undertaken by the EU, based on the United Nations' authorisation and government decision.

The national declaration makes it clear that Ireland will not adopt any decision taken by the EU to move to a common defence, or ratify any future treaty which would involve a departure from its neutrality, unless it has first been approved by the Irish people in a referendum.

Mr Ahern stressed that his government was confident that the publication of the declarations would allay concerns expressed in the first Nice referendum campaign that Ireland's policy of military neutrality was affected by the Nice Treaty.

Mr Ahern said there was no plan "B" in case the second Irish referendum failed to approve the Nice Treaty.

"There is no identifiable solution. If rejected it will create a difficult situation for the EU."

The first day of the session in Seville was dominated by the controversial debate on immigration. The summit aims to find a common strategy to crack down on unwanted foreigners following the success of several far right parties campaigning on an anti-immigrant platform in a string of elections across western Europe.

The EU leaders are also tackling the enlargement process, including the pace of negotiations with the 10 countries aiming to conclude negotiations by the end of the year.

On immigration, European Commission President Romano Prodi told EU leaders that this was a big and a burning issue. He said there were good reasons for focusing on illegal immigration: "But I do not think we can afford to give the impression that we are turning our backs on the many other aspects of the multi-faceted subject of immigration more generally".

He said it was dangerous, and almost certainly inaccurate, to allow any idea to spread that enlargement would automatically lead to a perceived "illegal" immigration from the new member states. First of all, their citizens would be citizens of the Union, which made the word "illegal" a strange one anyway. Secondly, their access to the EU's labour market would be phased according to the result of negotiations themselves. Thirdly, Mr Prodi pointed out, similar scaremongering at the time of the Spanish and Portuguese accessions turned out to be baseless.

Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, along with the heads of government of candidate countries, arrives in Seville this morning to participate in an important working lunch with the 15 EU leaders.