PROGRESS on resolving the EU dispute with the US over Cuba and agreement on mutual recognition of standards to remove barriers to trade worth almost £30 billion marked the EU-US summit yesterday. Both sides also moved to virtual agreement on joint actions to combat drug trafficking.
President Clinton paid tribute to the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and the Government which he thanked for "the outstanding leadership that Ireland has given the EU during its Presidency".
Mr Bruton, speaking at the joint press conference following the White House summit, said the meeting had been "very successful". They had discussed "how we can promote peace and stability in the world, how we can enhance our trade between Europe and the US, how we can meet the new challenges which are emerging on the world stage".
Today the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, will return for a further meeting with the president to discuss the Northern peace process. Mr Bruton said the results of the talks on decommissioning at Stormont yesterday would be part of the agenda.
On the Helms-Burton law which allows EU companies investing in certain sectors in Cuba to be sued in US courts, Mr Clinton said he had not yet decided whether to implement it when the deadline came in mid-January. Later, the Taoiseach said he was now more confident" that the President would continue to suspend the law.
Mr Jacques Santer, president of the EU Commission, said the summit had "helped to clear the air on Cuba". Though the EU and the US "may differ on the means, we certainly agree on the end goal".
Mr Clinton said he had not yet got a recommendation from his officials on whether to prolong the waiver for another six months but he said the recent EU common position calling for democracy and human rights in Cuba "has to be a factor in the decision I make".
Irish officials are convinced privately that Mr Clinton will extend the waiver so that US law suits cannot proceed against European companies affected. They believe the feedback from the US administration on the EU's strong statement on Cuba signals a favourable decision from Mr Clinton in mid-January.
The Taoiseach repeated that the EU still wants the Helms-Burton law repealed and that the EU complaint to the World Trade Organisation is going ahead. He said that the EU and the US believe the "denial of democratic rights to the Cuban people is an anachronism in the modern world and is denying the Cuban people something to which they are absolutely entitled".
Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN last night, Mr Bruton, said that it was now "primarily" up to the IRA to move the peace process forward by calling a cease-fire. Asked if he was hopeful of a ceasefire, he said there were "good grounds for hope - the logic certainly points to an early ceasefire".
Mr Bruton, perhaps mindful of the confusion which followed his remarks on a ceasefire when he was in Washington last September, refused to say he was "optimistic" about a ceasefire. But "if a ceasefire made sense in 1994 without a talks process, it certainly makes sense now when there is a talks process available for Sinn Fein to enter."
Asked if it were all now "in the IRA's lap", the Taoiseach replied: "Yes, primarily it is in their lap. They have got to make up their mind. Do they have confidence in politics or do they want to use violence as well?"
He did not believe "any democracy in the long run can tolerate an organisation which retains the option of using violence from time to time if it isn't getting its way."
Mr Bruton and Mr Spring will meet the US President today to discuss the Northern Ireland situation.