Ireland's neutrality will be enshrined in the Constitution for the first time if the Amsterdam Treaty is ratified, Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Gay Mitchell, has claimed.
Introducing a party policy document on European integration and the Amsterdam Treaty yesterday, Mr Mitchell said that while there was no constitutional ban on the State joining NATO, ratification of the Amsterdam Treaty would introduce a constitutional ban on the State's becoming part of a common EU defence or becoming a full member of the Western European Union (WEU).
This, he maintained, arose because the Treaty states that actions which might lead to a common defence or the merger of the WEU and the EU must be approved unanimously by the European Council. The Council must then recommend the adoption of such a decision by member-states "in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements".
The Treaty states that the provisions of the Article on Common Foreign and Security Policy will be reviewed in the future under Article N of the Treaty. This is the Article which provides for an InterGovernmental Conference of the EU. In Ireland's case, the outcome of an IGC must be ratified by referendum, he said. Therefore Irish participation in a common defence, or agreement to the merger of the EU and the WEU, could happen only after a referendum.
Mr Mitchell said his party favoured Ireland participating in the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace programme as well as in the so-called Petersberg Tasks of the EU: peace-making, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.
In the past, many issues had been beyond reasoned and/or respectful discussion in this State, he said. Our future role in Europe's security arrangements remained in this category, and this was unhealthy. an Lemass to John Bruton had believed this, and that it was time the current Taoiseach made his position clear.
The Amsterdam Treaty adds significantly to the protection of fundamental rights within the European Union, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said yesterday.
"The Treaty establishes, for the first time, a sanctions procedure for use against any member-state seriously and persistently breaching human rights principles," Mr Andrews said. "This is indicative of the Union's determination to ensure that respect for human rights is a concrete reality and not just a pious aspiration."