Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I attended the European Council on 21 and 22 June and into the morning of 23 June, in Brussels. I was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dick Roche.

The conclusions of the European Council have been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The highlight of the Council was the agreement of a detailed mandate for an Intergovernmental Conference, IGC. This represents a very considerable achievement for the European Union. It shows our ability to function coherently and effectively with 27 members to resolve issues that have troubled the Union for a number of years. The new treaty will provide the institutional structures and operating principles to deliver for the people of Europe in the decades ahead.

Before going into detail, I want to express my appreciation for the tireless work of the German Presidency and, above all, the President of the European Council, Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her commitment, patience, fairness and her enduring determination to achieve agreement paid dividends in the end. At a number of moments during the negotiations, it seemed that we would not agree unanimously on the outcome. The Presidency, however, was able to secure agreement on a mandate acceptable to all 27 member states.

The agreement of the IGC mandate was by no means the only success of the Council. We first convened in the form of the Council in the composition of Heads of State and Government, joined by the president of the European Central Bank, to discuss and agree on the accession of Malta and Cyprus to the euro. I am very pleased that we will share a currency with Cyprus and Malta from January next, bringing the number of countries within the euro area to 15. This will benefit the tens of thousands of Irish people who travel to these countries each year.

The Council adopted a set of conclusions which deals with the Union's ongoing agenda, including in the area of freedom, security and justice, notably in relation to migration and strengthening cross-border police co-operation. In the social, economic and environmental area the Council underlined the need for further progress on the Internal Market and looked forward to the Commission's Single Market review to be published in the autumn. Ireland will continue to support a deepening of the Single Market as this review progresses.

Significantly, the Council welcomed the outcome of the G8 summit in Germany on combating climate change, in particular, the commitment to the UN process and reducing emissions by at least 50% by 2050. This is an area where, following decisions taken at the spring European Council, the European Union is providing real global leadership and must continue to do so.

The Council also adopted conclusions in the external relations area, including on neighbourhood policy and relations with Africa. I am pleased to report that the Council conclusions welcome the recent engagement between the President of the Commission and the new Northern Ireland Executive and underline the European Union's long-standing and continuing support for the peace process.

Going into the European Council, the prospects for success did not look promising and there were a number of difficult issues to be resolved. Ireland's approach to the negotiations was to preserve as much as possible of what was agreed in 2004. We did not want a new negotiation to be launched which might take years to complete and raise issues which would have been very difficult to resolve. Our main concern was to ensure any changes required to accommodate the concerns of other member states would not undermine the balance and substance of the constitutional treaty negotiated in 2004. Finally, after one or two moments where the atmosphere became very difficult, the Council reached agreement on the mandate which is contained in the conclusions laid before the House.

The mandate for the IGC provides for the negotiation of a reform treaty which will differ in form from the European constitutional treaty. At the same time, perhaps 90% of the substantive package remains unaltered from the European constitutional treaty. I will report on the key changes for which the mandate provides.

The constitutional phrasing and symbolism which featured in the 2004 treaty are no longer being pursued. Similarly, the treaty will no longer be a single, consolidated text but a traditional amending treaty, that is, a set of amendments to existing treaties.

In relation to the Charter of Fundamental Rights which the Government supported throughout, we would have been happy to have it retained in the reform treaty. Unfortunately, it was not possible to secure a consensus on this. It will, however, have the same legal value as the treaties and apply to all areas embraced by the European Union and where the member states apply European Union law. At the behest of the United Kingdom, a protocol on the charter was introduced at a very late stage in the negotiations relating to its scope in UK law. Although we have no difficulty with the scope and application of the charter, I nevertheless considered it necessary and prudent to seek an opportunity to study the implications of the protocol. While we will continue to examine the technical implications, we are satisfied that the text of the charter and the wording to be included in the treaty appear to adequately define the scope and application of the charter. We did not seek an "opt-out" from the charter, nor did we seek inclusion of a footnote in the draft mandate recording any reservations. We simply indicated that we wished to study the implications of the UK position.

The title of "Foreign Minister" contained in the constitutional treaty has been changed to "High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy". The new system of double majority voting in co-decision matters, where 55% of the countries representing 65% of the citizens must approve a measure, will not now come into force until 2014 and if any member state so wishes, it can be further deferred until 2017. The role of national parliaments has been considerably increased, with the so-called "yellow card" procedure much strengthened. The scope of the treaty's provisions on the environment is to be broadened with the inclusion of a specific reference to combating climate change, a measure I had specifically sought.

With regard to police and criminal judicial co-operation, it was decided to speed up the operation of the emergency brake procedure. This allows a member state to refer a criminal law proposal to the European Council if it is concerned that the fundamental principles of its legal system would be adversely affected. Alongside this are measures to facilitate enhanced co-operation where general consensus cannot be achieved.

It was also agreed that the UK should not be automatically bound by police or criminal co-operation proposals and that it would be entitled to exercise an opt-out in regard to them. Given the similarities between our legal system and that of the UK, Ireland has been given the option of following the UK's lead in the criminal law and police co-operation area. We will examine this issue carefully in the coming period. We will need to weigh up our general reluctance to take opt-outs against the issues arising from our being part of a JHA co-operation if the UK is not. The issue is under active consideration and a decision will be made in due course.

There has been much comment on whether the importance of competition within the Internal Market has been diminished. Competition remains a critical feature of a properly functioning Internal Market. While language relating to the Union's objectives has been altered somewhat, the robust and substantive clauses on competition within the treaties remain unaltered. They have served us well for many years and will continue to do so.

There will also be a protocol on public services which gives greater recognition to the variation of circumstances which can affect the delivery of public services, including geographical, social and cultural situations. The provision on primacy of European law in the constitutional treaty will be replaced by a declaration referring to European jurisprudence in this area which, as the House knows, has been based for more than four decades on the primacy of EU law.

Agreement by the European Council on the mandate for the IGC follows two years of uncertainty over the future treaty basis of the Union. This could not have continued for much longer without inflicting damage on the Union's credibility. In preparing the Council's work, the German Presidency wisely waited until after the spring European Council and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome before increasing the pace of negotiations. There were intensive contacts at all levels, including, as Members heard earlier today, when I travelled to Berlin to meet Chancellor Merkel a couple of weeks ahead of the Council.

In the build-up to the Council, we acknowledged the reality that the constitution in its 2004 form was no longer acceptable to a number of member states. We recognised the difficulties faced by some partners following the "no" votes in 2005. Like others, we wanted to be helpful to those who had encountered ratification problems. At the same time, we made it plain that we could not abandon the thrust of a draft treaty that was agreed in 2004 after long, complex and highly inclusive negotiations and which was needed to enable the enlarged Union to operate successfully in the interests of our citizens. We fully achieved that objective last week.

The mandate we agreed at the weekend is a good compromise between those who had difficulties in ratifying the constitutional treaty and those, like Ireland, who wanted to retain its substance. Its altered appearance is a small price to pay for unanimous agreement on how the Union will carry forward its work for many years.

For Ireland, the mandate represents the achievement of all our goals in the negotiations: the substance of the constitutional treaty is preserved, combating climate change will now be given a treaty basis, our position on justice and home affairs is maintained and we can determine the best course for Ireland in regard to the JHA opt-in option during the IGC.

For the Union, the mandate reflects the main tenets of the constitutional treaty. These include provision for a more efficient and effective enlarged Union, the introduction of a President of the European Council, the creation of more effective arrangements to manage the Union's increasingly important foreign policy, an enhanced role for national parliaments, ensuring that the composition of the Commission will be based on absolute equality between member states, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, setting out clearly the rights which must be respected in the implementation of the EU's business and ensuring that the social consequences are taken on board when assessing the likely impact of legislative proposals.

Ireland has benefited hugely from EU membership and continues to do so. As an advanced nation with an export-orientated economy we have a substantial stake in a stable and prosperous future for Europe and its neighbouring regions. This can best be secured with an EU which maintains a high level playing field for economic activity within Europe and which can advance Europe's values internationally. Ireland needs a Europe that works, whether that be dealing with international crime, addressing energy security, managing relations with Russia, negotiating with the World Trade Organisation, operating and regulating the Single Market or combating climate change. An effective EU is a vital national interest. The agreed mandate provides the basis for modernising our Union to take account of the way Europe's circumstances have changed in recent years. For that reason alone, the reform treaty will be good for Europe and for Ireland.

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