Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Timmins and I would be of the same view on the first matter he raised. We face difficult decisions in the absence of a new resolution. It raised complex legal and political issues for the individual and collective consideration not only of us but a large number of member states. I hope to be able to maintain a presence in KFOR to contribute members of the Garda Síochána to any security and defence policy mission and support the future economic development of Kosovo. This is where I would be coming from. We will have to deal with the issue. There is no doubt that it raises problems but we should be working on them and not be diverted by any of these issues. We should follow the process which is back in the UN framework on the basis of the report of the contact group. We should do all we can to ensure we play a role in it.

Having listened to President Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek Prime Minister and others, it is clear member states have many difficulties with this. It is not an easy issue to hold unity on and they are not the only two who have difficulties. The weeks ahead could be a difficult enough period with the Serbian election finished and what Kosovo does. It is clear what Kosovo is intent on doing and it will create a difficult period. I am clear in my mind that we should maintain our presence there. We should work to do so and try to achieve that.

With regard to our influence and the JHA, in deciding to opt out of the JHA opt-in opt-out arrangement we were very conscious to preserve our influence within the Union. We have succeeded totally in doing that. We made a strong declaration affirming our commitment to working with partners to combat cross-border crime and our intention to participate in future measures. We have taken a very different position from the British and it has been seen that way. It does not create any difficulty for us. In three years we can review the situation.

The declaration makes it plain that our decision on the JHA was taken reluctantly. It does not stem from any inhibition about closer EU co-operation, particularly police co-operation. We made clear our intention to keep the arrangement under active review and to consider this in a few years. We have not got into any difficulties about the European Court of Justice. The British were unwilling to commit to giving the European Court of Justice a role in JHA matters. We take the opposite view and we have no such reservations. We will also differentiate ourselves by making a strong political statement of our intention to participate to the maximum extent possible in JHA proposals, specifying in particular the area of police co-operation. The British would not make that declaration and we are not aware of any intention on their part to do so.

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