Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would be happy to take the Deputy's view back to the Minister, but this is not a formal decision-making body. It is a useful forum at which member states can put forward ideas and discuss topical issues. The debates at the meeting were fruitful, particularly in respect of the preparations for the European Council on defence arranged for December of this year, and it also gave further impetus to the co-operation between the EU and the UN. Preparing for the European Council will be a common thread throughout the year. Some common themes were noted for the discussion: that co-operation is more likely to work at a regional level; that resources would remain in short supply, necessitating pooling and sharing; and that the experience from Mali suggests that wherever an individual member state has been capable of responding rapidly, the decision-making processes within the EU had been found wanting. Wanting to act was insufficient as, more importantly, there was a need to be able to act. There is also a need to articulate the role of common security and defence policy in the wider world and discuss its co-ordination at EU level.

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