Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I advised the House previously, Dáil and Government business precluded my attendance at the informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Bratislava which took place on 26 and 27 September 2016. The Secretary General of the Department of Defence represented me at the meeting. The meeting included a working session which focused on EU-NATO co-operation and, in particular, on the ongoing work to present concrete options for implementation of the joint EU-NATO declaration signed in July 2016. The Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, attended this session.

The declaration highlights seven key areas where the EU and NATO can further strengthen co-operation. They include countering hybrid threats; broadening co-operation on maritime security and migration; expanding co-operation on cyber defence; developing coherent, complementary and interoperable defence capabilities; facilitating a stronger defence industry and defence research; stepping up co-ordination on exercises; and supporting countries in building their defence and security capabilities. They represent practical areas of co-operation in support of international peace and security, international crisis management operations and the protection of civilians. Progress on developing a set of proposals in these key areas, which will be agreed by the EU and NATO Councils, was discussed during this session. The HRVP, Ms. Federica Mogherini, and the Secretary General of NATO will report to the respective Councils in December on options to implement the EU-NATO declaration for their consideration.

Importantly for Ireland, the EU-NATO declaration confirms that future co-operation will fully respect the decision-making autonomy of both organisations and will not prejudice the specific character of the security and defence policy of any member state. As this is already embodied in the declaration, there was no requirement at the recent informal ministerial meeting for the Secretary General in the Department of Defence to raise the issue of Ireland’s neutrality not being compromised by EU-NATO co-operation. Officials in my Department will continue to monitor closely proposals that emerge under the key areas I mentioned.

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