Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. With the strategic compass, member states are working to build a common assessment of the threats and challenges posed to the European Union. In addition, the compass will help the EU to become a stronger security provider at a global level as well as a more responsible and reliable partner that can respond to external crises, work closely with the United Nations and other partners, and protect the Union and its citizens. The challenge is to try to bring everybody's concerns and ambitions together in one document that all 27 countries of the European Union can support. They bring different perspectives to this discussion. We bring the perspective of a country that is militarily neutral and wants to focus on peacekeeping and peace support and on co-operation and partnership with the United Nations. There are other neutral countries in the European Union that are not members of NATO which also bring perspectives, such as Austria, Malta, Finland and Sweden. We have been very much active in this discussion and debate. I hope that, by the end of March, we will be able to settle on a strategic compass that makes sense for all countries.

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