James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the reason the Government chose to avail of an opt out in the areas of criminal procedure and police co-operation in the EU Reform Treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25014/07]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his proposals for opting out of certain aspects of the revised EU Treaty; the beneficial impact or otherwise of such action with particular reference to mutual recognition of the need for cooperation between all Member States on particular issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25041/07]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 322: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on the full extent to any opt out positions in the context of the European Reform Treaty; the extent to which such positions are expected to affect cooperation with other Member States; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25474/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 90, 103 and 322 together.

Agreement on further Treaty provisions in the area of freedom, security and justice is one of the key features of the new Reform Treaty which was agreed to by the Taoiseach and his fellow Heads of State and Government at the informal European Council in Lisbon last week. These provisions will strengthen the Union's ability to combat cross border crime, including illegal immigration and the trafficking of people, arms and drugs which affect all Member States.

Ireland is fully committed to ensuring the effectiveness of EU cooperation against cross border crime. The House will recall that we were instrumental in forging agreement on the Constitutional Treaty and would have been happy to have ratified and implemented that Treaty, including its key elements in the justice and home affairs area. As was explained in the House last week, we must also take account, however, of the changes reflected in the Reform Treaty. These changes arise from the British decision to seek opt-in/opt-out arrangements in the areas of judicial criminal law cooperation and police cooperation.

As was explained in the House, the common law system is quite different from those of our European partners. Under the Constitutional Treaty, it was considered that the combined weight of Ireland and Britain would have been effective in shaping EU measures so as to take account of the specific character of our legal system. Under the Reform Treaty, however, we could have found ourselves, as one of a small handful of Member States with a common law tradition, at a disadvantage and unable to shape proposals in a direction palatable to us.

Faced with this situation, and after carefully weighing up all of the arguments, the Government decided to join the new opt-in/opt-out arrangement on criminal law and police cooperation. We were only willing to avail of these new arrangements because they enable us to opt in on a case-by-case basis. This is what we intend to do. We have the particular intention of participating in measures in the field of police cooperation. Accordingly, we have made a strong Declaration to be attached to the Reform Treaty underlining our firm intention to join with our EU Partners whenever possible. We have also decided that these new arrangements will not apply to measures concerning the freezing of terrorist assets.

On foot of these arrangements, we will be able to contribute to EU cooperation in this important area while, at the same time, ensuring the necessary protections for our legal system. Furthermore, as justice, freedom and security is a relatively new area of EU activity, we have decided to review our participation in these particular opt-in/opt-out arrangements after three years. This will give us time to consider the evolution of EU policy in this area and to assess further the implications of cooperation in the new policy areas for our legal system.