Written answers

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

Department of Defence

European Council Meetings

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Defence when he will next attend an EU meeting with his counterparts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48489/12]

Photo of Alan ShatterAlan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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During each European Union Presidency both formal and informal meetings of Defence Ministers are held. There is no separate Defence Ministers’ Council within the EU Council of Ministers. However, twice a year - once during each Presidency - Defence Ministers attend the formal Foreign Affairs Council. These Council meetings are held in Brussels or Luxembourg at the invitation of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Baroness Catherine Ashton. I will attend the next meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council with Ministers of Defence in Brussels on Monday 19 November 2012. The Agenda for the meeting includes an Orientation debate on Defence Policy in view of discussions at the European Council in December 2013, a presentation and discussion on the Defence Task Force which is responsible for coordinating Defence issues within the Commission and in cooperation with the European External Action Service and the European Defence Agency, as well as a discussion on the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy military operations. As part of Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first half of 2013, I will host an Informal Meeting of Defence Ministers in Dublin Castle on 12-13 February 2013.

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