Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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68. To ask the Taoiseach if he participated in the section of the European Council meeting on 28 June 2016 that was attended by the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Tready Organisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19593/16]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I participated in the entire European Council meeting on Tuesday 28 June, including NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s presentation to Heads of State or Government.

The presence of the Secretary General is in line with the practice at previous meetings where issues of common interest arise. For example, in June 2015 the Secretary General attended the European Council discussion on security and defence to explain how NATO is responding to new security challenges.

EU-NATO cooperation takes place within the framework of the Lisbon Treaty. The legally-binding Irish Protocol to the Lisbon Treaty expressly states that “The Treaty of Lisbon does not affect or prejudice Ireland’s traditional policy of military neutrality”. EU-NATO cooperation has no implications for this longstanding policy which has been pursued by successive Governments and which was reconfirmed last year in the Foreign Policy review “The Global Island” and in the White Paper on Defence.

At the European Council meeting last week, Secretary General Stoltenberg acknowledged that not all EU countries are members of NATO, and that the needs of individual countries in this regard must be respected. He stressed that EU-NATO cooperation has to be inclusive and transparent, and must not infringe on the security and defence policies of individual nations.

The European Council agreed that, in light of new security challenges, there should be further practical cooperation between the EU and NATO in certain areas, including in relation to hybrid threats – threats which cross the boundary between military, policing, counter-terrorism, cybersecurity and other dimensions. However, the Conclusions contain very clear confirmation that future EU-NATO cooperation 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 States. We were to the fore in insisting that these long-standing guarantees, already enshrined in the Treaty, be clearly reiterated. This is a strong acknowledgement that Ireland’s policy of neutrality and non-NATO membership will in no way be affected by enhanced cooperation.

EU-NATO Cooperation has no implications for the ‘Triple Lock’ which governs deployment of Irish military personnel outside the State. As set out in legislation, this requires that: (1) the operation in question must be mandated by the UN; (2) that participation must be approved by the Government; and (3) that, with certain limited exceptions, it must be approved by way of a resolution of Dáil Éireann.