The National Forum on Europe - Ireland and the EU Battlegroups

The National Forum on Europe - Ireland and the EU Battlegroups: "Ireland and the EU Battlegroups
The Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea TD, told the National Forum On Europe today (Thursday 11th May 2006) that the government expects a response shortly to Ireland's application to join the Nordic Battlegroup, one of the rapid response groups being formed as part of the EU's crisis management capability. The Minister said he was fully satisfied that Ireland's participation in European Union battlegroups in no way weakened or undermined Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality. 'I have reiterated on many occasions, that our participation in peace support operations would continue to require UN authorisation. Participation in battlegroups will not diminish this requirement in any way', said the Minister. 'The triple lock of UN, Government and Dáil approval will remain in place'
The Minister said the term 'battlegroup' could be misleading . 'What is actually meant by battlegroups in this respect is a core of troops which could respond quickly to a crisis situation'. He said that these crises had been described in the Amsterdam Treaty as 'humanitarian and rescue tasks, peacekeeping tasks and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking.' The battlegroups were 'an emergency measure to keep people alive until the main troops arrive'. They would be able to move troops more rapidly than could the United Nations and would help to prevent massacres like those in the Balkans and in Rwanda.
However, Fianna Fail Senator, Paschal Mooney, voiced concerns about the Triple Lock. He pointed to the peacekeeping operation in Macedonia which did not have a UN Security Council mandate because China had vetoed it. That decision precluded Ireland from taking part in the peace-keepin"
http://www.forumoneurope.ie/index.asp?locID=366&docID=1010

The National Forum on Europe - The changing role of Ireland in a changing European Union

The National Forum on Europe - The changing role of Ireland in a changing European Union: "Cross-border crime and terrorism
The Secretary General said that in order to keep its citizens safe after 9/11 and enlargement, the Commission was proposing that more measures to tackle cross-border crime and terrorism should be decided by qualified majority voting rather than by leaving any government with the right to exercise a veto. Ms Day said the Commission expected “major developments” which would see Member States
sharing sovereignty in certain judicial and legal areas in order to make the enlarged EU more secure. However, not all Member States were behind the Commission on this issue. “It will require unanimity and there isn’t that at the moment”, she said.
Ms Day also said the Commission was working on a series of proposals to combat what Fine Gael’s European Affairs spokesman, Bernard Allen called “the immoral trade in human beings…mainly of young, vulnerable women”. Ms Day agreed that trafficking was “one of the scourges that can be tackled at EU level”. However, in response to a query from another Fine Gael Forum Member, Nora Owen, she added that the Commission wanted to tackle the problem without re-introducing internal border controls.
Enlargement
The future enlargement of the Union to include Turkey and the Balkan States was raised by several Forum Members. Labour TD, Joe Costello, said his party supported the Commission’s policy of honouring commitments to countries awaiting accession to the EU. However, he called for dialogue with EU citizens on this issue. “There is a need to engage with public opinion…to overcome doubts and fears and to recall the evident successes of past enlargements, not least in streng"
From Euro forum debate on Ireland