Mr President, I would like to start by thanking the presidency and the European heads of State and government for their support and positive contribution to the process of revisiting the Treaty of Nice by Ireland. Last June's referendum result was a major disappointment, particularly given the 30% turnout. I continue to be perplexed at our Taoiseach's attempt to once again play the neutrality card in Barcelona in an effort to get the Nice Treaty supported. I hope the Irish government will invest sufficient time in explaining the Treaty accurately and sincerely to all our citizens the second time around. Irish people have, regrettably, been sold the benefits of the EU solely in economic terms while the moral and political imperative of assisting the countries of eastern and central Europe to rejoin the European family of nations has not been promoted. I am confident that once this is done the Irish people will vote for the Nice Treaty and embrace the fact that it is a necessary provision for the enlargement of the EU. If our Taoiseach's strategy is to insist upon a European Council declaration that Irish military neutrality is not affected by the Treaty of Nice, then he has once again misrepresented both the Treaty of Nice and Ireland's role in Partnership for Peace to his own people. I would like to see him advocate unequivocally Ireland's participation in Partnership for Peace and not play this duplicitous game. It is, however, not surprising, coming from a government that has been talking out of both sides of its mouth on the EU for the past few years. Difficult issues which this Irish government must face are attributed to Brussels bureaucracy or over-regulation, whilst any good news is claimed as an Irish ministerial achievement. This attitude of risking the future of the fledgling democracies and emerging economies of central and eastern Europe has fed the eurosceptic vein in Ireland and is reflective of a government which would rather play short-term national political games for the sake of a few votes in an upcoming general election. In conclusion, Mr President, for the record, Ireland has never been neutral nor could we afford to be. It is not in our constitution nor our statute law. Successive Taoisigh of the present government's persuasion including DeValera, Lemass, Cosgrove and Lynch have expressly stated that Ireland has no traditional policy of neutrality and would take foreign policy decisions on a case-by-case basis. Ireland is today, and effectively always has been, a non-aligned country eager to play its own modest role in protecting peace and security around the globe. The Nice Treaty in no way affects this status. It will be up to the Irish parliament to decide what defence missions our forces become engaged in. We are a proud people, proud of our long-term record of peacekeeping and peace-enforcing by our defence forces throughout the trouble spots of the world. I believe we need to spell out clearly our present security and defence policy to the people of Ireland. We must have an end to this type of dishonesty that characterised Fianna Fáil's approach to the question of joining Partnership for Peace. The Nice Treaty makes no change to the emerging Irish and European security architecture but it is the crucial next step to heal the historic divisions of Europe caused by war and destruction.

Political group: PPE-DE