The EU was not becoming a military bloc or an imperialist power, the EU's foreign p chief, Mr Javier Solana, insisted yesterday at a meeting of the National Forum on Europe in Dublin Castle, writes Deaglán de Bréadún Foreign Affairs Correspondent
"It is not a military bloc; it has not been and it will not be a military bloc," according to the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. "Many of the things we are doing are needed because somebody has to do them."
Responding to a claim by Mr Roger Cole, from the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA), Mr Solana denied the EU sought to restore the old imperial traditions of Europe and build an imperial superstate. "This is part of the past," the EU chief said. "Nobody is thinking about that."
Confronting critics of the EU's new Security Strategy, Mr Solana said: "The EU is not in the business of making war; it is in the business of making peace." It was simply an example of a multilateral organisation working to avoid conflict.
The EU had double the population of the US and generated one-quarter of the world's Gross Domestic Product. "We cannot close our eyes to what is going on abroad, outside our borders."
Sinn Féin TD Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh said Mr Solana's proposal that the EU should act globally smacked of the "imperialistic mentality" of the past. "I don't agree that this is the route we should be taking," Mr Ó Snodaigh said.
Socialist Party TD Mr Joe Higgins said the Security Strategy "will not create a world free from conflict". He claimed it was a "mirror-image" of the security strategy of the US, but "with heavier layers of sanctimoniousness".
However, Labour MEP Mr Proinsias De Rossa said he would "broadly welcome" the Security Strategy. He had marched against the Iraqi War, but a united Europe would have prevented such a conflict.
Earlier, in his formal opening address to the forum, Mr Solana said the preparation of the Security Strategy had "helped us to discover a remarkable convergence of view on security issues between EU member-states - and to uncover an authentic and uniquely European voice on security issues".
He added: "The challenge of articulating this voice and implementing this ambitious vision now rests with the Irish presidency."
He said the Security Strategy was born "when Europeans acknowledged that we are stronger when we have a common perception of the threats we face, and how to deal with them". It would "fall to Ireland to put the strategy into practice".
Closer engagement with the Arab world was a priority. "The task of bringing this work forward will also fall to Ireland. Without resolution of the Arab/Israeli conflict, there will be little chance of dealing with other problems in a region beset by economic stagnation and social unrest."
On the issue of resources, he said European states collectively spent €160 billion per annum on defence. "We will have to use these resources wisely, reducing duplication and filling gaps. The establishment of a Defence Agency foreseen in the \ treaty should help to ensure better co-ordinated defence investment, and research and technology efforts."
Noting the presence of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, he said he was confident they would seize any opportunity for progress in negotiations on the treaty over the coming months. "We could not be in safer hands."