THE Tanaiste has pledged that Ireland "will not be found wanting" as it takes on the EU Presidency at a difficult time for the Union.
The Union faces a "daunting agenda", he told the conference on the presidency in Dublin yesterday. "Between now and the end of the century the Union must complete an IGC, begin enlargement negotiations, take the final step to EMU, review its budgetary arrangements, reform the common policies, adapt to the changing security architecture and face the challenges of a global economy.
This agenda would call for good management, efficiency and impartiality, he said.
In an apparent reference to reports that the British government might disrupt Ireland's presidency, and in particular its proposals on the drugs issue, Mr Spring said that he expected "solidarity from member states in rising to this challenge".
He said the EU "must work in solidarity with the UK to find a resolution" to the BSE crisis.
Ireland has pledged to put employment and drugs problems at the top of its presidential agenda, but Mr Spring warned that there was no "magic cure" for either issue. On unemployment, Ireland would aim to present to the Dublin Summit next December a single, substantive, incisive analysis of measures taken so far and the effect they are having".
The aspirations on employment agreed at the Essen Summit in 1994 include increasing vocational training, translating economic growth into jobs, improving flexibility and competitiveness and assisting the groups hardest hit by unemployment. "These strategies will require time for results", said Mr Spring.
On the drugs issue, he said "we cannot eradicate drugs from our societies in six months". Ireland would, however, aim to ensure that the 1996-2000 Community Action Programme on drugs gets up and running, and would make control of drug trafficking a major theme of discussions with Central and Eastern European countries, as well as countries which are the sources of illegal drug supply.
Ireland will also seek to sustain the momentum towards Economic and Monetary Union.
"The successful and efficient chairing of the Intergovernmental Conference will be a major priority of our presidency", he said. Its aims are "first, a Union closer to its citizens secondly, reform of the institutions in a more democratic and efficient Union, and thirdly, a strengthened capacity for externalisation of the Union." Assisting states wishing to join the Union and improving the effectiveness of the single market would also be tasks for the presidency.