Mayo to benefit from EU presidency period



Connaught Telegraph 3 Jul 1996


Ireland's tenure of the EU Presidency kicked off to a magnificent start in Dublin's Temple Bar with the Cabinet and Commission members enjoying Irish hospitality at its best.

This is the fifth time that Ireland has held the EU Presidency and it represents a considerable challenge to a small administration like Ireland, according to Trade and Tourism Minister Enda Kenny.

He said: "Our task is to deal effectively with the implementation and monitoring of EU initiatives which will lead us into the next century."

During the six months of our Presidency Minister Enda Kenny will chair 13 Council of Ministers meetings and his department will preside at over 300 meetings - a daunting job, but one he has spent months preparing for.

Minister Kenny hopes to keep readers of the Connaught Telegraph well informed of what will happen in the coming months.

Already he has met with the Commission in Dublin Castle to address them on the World Trade Organisation, the Internal Market and Tourism and some of the areas which he will be concentrating on during the Presidency.

He will also meet with Commission President Jacques Santer. There will be a number of meetings relating to EU business held in Mayo over the next six months.

Director Generals and Chief Executives of all the major National Tourism Organisations in Europe will meet in Ashford Castle in October.

He said: "It is a prestigious event for us in Mayo and indeed for the country as a whole. It is a wonderful opportunity for them to see what Mayo has to offer and the Minister is looking forward to showing them our spectacular scenery and introducing them to our warm and friendly people."

Following the creation of the Internal Market in January 1993, and its subsequent enlargement, Irish exporters have direct access to a market of 370 million EU consumers.

Over 70% of our total exports are purchased by our EU partners.

Having created the Internal Market it is vital that new barriers to trade do not appear. As President of the Internal Market Council, Minister Kenny will be responsible for initiating any action required in the light of the Commissions' report on the effectiveness of the Internal Market. The forthcoming Presidency coincides with an intensification of the efforts to market Ireland within the Internal Market.

In 1994 almost 31% of indigenous exports worth £1.1bn were sold in the EU Internal Market - varying from butter and whiskey to steel products and computer software.

Minister Kenny has set An Bord Trachtala a target of increasing this proportion by 2% per annum to 39% by 1999.

The Minister will also represent the EU at the first Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in Singapore in December.

In preparation for this the Conference there will be a meeting of EU trade Ministers in Ireland in September.

The outcome of the World Trade Organisation talks is extremely important to Ireland which is so dependant on trade. Some 65% of all the goods and services we produce are exported and two out of three manufacturing jobs depend upon exports.

Ireland is six times more dependent on export trade than Japan and eight times more dependent than the US.

Other areas which will be extremely important for Ireland is the pursuit of the further reduction in tariff and non-tariff barriers in the Information Technology area.

This is very important for us because of the significance of the Information Technology industry, which is one of the notable successes of our booming economy.

It is particularly important for Ireland that we stick to the timetable for agricultural trade liberalisation, which provides that new negotiations do not begin until the end of the century.

The Presidency will address significant issues which affect the course of Ireland's and indeed all European nations future. It is hoped the six months Presidency will be an unqualified success.



Connaught Telegraph - News - July 1996

Connaught Telegraph - Sport - July 1996