ADDRESS BY TO THE HOUSTON COMMITTEE OF THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF IRELAND, MARY ROBINSON, TO THE HOUSTON COMMITTEE OF THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
I am honoured and delighted to be here today with the Houston Committee of the internationally renowned Council on Foreign Relations.
Founded a few short years after the First World War, your organisation has a long and distinguished history. The activities of the Council on Foreign Relations, over the past seven decades, have made a significant contribution to public life in the United States and specifically to the study of US foreign policy. In promoting awareness, understanding and debate of the intricate and increasingly complex web of foreign affairs and international relations, the Council on Foreign Relations serves the causes of informed dialogue and, therefore, of a better world. This is as true now as it was at the time of the Council's establishment.
Yours is a proud record of independent analysis and scholarship, fruitful international collaboration and lively exchange of ideas, exemplified by that excellent publication "Foreign Affairs".
At a time of great change in the world order, the rapidly evolving international context underlines the need to strengthen our co-operation in pursuit of political and economic stability not only for our own countries and societies but also for those, who for many and varied reasons, are in need of our assistance. The globalisation of markets, the impact of improved communications and the transnational effects of economic policies are among the factors that illustrate the mutual interdependence of countries and peoples.
Ireland's links with the United States are strong, based on a tradition of personal ties which stretch back beyond the last century, a shared language and a rich tradition of cultural interchange. The empathy which we share has been notable for its solidarity and endurance in a century distinguished by unprecedented changes and transformation.
Over the years, Irish people have contributed greatly to building the United States - its railways and roads, its towns and local communities - but they also carried with them an abiding interest for their own country of origin.
It was not easy at the beginning for most of them as they sought to play a full part in their new land of adoption. In the days of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, Irish people played an important role in building the new American Democracy. Their leaders saw the political process as a way of helping others and of seeking to ensure that all had a fair place in the sun.
The American experience offers the world an example of how true strength comes from welcoming and cherishing diversity within a framework of freedom and respect for the rule of law.
Today, Ireland is an island at peace. The ending of paramilitary violence has transformed the prospects for reaching a new accommodation on our island that will honour the cherished convictions and beliefs of all.
It is right to recall here the important and valued contribution which successive Administrations in the United States have made to support the achievement of peace and reconciliation in Ireland.
We in Ireland deeply appreciate and value the support and friendship of the United States. The United States is a friend to both traditions on our island. It has, at every stage, shown the understanding and support of a true friend.
Ireland's relationship with your country has evolved within a new framework, namely the forging of a wider relationship between Europe and the United States. The history of Europe and the United States has for over two centuries been interlinked through the movement of peoples and the exchange of culture and ideas. This relationship has provided the well spring for the development of democracy and democratic institutions and respect for the rights of people.
Ireland's membership of the European Union has been rooted in the understanding that the Union is the cornerstone of political and economic stability in Europe. Our membership of the European Union and the role we play in its development has also helped us to broaden our political horizons and our network of international relationships. By pooling our resources with our European partners, we have been able to pursue more effectively our traditional foreign policy aims of promoting a stable, peaceful and prosperous international environment. I believe that it behoves us all to work even closer together to promote a world order with structures based on the rule of law, respect for human rights and democratic norms - a world which enshrines the values to which we are all committed and which indeed are so well articulated in your country's Declaration of Independence.
Our involvement in European integration has not diminished the great value which we place on our relationship with the United States. On the contrary we see membership of the European Union and our links with your country as vital and mutually reinforcing elements of our international relations. For this reason we have attached particular priority to the promotion of constructive dialogue between the United States and the European Union. We have been in the forefront of efforts to promote this process and it is a matter of considerable pride to us that the present structure of dialogue and partnership between the European Union and the United States, the 1990 Transatlantic Declaration, is the fruit of an initiative taken by Ireland during our last Presidency of the European Union.
I believe that the importance of the Transatlantic Declaration can be clearly seen in the fact that it was adopted at a time of great change and transformation in the international environment. It recognises and underlines the importance of co-operation between the European Union and the United States, founded on a common heritage and attachment to democratic principles, justice and fundamental freedoms. The European Union and the United States, as the world's two largest economic powers, have a particular role and responsibility to work for international peace, stability and economic progress and to co-operate with other countries in the furtherance of these aims through the United Nations and other international organisations.
It is a source of great satisfaction to us that our membership of the Union has in many ways helped to reinforce and give new impetus to our relationship with the United States, especially in the economic area. Free access to European markets, for example, has enhanced the already considerable attractions of Ireland as a location for inward investment and US companies have been to the fore in availing of these advantages to our mutual economic benefit. I do not need to say how much we value the extent of US investment in Ireland. We have today almost 400 companies in the electronics, software, health care, financial services and other sectors which have played an important role in Ireland's economic success. That trend is continuing.
The European Union and the United States have developed the world's most important and stable economic relationship, characterised by enormous and relatively balanced trade, investment and technology flows. The EU and US are consistently each others largest trade partner. Notwithstanding significant economic developments elsewhere and the increasing diversification of each partner's economic interests in response to world-wide economic developments, it seems clear that the United States will remain Europe's most highly developed market for many years to come.
The increase in transatlantic trade and investment has been spurred on by the implementation of the European Single Market. It will be further encouraged by the recent enlargement to include Austria, Sweden and Finland and the progressive alignment of the Central and Eastern European economies with that of the European Union - opening up new markets on the European continent.
Given the huge scale of bilateral trade and the economic interests which they share, it is to be expected that the EU and US often agree on trade issues. We have shown that where the EU and US work together, such as in the successful completion of the Uruguay Round, we can give an enormous boost to the world wide process of liberalisation of trade.
In today's interdependent world, where the major emerging reality of world economy is the globalisation of markets, it is of the greatest importance to continue our support for the multilateral trading system. In Ireland we have long recognised that there is no alternative to building an economy open to trade and investment. Our economy is one of the most open in the world if the volume of trade is compared to Gross National Product - we export 70% of what we produce. We therefore have a strong interest in an orderly international trading system. We welcome the fact that the EU and US are already working to develop the new post-Uruguay Round trade agenda so as to continue the process of trade liberalisation.
We are living witnesses to great historic change. We have seen the end of the Cold War, the end of apartheid and the peaceful transition to democracy in South Africa, the widespread return to and consolidation of democracy in Latin America, and the development of the peace process in the Middle East.
The hope that these remarkable developments inspires has, sadly, been overshadowed by the emergence of new and complex challenges which have emerged in the form of internal conflicts within States, which, unfortunately are often the result of unresolved ethnic disputes and tensions. The ongoing conflict in the former Yugoslavia is a particularly disturbing example of this which has clearly demonstrated the need for concerted action by the international community.
The response to this crisis, through the five nation Contact Group on Bosnia, involving as it does members of the European Union, the United States and Russia in a concerted endeavour for peace, reflects a transatlantic effort in the broadest sense to end a conflict which has brought misery and destruction to the lives of the population of the former Yugoslavia.
The non-renewal of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Bosnia-Hercegovina, the recent outbreak of fighting in Croatia, and the danger that conflict might spill over into an even wider and more deadly war, all serve to underline the imperative need for the international community to maintain a united and determined approach in the search for a just and durable political settlement for the region.
We need look no further than the tragic conflicts in Somalia and Rwanda to remind ourselves of the scale of the tasks confronting the international community in addressing the underlying economic and social factors which contribute to the instability and the horror which faces the less developed countries. I believe that we must work together to alleviate their burden.
The Transatlantic Declaration was born out of a time of flux and transformation in the international environment. The structure of our relationship, however, cannot be static. It must respond to continuous change. The European Union and the United States must continue to reflect on how our relationship can be enriched and adapted to respond to changing circumstances in relation to foreign policy issues and transatlantic problems such as organised crime and drug trafficking.
In the field of foreign policy much attention and thought is focused on Central and Eastern Europe. In this region support for political and economic reform is a major priority of both the United States and the European Union. The Union has developed a strategy to prepare for the eventual accession of Central and Eastern countries which are candidates for membership. The implications of enlargement to include these countries will be a major underlying theme of the Intergovernmental Conference, which will be convened next year to review the operation of the Treaty establishing the European Union.
When we come to consider these and other major international issues, our approach in the European Union will be one whereby we will remain conscious of our wider obligations and responsibilities and of the potential which our strong relationship with the United States offers in contributing to the search for a stable and peaceful world order.