Government stops EU releasing treaty papers

The European Council has refused to release documents on the fiscal treaty after the Government intervened.

In response to a request to the council for all documents submitted by the Government or on behalf of the Irish people, the council said the Government had argued successfully against releasing the documents.

Unlike on previous occasions where it has emerged that the Government had never submitted any documents to the EU, the Government made five submissions to try to change the fiscal treaty in advance of the successful referendum held on the May 31.

The documents, which could not be released, set out the specific objectives pursued by Ireland in the context of the fiscal compact.

The Government had argued that to release the documents would undermine the financial stability of the EU.

The spokesperson for the general secretariat of the council, Jakob Thomsen, said: “Given the arguments raised by Ireland and after having examined the content of the requested documents, the general secretariat came to the conclusion that their release would undermine the protection of the public interest as regards the financial, monetary or economic policy of the union.”

A spokesperson for the Department of the Taoiseach said it is the long-standing position of the Government not to release documents relating to international relations, even where they impact on domestic policy.

However, the spokes-person added that the Government is committed to transparency.

“It of course remains the position of the Irish Government to provide transparency to the public,” the spokesperson said.

“This was reflected in the unprecedented level of detail provided to the public in the information campaign around the stability treaty referendum.”

Mr Thomsen said the sensitive political nature of the fiscal compact and the current climate in Europe were all taken into account when assessing whether to release the documents.

“In view of the particular political sensitivity of the matters dealt with by the fiscal compact treaty, where the ratification process in member states is still ongoing, public access to documents submitted in the context of the negotiations demands particular caution,” he said.

He added that revealing member states’ positions on the negotiating process could undermine future agreements.

“Revealing the national position of a participating member state in the negotiating process of the fiscal compact treaty would most likely lead to more difficulties reaching similar agreements in the future and would seriously undermine similar negotiations.”

The Department of the Taoiseach said not revealing Ireland’s negotiating position was working in the country’s favour.

“The Government have no wish to publish any documents which could undermine the European Union in this way.

“Indeed, the subsequent outcome of EU negotiations last thursday with regard to banking and sovereign debt provides evidence of the value of this position when it came to similar negotiations,” a spokesperson said.