The European Union's Rapid Reaction Force could contribute significantly to the UN's ability to manage international crises, the chairman of the Forum on Europe has said.
In his last report before the general election, Senator Maurice Hayes said all participants in the forum wanted Ireland to play its primary peacekeeping role as part of the UN.
However, he said, a "plainly worded statement" of Ireland's security obligations could do much to reassure the Irish public, particularly if it was backed by the other EU member-states.
He noted the Government's assurances to date which included guarantees that Ireland would never enter a mutual defence pact or move away from its traditional neutrality policy.
"I believe it is widely accepted that the capabilities being developed by the EU could contribute substantially to the strengthening of the UN's ability to undertake crisis management," he said.
Later, he added: "One thing is clear: conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and peacemaking do involve military as well as non-military means. That is the nub of the issue."
The forum held its first meeting on October 18th, 2001.
Following the general election, members of the forum, which is still boycotted by Fine Gael, hope that it will reconvene quickly to prepare reports in advance of the 2004 inter-governmental treaty talks.
Reviewing contributions made to the forum, Mr Hayes said Ireland must answer how it could put "an imprint or moral purpose" on the EU's developing Common Foreign Security Policy.
It was clear from the beginning of the forum's work, he said, that security would top the agenda of concern. He said the forum had asked how Ireland could accommodate its traditional policy of military neutrality against the EU's developing security and defence policy.
He believed there was support nationally for Green TD Mr John Gormley's view that Ireland needed to move away from defining its neutrality policy negatively.
The public was ready for a sustained debate on the nature and definition of Ireland's neutrality and its international role, including possible commitments to an EU military force.
However, Mr Hayes acknowledged that some participants feared the EU's moral authority could be used "as a cover for other, less altruistic strategic objectives".
