What is the nature and purpose of the European Union?

I hear a lot of debate at the moment about the nature of the European Union. There are those who say that it is on the way to becoming a European super state. However, my experience of working on European affairs as a member of Ireland's diplomatic service since 1978, and a reading of the EU Treaties, tells a very different story.

For me, the EU is an advanced form of international cooperation in which 28 proudly separate countries have come together and agreed to do a limited number of things in a coordinated manner for the benefit of their countries and their peoples. It is a voluntary arrangement in which control rests with the member States who can, if they so wish, decide to leave the Union as the UK is currently considering doing.

Attempts to compare the European Union with past episodes in European history driven by a lust for conquest and domination are a travesty and show a lack of historical objectivity. In fact, the EU came into being as an effort to avoid the mistakes and disasters of Europe's troubled past and to create a better future for Europeans based on shared valued and overlapping interests.

It is not just that the EU's methods are different, and there is a fundamental gulf between achieving things by consensus and imposing them by force, but also its aims. The EU's purpose is fundamentally different from anything we have known in the past and its goals are expressed in the European Treaties, most notably the Treaty on European Union, which is not as impenetrable as is sometimes suggested. I recommend the opening articles of that treaty to anyone who wants to understand the true nature and aspirations of the European Union.

The Treaty's second article sets out the Union's values - 'respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.' This is a far cry from the aspirations and actions of past Empires and autocracies.

Article 3 of the Treaty states that the EU's aim is 'to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples.'

Economically, the EU Treaty sets a series of sensible, admirable aspirations. It commits the Union to work for 'the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment.'

The Treaty also pledges that the Union shall 'combat social exclusion and discrimination, and shall promote social justice and protection, equality between women and men, solidarity between generations and protection of the rights of the child.'

My conclusion is that the EU Treaty is an enlightened document setting out aspirations that are commendable in character as well as being ambitious and challenging to achieve. They echo the shared values of Europeans as these have evolved during centuries of strife, but they remain relevant today.

Anyone who thinks that the EU is hell-bent on pouring all Europeans into a homogenous cultural mould should read the EU Treaty article which declares that the Union 'shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity, and shall ensure that Europe's cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.'

The EU Treaty also makes interesting reading on international issues. 'In its relations with the wider world, the Union shall uphold and promote its values and interests and contribute to the protection of its citizens. It shall contribute to peace, security, the sustainable development of the Earth, solidarity and mutual respect among peoples, free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights, in particular the rights of the child, as well as to the strict observance and the development of international law, including respect for the principles of the United Nations Charter.' No one would claim that the EU has always managed to fulfil these aspirations but it is vital that we continue striving to do so.

And for those who worry that the EU might be a juggernaut trundling towards a federal future, it is important to note what the Treaty says, namely that 'competences not conferred upon the Union in the Treaties remain with the Member States.' This makes two things clear: the EU only has those powers given to it in the Treaties; and that only the Member States have the power to extend the competences of the Union. Any such extension would require treaty change which can only come about with the unanimous agreement of the EU's 28 members. The EU does not have an army or a police force at its disposal and has a comparatively small budget. Its strength comes from the collective influence and resources of the 28 sovereign countries that are members of the EU.

The Treaty's vision of a Union that pursues limited, agreed objectives squares with my experience of the EU. I consider myself to represent a fully sovereign state that has voluntarily agreed to share certain powers with our fellow Europeans within the EU in order to achieve better outcomes for the benefit of our people. We still run our own hospitals, schools, courts, police service, social welfare, army and system of personal taxation to name but a few of the more important competences retained at national level. Meanwhile, we benefit from those things that we do together as Europeans, namely the single market which has conferred enormous benefit on Ireland by enabling us to expand and diversify our trade and build our national prosperity and wellbeing.

On the strength of more than three decades of international experience, I also happen to think that the problems of the world are best tackled by means of cooperative, concerted action by groups of countries such as the EU rather than by individual nations pursuing their own paths.

Daniel Mulhall is Ireland's Ambassador in London