Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will follow up with certain aspects of what has been said. This is my first time chairing this type of session. I know the witnesses come in regularly. I am very much pro-European. President von der Leyen has done an excellent job with her Commission during her term of office in so many ways. However, there are certain things that need to be noted. Deputy Haughey already alluded to this aspect as well.

I refer to the appalling murders and atrocities committed by Hamas and the aftermath thereof. There was a complete misstep by President von der Leyen in this regard - for the first time in my opinion - and important lessons are to be derived from this from the perspective of the Commission. We are not a federal country. She is the President of the Commission. There are defined roles. It would have been much better for the President of the Commission to have been operating off the back of the statement that was read out, which was the leaders' statement of the agreed agenda in terms of the position in this regard. This would have been preferable to what was, to be honest, in many ways, a fairly ham-fisted intervention, which did much damage to our collective standing as the European Union. This was very regrettable. Europe has now repositioned itself correctly, and we are on the correct path in this context. There were other missteps, to which Deputy Haughey alluded as well. There is a clearer path forward now, but this is a very fundamental thing for the current President the European Commission and her successors to be aware of in such a sensitive area.

Ms Nolan mentioned the Global Gateway that is taking place at present. This is an extremely important EU initiative, which in many ways is not getting the type of attention it deserves. I say this because, effectively, it is Europe's attempt to answer China's New Silk Road initiative and also American activity globally. We need to work on this Global Gateway initiative. Certain aspects of it are very good, but while it talks in terms of a multibillion euro approach, when we look at where the finances are to undertake this work, we see there are some major questions in this regard. This is something we really need to be conscious of. The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development slots into this strategy on one side, while a lot of private money is being considered on the other side of things. From what I am hearing, there is a worry that there might not actually be that much hard money available. There is much talk, but where is this going?

In a narrower context, I will pick up on a point concerning electric vehicles, EVs, and this is one I think the Commission sometimes misses. Let us call a spade a spade. The automotive industry in Europe is applying a great deal of pressure on the Commission to launch this investigation regarding EVs. There is a question to be asked regarding member state governments pushing an agenda to ask their citizens to drive a particular type of vehicle, and then, when that type of vehicle comes on the market at a reduced price in Europe from a source we do not like, acting via the Commission to investigate on the grounds of anti-competitiveness. There have been severe price falls in the North American market for EVs that were not caused by China but by market conditions.

The committee members and the witnesses spoke earlier about the importance for Europe's future of communication and of building a common language with the people of Europe. Tiny things have very successful, including changes made in regard to roaming charges and what was done by the Commission in respect of its abolition charges programme. Citizens can see the results of these initiatives. I worry, however, when I see things like this investigation into EVs that I referred to. No one was investigating when Volkswagen had 60% of the Chinese automotive market at one point, but we are now investigating because China is selling EVs at a price the European industry does not like. The EU needs to be very careful that we are not there just for our industry but also for our people in this context. I am interested in hearing Ms Nolan's thoughts on this subject.