Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While the agenda relates mainly to jobs, growth, competitiveness and taxation, which are all very important, I find it very strange and disturbing that they are going to dominate a meeting when we have such horrific humanitarian crises in the world, some of them involving European countries directly, and in certain ways they involve all European countries. Then there is Syria, where there has been war for seven years. We see incessant bombardment and more and more displacement of people, including a displacement of refugees. We have had very graphic images, in particular of children, many of whom have been born into violence. The most graphic image in recent days was of a young man who was obviously both physically and intellectually disabled, being helped from that war-torn area. It appears Syria is not even on the agenda of the European Council. Other trouble spots include Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar and Libya. Europe could do an awful lot more and it could be stronger in terms of engaging in building peace-promoting initiatives in those areas. The UN has shown itself to be ineffective on the issue.

We all signed up to the sustainable development goals but not one of them can be achieved in a conflict zone. Sustainable development goal No. 16 relates to peace and justice. There is a discrepancy between what we are agreeing on paper and what we do in reality. Europe is supposed to be liberal but it is under threat from reactionary forces both inside it and outside. The European motto is supposed to be “united in diversity” but what we are seeing is a Europe and a world that are increasingly more divisive. The lack of unity is especially seen when it comes to refugee policy. Where is the commitment to the Geneva convention on the protection of refugees?

Trade, jobs and taxation can change that. Many of Europe's economies are also struggling themselves from decisions made during the financial crisis and there is unemployment, in particular youth unemployment, and increasing wage disparity. Trade and taxation decisions made in the EU affect countries in the global south and the developing world. We have seen the disastrous effects on countries in Africa as one example of taxation decisions by the EU. The reality is that international tax rules and decisions are keeping people in poverty in those countries and in continued inequality so we need to do more to look at the way tax is being paid and the way in which tax is being collected.

We said that we will address issues that cause migration such as war and conflicts but economic inequality also drives people to leave their countries of origin so when we are discussing jobs, competitiveness, taxation and trade what importance will be given to the impact of those EU decisions on countries in Africa and other similar countries? I heard what the Taoiseach said earlier about global tax reform and ensuring payment of taxes and I hope we will see action on those not more rhetoric.

It is opportune to remind us of the report recently published by the Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the national plan, human rights and business, which is about promoting responsible business practice in keeping with the protection of human rights globally. In the foreword the Tánaiste makes a commitment to the two being complementary, namely economic growth and trade and human rights. That is the challenge and we will see what happens at the EU Council.

See this speech in context