Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today we commemorate the journey that has been under way since 1950 to bring together the peoples of the nations of Europe to establish a lasting peace on our Continent, which has been riven by frequent and bloody wars for centuries. The original logic was that if economies were intrinsically linked and mutually dependent, war was not only less likely but, hopefully, impossible.

From the European Coal and Steel Community that was founded in 1951 to the Treaty of Rome, by means of which the then European Economic Community, EEC, was established in 1957, we have travelled on a road towards ever closer co-operation between the people and nations of Europe, with one unfortunate and significant damaging blip, that is, Brexit and the inexplicable decision of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the EU. There is much remorse over that decision, including among many who made it.

On 9 May 1950, the then French foreign minister Robert Schuman presented his plan for deeper European co-operation. The Schuman Declaration set about establishing a series of supranational institutions that would ultimately become what we now know as the European Union. The Union was always based on number of pillars and fundamental principles. The four pillars of freedom of goods, capital, services and free movement of peoples have underpinned the principles governing the development of European integration, providing a short-hand mechanism for the establishment of the right of all EU citizens to live, work and raise their families in any member state and be treated in whatever member state they choose as equals to the nationals of that state.

From the beginning, it was understood that resource redistribution was essential to maintain the Single Market. As an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will appreciate, from the beginning, a policy of cohesion was established to uplift the economic well-being of regions, share prosperity and bring everybody in a spirit of cohesion to the same level of economic development. More than one third of the European Union's budget is devoted to ending economic and social disparity across member states. Part of the incentive when it comes to our objective to invite in new member states is the aim to bring everybody up to the highest possible standard in economic, social and cultural terms and to afford every citizen the same rights that lie at the core of the principles of the European Union.

In Ireland's case, this policy has been spectacularly successful. New challenges to the equality of economic opportunity need to be constantly recognised and addressed. I previously cited the impact of loosening state aid rules in the context of the opportunity we need to take in order to obtain full advantage for ourselves and invest in next-generation infrastructure. I am happy to cite specifically - the Minister of State is aware of this - the requirement for investment in Rosslare Europort. The relaxation of state aid rules allows for that. If we are going to have Irish ports develop offshore renewable energy, then we must do that. Modest investment, entirely EU funded, is happening right now under the Brexit adjustment reserve fund. However, there is a need for significant investment in order to ensure that we are ready to avail of the transformation the exploitation of offshore energy can bring.

There is also the challenge of unbalancing a competitive market in light of huge investments on the part of France and Germany, which have so far claimed the lion's share of state aid rule derivations. That was in response to the United States Inflation Reduction Act. I heard again this week that Germany has proposed another massive state support for energy-intensive industries in the country in the face of the massive energy cost rises that every member state is facing. Subsidies of almost 30% are being proposed in Germany for energy-intensive industries. That would potentially lead to a massive imbalance of competition within the Union, and these are the sorts of things about which we need to be vigilant. We need to ensure that the architecture of the Single Market, which has been so good to us as an exporting nation, is maintained. I would hope the Minister of State will respond to these matters.

The EU has been massively positive for Ireland. We need to share its benefits with the next group of European nations that want to join us. We need to give them tangible prospects of joining us in a reasonable timeframe so that they are not attracted away from their ambitions to be full members of the Union. There are multiple candidates for membership, some of which are obviously more advanced than others. The western Balkan nations of Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia comprise one group. Last year, Moldova and Ukraine were given candidate status. Georgia is expectant that it will follow suit before too long. For over a decade now, we have had the issue of Turkey, whose application, quite frankly, has been on hold as it moves further away from the ideals of the European Union. The former Danish Prime Minister, Ms Helle Thorning-Schmidt, stated: "Peace and solidarity in Europe is not a law of nature. It requires caring, effort and perseverance.” Vigilance in maintaining the values of Europe should exercise all our attention.

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