Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste to this meeting and thank him for his contribution. I would like to reiterate what some of my colleagues have said about the Common Agricultural Policy. The Tánaiste is aware it is very important for Ireland. I wonder what views other member states have at the moment. I know the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has had a number of meetings as part of the ongoing negotiations. Obviously, it is very important.

The Tánaiste spoke about confidence. He welcomed the German Constitutional Court's decision on the European Stability Mechanism, which was a positive development. There is a feeling that every time European leaders come up with a solution, it leads to market confidence for a number of days - perhaps a week - before it falls away. Are European leaders exasperated by such developments?

A number of things were introduced in the final report of the Future of Europe group, which was produced on Monday of this week. The group involved foreign ministers from ten European countries, including Germany, Spain and Portugal. I am not sure about some of the ideas that were set out. Obviously, there is nothing binding in this report. It is just a view. It is not even a unanimous view. The report referred to matters like the long-term vision of Europe, majority decisions in the Common Foreign and Security Policy sphere, joint representation on international organisations, a European defence policy, a European army, senior and junior Commissioners and the election of a top European candidate as a sort of president of Europe. Does the Tánaiste agree that reports of this nature play into the hands of eurosceptics, especially in Britain, and are unhelpful at this time in terms of trying to get out of where we are?