Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Vimont to the committee. I recently met him in Brussels as part of a delegation on the Palestine issue and was impressed by his grasp of the situation and with some of the views he expressed on behalf of the European External Action Service.

Establishment of the European External Action Service has allowed Europe to act in a more coherent fashion in terms of the application of foreign policy, which is to be welcomed. A criticism appropriately levelled at the European Union in recent years was that there did not exist a type of resourced operation which allowed us to act in a coherent manner. While, as we are all aware, the service is experiencing some teething problems, they are matters that can be addressed if the political will to do so exists and resources are made available.

In terms of the Palestinian question, the international community has been rightly accused of inaction in recent years in terms of it allowing the situation to drift. When a situation like that drifts, the prospects of vulnerable people, including those on the front line, are damaged. It appears to many of us that the prospects for peace and a lasting settlement in Palestine are distant at this point given what we know about illegal settlements and various other activities. It also appears that the Palestinian question is always at the mercy of the US electoral cycle. It is self-evident that the European Union should be playing a much more proactive role in the resolution of the intractable problem on our own doorstep in our southern neighbourhood.

I would appreciate if Mr. Vimont could outline the role he sees the European Union playing in the context of the EEAS in terms of the resolution of the Palestinian question and if he would comment on the prospect of an EU-wide ban on produce from illegal settlements, on which the committee took a position in recent weeks. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has a strong view on that issue in terms of how it applies to Ireland.

I had the opportunity to visit Tunisia in recent months, where I met with some senior public representatives of the new Administration. We are all aware of the Arab Spring and the consequences in that regard. A key concern of the Tunisian people, given their proximity to the European Union and historic relationship with Europe during colonial times and in recent times, is how the European Union can assist in bedding down democracy, trade and development and employment and so on in the Maghreb area in Tunisia and across into the Middle East to areas that are now hungry for democracy.