Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The committee regularly invites MEPs to meetings. None of them is in attendance this week because it is Strasbourg week but we do hope for improved attendance from MEPs at future meetings. On Monday, we had a fruitful meeting in Copenhagen at which I presented a paper to representatives of 20 different member states. It dealt with how we co-ordinate the role of national parliaments at European level with the new European semester and the new system for economic governance with the European six pack and the forthcoming two pack.

We had a very interesting discussion and a paper will be published with recommendations for enhancing the role of national parliaments. We will discuss that paper at the COSAC meeting in June in Dublin, and I am sure a number of members will attend that plenary session and be able to partake in the conversation.

My first question is directed at Dr. Barrett, who spoke about a big idea on sound national finances and bringing in financial incentives to make structural reforms. There is also the issue of financial solidarity between member states when there are fiscal shocks in the system. These are absent from the December paper, but if they go ahead, how will the measures be funded? Will there be more fiscal union, new taxes or higher levels of contributions from member states? Significant amounts would need to be available to cater for the fiscal shocks and structural reforms.

Professor Laffan spoke about how European politics might develop over the next ten years. At a time when so many of our economic exports go to the European Union, what happens at a European level is very important to the country. How does Professor Laffan see the role of European parties developing with regard to issues such as a joint manifesto at European elections? How will European election campaigns change by the next European election next year and for subsequent elections? Does she expect to see common manifestoes across political parties with real meat, as opposed to the individual campaigns we quite often see now?