Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for giving me an opportunity to appear before the joint committee this afternoon. As the Chairman has said, I will speak first about the General Affairs Council meeting that will take place next Tuesday, 17 December. I have agreed with the Chairman that in the second half of the session I will run through the foreign policy and external relations review.

As I indicated at our most recent encounter, the last meeting of the General Affairs Council, which took place on 19 November last, was quite straightforward. We received presentations on the European Commission's work programme for 2014, the roadmap for European semester implementation in 2014 and the annual growth survey for 2014. The Lithuanian Presidency put forward a report on implementation of the European Council conclusions. We also had a very preliminary discussion on the agenda for the December European Council. In general, the response to the Commission work programme was positive. There was wide support for its prioritisation of the jobs and growth agenda and the need to complete banking union. The annual growth survey and the roadmap were also generally well received. The Chairman raised the Dutch subsidiarity review at our last meeting.

As planned, there was a short discussion on the Dutch subsidiarity review, which the Chairman of this committee raised at our last meeting, under any other business. The Dutch Foreign Minister, Frans Timmermans, set out some of the Dutch thinking on subsidiarity and drew attention to a conference on the subject in The Hague in January. I confirmed our interest in this initiative and made it clear that we will continue to follow the evolving discussion.

Since the last General Affairs Council, I participated in the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on 29 November and attended the OSCE ministerial council in Kiev last week. Although the meeting in Vilnius was somewhat overshadowed by events in Ukraine, we were pleased that the EU was able to initial association agreements with Moldova and Georgia on that occasion. This was a historic step in deepening the EU's relations with both countries. Members will have been following the subsequent developments in Ukraine. Deputy Eric Byrne asked me specifically about this issue at our last meeting. Naturally, it was disappointing that Ukraine was not in a position to sign its association agreement at the Eastern Partnership summit. The door remains open to the Ukrainian authorities and the decision will be theirs. During last week's OSCE ministerial council, I was in a position to personally observe the protests in Kiev. When I spoke there, I called on all sides to show restraint, respect the rule of law and resolve their differences peacefully. I would like to take this opportunity to call on them to continue to do so.

The Tánaiste and I will attend the meeting of the General Affairs Council on 17 December next. Today's meeting is taking place a little earlier than usual. Preparations for the meeting are well under way. The last agenda was relatively straightforward, but next week's agenda is very full. The Council will consider a review of the EU External Action Service. It will have a detailed discussion on enlargement and the stabilisation and association process. It is also expected to adopt a negotiating framework for Serbia which I welcome. In addition, we will also be asked to prepare the agenda for the December European Council later next week. This important European Council will also have a significant agenda including banking union, the economic and monetary union, the common foreign and security policy, migration and energy. It is a lot to cover.

The review of the EU External Action Service is expected to be the first item for discussion at the General Affairs Council. The Council will adopt conclusions on the matter. As members of the committee will be aware, the European Union's diplomatic service was established in 2010 following the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty. The service has been gradually evolving over the past three years. It is timely to take stock of the progress achieved to date and to consider areas that might be further improved. The External Action Service comprises some 3,400 staff drawn from the EU Commission, the General Secretariat of the Council and national diplomats from the EU member states. It has 139 delegations around the world, which have taken on the task of local EU co-ordination and representation formerly carried out by the rotating Presidency. Much has been achieved over the past three years, not least considering the difficult economic context in which the new service was born. The EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, can point to a number of policy successes, including the historic breakthrough in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and the recent agreement brokered by the E3+3 with Iran in relation to its nuclear programme.

The EU External Action Service has also contributed to the development of a more strategic and comprehensive approach to EU foreign policy. It avails of all of the political, economic and developmental instruments and tools that are at the EU's disposal. Ireland has joined other member states in welcoming the achievements of the new service. I wish to comment on the recommendations contained in the review of the service. We have expressed particular support for efforts to streamline the service, maximise efficiencies, and further develop the already good co-operation with the EU Commission. It is important that the member states retain a sense of ownership of the EU External Action Service. In this regard, we welcome the progress achieved in reaching the target of one third member state diplomats at the operational level.

As is usual in December, the General Affairs Council and the European Council will consider the EU's enlargement strategy for the year ahead and adopt formal Council conclusions. This is an area of reoccurring interest for this committee. I have been asked about it every time I have appeared here. I believe this reflects Ireland's commitment to enlargement. This has been a year of good progress, including under the Irish Presidency. Enlargement remains one of the EU's most successful policies. The objective is to examine how we will move forward next year. At our last meeting, Deputy Eric Byrne asked about developments regarding Turkey. As he knows, our Presidency secured agreement on the opening of a new chapter in the accession negotiations for the first time in three years. Our sense is that there is significant support among member states to build on this momentum by opening negotiations on the key issues of fundamental rights and the rule of law, but there is not yet consensus on whether we can open these discussions until other issues are first resolved.

Progress is continuing in other important areas. Talks will start shortly on the issue of visa-free travel between Turkey and the EU. At the same time, accession negotiations with Montenegro are continuing. We expect talks on the two key areas of rule of law and fundamental rights to be opened by the end of December. This will open the way for progress to be made in other areas. Following a decision by the Icelandic Government, accession negotiations with Iceland are currently suspended. We will make clear that the door remains open to Iceland if it decides to re-engage. A key issue for us to consider at the Council will be the adoption of the EU's negotiating framework ahead of the opening of accession talks with Serbia. The Irish Presidency secured agreement in June to open negotiations with Serbia by January 2014 at the latest. This was possible due to the significant progress in that country's relations with neighbouring Kosovo. The further normalisation of relations between the two will be an important issue in Serbia's accession negotiations.

Negotiations are also under way with Kosovo with a view to signing a stabilisation and association agreement next year, which is a significant step on its path towards the EU. TheGeneral Affairs Council will also consider two specific recommendations from the European Commission: first, to grant candidate status to Albania and second, to open accession negotiations with Macedonia. The new Albanian Government has set out a strong commitment to making the necessary reforms for EU membership although some member states believe that more needs to be done before the country can be granted candidate status. Ireland supports granting candidate status to Albania. We also support the opening of accession negotiations with Macedonia although there continue to be concerns about the situation in that country, particularly around freedom of expression. The name issue with Greece also remains unresolved. As a result, it remains to be seen if consensus on Macedonia will be possible. Finally, the EU will consider the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is lagging behind its neighbours. The EU is working hard to facilitate agreement among Bosnia's leaders on necessary reforms but we recognise that an agreement must come from among the leaders themselves. The EU cannot impose a solution. Unfortunately, as a result of the lack of progress in Bosnia's accession process, it risks losing pre-accession funding. Ireland is committed to Bosnia's EU perspective and we are very concerned at the lack of progress. Overall, I look forward to an ambitious EU enlargement strategy for 2014 and a good discussion at the General Affairs Council.

The other issue on the agenda next Tuesday is, of course, the preparation of the European Council, which will take place on 19-20 December. As I mentioned earlier, the Council has a particularly heavy agenda, including many issues of importance for Ireland. Banking Union, of course, remains a priority for this Government and we want to see decisions taken on the outstanding issues, including putting in place a single resolution mechanism. As the Taoiseach has repeatedly made clear, we need to follow through on the 29 June 2012 statement by heads of state and government and break the link between the banks and the sovereign. The markets have priced in the banking union and we need to adhere to our timetable and deliver in full. Finance ministers are discussing this in Brussels today and, if necessary, I expect that they will continue to do so in the run up to the Council. This is an urgent task.

Parallel to this, work on strengthening the EMU is continuing and the December European Council will discuss proposals for contractual arrangements. While good progress has been made, we believe that greater clarity is required as to how such contracts would operate, and in particular, how solidarity mechanisms would be designed and funded. It will be important to approach the debate from the perspective of adding value to the existing framework and avoiding duplication. We would also want to see new arrangements operating within the framework of the European semester process. I believe that this issue is now close to being agreed. The Chairman asked last time about the social dimension of EMU and the use of social indicators. The December Council will revert again to this issue. As the Chairman is aware, Ireland supports the social dimension of EMU and the development of the new employment and social scoreboard.

At their meeting next week, Heads of State and Government will also discuss the Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP. This will be the first such discussion in five years. It is taking place in response to a request by the European Council in December last year calling on High Representative Ashton and the European Commission to develop further proposals and actions to strengthen CSDP and improve the availability of the required civilian and military capabilities through a strengthened European defence industry. Ireland has been actively engaged in the preparatory process for this discussion which included the recent agreement of very comprehensive CSDP conclusions by foreign and defence ministers, including the Tanáiste and the Minister for Defence. These conclusions together with earlier reports by the Commission and High Representative Ashton have been sent to President van Rompuy to allow him to prepare next week's discussion. The CSDP as set out in the Lisbon Treaty is intended to equip the Union with an operational capacity for missions outside the EU aimed at strengthening international peace and security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. After ten years in existence, however, it is generally accepted among EU member states that the CSDP needs to be reinvigorated if it is to remain an effective and credible tool. The European Council is likely to suggest ways in which this can be achieved. Ireland supports this effort. We currently participate in six civilian CSDP missions and three military CSDP missions. It is important that we continue to improve and develop the capabilities for future CSDP missions and that we work closely with partners, notably the UN.

Economic and social policy also features on next week's agenda. Heads of State and Government will consider the Commission's annual growth survey as well as implementation of the compact for growth and jobs. Deputy Durkan asked at our last meeting to what extent the EU was studying ways to promote growth. This is being done actively, including through the compact, which was a key political commitment to support recovery in the real economy right across Europe. On this occasion, I expect that there will be a particular focus on the further development of measures to underpin the financing of the economy. This follows the investment plan agreed in June mobilising the €10 billion increase in the capital base of the European Investment Bank, EIB. This will support a 40% increase in lending capacity over the period from this year out to 2015, bringing annual EIB lending volumes to between €65 and €70 billion. The report from the Commission and the EIB that was presented in June indicated that the bank had already identified new lending opportunities of more than €150 billion in agreed priority areas. These are innovation and skills, SME access to finance, resource efficiency and strategic infrastructures. These are projects that would be unlikely to proceed without EIB support. The investment plan agreed by the European Council in June also develops important synergies between enhanced EIB lending capacity and the new and settled EU budget. Resources here will be combined to support a significantly expanded volume of new SME loans across the Union. Work being led by the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance will see almost €1.2 billion worth of project signatures and loan approvals through the EIB in Ireland in 2013. This represents an increase of just over one-fifth on 2012 levels, which were in turn up more than four-fifths on the previous year. We also see room for further progress here. Under the economic and social policy agenda item, the European Council will also look at taxation and review progress in this area since it was discussed by heads of state and government last May. This is an issue of domestic concern and sensitivity and we will follow the discussion closely.

Finally, rounding out a very full agenda, the European Council will also discuss migration, enlargement and energy. As in October, the migration discussion will take place against the background of the recent drownings off the coast of Lampedusa and with the objective of working to reduce the risk of similar tragedies in the future.

Ireland supports the Council in its efforts to deal with this extremely complex and difficult problem.

The discussion on energy is expected to be relatively short and will emphasise the need to implement the guidelines agreed at the European Council under the Irish Presidency last May. The February Council meeting will revert to this important issue.

This has been an overview of discussions both at the GAC and at the European Council. Next Wednesday the Taoiseach will make a statement to the Dáil on the European Council. I look forward to questions from members.