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

The text message that comes through on the network on my mobile telephone makes reference to the European Union. All these changes with regard to the role of the European Union at consumer level, if nothing else, over time will have an effect on the way people perceive the role of the Union and the work it can do.

On Deputy Halligan's point regarding my impressions of Bosnia-Herzegovina and if I am happy with the structures there, I was struck by the very decentralised structure that he correctly identified. That has been very successful at bringing to an end the terrible violence that afflicted that country for so long. I was struck by two aspects regarding Sarajevo, the city I visited, of which the Deputy may be aware. The first is that it was subjected to the longest seige in recent military history and, second, that the city into which I flew was a no-fly zone 20 years ago. Progress has been made from those times and one must conclude from that, as I did, that the decentralised political structure, to which the Deputy referred, and the two entities within the federation - in other words, Republic of Srpska and the structure for Bosnia Herzegovina - have played a positive role in bringing all that conflict to an end.

However, the big question that the Deputy at least implied is whether the structures are capable of meeting the aspirations of the communities within them with regard to a standard of living and all the other issues about which everybody cares.

This was brought home to me by the approximately 100 young people who attended my public address at the University in Sarajevo and expressed desire for the types of things about which Irish people talk and their concerns in regard to whether they will materialise for them.

On whether the European Union is playing a strong enough role in Bosnia, I believe it is. Mr. Sørensen, in terms of his prominence in public life in that country, is doing an enormous amount of work. I believe we are doing all we can to support that country on the journey it needs to make. However, there are two perspectives in this regard, of which the Deputy will probably be aware from his time there. Any plan or long-term solution for the country must come from the people. We are all aware of the understandable concerns that arose in Ireland, a country 40 years a member of the European Union that has a standard of living and income per head that is significantly ahead of that in Bosnia and Herzegovinia, in relation to the issue of conditionality, the role of the European Union in its domestic affairs and the level of debate that has taken place in that regard. It is important, therefore, for the Union to be extremely careful and sensitive in terms of the role it plays in the affairs of all other countries, particularly those that are not yet members. I am very much aware of how careful the European Union and Mr. Sørensen are in this regard.

A point raised many times during my visit was the Sejdic-Finci ruling and the prominence it plays in relation to the European Union and its policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovinia. I strongly support the role of the European Union in this regard. I am sure we are all agreed that if the European Union is about anything, it is about everybody being equal and working hard to ensure that where inequality is identified, nation states or the Union deal with it. A fundamental consequence of this is that everybody should have equal ability to participate in the public life of their country. The Sejdic-Finci ruling cuts to the heart of this. I believe it is entirely correct that the European Union place such value in progress being made in relation to that ruling and all of its consequences.