Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the ambassador to the committee and thank him for his comprehensive presentation. I too feel the six-month term for an EU Presidency is too short. If I were to be cynical, I would think it is a term dreamed up by bureaucrats to ensure politicians would never get to actually control the Union. The ambassador referred to the rise of populism and I agree with him on that. Unlike my colleague Deputy Bernard J. Durkan, I believe we are now reaching the stage of diminishing marginal returns in terms of expansion of an economic community. As we get larger, we will start to amplify the differences between us rather than the commonality that holds us together. I have serious concerns about that.

Given Brexit and the rise of populism, I am somewhat disappointed Slovakia has not decided to set aside all these grand plans and deal with one issue. The one issue I would like the Slovakian Presidency to deal with is bringing the European Union back to its citizens. There is clearly a terrible disjoint between where the Union is going. Although there are benefits, they are fleeting and people forget them. We look at our road infrastructure in this country which has changed beyond recognition over the past 15 years. People forget, however, that European money funded these projects and our education system.

Instead, Irish people concentrate on the fact that we feel we singularly carried the burden for the economic collapse of Europe. Whether that is true or not, it does not matter. It feeds into the populist view of what the European Community is about. We deeply resent the Commission sticking its nose into our affairs, trying to twist our arms into breaking our corporate tax regime. Whether that is true or not, again this has fed into the populist view which exists. The ambassador referred to natural resources and, in particular, water. When he drafted his speech, he could not have been unaware of the sensitivity of the whole water debate in this country. In this regard, there are people in Ireland who again feel the bureaucrats of Europe are deciding how we will manage our natural resources. I believe we will have to pay to manage our national resources. How we do that is a matter that has yet to be decided.

During its EU Presidency, Slovakia should set aside priorities such as the digital economy and the expansion of the Union and do nothing else but bring the Union back to the people and get the ordinary citizen on the street to recognise the benefits of being part of Europe. It is my view that we are on the cusp of a complete breakup of the European project. It was an excellent project from the outset. However, Deputy Bernard J. Durkan referred to the differences in it. We cannot have differences; we need to have common ground. Maybe we are trying too many things at the one time. Maybe we need to close things down and come back to the basics.

I wish Slovakia well in its first EU Presidency and hope we hear many positive developments over the next coming months.