Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is always a great pleasure to be here. I welcome Deputy Haughey to the role of Acting Chairman. I also acknowledge the support of the Chairman, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, last week. I appeared before two committees of the Bundestag and he facilitated me with a pair, which is in the spirit of this committee, which accepts that there is a high degree of consensus on issues pertaining to the European Union. I thank the committee Chairman and, indeed, the committee, because I know that it was in the spirit of this committee that he facilitated it.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss the most recent and upcoming meetings of the General Affairs Council and while I am here to give the committee some follow-up on the issue of the United Kingdom referendum. With the committee's permission, I will concentrate on the more significant issues on the agenda, but I am happy to answer any questions pertaining to it that I do not address in my opening remarks.

Are the MEPs still with us through the use of video-conferencing? It excellent that we have the facility for Members of the European Parliament to be present. I know they were involved in a committee earlier today. It would be welcome at some point in the near future to engage them with this committee. I believe that is the intention.

Although the UK-EU issue is not on the December General Affairs Committee's formal agenda, I would welcome the opportunity to brief the committee on it. Since I last spoke to the committee, it is fair to say that preparations have stepped up here and at EU level. From our perspective, work is intensifying across the system to map out our response in key areas, in so far as this is possible without full information from the UK. Our work in this regard began two years ago. I would not like to minimise the challenges that face us but it is fair to say we have been more prepared than any of the other 27 states. At the heart of our response is clarity on Ireland's priorities in the negotiations. These are the shared areas of the economy, the future of the EU and areas unique to Ireland, namely, the common travel area and Northern Ireland.

The structural changes announced by the Taoiseach after the referendum are bedding down. The Cabinet committee on Brexit, which is chaired by the Taoiseach, has met on four occasions, the most recent being last Thursday. In the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the re-established EU division, which contains a dedicated Brexit team, is up and running under the overall strategic framework set by the Cabinet committee and overseen by the Department of the Taoiseach. I understand the two most senior officials involved briefed the committee last week.

Work is progressing in all Government Departments to refine our existing analysis and develop positions for the future negotiations. The Government is also committed to pursuing any opportunities for Ireland that might arise from Brexit. We have always said there may be opportunities for the country. We are preparing bids for the relocation of the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority, both of which are currently based in London.

A critical pillar of the Government's approach to the negotiations remains outreach to stakeholders in the EU, including partner member states and the institutions. As ever, the Taoiseach is leading from the front and last night he hosted his Maltese counterpart for consultations during a visit to Dublin. I and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade also attended, as did three Maltese Ministers. The Maltese will hold the Presidency of the EU during the first half of 2017.

The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and I have been engaging with our colleagues. I was in Berlin for three days last week and I met Mr. Schröder from the Ministry of the Interior and Mr. Michael Roth, the Minister of State for Europe. We also had very interesting engagement with two Bundestag committees, one on data, for which I have some responsibility, and the other on European affairs, which is the German Parliament's equivalent of this committee. I was struck by the very high degree of thought the European affairs committee had put into issues specifically pertaining to Ireland and Northern Ireland. The members had very good knowledge of Northern Ireland, the common travel area, the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process generally. I suggested to the chairman the members may find it beneficial to meet this committee. Given the number of members in Germany's Parliament, there are specific rapporteurs for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. There is also an Irish friendship committee of the German Bundestag and we do not have an equivalent. This may be something worth considering. We have friendship committees with many other countries. Late last week, I also met with the Slovenian State Secretary for EU Affairs and I know she also had a good meeting with the Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Terry Leyden. Our embassies throughout the EU, particularly the Permanent Representation in Brussels, are in constant touch with our partners.

I cannot overemphasise the importance of all of the meetings that are taking place. The one-to-one exchanges are invaluable in providing an opportunity to explain Ireland's particular position to influential stakeholders who will work as part of the EU team during the negotiating process. Equally, we gain invaluable insight into the issues that are of concern to other member states. In our exchanges at EU level, we consistently emphasise the fundamental point, which may be obvious to us but cannot be overstated in a global environment, which is that we are absolutely committed to EU membership and it is our intention to play a strong and full part in the EU as it moves through the coming years and decades.

It is important to state that I, the Minister and the Taoiseach have found considerable sympathy and understanding from other member states to date. However, it remains essential to reinforce our perspective over the coming months in order to ensure that the support we receive is practical and well-founded throughout the negotiating process. As we discussed during my previous appearance before the committee, there will be a role for the committee in this regard, as there will be for our MEPs. In harnessing the full potential of team Ireland and to promote and advance our national interests at this time, the relationships the various political groupings have throughout the EU and the relationships Members of all parties in both Houses have established over years will be vital . It will not be enough that we have consensus here with respect to our key strategic interests. It is vital that we collectively advance these when we travel to meet our partners and invite people from partner member states to visit us. This will be a long and complex process and the more effort we invest now in this preparatory phase the better, and the dividend will be substantial. I have visited seven or eight member states since August. We will continue to engage very actively with member states.

In terms of next steps, there will be a further meeting of the 27 EU Heads of State and Government on the margins of the December European Council, which the Taoiseach will attend. This will be the first collective discussion since June, when there was agreement among the 27 that there would be no negotiation without notification from the UK and that access to the Single Market would not and could not be decoupled from freedom of movement. Since June, I am very glad to have seen consistency throughout all 27 member states that this remains the common approach and the only approach.

We await to hear much more from the British side on key issues, such as the type of relationship it wishes to have with the EU post-departure. The committee is aware of the legal challenges to the Article 50 process. I do not intend to get into these today as it a matter for the UK legal system, but I note that Prime Minister May has been clear that the deadline of the end of March remains the date for notification.

In the meantime, we in Ireland must continue with our partners to focus on progressing our preparations in a practical and sensible manner.

I now turn to the most recent General Affairs Council, which took place in November. The agenda covered follow-up from the European Council and heads of state and government, preparations for the forthcoming December European Council and a discussion of the mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework, MFF. The Commission gave a presentation on the work programme for 2017 and on the proposed joint declaration on inter-institutional programming. There was also discussion on the rule of law, as part of which the Council Presidency presented a summary of collated responses from member states to a questionnaire on the functioning of the annual dialogue that occurs between member states. There was discussion also of the European semester, as part of which the current Presidency and incoming Maltese Presidency gave a presentation on the roadmap for the European semester for next year. The multiannual financial framework, as the committee will be aware, spans seven years and is subject to a review at the halfway point. I attended discussions on the framework, and there was almost universal support for it after a compromise was elaborated by the Slovak Presidency. I stressed in my intervention that compromise is vital. Every member state had to and did make concessions to reach what was quite a delicate balance, as is often the case in these discussions. The Presidency said it would use the compromise proposal as a basis for negotiation with the European Parliament. However, it is very important to stress that much of the work on the mid-term review was of a technical nature and quite limited. It did not address the major head-on choices which will have to be made in the negotiations for the new MFF which will start in 2021. What we can say without qualification is that these negotiations will be significantly affected by the departure of the UK from the European Union and the budgetary hole that may be left by Brexit.

The Commission also outlined the highlights of its work programme for 2017. Its 21 key initiatives are fully in line with the priorities identified by the leaders at the Bratislava summit in September. These are in areas of huge interest to us in Ireland: jobs, economic growth and inequality are all top priorities. The year 2017 will also see a particular and welcome focus on implementation and enforcement work. The Commission also proposes to withdraw 19 proposals and repeal 16 pieces of legislation in 2017. This reduction of unwarranted legislation is also to be welcomed. I welcome the work programme and the fact that the Council's position had been well reflected. I particularly welcome the focus on the Digital Single Market. The European Union, as I am sure the committee is aware, is falling behind globally in the digital economy, and the Digital Single Market is an important way to address this. It is a wonderful roadmap established by the Commission with 16 measures and has the potential, when implemented, to allow the European Union to regain some of the ground in this digital world that we have lost to other parts of the globe. Given the significant presence in our country of such a large number of digital companies, and even more importantly, a wonderful new ecosystem of startup companies in the tech sector, this is particularly important to Ireland, but also to other small open economies.

The December General Affairs Council is in two weeks' time, and this is the time of the year when member states traditionally examine the progress on the enlargement agenda of the European Union. Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Macedonia are candidate countries, while Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are potential candidate countries. Turkey is also a candidate country. Before discussing Turkey, which is a special case in the current context, I wish to say that Ireland really welcomes the current enlargement package. The Commission published detailed reports on all seven candidate and potential candidate countries on 9 November and we have been examining them in detail at working group level since. The package gives a kind of "state of play" assessment of the preparations for Union membership across the acquis communautaire. Each country is examined and there is an indication of areas where we would like to see further progress over the next 18 months. As I said, we are strong supporters of the accession process because it is the way to transformatively deliver peace, prosperity and stability. There is a point to the process. The importance of stability, not just for the countries themselves, but also on the border of the Union, is also a key factor, as is the strong need to send a positive message that our Union is not diminished by Brexit and that we will continue to support the aspirations of countries that wish to join and be involved in the accession process.

I participated in the Foreign Affairs Council two weeks ago in the Minister's absence, at which Turkey was the subject of extensive debate. I set out very clearly and strongly Ireland's deep concerns about the possible reintroduction of the death penalty; what we see as the overall negative trends in human rights and the rule of law; the restrictions we see on freedom of expression; and the rights of minorities, including the Kurdish minority, which need to be respected. I repeat that the recent actions of the Turkish authorities, specifically the arrests of democratically elected pro-Kurdish Halklarn Demokratik Partisi, HDP, politicians and of journalists, are contrary to democratic norms. At the Foreign Affairs Council, I noted that our concerns in this regard were shared by every other member state.

The General Affairs Council next week provides us with a further opportunity to consider our relationship with Turkey. The Commission report on Turkey was highly critical of its backsliding on core principles for us as Irish people and for Europeans. The EU is keeping the situation of Turkey under very close review, and we are considering how best to maximise our influence on Turkey to encourage it to return to democratic norms and respect for basic freedoms. In fairness, we should not forget that the attempted coup in July was an outrageous attack on democracy and did necessitate a very rigorous response by Turkish authorities. However, our concern arises from a very strong view that the nature of the response is too wide-ranging and is out of proportion, and we must continue to communicate this message. That said, it is critically important in this context that we keep channels of communication open at this sensitive time and continue our dialogue with Turkey. Turkey is a major geopolitical and economic partner. It plays a crucial role in managing the migration crisis. It continues to accommodate close to 3 million refugees and has delivered on some commitments made to the European Union earlier this year. The accession process provides the European Union with some element of leverage, which is very important, and I believe we must try to hold open the long-term European perspective for all the people of Turkey.

I understand and I have sympathy with why the European Parliament voted in favour of suspending accession negotiations but I do not believe that is the right course of action at this time because we must use our influence, through negotiations, to try to bring Turkey into a better space with respect to the issues I have already highlighted. We do not feel that suspension is the optimal way, notwithstanding an understanding of the underlying reason for the vote in Parliament.

As I mentioned earlier, the roadmap for the European semester in 2017, which is jointly prepared by the current Presidency and the incoming Presidency, was presented to this month's General Affairs Council. It sets out the timetable and key dates and milestones leading up to the presentation of the draft country-specific recommendations in May and their finalisation for adoption at the June European Council. The December European Ministers Council will include a presentation from the Commission also on the annual growth survey. That sets out the key priorities for supporting growth in jobs in the period ahead. It is the key input to the European semester discussions in relevant Council formations in the coming months. We support the continued threefold emphasis we have on investment, structural reforms and fiscal responsibility.

The next General Affairs Council will be the final preparatory meeting before the December European Council and there are currently four items on the agenda for the Heads of State and Government in the next two weeks, namely, migration, security, economic and social development and youth and also external relations with specific reference to Russia and Ukraine.

I will briefly mention migration. The December Council is expected to be briefed by the High Representative, Federica Mogherini, on progress on the partnership framework on migration and the results to date concerning the migration compacts with five selected African countries. The Council is expected to set orientations for further work and to decide on the possible extension of the approach to other countries so, in addition, the Council will look at the implementation of the European Union-Turkey statement of March, which has seen a significant drop in the number of people trying to enter the European Union from Turkey.

On security, it is expected that leaders will have a package of related security and defence items before them. The High Representative, Federica Mogherini’s implementation plan for the security and defence strand of the EU global strategy – the European defence action plan will be tabled shortly by the Commission and proposals for a follow-up to the EU-NATO-Warsaw joint declaration. We understand the anxieties and concerns of many other member states whose geographical situations and historical experiences are very different from those of this country. We favour the pragmatic development of the Common Security and Defence Policy, but within the parameters of the treaty. We continue to play an active part in the Common Security and Defence Policy but it is subject to the triple lock. We also insist that the treaty provisions, which are copperfastened by the protocol to the Lisbon treaty for Ireland on not prejudicing the specific character of the policies of certain member states, which must be respected. That obviously pertains to Ireland. In addition, we must respect the autonomy of decision-making procedures in the European Union and NATO as befits what are two totally separate organisations.

In terms of economic and social development and youth, the European Council will take stock of progress as regards investment, for example the renewal of the European funds for strategic investments, but also Single Market strategies and youth-related initiatives.

I will refer very briefly to external relations. Following a comprehensive debate in October, Russia will again feature on the agenda of December’s European Council. That said, this time the focus will be on the extension of EU economic sanctions, as they are due to run out at the end of January 2017. The duration of sanctions, as members are aware, is linked to the complete implementation of the Minsk agreements. The European Union has already rolled out the restrictive measures on three occasions, the reason for that being developments on the ground. Continued European unity with respect to our approach to Ukraine and Russia remains crucial for our credibility and influence. To that end, it is vitally important that we continue to maintain consensus on further roll-over. Ireland believes that any relaxation of the measures can only be considered where there is clear evidence that there has been progress on the ground in eastern Ukraine. So far, there are very few, if any, signs of encouragement, with the OSCE reporting the contrary – a dramatic upsurge in attacks along the contact line during November.

There will also be some discussion about how to resolve the current situation in the Netherlands, following the outcome of the referendum on Ukraine which was held in April, whereby it is unable to ratify the EU-Ukraine association agreement. The Dutch Government appears to envisage that it will clarify the position at the EU Heads of State and Government meeting. It is fair to say the agreement will still need some intense discussion over the coming weeks.

As always, there are many topics for discussion at European Union level. I apologise for the length of my speech. I thank the committee for its attention. There are many other broad topics and I am happy to respond to questions.