H.E. Mr. Stéphane Crouzat:

I thank the Senators for those very interesting remarks. There could be much to discuss but I will try to make these comments very short.

I heard the Deputies' comments on Brexit. They can rest assured that France considers the Northern Ireland issue to be of key importance and will not proceed to the next phase if it is not satisfied that the issue has been addressed fully. We need the views of the Deputies on this matter and are very keen to hear what they consider to be the right time to move forward. France is very committed to the unity of the 27 member states. It gives its full support to Michel Barnier and understands Ireland does likewise. In this respect, our countries are completely in line.

I hear the views of the Deputies on defence issues. France is very willing to push ahead with Permanent Structured Co-operation, PESCO, and European defence fund. It hears the concern that there should be no European army, but that is not the issue at stake. We have to make the most of what is already contained in the treaties in order that the European Union is able to move forward. We know that Ireland has been very active on Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, issues. It is represented in Mali, for which France thanks it again. It has been very helpful. We also know that Ireland has much experience in international peacekeeping, with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, and on the Golan Heights. Our countries have good reasons to talk bilaterally because France is also very involved in these issues. There is much to discuss and to agree to on the issue of defence.

Dealing with the challenge presented by migration is very important to France. It is why it is so interested in developing European aid for Africa. Senator Neale Richmond was quite forceful about the fact that we should invest in Africa. France completely agrees and supports many development projects. I will mention one, in particular, the African renewable energy initiative, AREI, which is so important for the development of the African energy sector. France is investing €2 billion in the project on a bilateral basis.

On language issues and the exchange, we share a belief in having a multilingual Europe. I am very happy that there are so many French students participating in Erasmus programmes in Ireland. There are 2,000 French students in Ireland at any given moment, which fosters the many links between our two countries.