Ms Noelle O'Connell:

I wish the distinguished members of the Joint Committee on European Affairs a good morning and apologise for the delay in our arrival. We were impacted on by the sneachta which we have braved to be here. We thank the committee for the invitation to engage with it on the very important topic of transparency and accountability in European institutions and Ireland's involvement in them. I am accompanied by my colleague, Ms Nora Trench Bowles, our policy and advocacy manager. The committee is to be commended for deliberating on this important issue which is crucial in bringing decision-making closer to EU citizens and increasing democratic accountability.

By way of background, it might be helpful if I outlined the origins of European Movement Ireland. Having being founded in 1954, it is Ireland's longest established not-for-profit voluntary membership organisation dedicated to furthering and connecting Ireland and the European Union. That is the mission that underpins the organisation and forms part of our values. It has been key to much of its work as a civil society organisation for more than 60 years, as it endeavours to promote and ensure transparency and engagement at all levels in Ireland's ever-evolving relationship with the European Union. As such, the issue on which I will engage with the committee is of particular significance to the organisation and permeates and underpins many of its endeavours.

The last time I presented to the committee was in October 2017 when I was accompanied by the chairman of the organisation, Mr. Maurice Pratt, and we had a very fruitful and timely discussion with the distinguished members on the future of the European Union. As we said then in welcoming this engagement, the input of national politicians, institutions and parliaments on European issues was a crucial bridge between citizens and the European Union and certainly amplified and attached greater significance to our voice in the European Union. As part of its presentation to the committee in October, European Movement Ireland called for a greater national debate on the topic of the future of the European Union, emphasising the limited window of opportunity to have an input into this critically important and very fast-moving process, coming as it did at a crucial juncture in the evolution of the Union. We believe this engagement also helps to promote transparency and engagement as vital in lessening any connection deficit between EU institutions and citizens.

I am very pleased to report that the future of the European Union has since been the principal focus of our work, as it will continue to be for several years. We have been working in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in carrying out a country-wide public consultation process on the topic of the future of the Europe which was launched in November 2017 in the Science Gallery by the Taoiseach; the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade who has special responsibility for Brexit, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Helen McEntee. We welcome the ongoing commitment by the Government to furthering and facilitating this vital debate, in which we are very pleased to play our part, particularly considering European Movement Ireland's long-standing aim and intention to encourage and promote Ireland's contribution at all levels to the debates on how to progress and develop European issues, particularly in Ireland.

We steadfastly believe Ireland's future remains within the European Union. Each year we commission Red C to conduct an independent survey of the public's views on the European Union. Public opinion on Ireland's membership of the European Union has remained very positive and fluctuated little since 2013, peaking at 90% support in 2016 but remaining in the high 80s ever since polling began.

Public opinion on Ireland's membership of the European Union has remained very high and has fluctuated little since 2013, peaking at 90% support in 2016 but remaining in the high 80s since we began polling. There is little evidence that the Irish public supports the view that we should follow the UK out of the European Union. Indeed, support for this idea has dropped by 13% since 2013 and recent Eurobarometer reports underpin the various Red C polls. However, reasoned and robust debate on what we, as Irish and EU citizens, would want a reforming European Union to look like is important. It helps us to formulate our own views and thoughts on these multifaceted issues and helps us to progress, input into and influence the European Union-wide debate which will shape our future for decades to come.

In that light we are proactively engaging with people around the country by hosting a series of citizen dialogues. These regional events have been designed with a bottom-up approach in mind to garner, hear and listen to people's needs, concerns and positions, which are very complex and nuanced. People are encouraged to get involved and have their say and, through a variety of different platforms across social media and in face-to-face citizens' dialogues, we have engaged on critically important questions such as a prosperous and competitive European Union; a safe and secure European Union; a sustainable union; a socially responsible union; and shaping globalisation. Spearheaded by the Minister of State for European Affairs, we have already hosted very lively and robust citizen dialogues in Galway in Connacht, with the Munster event taking place in Cork last week. These are conversations about how we wish the European Union to develop and what Ireland's role can be.

I assure committee members that the meetings have been frank, enlightening and informative. Rather than concentrating solely on Brexit, which will undoubtedly create many challenges for Ireland given that we will be the remaining member state most adversely affected by the UK's decision to leave the EU, people are thinking of the bigger picture and asking themselves what they would like the European Union to look like in ten, 20, 30 or 40 years' time. How do we, as a country and as a people, want to shape and influence it? We hope this process will help to spark a nationwide debate on the future of Europe and we call on distinguished members of the committee to continue to lead and guide that debate. Further citizen dialogues will take place in Ulster in Donegal next week and in Meath on 19 April, followed by a major event in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham on Europe Day, 9 May.

There has been widespread interest in the series of national citizen dialogues and we were very pleased that it was recognised at European level when the European Commission recently referred to Ireland as an example of best practice in communicating with EU citizens as part of the wider future of Europe debate. Discussion at these dialogues has touched upon the need for more awareness and understanding of, and engagement with, European initiatives and the need to better communicate and explain what the European Union does. European Movement, EM, Ireland is firmly of the view that these elements, which form the foundation of much of our work, feed into the wider context and the importance of transparency.

Another area where Ireland has been referred to as an example of best practice across Europe is the mandatory lobbying register. The European Commission and the European Parliament have jointly operated a lobbying register since 2011, of which European Movement Ireland is one of nearly 12,000 registrants. Following on from a European Commission proposal, negotiations on a mandatory EU transparency register covering the Commission, Parliament and Council are due to start in the coming months. European Movement Ireland welcomes this development, which will further transparency requirements across the EU decision-making institutions. We will follow, with interest, the results of these upcoming negotiations.

I am aware that the Joint Committee on European Affairs is investing considerable time in hearing from experts on the topic of transparency in European institutions, including from the European Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, earlier this month. It is great to see an Irish woman at the helm of this important body, leading work which impacts the lives of EU citizens when it comes to their dealings and engagements with the different EU institutions. EM Ireland welcomes the recommendations of the European Ombudsman to increase the level of transparency in the Council legislative process. As she advocated in her address to the committee, better facilitating public scrutiny as to how member state governments position themselves in EU law-making could go some way to enabling stronger accountability in those laws. European Movement Ireland will follow with interest the Council's response to the European Ombudsman recommendations, which is due before 9 May. We hope the Council's response allows for the value in deepening the transparency and accountability of that institution.

We will also follow, with interest, the progress and impact of the Dutch Parliament's paper on transparency in the Council. As the paper outlines, the role of national parliaments in overseeing and scrutinising the Council's actions puts them in a very privileged position to act and we call on distinguished members of the committee to support this impetus in an effort to increase accountability and democratic legitimacy in EU decision-making. Greater transparency and accountability can also help address the tendency for member state governments to Europeanise failure and nationalise success, a subject on which I have often spoken before this committee. It is crucial that we all take responsibility for the role we play in EU matters and for how actively we engage with Europe and the EU institutions. Our role in disseminating factual information about Europe, in language that is clear and understandable, includes explaining the decision-making structures of the European Union. It is not the case that faceless bureaucrats decide on EU laws - it is our democratically accountable and nationally elected Ministers who do so, as well as MEPs directly elected by EU citizens. In this light, we regularly produce Just the Facts policy briefings and all-you-need-to-know explainers. This week, the committee will have received our Just the Facts briefing on the informal European Council meeting which took place last Friday and we recently issued a series of explainers on the composition of the European Parliament post Brexit and the Spitzenkandidatenprocess.

The accountability campaign is another example of our work related to our belief in promoting transparency and accountability at all levels. For many years, European Movement Ireland has tracked a variety of statistical indicators covering the Oireachtas, the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council of Europe and has looked at Ireland's EU engagement through these institutions. Beyond these statistical indicators, European Movement Ireland continues to shed light on, and work to explain, Ireland's engagement at European Union level. This is particularly the case in regard to Brexit which has been a principle focus of our work since late 2015 and remains so.

As developments around the Brexit negotiations have shown, engagements outside the formal EU institutions and structures are also crucial. The Government's programme of strategic engagement with EU partners across the different EU member state capitals and on the margins of Council meetings is a strong and productive example of this. The efforts of this diplomatic push, as well as the push made by many political, business and civil society organisations through their European networks, are important and are to be commended on ensuring that Ireland, and particularly the Border on our island, was one of the top three priorities of the first phase of the Brexit negotiations. This success made clear, once again, that when Ireland actively, constructively and transparently engages at an EU level, the impact we can have can be great.