Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Popowski for coming before the committee today. It is timely to look at the enlargement process and to examine its merits. I do not agree with the general thrust that we should stay well away from enlargement at this stage. Many people have said in recent years that we enlarged too quickly. I do not agree. There were very few options at the time. Enlargement was the better option to bring those countries that were on the periphery of the European Union into the Union, apply theacquis communautaireand try to bring them together as a family. It is time we Europeans viewed each other more as neighbours, friends and fellow Europeans rather than as foreigners. That that is the lesson to be learned from the modern era, from the whole situation of refugees traipsing across Europe. It is no harm to acknowledge again the Turkish contribution in relation to Syrian refugees. Where else would they be if they had not been accommodated in some of the neighbouring countries? I recognise the difficulty with the immediate neighbours on the eastern borders of the modern European Union.

The question of extra membership is no harm at all. It is important, however, to ensure that the acquisis observed by all incoming countries and by existing countries. There is a tendency occasionally for existing countries to forget what we are about. It is no harm at this stage to mention that and to look at those countries. I tabled a parliamentary question about this recently, looking at the degree to which some existing and established countries are happy, or if the rest of Europe is happy, with their adherence to the acquis communautaire.

There are a number of reasons we need to accommodate, encourage and bring on board countries such as those in the western Balkans. Extra membership of the European Union is one, which would be of benefit to small countries and other countries that are small in terms of stature but not always small in terms of political influence. It is also important to try to ensure that we do not create a them and us situation whereby we treat the incoming or potentially incoming countries with suspicion. It is a dangerous thing to do. It creates enmity, bitterness and the kinds of things that happened, for instance, when Britain first attempted to join what was then the EEC and there was strong opposition from some existing European countries. I am not going to go into the details of that now but I can remember it quite well.

We need to be very careful not to allow that to happen, not to create bitterness in incoming countries before they arrive at all. From a security point of view, it is equally essential that the western Balkans is treated as a special entity. The history of Europe should be enough to tell us all the things that have happened and that tend to happen in that particular area. We must try to ensure that we create the political and economic environment to prevent similar events happening in the future.

We must also consider the fact that major catastrophes have arisen from small beginnings, and that is the issue on which we need to concentrate. Like everybody else, I have travelled in that area both on holidays and officially. I laud the work that has already been done to include the western Balkans and bring them into the loop, as it were. I hope that will continue. I also hope that no situation arises whereby there is a diminution in what is required to accommodate anybody. We are either all in the one school or we are not in the one school. We all contribute and aspire to the same objectives or we do not. It is hugely important to set down these markers in the beginning rather than at a later stage.

The Single Market is there for everyone, including new members when they come on board. That means the full benefits and positive elements of the Single Market remain available and continue to be available throughout the European Union. There is a tendency in other discussions nowadays to raise having different stages of European integration and Europeanism and that perhaps we should go in different directions. I am not an advocate of that school of thought. We need to keep Europe together. It would be a very dangerous thing to create any new power blocs within Europe which might tend to go in diverse directions. It would be negative from the perspective of Europe, both in its existing and future form, and would not be good for either peace, stability or economic viability.