H.E. Dr. Helmut Freudenschuss:

Senator Craughwell mentioned migration, as I did in my introductory statement. I should have mentioned, also in partial reply to the remarks made by the Chairman, that Austria's Federal Chancellor Kurz will visit Dublin on Sunday to meet the Taoiseach. It is the Chancellor's first visit outside of Austria since the country took over the Presidency, which shows the excellent and close relationship he and the Taoiseach have. After he meets the Taoiseach on Sunday he will travel to the Border on Monday to see the situation there at first hand. I am sure the Taoiseach will use the opportunity to explain Ireland's position in more detail. I am sure the Chancellor, in turn, will inform the Taoiseach how he intends to proceed, especially on the tricky issue of migration, and follow up on last week's European Council meeting which addressed the issue of disembarkation platforms. The Senator's question on whether the platforms will ever be established is a good one because so far no north African country has agreed to them.

I can answer the Chairman's question on whether enlargement is possible during Austrian's Presidency of the European Union with an emphatic "No". We would be happy to reach agreement on starting negotiations with a couple of countries. Serbia, Albania and northern Macedonia spring to mind but we are a long way from a concrete enlargement.

The Chairman suggested that parliamentarians should be invited to the high-level conference on subsidiarity. I will, if I may, pass on his very good suggestion to Vienna. Subsidiarity is a question for parliamentarians as well as members of governments.

The Chairman asked whether medium-sized countries will survive Brexit. We will survive Brexit but not all medium-sized countries are in the same boat. Certainly, the consequences of a hard Brexit would be more severe for people in Ireland than for us in Austria. I imagine Austria would be in big trouble if Germany were to leave the EU. Ireland and Austria are in a similar position but not an identical one.

The Chairman asked me to predict what will be the position in the European Union and Europe in the next 40 years. If I knew I would be a rich man. Unfortunately, I do not know and I will not dare to make a prediction.