Mr. Christian Zörner:

I thank the Co-Chairman for the opportunity to speak. When I was asked to speak about the European common security and defence policy on the occasion of Europe Day the first topic to come to mind was the role of Irish neutrality. The debate is probably as old as the country itself but has surely not lost its intensity since then. I finally decided to address the issue because recent developments in the area of European common and security policy make neutrality very topical again. I draw attention to a couple of developments that place neutrality back on the agenda and demand urgent discussion of its meaning and implications.

The first of these is Brexit.

The loss of the major Atlanticist power within the European Union has serious consequences for the further development of the European Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP. Having always tried to prevent or at least slow down integration in this policy field, the United Kingdom has been a kind of natural ally to Ireland in trying to keep security issues out of European integration. The consequences of this development are already visible. Not long after the Brexit vote, the President of the EU Commission, the French President and later the German Chancellor were calling for the creation of an EU army. Although for the time being this is not much more than a blurry vision, it became obvious where integration in the European Common Security and Defence Policy field is heading.

Already in 2018 permanent structured co-operation, PESCO, was launched, marking a huge step in integrating security and defence co-operation towards a military alliance. Causing a lively discussion in Ireland, its participation was finally backed by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, denying a conflict between Irish neutrality and participation in PESCO. Of all the other neutral member states of the EU only Malta opted out, choosing to first observe if PESCO and neutrality are compatible. Especially in Finland and Sweden, former neutral states, a consensus has been reached to the effect that EU membership in general is not logically compatible with the traditional notion of neutrality. In practice these EU member states have thus given up their neutrality to a large extent. In Ireland, Sinn Féin proposed a Bill to enshrine Irish neutrality in the Constitution. After a lively debate, in which European politicians were even called warmongers, the Bill was eventually rejected in the Dáil.

Finally, I draw members' attention to a poll by Red C for the European Movement Ireland, published just last week. Apart from an overwhelming support for EU membership in general, the poll revealed that a majority of 58% of the Irish people think that Ireland should be part of intensified EU security and defence co-operation and that PESCO does not pose a threat to Irish neutrality. Approval is even stronger amongst young Irish people.

For me as a German citizen, the whole discussion about neutrality is new. Despite the tabula rasa after the Second World War, Germany did not have the chance to have its own discussion about this, having to align itself to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, in the face of an expansionist Soviet Union. While living in Ireland for one year and studying at University College Dublin it is very interesting to follow the public debate about neutrality and discuss it with my Irish and non-Irish fellow students. This brings insights into this very politicised topic and the fact that Irish neutrality is loaded with different meanings and historical resonances. Various narratives are contesting the nature of Irish foreign and security policy and its expression in Europe's contemporary security architecture. While there seems to be a broad consensus that Ireland can and should make a contribution to global peace and security, this is not the case for the question as to which institutional framework should be used to achieve this.

Due to the aforementioned recent developments, however, Ireland seems to be forced to take a decision. The departure of the major damper of integration in the area of foreign and security policy and the concomitant developments, such as PESCO and discussions of an EU army, make it an urgent topic. For Ireland's European partners, and therefore also for me in this case, it is essential to know where Ireland is coming from in order to fully understand the significance and the implications of neutrality for Ireland.