Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was moved to comment by the point about democracy. That was a crucial issue in terms of austerity and the democratic crisis that we have seen across Europe in terms of disengagement and disenfranchisement. How important is it that citizens see that they can influence economic policy and that if they vote for something that is of importance to them, as described by Dr. Ehnts, that something will be reflected and carried through? That sense of economic decision-making is not just a nice thing, it is an important thing. I have a concern in regard to the following. While I welcome an economic governance review, I also am one of the four Irish parliamentarians on the Future of Europe process. We have this process whereby, not just at a national level but at an EU level, we are asking all of our European citizens to engage on their ideas about what they want for the future and the priorities in that regard for them. How important is it that we do not end up with a lot of strong recommendations from the European citizens and then an economic frame that has been decided in parallel and separately such that their ideas perhaps will come up against? How important is it that the new economic governance frame serves the new agreed priorities that emerge from something like the Future of Europe process, as well as, as referenced by Dr. Ehnts, the EU?