Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the ambassador for coming. I apologise for being a couple of minutes late in attending. I was listening to the meeting on my way in. I had to deal with logistics relating to children this morning.

Many of us would say that if we were dealing with the European question during the financial crisis, we would not necessarily have got support on the street for the European project due to the conditions at the time. I ask Mr. Guérend for a comment on the present circumstances. There has been solidarity across Europe which to a degree has been unexpected. The old argument that was always made was to ask what would happen when German carmakers or French winemakers wanted to sell into Britain but we have seen the colour of the European Union's money in that regard. We are dealing with Boris Johnson, who increasingly appears almost to fall into the category occupied by Recep Tayyip Erdoan, Viktor Orbán and others. I ask Mr. Guérend for a comment on where Boris Johnson stands at the moment. We are all guessing as to whether he is serious or not. The European Union has probably set out a slightly more robust response.

It is not only a matter of solidarity around Brexit. How we dealt with the pandemic and the response to the war in Ukraine showed a level of co-operation and cohesion that was higher than people may have expected, particularly, I imagine, Vladimir Putin. We have also shown that as difficult as it is, we can come to agreements, including an element of opt-in co-operation. Deputy Richmond and I, among others, were involved with the Conference on the Future of Europe. The timescale was a bit restricted. The French presidency was somewhat chaotic in the beginning. It fell into a better structure as it went along. Some citizens came up with some very innovative suggestions but at times possibly fell into a need for greater context in respect of the European institutions. Beyond that, there was almost expert testimony on particular niche issues. Due to the difficulties with the likes of Hungary, there was a focus on qualified majority voting versus unanimity. I am asking Mr. Guérend for a view. We have shown how opt-ins work. We know that this is to go somewhere and that there are varying views. I am asking for the French view.

There has been certain commentary about it taking 20 years for the accession of Ukraine to the European Union, which probably make people ill at ease. That notion existed previously and I can understand some of the reasoning behind it. Where does France stand on a two-speed Europe?

Mr. Guérend said we are dealing with the particular crisis in Ukraine but we know we are also dealing with impending issues relating to climate change and all the rest of it. Supply chain planning is something that must happen without Europe becoming a protectionist bloc. The one thing the pandemic showed was that the State is required to do the heavy lifting if we are going to make real change. We have seen in French politics that if people do not buy into the necessary moves on climate change, the door will be left open for certain non-progressive people and space is allowed in that regard. It is vital that we bring people along. Some of that will involve considering fiscal constraints and understanding that the constraints are greater now. When I am talking about supply chain planning, I am also talking about energy, food and all those other issues. I think that is a sufficient amount of questions to put in front of Mr. Guérend. It will probably take the rest of the meeting for him to respond.