Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chair and our guests. Ireland's time in Europe has been part of a time of coming together and resisting the forces, of which there are many, that would like to break us up. Russia's war in Ukraine, that horrendous war which Putin started, has amplified the need for Europe to be a more united family. I understand the need for the Copenhagen criteria, and we do need certain ground rules, but this process has been unacceptably and painstakingly slow for so many candidate countries.

Regarding a potential way forward, is there a new opportunity in this regard in the context of the European Political Community, EPC, which was originally President Macron's brain wave? Last week, more than 40 European countries came together in Prague, the Czech capital, as part of an EPC meeting to discuss advancing security and energy co-operation. Representatives from every country were there, except Russia and Belarus, and it was correct that they were excluded. Is there an opportunity to develop this new organisation? I ask the ambassadors to tell us about the feedback in their respective countries regarding this new initiative, which included the British Prime Minister and the Prime Ministers of the ambassadors' countries. I think we could develop this organisation and that this would help to break down barriers and help countries to make friends. It would show this is achievable. Let us not get hung up on the Copenhagen criteria and placing them as an unfair and impossible obstacle to accession for some many countries that are reaching out to be part of the European family. Now is the time when we can review this situation in a more accessible, equitable and fair way. I ask the ambassadors, therefore, to give us their views on President Macron's historic initiative, in the context of the first meeting of the new organisation last week.