Dr. Scott Fitzsimmons:

I thank the Deputy for a variety of interesting questions. He first asked if the EU should do away with the requirement for unanimity in respect of common defence decisions. I believe that unanimity should be maintained. One of the best aspects of unanimity for a country such as Ireland is that we get a voice equal to that of the bigger and stronger countries. While it does not eliminate politicking, it does in some ways reduce its intensity. A majority vote decision-making system tends to promote factionalisation and it is possible to see patterns of countries that vote together and the countries that do not vote with them can feel isolated. A system based on unanimity tends to avoid all of that.

The potential downside is that unanimity requires the decision-making process to happen more slowly. It can be frustrating for certain countries that feel like a quick and obvious decision can be made when even a single other member country can serve as a spoiler because it has a veto. To use a contemporary example, some of the members of NATO are finding the situation a little frustrating when it comes to Sweden's request to join the organisation. Even a single member - Turkey in this case - gets to hold up the process. That is frustrating but for a small country, it can be a very good thing. If we disagree with something, we can hold up the process and require compromises that we probably could not if we found we were on the minority side of a decision that was made by a simple majority vote.

The Deputy also asked if the EU has a role in common defence, and I feel it does. That role has expanded, if anything, over the past seven years or so because, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, one of the key non-European members in NATO common defence is the United States and one of the two major political parties there, which will inevitably hold both the Legislature and the White House at some point in the future, is increasingly isolationist and hostile to all international agreements, including security agreements. It would be terrifying for Europe to be taken by complete surprise and find that its most powerful ally, the country across the ocean, does not want to live up to its commitments. We need to prepare and plan to be able to look after ourselves. That is to the great benefit of NATO because a very well-prepared and co-operative EU, a collection of EU member countries and armed forces, is useful for NATO operations. However, we need the freedom to be able to look after our own affairs, if necessary.