H.E. Ms Karen Van Vlierberge:

Yes. There are also discussions with Belgium for an electricity interconnector. Ireland has considerable potential for the generation of electricity. I do not have to tell the committee about the potential for offshore energy on the east and west coasts. I do not know what it will look like but it goes without saying that an internal energy market should be an inclusive project and that island states, such as Ireland and Malta, will be part of it. It is of the utmost importance that we invest in that.

The US Inflation Reduction Act was a super-bazooka. The US invested in companies, and we should do the same. In doing so, we need to keep the balance between being and remaining competitive and retaining a level playing field within the internal market. For smaller countries such as Belgium and Ireland, it is not always possible to compete with the big European countries that can put a lot of money into their companies. We really must find a balance internal within the European Union and also ensure we strike a balance with our partners. There is a dichotomy between autonomy, on the one hand, and continuing to be a trading country that attaches a lot of importance to trade for small open economies such as those of our two countries. We will have to balance a lot of specific and important topics but that is of the utmost importance for the future of our Continent, as I said. We have become a very geopolitical union. I have been working in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for 25 years. I was posted twice to our permanent representative at the European Union. I really see this as the most geopolitical Commission we have ever had.

In this time of the year and in this specific moment, it is important to be that. We also need that geopolitical approach to energy, as the Deputy referred to. We need it in other files, such as migration and energy.

Touching on the question of migration, we will do our utmost to get all those files agreed upon before mid-April. We are working hard. I think it will be manageable because all the institutions want that change in our migration policy. It has to stay a humane policy but it also has to be a clearer policy not only for the people applying but also our citizens. The solidarity package of it is important. It is broad; the Parliament and Council are all aiming for a clearer migration policy while keeping it very humane; that applies internally and externally.

The Deputy referred to our relations with Africa, as I did. Africa is very important for Belgium. The African Continent is one of our top priorities within our foreign affairs policy. Migration is not only about, let us say, strengthening the borders and the capacities of the member states in the south and the front-line member states. It is not about the solidarity between member states, rather it is also and perhaps most importantly about reaching out to the countries of origin, working there and implementing and creating new partnerships to bolster their economies and invest in education. We have to deal with the countries and the problems that are the basis of why so many people want to come to Europe. We have to deal with the problems in the countries themselves. We already invest much in Africa but perhaps, as I said, we should do it in another mindset, that is, one of our mutually beneficial partnerships and with respect for each other. The Deputy referred to the colonial past. It is a completely different way of approaching those countries and those countries of origin. We need to deal with the problems that form the basis but also deal with transit countries, as Europe is doing with Turkey and Tunisia. I am quite hopeful we will manage it. It was an amazing success that the Spanish Presidency reached that agreement and now it is up to Belgium, together with the Parliament, to get these files agreed upon before mid-April.

This is also very important with the upcoming European Parliament elections. As the Deputy knows, in Belgium and I think in every country, migration is one of the topics of the election. Therefore, it is also important to show our citizens that we take their concerns into account. We are doing it but we cannot do it alone; it is the same with everything. We have to do it globally and together with all European Union member states.

I apologise for the long answer, but there were not three questions but many.