Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

Committee on European Union Affairs

Findings of the 2025 European Movement Ireland EU Poll: European Movement Ireland

2:00 am

Ms Lorna Hayes:

I think the Deputy is probably right. On the issue of expenditure, since this mandate started the two big pillars being communicated are defence and security, and competitiveness. Within competitiveness there is a big risk of funding being lost for social protection, etc. They are the overarching priorities. A big question is defence. As the Deputy rightly noted, there is a question of where that funding is going to come from. That could very well feed into people's concerns about the EU and the direction it is going in. Everything is being framed within that securitisation lens. For people concerned about housing, the cost of living, etc, I am sure that is driving some anxiety and concern. With the upcoming negotiations on the MFF, it remains to be seen how these issues will play out. Will the European Green Deal have stand-alone funding? Even that is sometimes being included as part of security. Where is that going to end? How do you safeguard funding for particular areas within those two massive pillars? They can be compatible with the green deal. However, some member states are not speaking about it that way any more. They see them as being against each other but that is not necessarily the case. It is an interesting time. Let us see what happens with the MFF.

As to how can we have the different member states' opinions on foreign policy, there is a big role for civil society to play. I think there is going to be a civil society strategy coming under Commissioner Michael McGrath's portfolio. That is a big opportunity for Irish and European civil society to really push for these formalised dialogues, formalised spaces to talk to civil society, which is not happening as much as it should. There have been threats over the past few months, such as the EPP questioning funding from the LIFE programme going to NGOs working on climate change. Questions are being asked about the role of civil society organisations and the work they do, including their right to do advocacy work, which is a key role of civil society. It is important that there is dialogue with MEPs on these issues.

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