Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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I remind those present to turn off their mobile phones as they interfere with the recording equipment. It is not good enough to leave them in silent mode. That also pertains to iPads and other electronic equipment. We have received apologies from Deputies Seán Crowe and Timmy Dooley.

The first item on the agenda is a discussion on the European Commission's work programme for 2014. On behalf of the joint committee, I welcome Ms Barbara Nolan, head of the European Commission Representation in Ireland. She is accompanied by Ms Eimear Ní Bhroin, political affairs officer, and Mr. Graham Stull, economic analyst, DG ECFIN.

This meeting is a good opportunity to assess the European Commission's priorities in the final year of its remit. Everybody present knows there will be a replacement next year. The Commission's work programme was announced last month and identifies a series of priorities for 2014, including on many important issues that will have implications for our political and administrative systems. These priorities will help to inform the work of the Oireachtas throughout the coming year. The Commission's stated intention is to make 2014 a year of delivery and implementation. The programme will be focused on banking union and related matters, as well as progressing the issue of the single digital market. It will also look to ensure new measures set out in the long-term budget or multi-annual financial framework for the period 2014 to 2020 are implemented and become operational. In this committee we are very interested in hearing about the implementation of the youth guarantee. There may be some information in that regard from the meeting held by leaders, as the issue is of key importance, not just for the youth of Ireland but also young people throughout the European Union.

I remind members of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee.

If they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence in relation to a particular matter and they continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only to a qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of today's proceedings is to be given and they are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. I invite Ms Nolan to make her opening comments.

Ms Barbara Nolan:

I thank the committee for the invitation to present the Commission's work programme. Before we get down to business, I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the Chairman and committee on all their work during Ireland's EU Presidency. In particular, the handling of the COSAC meetings was impeccable. It significantly boosted the involvement of national parliaments in EU matters. We in the Commission are keen to support that. We very much appreciate all the hard work that was done during the first six months of this year.

In October, the European Commission adopted its work programme for 2014. The overall emphasis is on action and results. With the European Parliament elections looming in May 2014, there is a legislative hiatus on the horizon. In the work programme, considerable emphasis is put on trying to ensure that the work of the European Parliament and the Council on important proposals from the Commission, some of which have been on the table for a couple of years and others that are new, is completed. The new initiatives are limited. There are only four purely legislative initiatives, although other initiatives are a mixture of legislation and softer measures such as communications or recommendations. We have tried to focus on putting forward what we think has a chance of getting through the machine, if one likes, because we have a very small window in which to get business done.

A key stepping stone on the way to the adoption of the Commission work programme was President Barroso's State of the Union address to the European Parliament in September. That set out the overarching political and economic ambitions and priorities for the Commission in the year ahead. A key message from the address is that Europe is on the right track for recovery. In Ireland, there are signs that the country is beginning to turn a corner. However, President Barroso also underlined that there is still a lot of work to be done. He said: "We owe it to our 26 million unemployed. Especially to the young people who are looking to us [the political leaders] to give them hope". Even if things are looking brighter, there is no room for complacency.

That leads us to the overarching policy priorities. The first is deepening economic and monetary union and progressing work on the banking union, which takes top billing in that regard. The second is delivering on growth and jobs, with a focus on tackling youth unemployment - I will return to the youth guarantee - and there are also the issues of strengthening the Single Market and promoting trade.

The Commission work programme essentially translates the State of the Union speech into concrete actions. The Commission does not develop the work programme in isolation. It takes account of a variety of inputs across member states,including debates in this Parliament, the European Parliament and parliaments elsewhere in the EU. It also draws on the feedback from COSAC meetings in developing concrete actions.

There are five annexes to the Commission work programme. It sounds heavy and bureaucratic, but in fact all the material one would wish to find is contained in the annexes. If one wants to know about a particular Commission initiative, there is a roadmap for each one when one gets into the detail of the annexes. It is important that people are aware that there are no secrets. All the information is available in the annexes to the Commission's work programme. Some highlights include economic and monetary union, notably the adoption of key proposals on banking union and the further development of economic policy co-ordination; making the best use of the EU budget - the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, programmes are to be rolled out to support growth and jobs and to get the money flowing out to member states; completing the Single Market, including in the field of telecommunications; justice and security; and taking forward the EU's external agenda. A constant theme throughout the programme is the delivery of a concrete set of measures that will benefit citizens.

I will give more detail on the highlights. In terms of economic and monetary union, the Commission will continue work on completing the banking union. While very good progress was made on this under the Irish Presidency, a lot remains to be done. Looking at specific measures, the adoption of the single resolution mechanism, SRM, fund is a priority. I also want to flag the fact that the single supervisory mechanism will become operational in 2014.

The Commission will work to reinforce economic governancein the European Union. I wish to focus on one issue that I believe will be of relevance to the country and to the committee, namely, the European semester. For Ireland, the focus in recent years has been understandably, and almost exclusively, on the implementation of Ireland's EU-IMF programme and not on the European semester. However, with Ireland's exit from the programme imminent, the semester will move centre stage. As the crisis has demonstrated, there is a need for greater economic policy co­ordination between European countries. The European semester is a central pillar of that. Under the semester process, the European Commission publishes a set of economic policy and reform recommendations tailored to each member state. They are known as country-specific recommendations or, in the awful jargon used, CSRs. They are subsequently adopted by the Council at the end of June or in early July. The recommendations will point to the important reforms that need to be undertaken in Ireland and in all EU member states from next year onwards. For example, recommendations for other member states have targeted areas such as fiscal deficits, pension reform, welfare reform, labour activation and stimulating competition in professional services.

In developing the country-specific recommendations, the input of national parliaments is vital. The semester process for 2014, in which this country will take full part, kicks off tomorrow, 13 November, with the publication of the European Commission's economic priorities for the year ahead in the Annual Growth Survey, which will give an overview of the general economic situation of the EU and identify common policy priorities. On Friday, 15 November, for the first time ever, thanks to the adoption of the two-pack, the Commission will publish opinions on the draft budgets of euro countries and reports on countries in the excessive deficit procedure. Ireland will not have an opinion published on its budget because it is still under the EU-IMF programme until the end of the year, but that will happen in the future.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Could Ms Nolan clarify whether that means our budget will be moved back or the opinion will be delivered earlier? It is clear that we are two weeks out at the moment.

Ms Barbara Nolan:

Because Ireland is still under its programme, there will not be an opinion for this year.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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That is the case for this year, but what about next year? Do we need to move our budget back or do they give their opinion earlier? Otherwise, if we have the budget at the same time next year as this year, they will be giving an opinion on a budget that has already gone through the House.

Ms Barbara Nolan:

My understanding is that the timetable remains the same as this year and the opinion will come at around the same time as this year.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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So they will be giving an opinion on something that has already been through the House.

Ms Barbara Nolan:

Has it been through the House completely?

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Not completely, no. It has not been signed off but it has been published.

Ms Barbara Nolan:

My understanding is that the budget is still in draft status.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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They would consider it to be a draft budget; is that correct?

Ms Barbara Nolan:

Yes. It is the same for everybody else. Each member state is under the same semester process unless it is in a programme. I can confirm that it will be 15 October for draft budgetary plans next year.

The social dimension of economic and monetary union should not be forgotten. It is also a priority, and this reflects the importance of the need for a more cohesive economic and monetary union for European society as a whole. I do not propose to go into this now as the committee is due to discuss this issue next week with Mr. Koos Richelle, Director General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. I will leave this to one side because it is his particular area of expertise and responsibility.

The second area I wish to mention is making the best use of the EU budget. A central element of the Commission's growth and jobs agenda is to maximise the effectiveness of the EU budget, the so-called multi-annual financial framework, MFF, and all of the programmes that will now be rolled out in that context. The Commission is committed to working with the European Council and the Parliament to ensure that this budget swiftly becomes operational. The necessary structures and programmes must also be put in place at national level so that we can deliver funding and help projects to get off the ground. Provided this is done quickly, it will provide a real boost to the European economy. I am delighted to report that in the early hours of this morning, after a marathon negotiation session, agreement was reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the 2014 EU budget, which is a crucial step towards the full final adoption of the MFF for the period from 2014 to 2020. We can now move forward.

The overall goal for the budget is to boost investment and employment, particularly for the young. On this latter point, the implementation of the youth guarantee is of great importance, with 5.5 million young people in the EU currently unemployed. The youth guarantee means that member states should ensure that all young people under 25 are either in employment, education, training or an apprenticeship within four months of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed. In this regard, the Commission is looking forward to receiving Ireland's implementation plan for this initiative before the end of the year. The Taoiseach is attending a meeting in Paris today which is the second in a series of meetings convened to focus on youth unemployment. The first meeting was held in Germany, presided over by Chancellor Merkel. My understanding is that the Taoiseach is focusing his remarks on the need for digital skills. Unfortunately, I do not have a read-out of that meeting, but I am sure reports on what happened will be available later today.

On the investment front, funding for research and innovation is also vital, with Horizon 2020 centre stage. Enterprise Ireland, in co-operation with the Commission and particularly Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn, will host the launch of Horizon 2020 in Ireland on 10 December next in the Convention Centre, Dublin. Ireland has a very good track record in winning research funding and has set itself a target of securing €1 billion under Horizon 2020. Mobilisation of the entire research community has already started and the latest available information will be disseminated at the aforementioned conference in December. Supporting SMEs is also of particular importance. In that context, I would flag the fact that the European Investment Bank has an increasing role in supporting access to finance for SMEs. We must advertise that fact more throughout the EU for the benefit of SMEs.

In the context of completing the single market, I will focus on two areas in particular which we consider to be vital to support growth - namely, telecommunications and energy. On telecommunications, in September 2013 the Commission adopted a proposal Connected Continent: Building a Telecommunications Single Market. This telecommunications package will make it easier for operators to work across borders, improve consumer rights and more generally boost productivity. Altogether, the single market in telecommunications could be worth €110 billion a year and a world-class digital infrastructure could boost productivity by 5%. At the EU summit last month, EU leaders called for timely adoption of the telecommunications package. They recognised that the digital economy is vital to jobs and they put the digital agenda at the heart of their economic plans. They also called for action to complete the digital single market by 2015 and said that urgency was needed. With the European Parliament elections in May and a digital world that is moving on rapidly, I am happy to report that the relevant committees in the Parliament have already started work on this package. However, it is hard to see how this work can be completed before the Parliament rises in advance of the election. On energy, all consumers should have access to a fully integrated energy market by 2014. The focus in 2014 will be on the energy retail market, to ensure that consumers can tap into the benefits of the internal energy market.

The justice and security dossiers have become an increasingly important element of the Commission's work. The Commission has a number of proposals on the table and negotiations are under way between the Council and the European Parliament on some of these. A particularly important file is the new data protection package, and the Irish Presidency is to be congratulated on the sterling work it did on this. It is hoped that this package will emerge from the legislative process with a vote during the Parliament's last plenary session in April.

On the external agenda, the EU has a key role to play in tackling crises. The EU is collectively the largest donor of global development assistance and humanitarian aid in the world. It was announced today that an additional €10 million would be given to the Philippines to deal with the crisis there following the typhoon. Promoting peace and security remains a pillar of the EU's external action programme. EU efforts in the ongoing crisis in Syria will continue, including the provision of assistance to the civilian population, support for attempts to bring all sides in the conflict to a peace conference and support for the Syrian mission of the UNOPCW, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

On the trade front, committee members will know about the launch of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership negotiations, which was one of the highlights of the Irish Presidency. EU and US officials are holding another round of negotiations this week. The aim is to remove trade barriers, making it easier to buy and sell goods between the EU and the US.

My final point is on the REFIT initiative, the Commission's regulatory fitness and performance programme. This relates to President Barroso's message in his so-called State of the Union speech, in which he said that the EU needed to be "big on big things and small on smaller things".

Basically, his message was that where Europe cannot add value, it should not meddle.

In many cases, common rules are good because they are essential to making the Single Market work properly and protecting consumers, the environment and other public interests, as well as actually reducing red tape. For example, why saddle business with 28 different sets of regulations and standards in the Single Market when we could just have one? The European Commission has been listening to concerns on burdensome EU regulation for some time. In the past five years, it has slashed administrative burdens by €32 billion and scrapped 5,590 legal Acts. However, we are determined to go further. Under REFIT, the regulatory fitness and performance programme, the Commission has identified further measures to simplify or withdraw legislation and issues where we will not act at European level. These cover a wide range of areas, including consumer product safety, public procurement, clinical trials of pharmaceuticals, package holidays and food hygiene. For example, on the latter, rules will be consolidated and simplified and greater flexibility granted to small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, in how they meet them.

Next year will be an eventful one for the EU's institutions. The European Parliament elections, in particular, will have a significant impact on the legislative timetable. The window for getting things done is fairly small. As the elections will take place in May, the last plenary session of the current European Parliament is to be in April. Accordingly, April will be the final deadline for any vote or endorsement by the current European Parliament before a gap in the EU's legislative process. In September, the focus will be the formation of the next European Commission. If all goes according to plan, a new European Commission will be in place on 1 November 2014. Work on a new work programme for 2015 can then begin in earnest.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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I thank Ms Nolan for her presentation.

Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Ms Nolan and her colleagues for attending the committee this afternoon.

Various slogans from Europe regarding SMEs are encouraging. While some might not be brilliantly thought out such as “Europe needs to think small first,” and “Europe needs to be big on big things and smaller on small things,” there has been a timely realisation that the real engine that can drive growth in Europe is small businesses. We know already that if every small business in Europe employed one more person, unemployment in Europe would be wiped out instantly.

The area in which Europe fails, however, is innovation, particularly compared to China and the United States. Europeans - it is not so much the case with Ireland - tend to be extremely risk-averse. The Commission has a role in encouraging people to set up their own businesses. While we may be critical of our friends in America, they have a business culture where failure is not seen as a mark against someone, as it is seen here.

I understand the Commission will give report cards or opinions on national budgets but will not necessarily change them. This will be interesting for the Commission in terms of how it strays into political choices in each country. It will be interesting to see how the German budget is marked. There needs to be a focus on the member states in budgetary surplus, particularly Germany. We all know how those member states that are in programmes or close to them with excessive deficit procedures will be marked. There are rules about those with surpluses too. If we want economic growth in Europe, the German surplus should be addressed.

Ms Nolan stated that the digital technology sector could be responsible for economic growth of 5%. We are hearing that the transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP, could provide growth of 2%. The President of the Commission, Mr. Barroso, said Europe was doing well, but it is not really. Growth levels are flat. The recent troubles with regard to taping of conversations and spying by the US on Europe must be set aside. This trade agreement is extremely important for the European and American economies. The issue of spying needs to be addressed in a different forum.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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I thank Ms Nolan for her detailed presentation.

What is all this talk about the digital economy? Surely it is not just building a telecommunications Single Market. Will she give us a layman’s interpretation of this high aim Ireland is placing on the digital economy at European level? What is the exact plan that we are claiming will create an extra €110 billion for the European economy?

The committee should congratulate and wish Latvia well on becoming the 18th member of the eurozone. It should be recognised that it is entering at a good time when exchange rates between the dollar and the euro are good and have stabilised.

Some of the documentation presented to the committee refers to the priorities of the Commission. The social agenda is one area of concern for citizens both here and in Europe. Will Ms Nolan explain how Irish agencies access, if at all, the European moneys set aside to implement the strategy for integrating the Roma community into mainstream European communities?

Given the background of the scare that some of these Roma people may be kidnapping European children, what agency is charged with drawing down funding from this Roma strategy?

I am delighted with the policy being implemented across Europe to try to address tax fraud and undeclared income. The Swiss are to be congratulated on recently arresting somebody with a large sum of money travelling back to Germany and, as a consequence, discovering huge art collections that had been pilfered in Germany. It was not a huge amount of money. We have heard of our criminals carrying bigger sums of money. We had an assistant city manager with more money stuffed in his fridge than this person was arrested with. Am I imagining that there is increased surveillance, policing and customs activities on undeclared sums of money and the tax evasion that seems to be rampant in Europe? Are the Irish authorities as good as the Swiss or Germans in targeting these people who are moving between borders with bags full of €100 notes?

My last question is of particular relevance. I am not an expert in this field but the European External Action Service, EEAS, has been particularly active in countries such as Greece which are funnels for illegal immigrants. The deaths of the boat people coming from North Africa, Algeria, Morocco or wherever were tragic. How much of a priority is it to reinforce the EEAS in carrying out border security? The report tells us the Commission is very keen to create job opportunities and to have minimum rates of pay for these seasonal workers and wants to ensure the benefits of European workers are not undermined by huge inflows of illegal immigrants.

The European neighbourhood policy, ENP, is of tremendous importance and is particularly topical now. What is happening with the Russians, who, one might say, are intimidating their neighbours into joining their customs union? Armenia has pulled out of any agreement or plan to move closer to Europe, and Moldova and Ukraine are under pressure. Will progress be finalised this year on our relationships with Moldova, Albania and Ukraine? Given the size and population of Ukraine, it is very important that it is a good neighbour for us.

With all due respect to the audience, there are only two members here. It is very sad and a poor reflection on the committee's membership.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The economic and monetary union, and particularly the banking union, is something we have agreed to and supported all along. The Irish Presidency was very supportive. After our exit from the bailout programme we would like some of the benefits of the thinking that went into the European banking union and economic governance. We hope to receive the benefit of the doubt regarding measures that are likely to be necessary throughout the EU in individual member states. That specifically refers to the Irish situation, because we have a general idea that we will be alone again. We have done everything necessary and made all the sacrifices, and we will continue to do so.

Some commentators said this will mean nothing to us, but it is very significant. An exit means we have achieved our targets. It is our first goal in the aftermath of the economic collapse. I would like to think that, far from being critical, all our European colleagues would recognise the major sacrifices made here and that it may be necessary to give this country the benefit of some of the matters we have aspired to and spoken in favour of, particularly in the context of the passage of the referendum on the fiscal stability pact.

Similarly, regarding European economic governance, it is necessary that Europe progresses in a particular direction and that there be a degree of emphasis on certain regions as opposed to others where particular measures may be needed to achieve the kind of cohesiveness and balance necessary. I hope that can be done in the context of what we are proceeding with.

Regarding the social and economic monetary union, we must achieve a greater degree of political cohesion and commitment. I say that against a backdrop in which some countries - one in particular - are having second thoughts. In the event of progress in that direction, there will be severe and serious consequences for the rest of the EU, including this country. I hope the social dimension of economic and monetary union, which is a priority, will have the added dimension of a political commitment that will have the benefit of bringing the EU countries into step, moving in unison and in the same direction towards a common goal, which has been missing in certain areas for the past number of years.

One criticism of the youth guarantee is that it will have no impact. We believe it will have an impact, but we must make it work, and quickly. It must be obvious to everybody that it is working. If a body as large and powerful as the EU comes together and decides on a particular agenda it must make it work. That is very important for future social and economic stability.

Innovation and the digital economy is very important, but in this and other European countries there is, obviously, a reliance on the telecommunications sector as a foundation stone. To what extent has the universal delivery of high-standard telecommunications throughout Europe been achieved without exception? Not many years ago, some of our European colleagues had very archaic mobile telephone and data systems. In some cases they have made dramatic progress. There are some serious deficiencies in this country's system - for example, there are businesses in which people have to move equipment around the premises to get a broadband connection. That should not be the case. To be able to capitalise nationally and throughout Europe on the benefits of modern technology, we must have the services available without exception across the board. We must do whatever is required to be done as a matter of urgency.

Energy is a very serious issue.

It is imperative for national governments and the European institutions that clear evidence be made available through their respective avenues to the general public to illustrate the benefits of the energy policy pursued by the European Union in terms of cost and health and safety. There must be an evaluation of the difference between nuclear energy and alternative energy. We need to be able to get this across to our communities, particularly at this moment, because a debate is taking place on those issues now. There is a dearth of the impartial evidence, which we need to be able to draw on in order to advise ourselves and our constituents.

On a final point, I cannot let the moment pass without making reference to the external agenda. I welcome the €10 million committed to the Philippines. I feel that as large and as powerful as the EU is, it needs to be able to respond much more rapidly than it has done and needs to be able to co-ordinate global efforts towards offering assistance in places where natural or other disasters take place. The disaster at Fukushima two years ago and the situation in the Philippines at present are both the result of natural disasters that have caused appalling death and devastation. We need to be at the forefront. I know we are the greatest donors but that is not enough. We need to be able to co-ordinate and to set an example. We need to be seen to be in there at an early stage. Part of the PR game should be that we are in there at a very early stage and seen to be assisting. The EU has a number of NATO countries with heavy lifting and logistics capacity and we need to use that. I will conclude and leave other issues until another meeting.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Before I ask Ms Nolan to respond, I wish to make a number of points. With regard to the European semester, I would like to inform the committee that we have asked Ms Catherine Day to appear before the committee to talk about the annual growth survey. We are hopeful Ms Day will appear here either in December or in January. That will be an opportunity to talk about the first stage of the annual growth survey.

My first question is in regard to the CSRs. Up to now, our recommendation as part of the troika was just to carry out the programme. However, for those counties that are outside a programme, a range of different recommendations were put forward. Having gone through them, I know that some of them, such as those for France and Germany, dealt with their taxation issues. Can Ms Nolan explain what was the reaction on the ground among the media and the population when these CSRs were published in each country? Was there any kind of europhobic reaction? Were people even aware this was happening? What impact did it have on the ground?

My second question concerns SMEs, which were also mentioned by Deputy Dara Murphy. In my constituency of Meath East, I recently carried out a survey of SMEs, their needs and how they are getting on in the current climate. I had responses from more than 100 businesses. One of the questions I asked was in regard to EU funding in terms of access to grants, loans and other funds from organisations such as the European Investment Bank. I was surprised because the feedback I got was that businesses do not have the first idea of the types of fund, loan or grant that are available at EU level. That is a failure on somebody's part, although I am not sure whether it is that of MEPs or the national politicians or whether the Commission also has a part to play. Can Ms Nolan explain how we can improve knowledge among our small businesses of the types of funding that are available to help them set up and grow?

My third question is in regard to continuity. As Ms Nolan knows, the Commission will be replaced next year. We have the European Parliament elections in May. The Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be with Greece in the first six months of the year, where an election will potentially take place, and then with Italy in the remaining six months of the year, where an election may also take place. The Latvian Presidency will start on 1 January 2015 under a new Government, because the Latvians go to the polls next October. Therefore, we can expect a lot of change and flux at Presidency and Council level over the next 18 months. The European Parliament will be replaced and all of the Commissioners will be replaced. If something happens at a European level or if more crisis issues arise, although we all hope they will not, how concerned is Ms Nolan about continuity and how will the Commission ensure there are plans in place to deal with any potential crisis should other institutions be unable to do so?

My next question concerns President Barroso's State of the Union address. He said we could expect further proposals and ideas from himself on the future of the EU, and he said these would come before the EU parliamentary elections next year. What forum will they be presented in and when can we expect to hear something from President Barroso?

My last question is in regard to the financial transaction tax. This is proceeding very slowly and we would have expected to see greater progress since the announcement of enhanced co-operation. What is going on? Is this due to the fact that a government has not yet been formed in Germany? When can we expect to see some movement in regard to the financial transaction tax?

Ms Barbara Nolan:

I thank the members of the committee for their comments. I will try to take the points in order, although I do not think an answer was necessary in some cases as the points were more of a comment. With regard to SMEs and innovation, quite a large chunk of the current framework programme 7 is directed at SMEs. Horizon 2020 will also have a lot of ring-fencing of funding for SMEs. It is very important, for example, that they avail of the opportunity of this conference that is coming up in December to inform themselves about how they can access EU funding under the new research and innovation programme.

As there were several comments on SMEs, I will link them with the Chairman's comment. It is true that there is a myriad of different opportunities for funding, whether it be from the European Investment Bank under the framework programme or under other programmes - for example, the entrepreneurship programme also has funding available for SMEs. We do our best to inform people about it but we also rely on the chambers of commerce to do a lot of the publicity because they are made aware of all of these opportunities. They are at the local level and we rely on them to relay a lot of the information. I accept that the information is not always getting there but there is also the point that, in some cases, it is not that easy to access and there is a lot of paperwork, which may switch people off in terms of accessing money.

With regard to research and innovation, an SME would normally need to have contacts in other member states and be able to mount something that is of an international standard, which is not that easy, as I fully accept. We will continue to try to reach out to SMEs. We financed a conference last year in Croke Park with the Department to try to reach out to SMEs and give them an idea of the different opportunities available. We will continue to do that. The problem is that many owners of SMEs do not go to conferences precisely because they are running their businesses and they do not have time to do that sort of thing. It is difficult in that they are not a homogenous audience and are difficult to reach. We continue to work with the local operators here to try to get our message out.

There were a number of comments on the CSRs. Deputy Dara Murphy said they would not change the budgetary process, and he was correct. However, there will be comment on matters such as budgetary surpluses - for example, the German surplus.

I saw the comments that the Vice President of the Commission, Olli Rehn, made about the matter in the press today. The Commission will comment on deficits and surplus but it is not going to be a selective commentary. I can assure members that where we see a problem like that, comments will be made.

There have been mixed reactions to the CSRs among different member states. In the United Kingdom the reaction has been mainly hostile, both from the media and from its government, because they do not like receiving instructions from Brussels. CSR results have been well received in other countries. Many stakeholders in individual member states have endorsed the CSRs because they agree with them. It depends on the findings and nature of the results. In many cases, informed commentators, economists, etc., were quite satisfied that the CSRs were justified. I cannot give one answer because the reactions of individual member states have varied. It depends on whether there is a perception that a problem exists and whether the CSR finding is valid.

I am pleased to hear that the committee, like us, thinks the TTIP is very important. Talks have continued despite the issue of leaking of data, etc., and both sides are determined to continue. A trade agreement is an important step that would greatly boost the two economies. My information is that talks will continue along the lines of the programme that was mapped out from the outset.

Deputy Eric Byrne asked about what we hoped to achieve through a digital economy. We started from the premise that Europe has fallen behind its main competitors and is not the world leader, but there is a need to invest more and update the legislation in order to move things forward and regain competitiveness in the sector. Different markets may be sliced up but we want a single market. I have outlined the big picture. As I said, it is not going to be easy. There is a very small window of opportunity to get the business done, given that this is a very recent proposal, but that is our objective.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Am I right in thinking that GPS is an American communication system? Do we have to compete with it? Is GPS part of the digital economy?

Ms Barbara Nolan:

Yes. The US was the leader.

Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Ireland is behind.

Ms Barbara Nolan:

It is not just telecommunications. There are other aspects to the digital economy. It includes all of the people who work in the docklands area of Dublin, mainly in American companies. We must let Europe know that Ireland is at the leading edge and we need to get Europe up there with the big players.

With regard to the Roma strategy, there have been many attempts to connect the various issues that affect the Roma, who can be found in large numbers in several member states. It is a very difficult problem to solve. It is also a very old problem. There have been attempts to channel structural funds to particular areas in order to raise their standard of living, improve their education and so on. The European Commission's justice department manages the issue. I understand that Roma issues are managed by the Department of Justice and Equality in Ireland, but many other Departments feed into it, because Roma issues includes housing, education and lots of other things.

My organisation shares the committee's view on undeclared sources of revenue. We have tried to close tax loopholes and we can now exchange information on savings. We want to progress the initiative further in order to ensure that people with satchels full of money, as mentioned earlier, have nowhere to run or hide. We are also trying to close off all loopholes in that area. As the committee will know, tax evasion has been discussed at the highest level in Europe and it is an ongoing project for us.

It is not the job of the European External Action Service to reinforce border security; that is the job of the FRONTEX agency. Security is a difficult area and we must rely on co-operation between member states and third countries. FRONTEX is a small operation at present - although it may grow in the future - and it is not equipped to carry out all of the work. Security is very important and will become more important as more and more people are forced to flee situations that occur outside of the EU region. Border security is a high priority.

With regard to neighbourhood policy, the Eastern Partnership summit will take place at the end of the month and I understand that the Taoiseach will attend. We still do not know whether Ukraine will attend, but a lot of high-level negotiations are taking place. Developing the Eastern Partnership is a priority for the Lithuanian Presidency and the Union at present. It is also a priority to develop other forms of co-operation between neighbouring countries in the European Union.

I agree with Deputy Durkan that we must make the youth guarantee work. Member states have signed up to the guarantee and we rely on them to deliver on their promise. The EU organisation can deliver what it can, but each member state must live up to the commitment it gave to young people under 25 years.

The matter of continuity was raised by the Chairman. It is true that one arm of the European institutions, the Parliament, will undergo significant change for a couple of months. Nevertheless, the current Commission will continue in office until a new one is appointed, thus ensuring continuity. The same applies to the post held by Mr. Van Rompuy, who shall remain in office until his replacement is appointed. There is continuity and the show must go on. The civil service still exists. I reassure the committee that business will continue, although there will be a little hiatus in decision-making.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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What did President Barroso say?

Ms Barbara Nolan:

Yes; I was asked about further proposals. I understand that everything in the work programme will go ahead but other matters may arise. The President normally writes a letter to the Heads of State and Government before each European summit to signal the issues that he or she thinks are particularly important and to make particular points. I do not think further independent formal proposals will come from the Commission or that they will be independent of the Commission's work programme over the coming months.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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What about the financial transaction tax? The question was about timing. We expected that progress would be made more quickly.

Ms Barbara Nolan:

My understanding is that at a technical level good progress has been made, but political drive is needed from the 11 member states that are planning to participate in the FTT. It is one of the things we have prioritised to try to get some further progress and agreement, if possible, before the European Union elections. Ireland should watch these discussions closely and with an open mind. We are aware that Ireland was not attracted to the proposal as it stood initially, but it may find things it likes in the adapted version that has finally been agreed.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Excellent. I thank Ms Nolan.

I welcome Senator Aideen Hayden to the committee. Senator Hayden replaces Senator Marie Moloney, who replaced Senator John Kelly, who replaced Senator James Heffernan. She is very welcome to the committee. We hope her appearance here will be longer-lasting than that of her predecessors. We meet at least once a week. We also meet on a Thursday. It would be good to see her at Thursday's meeting and at subsequent meetings also.

Aideen Hayden (Labour)
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I thank the Chairman for his kind words. I apologise for my late entrance to the meeting. As I am a recent appointee I had some previous commitments that I had to honour. I welcome Ms Nolan and her team to the committee. I will indeed be at the meeting on Thursday.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I wish to add one point. I am aware that the UK's disposition towards Europe, or Europe's disposition towards the UK, is not in the report, but I was trying to encourage it into the report. I recognise that Ms Nolan may not wish to comment on that. The danger is that Europe proceeds without being acutely aware of the likelihood or the consequences of what may happen. That is something Europe needs to bear in mind in the intervening period.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Does Ms Nolan wish to comment?

Ms Barbara Nolan:

Not really.

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Not at this stage.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I knew it. In view of that, can we convey the message that some of us consider it hugely important that the Europe bears that in mind on a daily basis?

Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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The meeting has been very interesting, and what we have discussed today will have an input into our considerations. I thank Ms Nolan and the team for appearing before the committee and answering all our questions so thoroughly. We wish her the best of luck with her forthcoming work programme.