Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Hardly.

I thank members for allowing me to hold the meeting at this time to facilitate an event on encouraging more people to consider jobs and roles within the European Union.

Let me start, as I normally do, by updating members on the contacts I have had with European colleagues since we last met. I am pleased to say I was able to travel at the end of February to Warsaw where I had a very useful exchange with my Polish counterpart, Minister Serafin, across the range of EU issues. I also met the responsible Minister of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development and raised our concerns about the difficulties three Irish construction companies had experienced as a result of their involvement in Poland's motorway construction programme. We had a very constructive and productive meeting with my Polish counterpart and are working with companies on the issue.

As part of the Government's programme of enhanced engagement with the European Parliament, on 25 February I attended the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg. During the visit I met many MEPs to discuss a wide range of issues that mattered to Ireland. I had a very productive and wide-ranging meeting with Commissioner Štefan Füle to discuss various issues, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo, following my visits to or meetings with Ministers from these countries. Overall, the visit confirmed my belief in the importance of continued engagement with the European Parliament. It will be vital to ensure early engagement with the new Parliament following the European elections in May.

I attended the last General Affairs Council meeting on 11 February in Brussels where we had some preliminary discussions on preparations for the March European Council meeting. The focus of the discussion was largely on the 2030 climate and energy framework. The discussions also touched on industrial policy, banking union, the European semester and EU-Africa relations. The Greek Presidency presented its Presidency programme and there was, as planned, a discussion on a decision to authorise the cultivation of GMO maize. The General Affairs Council meeting took place shortly after the Swiss referendum on EU migration, an issue on which we had a lengthy exchange.

Let me turn to next week's General Affairs Council which will continue the preparatory process for the European Council meeting on 20 and 21 March. The agenda covers a new Commission initiative on the rule of law mechanism. We are due to hold a discussion with President Van Rompuy on both the preparations for the European Council and the issue of subsidiarity.

The main item on the agenda next Tuesday is the preparations for the next European Council meeting on 20 and 21 March which comes against the backdrop of the extraordinary meeting of Heads of State and Government last week to discuss the conflict in Ukraine. We expect this will remain a major focus for leaders next week. Foreign Affairs Ministers are due to discuss the situation at a meeting next Monday of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels which I will attend on behalf of the Tánaiste. As the Taoiseach and I spoke at length about the conflict in Ukraine and the Irish and EU position during the pre-European Council debate in the House yesterday, I will not repeat much of what we said.

Let me reiterate, however, the Government's condemnation of Russian actions and calls for Moscow to initiate immediate contacts with the government in Kiev. The European Union has been abundantly clear about its expectations.

As is usual for the spring European Council, the main focus of deliberations will be on economic issues. Under the general rubric of growth, competitiveness and jobs, Heads of State and Government will consider the European semester, the Europe 2020 strategy, industrial competitiveness and climate and energy issues. The European Council will also consider taxation issues and banking union. The completion of banking union remains a priority for the Government and we want to see agreement reached with the European Parliament on the Single Resolution Mechanism, SRM. The ECOFIN meeting on Tuesday was updated on the Presidency's mandate for the SRM negotiations with the Parliament which continue urgently. Again, both the Taoiseach and I spoke in detail about all of these issues in the Dáil yesterday. The committee is already familiar with the European semester process which I am looking forward to discussing in depth on 1 April.

We are also expecting the discussions at the European Council to lead to the Commission launching a full public consultation process in April on the future of the Europe 2020 strategy. When the Commission’s Secretary General, Catherine Day, met the committee on 23 January, she emphasised the importance of strong stakeholder engagement with this renewal of Europe's post-crisis growth strategy, including from national parliaments. This is an important issue to which I am sure we will return in the period ahead.

Separate to the European Council preparations, the General Affairs Council's agenda includes an item on a Presidency synthesis report, essentially a compilation of the outcomes of discussion on different Council formations of the semester and particularly the annual growth survey. Significant discussion of the report is not expected next Tuesday.

As I said in the Dáil yesterday, the Government has been very active in preparing for the discussion on industrial competitiveness at the European Council. We are expecting a productive discussion on the issue next week. In our view, creating the right conditions for internationally competitive manufacturing companies, including linkages with bundles services, will be an important feature of a successful European recovery.

The European Council will hold a first policy debate on the climate change and energy framework for 2030. Discussion will be on the basis of the Commission communication issued in January. The debate will, of course, be followed closely at a wider international level owing to the importance of EU engagement and influence in the international climate process. In the first place, the communication is a basis for a timely policy debate on the next phase towards the European Union's objective of transitioning to a competitive, low-carbon European economy by 2050. Ireland recognises the benefits of increasing the share of renewable energy in our fuel mix, both from the economic and environmental perspectives. The issue requires careful consideration, however, in terms of both the challenges and the opportunities in a global transition to a low-carbon future. Both ambition and flexibility are important features of the package, but we must also reach an outcome that is sustainable for the European Union, as well as for individual member states, on environmental, economic and competitiveness grounds. Since the last General Affairs Council, intense work has been ongoing in various Council formations on the climate change and energy framework. It is clear from these discussions that many member states believe more clarity is required around the analysis, process and implications of the proposed headline EU targets for member states. Ireland shares this view. The European Council will also discuss completion of the internal energy market by 2014, developing gas and electricity interconnections and the importance of moderating energy costs.

As I told the committee last month, Ireland welcomes the proposal in the communication to examine and pursue the most appropriate climate policy approach to agriculture and land use. This is an important development from Ireland's perspective. We believe a coherent and cost-effective approach to the parallel priorities of sustainable food production and climate change is fundamental to a realistic way forward at national, EU and wider international level under the UN convention. In anticipation of a new international climate treaty in 2015, we look forward to early development of this strand of the 2030 framework.

In addition to the situation in Ukraine, Heads of State and Government will also consider external relations issues, including the fourth EU-Africa summit in Brussels on 2 and 3 April. The summit which will be attended by the Taoiseach provides an opportunity to look at how we can move the EU-Africa relationship from an aid-based one to one based on trade and investment. It also presents a good occasion for Ireland to meet some of the leaders of key countries in Africa to build on our existing strong relationships and explore new opportunities for engagement. Our relations with African countries are becoming more multifaceted, encompassing political, economic and development co-operation aspects. Exchanges in areas such as trade, investment and people-to-people links will continue to increase. Ireland has developed expertise in the area of sustainable and inclusive growth specifically around the issue of agriculture and food security. This will form the basis of Ireland's intervention at the summit and is an area which also complements the priorities of the African Union which has identified agriculture and food security as its key focus for 2014, the tenth anniversary of the comprehensive Africa agriculture development programme.

The agenda for the General Affairs Council also includes a European Commission communication on the rule of law which was published yesterday. As member states will not have had an opportunity to fully consider the communication, a substantive discussion on the initiative is not expected. During our Presidency of the European Union in 2013 Ireland initiated a debate at the Justice and Home Affairs Council about protecting fundamental rights and enhancing the rule of law as a means of tackling the growth in hate crime, xenophobia and other forms of extreme intolerance across EU member states. The need for a method to better protect the values on which the European Union is based was also the subject of a joint letter in 2013 from the Foreign Ministers of Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands EU Presidency. Following a discussion of both the letter and the Irish initiative at the General Affairs Council last year, the Commission undertook to produce this communication which we will, of course, be examining in detail.

Subsidiarity is, I know, of great interest to the committee and has been raised with me here on many occasions. At next week's General Affairs Council there will be an informal debate over lunch with the European Council President, Mr. Van Rompuy, on the question of subsidiarity. A Presidency paper has been prepared setting out the issues involved. The issue has been the subject of some discussion at European level in recent months, following the publication of a review by the Dutch Government last summer. It has also been raised in the context of the British Government's ongoing balance of competencies exercise. Several ideas have been presented as to how the institutions and member states might look at ensuring the principle, as set out in the treaties, is respected. It is the Presidency's intention on this occasion to allow the Council to discuss some of these ideas at greater length.

National parliaments have an important part to play in safeguarding the subsidiarity principle. The issue has been the subject of discussion between national parliaments for some time, including at COSAC, the Conference of Community and European Affairs Committees of Parliaments of the European Union, and I will be interested to hear the committee’s comments and reflections in due course. In discussing the issue it is important to affirm, first, what the principle of subsidiarity means and, equally, what it does not mean. As laid down in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union, the principle affirms that the European Union should act “only if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states ... but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level”.

So subsidiarity is not a question of limiting EU competences or avoiding EU legislation, but of ensuring that, within the EU, initiatives are taken at the right level. It is not about more Europe or less Europe, but better Europe. The enforcement of this principle plays an important role in ensuring the efficacy of the legislative system. At the forthcoming GAC discussion, I will emphasise Ireland's support for constructive measures which aim to strengthen Europe's capacity to enforce the principle within the framework of the current treaties. We have already welcomed the Commission's commitment to a smart regulation agenda, evident in its use of roadmaps, impact assessments and, most recently, the development of the regulatory fitness, REFIT, programme.

In common with other member states, we would like to see these initiatives further developed and built on by the Commission, with greater scope afforded to national parliaments to present their opinions and concerns early in the process. We recognise, as I said, the role national parliaments have in ensuring compliance with subsidiarity, as set down in the Lisbon treaty. Measures which support parliaments in making full use of their treaty powers warrant consideration, whether through a deepening of co-ordination, for example at COSAC, or through enhanced engagement with the European Parliament. There is merit in the suggestion that commissioners should appear more often before national parliaments and that Commission experts should be available for technical briefings, not least in connection with the European semester. A well-functioning and independent European Commission is essential to the future of the Union.

It is important that the Commission be accountable, and greater use of impact assessments, sunset clauses and engagement with national parliaments will contribute to this. However, we share the view of many member states that, in improving our subsidiarity checks, we should be careful not to impinge on the Commission's independence or right of initiative, a point I will repeat at the GAC discussions. I hope this has given the committee members a reasonable overview of the many discussions of next week. As ever, I look forward to their questions.