H.E. Dr. Helmut Freudenschuss:

Thank you, Chairman, for your kind words. I will start by paraphrasing what President Juncker said in the Dáil a couple of weeks ago. If my speech is a bit slurred it is not because I am drunk, it is because I have a problem with my gums, but I would prefer to be drunk.

My diplomatic career has lasted almost 40 years but today is the first time I have been invited to address parliamentarians. That is an honour which I appreciate, but also a challenge to which I will attempt to rise. I am not sure whether it is still politically correct to quote Woody Allen but he once famously said 90% of success is just showing up, so here I am, and so is my deputy, Ms Stephanie Winckler. I remember very well the first Austrian Presidency in 1998, just three years after we joined the European Union. I was then in charge of helping to co-ordinate Austria's participation in the Common Foreign and Security Policy. It was all very exciting. During Austria's second Presidency in 2006, I was ambassador to South Africa, which was demanding but less exciting. Then came the Lisbon treaty of 2009, which brought a permanent President of the European Council, a High Representative for Foreign Policy and a strengthening of the role of the European Parliament, all of which led to a reduction of the responsibilities and possibilities of the Presidency. Now we are entering into our third Presidency.

Contrary to some of my esteemed colleagues who have appeared here, I do not propose to go into great detail today because I would prefer to listen to the comments of members and, if possible, to try to answer some of their questions. Austria views her role as Presidency primarily as a mutual broker and attaches great importance to the unity of the European Union. This applies in particular to the major challenge of concluding the Brexit negotiations, despite the fact that the Presidency has no direct role in them. It will also be in line with our traditional role as a bridge builder that we will approach the negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework post 2020. This task will not be an easy one, especially since Austria has already declared that we do not want to pay more than we do now.

I will now move to our priorities. We have chosen the motto, A Europe that Protects, for our Presidency, and we want to give substance to this slogan in three areas. The first is security and the fight against illegal migration, which can only be effective if we act jointly. At the centre of these efforts are a reform of the common European asylum system, which is certainly not an easy task, and the strengthening of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, with up to 10,000 personnel by 2020 compared with the current strength of 1,500. We should also work more closely with third countries to provide assistance to those in need of protection before they enter the European Union and in order to ensure effective return policies. Last week's European Council called for regional disembarkation platforms outside the European Union and four controlled centres inside EU member states. However, it remains to be seen how that can be achieved.

Another complication is the plan by the CDU and CSU parties in Germany to establish so-called transit centres near the border with Austria and to send back those already registered elsewhere or those who are not entitled to asylum. We are awaiting more clarification from our German colleagues and we will take the matter from there.

The second area where we want to give meat or substance to a Europe that protects is securing prosperity and competitiveness - that is a tongue-twister - through digitalisation, which means, inter alia, completing the digital Single Market and modernising public administration.

Members will not like the next bit, but I have to say it. The Austrian Presidency will also aim to continue the work on the taxation of the digital economy to ensure that profits are taxed in the country in which they are generated.

The third area is stability in the European neighbourhood. Building on the excellent work of the Bulgarian Presidency and the European Commission's enlargement strategy of February 2018, we will advocate for a concrete EU perspective for all western Balkan or south-eastern European states.

Finally, we look forward to the report and recommendations of the task force on subsidiarity, which is supposed to be published in the course of this month, and we plan to hold a high level conference on subsidiarity in November of this year. I thank members for their attention.