Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Tá lúcháir orm a bheith anseo agus a bheith páirteach sa díospóireacht tábhachtach seo. The Lisbon treaty or the reform treaty as it is known, is the latest revision of the EU treaties. The stated purpose of it is "to enhance the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union" — a Union that originated in 1950, long before I was born, when the then French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, announced in Paris on 9 May, the "Schuman Plan", the first step towards European Union. This date has become known as Europe Day.

Robert Schuman was a visionary. His idea was to end old hostilities that had led to wars and conflict among the nations of Europe. He had instead a vision that would create more prosperity through co-operation and collaboration among all Europeans. As proposed in the Schuman plan, the six founding members of the European Union signed a treaty on 18 April 1951 creating the European Coal and Steel Community. In 1957 these countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, West Germany and Italy signed the Treaty of Rome thereby creating the European Economic Community or the EEC. This was the beginning of the Common Market as we know it and its aim was free trade between its members. People, goods and money could now move freely between member states.

In so far as agriculture is concerned, the Treaty of Rome encapsulated the notion of the Common Agricultural Policy. The objectives of the CAP were to increase agricultural productivity, to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, to stabilise markets, to assure the availability of supplies and to ensure that supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices. It is worth noting that some 50 years on these principles remain every bit as relevant as when they were first introduced.

In 1962 the EEC took the first concrete steps to develop the Common Agricultural Policy with the establishment of the Common Organisation of the Market in Cereals. There followed the development of the Common Market organisations for beef and for milk and milk products. By 1968 customs duties between member states were gone paving the way for what was to become the Single Market. In 1972 the exchange rate mechanism, ERM, was introduced to guard against problems caused by sharp shifts in the value of the currencies of member states.

On 1 January 1973 Ireland, along with the United Kingdom and Denmark, became a member of the EEC, later to become the EU. Prior to that date Ireland was an island on the fringes of Europe, almost completely dependent on its nearest neighbours, the United Kingdom, for its export trade, with little or no access to other European countries. Since then the EU has grown to 27 member states and some 495 million citizens. Ireland has grown as well. Up until December 2006 the value of Ireland's exports to the EU amounted to €56.6 billion while imports are valued at just in excess of €36 billion.

The benefits of EU membership to every aspect of Irish life are immense and agriculture has been among the principal beneficiaries. As a nation that must export in order to prosper, the EU membership has provided Ireland with a huge barrier-free internal market for our products and support for exports to world markets. Today we have free access to half a billion consumers across Europe providing huge potential to every Irish farmer.

Irish farming has come along way since we joined the Common Market in 1973. The Common Agricultural Policy of the EU has played a key role in the development of farming and the food industry in this country since then. Although the number of farmers and those involved in full-time farming has declined, its contribution to the national economy is still hugely significant. Farm size has increased significantly, from 22 hectares to 32 hectares. EU membership has increased farmers' incomes and transformed living standards to the benefit of farming, the food industry and above all, the rural community. Among farm households, total income from farm and off-farm sources averages almost 90% of the State household average. Irish agri-food and drinks exports have reached record levels in recent years — €8.62 billion in 2007 — and nearly three quarters of these go to other EU countries.

Society at large has also benefited in the form of a better environment, higher levels of food safety, additional employment in food processing and a positive contribution to our balance of payments.

From 1973 to 2006, Ireland received a total of over €41 billion from the EU. Some €38.7 billion came from the guarantee element of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, EAGGF, funding direct payments, market supports such as export refunds, intervention and aid for private storage, APS, as well as the accompanying measures including REPS, early retirement scheme, fish withdrawal schemes and forestry.

Receipts from the guidance element of the fund amounted to €2.7 billion in the same period funding Leader programmes, an EU initiative for assisting rural communities in improving the quality of life and economic prosperity of their local area, farm waste management schemes, installation aid schemes, the dairy hygiene scheme and forestry NDP schemes on native woodlands etc. On the fisheries side funding was provided for decommissioning of fishing vessels and investment in aquaculture projects.

On-farm investment has increased product diversity and productivity and has facilitated environmentally friendly practices and hygiene measures. Investment in the food industry has generated a quantum leap in the production of value-added products, which we can see on the supermarket shelves in Ireland and throughout the EU and which forms a rapidly growing component of Irish exports.

Enormous benefits have flowed from Leader and the other rural and local development programmes which have given rural communities some measure of control over their own futures.

The rural environmental protection scheme, REPS, early retirement and forestry measures have made a substantial contribution to the agricultural, environmental and socioeconomic development of rural communities.

Looking to the future, in the period from 2007 to 2013, Ireland can expect to receive approximately €12 billion from the CAP, with €2.3 billion coming from the European agricultural fund for rural development, EAFRD, to fund REPS, ERS, farm investment programmes, installation aid schemes and Leader programmes. An estimated €10 billion will come from the European agricultural guarantee fund and will be used to fund the single payment scheme and market support measures, export refunds, intervention etc.

This is the background against which we need to look at the Lisbon treaty. This treaty provides for Ireland's voice to continue to be heard in the EU in an effective and efficient manner. A positive vote in the referendum on the treaty will send a clear signal that Ireland is determined to maintain its place at the centre of EU decision making. I have been asked on a number of occasions to state what practical differences will arise for agriculture with the adoption of the reform treaty. In practical terms, the reform treaty will not alter the arrangements that currently apply in the agriculture and fisheries sectors to any great extent. The reform treaty introduces the principle of qualified majority voting to certain new areas but the principle has been enshrined in the agriculture and fisheries sectors for some considerable time. While there will be some alterations to the thresholds for reaching a qualified majority under the new arrangements, these alterations will not have significant implications for decision-making. The reality is that most decisions on agriculture and fisheries are arrived at by consensus. It is highly unusual for matters to come to a vote on agriculture and fisheries issues and when they do, close voting margins are unusual.

However, the treaty will provide a greater degree of democracy in the decision-making process. Provision is made for the wider use of co-decision procedures in the agriculture sector. This means that the European Parliament will act as co-legislator with the Council on a wide variety of dossiers, rather than the consultative role it has at present. Essentially, the European Parliament will have a greater say in future EU legislation on agriculture and fisheries with the exception of a small number of dossiers related to fixing of prices and quotas.

The Oireachtas also will have an enhanced role under the Lisbon treaty with the national parliaments of the other member states. The treaty dramatically extends the role of national parliaments in regard to decision-making and these changes apply equally to the agriculture and fisheries sectors. National parliaments will have a longer period of time to scrutinise proposals. They will also have the power to object to a draft proposal on the grounds that it breaches the principle of subsidiarity.

As to commercial policy, the current decision-making arrangements in regard to international agreements are contained in Article 133 and Article 300 of the consolidated treaty. These articles will be replaced by articles 207 and 218 respectively of the Lisbon treaty.

There is a suggestion from certain quarters that the Lisbon treaty will diminish Ireland's influence on the negotiation and conclusion of international trade agreements, such as a new WTO agreement. This is simply not true and to those who would make such observations I suggest that if they have another look at the relevant articles they will find that, in substance, they are no different from the current position albeit the wording is clearer than it used to be.

To summarise, the purpose of the reform treaty is to make the institutions of the EU more workable in a Union of 27 member states. Given the crucial importance of agriculture to the Irish economy and the critical and central role played by the Common Agricultural Policy in contributing to the success of the sector, it is important that we continue to have the effective institutional reform that will allow us to take the CAP and other EU policies forward. The impact of the reforms will not be hugely significant in terns of what has been in place for many years in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. The reforms will, however, contribute to the better functioning overall of the European Union and that is something to which we all aspire.

It makes sense to alter the make-up of institutions that were designed over 50 years ago for a Community of six member states to cater for the expanded needs and organisational arrangements of the current 27 member states. As we approach Europe day, let us look back at the Schuman ideal of more prosperity through co-operation and ask ourselves has this been achieved. The answer must be a resounding yes. I urge anybody promoting a "no" vote on this reform treaty to take a look back at where we have come from, take a look at what being a member of one of the most successful unions in the world has meant for Ireland, take a look forward at the opportunities that lie ahead and then tell me what is best for this country. There can be only one answer — vote "yes" for the reform treaty, vote "yes" for the EU and vote "yes" for Ireland.

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