Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

A good Irish candidate has declared for the position of President of the European Council and a number of candidates have declared their interest in the Commissioner position. I am sure the Taoiseach will do the right thing in the interests of the country in that respect. My question concerns the European Council meeting. I am pleased to see that there is a special summit on 19 December, one month before the winter summit was planned. The Swedish Presidency is showing a sense of urgency. Is this a full summit? Will it deal only with the Lisbon treaty coming into force and a number of appointments? Will it also deal with addressing the Copenhagen conference on climate change? Will there be further advances in that respect?

Employment was tentatively dealt with at the summit. There was recognition that there is a deteriorating situation through the EU regarding unemployment. All that member states seem to be thinking of doing is discussing the review of the Lisbon strategy. That is extremely tentative for a matter as serious as this.

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