Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

To be fair to Germany, it has been a strong supporter of the European Union and it has to lay down markers on the protection or rescue packages it is prepared to put together. There is merit to both sides of the argument and the solution that has been devised is the best that can be achieved in the context of 27 members states with differing perspectives. We supported that solution.

On the climate change issue, we maintain our development perspective that any agreement reached should be strongly weighted in favour of supporting developing countries. We believe the mechanics of the UN negotiated framework need to be investigated. Most participants felt that Copenhagen involved too much plenary articulation and less hard negotiation. Europe has led on this and there is a growing sense of irritation among member states, which I would share to an extent, that the EU has pushed and pushed. I recently met the director general of the WTO, Pascal Lamy. in Geneva. From my observation of trade talks, Europe tends to put its best foot forward and its proposals are pocketed. One wonders are others coming to the table with serious proposals that could result in an international agreement. This applies to trade as much as it does to climate change. Unfortunately, the world cannot wait for climate change in terms of its impact, especially in Africa and other developing nations. Recently in Haiti we saw a natural disaster. That was not related to climate change but nonetheless it took place in a country not effectively developed and if one does not have defences in place and so on, the impact can be horrendous. This is also the case with climate change. The impact is altogether shocking where there is very poor infrastructure and defences. We cannot afford to wait too long.

I refer to another point worth remembering about Copenhagen. Progress was made there and we should not dismiss it too much. In Mexico, the key step will be to consolidate that and move it forward significantly such that the prospects for an agreement in 2011 are real and possible.

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