Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

A series of Fine Gael spokespersons basically have argued that they could renegotiate a better deal with the EU and the IMF on the basis that Deputy Kenny has some sort of friendship or relationship with the German Chancellor. I note that Deputy Kenny rather retrieved his position of last week in his earlier contribution when he spoke of how difficult it would be to vary interest rates. The leader of Fine Gael entered Dáil Éireann 35 years ago and became a Member of the House only a short time after Ireland became a member of the European Union. One could reasonably have assumed that Fine Gael, which regularly boasts of being the most European of parties, would have gained some knowledge as to how the European Union works in the meantime.

A central feature of the European institutional arrangements is the independence of the European Commission. Once it takes office, the Commission operates on Europe's behalf and not at the behest of individual member states, individual political leaders or individual political families. The independence of the Commission as an institution is rightly perceived to be one of the protections of the European framework but in particular on of the protections for small and medium countries. Nevertheless, the central point that has been put forward by Fine Gael over the past five or six days is that its members intend to vote against the EU-IMF facility on the basis that if they are in power next year, they will be in a better position to cut a deal for Ireland. The basis for this particular argument is the proposition that Fine Gael is a member of the EPP and Mrs. Merkel's party also is a member of the EPP. Consequently, the feeling appears to be that Fine Gael can make a telephone call to Mrs. Merkel and that she will put in the fix on behalf of that party with the Commission. I am disappointed by this line of argument, which has been made repeatedly on the other side of the House. The suggestion gives pot-hole politics an entirely new dimension.

The first point that must be made is that the Commission would resist any attempt from any political leader to push it in a particular direction on purely partisan grounds, regardless of whether it was the Chancellor of Germany or the leader of the Fine Gael Party. The second point is that given the recent focus of the German Chancellor's comments, anyone who thinks that the German political leadership would willingly load any additional burden on German taxpayers to assist an individual member state is living in cloud cuckoo land. The third point which can be made is that not all members of the European Commission are from the same European party or family as are Mrs. Merkel and Deputy Kenny. One is living in a vain world if one believes that an EPP background alone will persuade Commissioners to do one's bidding. Most importantly, the suggestion that Fine Gael can put in a fix with the Commission is an attack both on the integrity of the Commissioners themselves and, I suggest, on the integrity of the German Chancellor.

Over the last two days, I attended three different Council meetings in Brussels and the commentary which went around about this particular line of argument-----

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