Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank President Martin Schulz for his address and for the support he has expressed for our national effort, his words of encouragement and his inspiring thoughts. His presence in the Chamber on his first visit to Ireland since taking office as President of the European Parliament and the exchange of views we are having this morning demonstrate the vital and complementary role national parliaments and the European Parliament play in providing democratic oversight and accountability within the European Union. This role has never been more important as the European Union takes further steps towards closer integration in response to the crisis that we collectively face.

It is a particular honour for me too to welcome a President of the European Parliament from the same broad political family and tradition, a tradition that has made an immense contribution to the development of the Union over decades. President Schulz has spoken of ensuring that solidarity and democracy take precedence over the rights of the more powerful, of reconciling the interests of the smaller and larger states, of north and south, of east and west, putting the welfare of everyone above the vested interests of the few. In doing so, he has spoken of an approach that needs to be re-asserted at the heart of our Europe.

In less than 100 days Ireland takes over the Presidency of the Council of European Union for the seventh time. As in the past, our focus will be on managing the business of the Council in an efficient, responsible and impartial manner and on representing fairly and openly the positions arrived at in Council. Given the scale of the challenges facing Europe today, we recognise the seriousness of the task and the Government is approaching it with determination. We also see the importance of demonstrating that each member state, whether large or small, can effectively discharge its responsibilities as Presidency and that we can prove the continuing value and relevance of the Community method of decision-making which has served us so well in the past.

Since our last Presidency in 2004, the European Union has undergone profound change. Most obviously, the Union has grown from 15 to 27 member states, soon to be 28, and operates in a wider and more complex environment. With the introduction of the Lisbon treaty reforms, the legislative and budgetary responsibilities of the European Parliament have been significantly enhanced and it is clear that the Presidency now plays a particular role in managing the relationship between the Council and the European Parliament. During our Presidency, we will be looking to President Schulz for his guidance, goodwill and support as we work together on what promises to be a busy legislative programme. On our part, I can promise you that we will approach our relations with the Parliament in an open, constructive and cooperative spirit. Now more than ever, we need to show to our citizens that the European institutions can respond rapidly and effectively to their needs. Failure to do so will undermine the very foundations of the European Union and the unique model of co-operation we have developed over the past 50 years.

We are taking on the Presidency of the European Council at a critical time. As the President said, more needs to be done than just budgetary discipline to get our country and our continent out of the economic difficulties we currently face. That is why the decisions made on 29 June, particularly decisions relating to the separation of bank and sovereign debt and decisions on the compact for jobs and growth are so critically important. In deciding the priorities of our Presidency, our emphasis will be on those proposals that promote growth and employment in a community based on a spirit of solidarity. We must provide jobs to those who are currently unemployed and those who will soon commence the search for employment.

The youth transitions package, which we expect to see published by the Commission in December, will offer an opportunity for Europe to focus in a practical way on an item that is sadly a feature at the top of both the Council’s and the Parliament’s agenda. I am speaking of course of youth unemployment. We must equip our young people with the skills they need to take up the jobs of the future and to manage the transition into the workplace. There is hardly an issue that can be more important for Europe, its institutions and member states, than to try to help our young people realise their potential, and collectively to push back against the wasted capacity that unemployment, including youth unemployment, represents.

This is the reason I would tell the young woman the President met, who had qualified as both an architect and a psychologist and who, like so many more young people is fearful and doubtful about her future that from 1 January next year, the priority of this country, which has experienced the consequences of what happened as a result of the economic crash, which also has so many young people who are not reaching their potential and who are worried about their future, will be to ensure that youth unemployment is at the top of the European agenda. The President may be assured that Ireland's Presidency of the European Union next year will not be an exercise in technocratic management. Its purpose will be to provide leadership within the European Union on the issues that matter to our people and in particular the issue of youth unemployment addressed so eloquently by the President here this morning.

There is a range of measures under the Europe 2020 strategy that Ireland will seek to advance. We will work to strengthen the Single Market and to remove the barriers which hinder its huge potential for growth and jobs. We will promote the digital agenda and attach particular importance to the development of Horizon 2020, the European Union's next framework programme for research and innovation. Only by becoming a leader in research and innovation can we hope to compete in a highly competitive global environment and to create smart and sustainable employment. An area in which Ireland sees potential for a greater contribution to growth and to jobs and which we think will feature significantly during our Presidency, is the European Union's external trade agenda, including the key European Union-United States trade relationship. Next April, Ireland will host a meeting of trade ministers in Dublin to consider this relationship and how to strengthen and deepen it.

Ireland's Presidency will unfold against the continuing backdrop of the worst financial and economic crisis the Union has faced since its foundation. Ireland will work assiduously to advance the proposals now being elaborated to deepen economic and monetary union, convinced it is only by closer co-operation and mutual solidarity that we can overcome the problems we face. Ireland will seek to ensure that the range of measures for improved economic governance that already have been adopted are implemented fully. In so doing, it is worth reminding ourselves what is at stake. This is not being done to please ratings agencies or market managers but to restore macroeconomic stability to our economies, to rebuild our competitiveness and to create the conditions for sustainable growth, high employment and shared prosperity. To achieve our goals, the European Union needs a budget that is adequate to the task. Ireland is supportive of the proposal that has been put forward by the Commission. We note there is a wide variety of views, including of course those of the European Parliament. Ireland remains confident that agreement can be reached on the multi-annual financial framework during the Cyprus Presidency and we look forward to that agreement being reached at the November European Council. Ireland is ready to take forward the range of necessary legislative proposals to cover the 2014 to 2020 budgetary period. This has implications for all areas of European Union activity, including the vital areas of the Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion policy. Again, we recognise and respect the role the European Parliament has in this process and we will work together with the Parliament to ensure outcomes that are of real benefit to the people of Europe.

The President has spoken eloquently, both today and on many occasions, of the European Union as a community of solidarity and of the need in the current crisis for courage and imagination. Here in Ireland he will find many people who share his vision and who will work with him for a better Europe. I look forward to his return to Ireland in November, when we will discuss in more detail the priorities for our Presidency and how we can work with him and with the European Parliament to realise them.

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