Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This week's European summit is focused on the topic of the European Union budget. It is taking place at a time when many other issues are in danger of slipping back into crisis and further significant damage is being done to the Union and its member states. The summit's backdrop is one of deepening division and a real threat that the Union will lose a member state. The facts are enough to cause despair to anyone who cares about the European Union and believes it is essential for growth and stability in Europe. As matters stand, the budget that is likely to emerge will be entirely insufficient to address the urgent needs of the Union and nothing will be done to rescue the banking proposals agreed in principle in June but which are quickly unravelling.

In the case of Ireland's position, this is a summit which aptly sums up the Government's approach to Europe, which is one of not having a policy. Regardless of how many fundamental issues come up for discussion, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste refuse absolutely to set out exactly what are Ireland's views. Many generalities and tough words are not a replacement for a real policy. This is different from the policy of previous Governments in the past four decades.

With an accelerated reform programme due to be agreed in months, Ireland still does not have a stated policy on what it wants to emerge. Other than engaging in banal generalities, the Government has not outlined a substantive policy on the budget. Its only impact on negotiations on banking has been to demand that nothing be agreed that may involve a treaty change. On bank related debt, its public statements keep changing and it has failed to state what it is seeking. While the Taoiseach and Tánaiste mention Europe in many speeches, there is nothing which even remotely approaches a policy.

In the Dáil, the Taoiseach and Tánaiste refuse to outline the detailed substance of their policy or give proper answers to questions. This is in stark contrast to the behaviour of governments in other countries which have issued detailed statements on their policy positions and obtained clear mandates from their respective parliaments in advance of negotiations. The issues are too serious for this opt-out policy to continue. The citizens of Europe want a Union which is actively engaged in the work of creating jobs and helping those most in need. However, the European Union does not have anywhere near the type of funding it requires to even begin to address the demands of its citizens.

As usual, the Common Agricultural Policy is under attack. The CAP has been one of the great achievements of the European Union, having brought food security to a Continent which regularly experienced the opposite and provided some protection for rural life, which would be otherwise unsustainable. It is also a fundamental part of the deal to which member states signed up when they joined the European Union. The complete opening of markets was based on having a Common Agricultural Policy sufficiently large to counteract the natural movement to larger and larger production concentrated in fewer locations. A failure to protect the CAP would be a major breach of faith and must be opposed.

A failure to ensure that the interests of all farmers are protected would be just as bad. It is time for the Government to represent all farmers. Thankfully, the French Government has been active in defending the Common Agricultural Policy, which has made up for the complete failure of our Government to undertake any serious initiative on this or other budgetary measures.

Those who are seeking new innovation and structural funding are right. The European Union can and should play a more prominent role in building competitiveness and helping poorer regions. However, this cannot be done by gutting other policies in the context of a decreasing overall budget. The Union is being squeezed into a zero sum game. If the budget proposed by President Van Rompuy is agreed or if there is a further reduction, many essential programmes will begin to be gutted and the Union will not respond to its greatest crisis.

The EU is wasteful in many respects but it is a nonsense to believe that tackling waste will transform its budget. The overwhelming bulk of EU spending is done in co-operation with national governments. It is mainly weaknesses in national systems that have led to queries from the Court of Auditors. The Union's system of checks is more rigorous than that prevailing in most countries.

Undoubtedly, the administrative budget should reflect the pressures every government in Europe is facing. Cuts will be required, but they will be no more than a token. The administrative budget of the Union is only 6% of the total. Even halving it would not make a significant contribution to expanding other programmes. Like straight bananas, monstrous European bureaucracy is a eurosceptic mantra that is nothing more than a distraction from the real business at hand.

The negotiations on the budget have been ongoing for most of this year. Nearly every member state has been actively participating in the process. Some 24 of 27 member states have participated in loose groupings to advocate general policies. Ministers and Prime Ministers have attended sessions where they have co-ordinated their approaches to the largest decisions. For example, 14 countries have formed the "Friends of Cohesion" group to push for the protection of regional aid. It is almost incredible that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste chose to opt out of these discussions. We are one of only three countries not to be involved in this year's bilateral and multilateral discussions on the budget. The reason for this is unclear. In other areas the Government has clearly been scared to take a position in case someone would object but this cannot have been the case in respect of the budget. Nor is it because it would have interfered with other activity, as the Taoiseach has kept his meetings with leaders to a level below that of any of his predecessors since joining the Union.

Undoubtedly, the press releases are ready to be issued at the end of the summit claiming that the Taoiseach heroically saved the CAP. His formal statement at the opening of the summit will be spun as a decisive intervention. In truth, he will have timidly sat on the sidelines hoping that France will get the job done. Even at this stage-----

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