Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies who have contributed to this debate. As the Taoiseach said at the outset, the European Council will have an important focus on implementation. Shining a light on the ongoing need for implementation of the many measures which have already been agreed at EU level will represent an important outcome for Ireland and for the Union as a whole.

In preparation for this week's meeting, I chaired a meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday. I assure the House that there is a shared commitment around the table to finding the right way forward and maintaining our commitment to getting public finances back onto a sustainable path while also providing space for the generation of growth and creation of jobs. This question is as vital for the Union and for the euro area as it is here at home. Getting the balance right will be at the heart of discussions at the European Council. In my discussions ahead of the meeting, including with President Van Rompuy, I have stressed that during our Presidency we are absolutely committed to this task. We are making good headway, for example, on the youth guarantee, on the banking union package, which is vital for stability, and on Single Market files, which have a real contribution to make, and we will keep the pressure up throughout our term. No lengthy debates about process and targets can substitute for concrete steps taken in the interests of our citizens, who need to be reassured that the compact for jobs and growth we agreed last June will make a difference. That is why the Irish Presidency is so dedicated to the agenda of stability, jobs and growth. In each discussion this week in Brussels, that objective will be at the heart of the Irish contribution.

This meeting of the European Council will see a conclusion to the first phase of this year's European semester. During our Presidency, Ireland has been strongly committed to ensuring its effective implementation. The semester is about steadying the economies of the EU member states, identifying where challenges are emerging and, most important of all, strengthening our response to challenges, including through structural reforms and increases in competitiveness, both of which will generate growth and jobs. To this end, we prepared a comprehensive Presidency synthesis report of discussions on the annual growth survey across a range of Council formations. I presented this report to Ministers at the General Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday of this week and I am happy to say it was very well received. It is a good piece of work and points the way forward.

The synthesis report clearly reinforces the priorities previously identified by the Commission, namely, fiscal consolidation, restoration of lending, promotion of growth, dealing with unemployment and modernisation of public administration. The outcome from this week's meeting should provide member states with useful guidance as they prepare stability programme updates under the Stability and Growth Pact and national reform programmes under the Europe 2020 strategy. It was clear from last year's lessons-learned exercise that the European semester should be an open and inclusive process, supporting meaningful engagement with parliaments and all relevant stakeholders at European and national levels. It is therefore appropriate that I acknowledge the work of our Oireachtas committees on finance and European Union affairs on the issue of enhanced parliamentary involvement in the European semester processes. I refer in particular to the COSAC meetings of parliamentarians from across Europe. This is further to the Ceann Comhairle's contribution to the European Parliament's Parliamentary Week of the European Semester at the end of January. These are important contributions to a key debate. Stronger economic governance arrangements need to be supported by stronger democratic legitimacy and accountability.

This is an essential requirement, rather than an optional extra. I expect that leaders will reflect this point in their conclusions this week.

I welcome the fact that the spring European Council will give specific emphasis to addressing unemployment, especially youth unemployment, which is undoubtedly the most pressing and urgent social challenge facing the EU today. This is a battle we have to win. The focus that will be given by leaders at this week's meeting is a close reflection of the priority the Government assigns to confronting the issue in Ireland. The breakthrough at the end of last month, when agreement on the youth guarantee was brokered at Council level by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, as she chaired the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, sent a positive and most welcome signal that the Union is committed to realising the commitments previously made to address this issue. In conjunction with the youth employment initiative and the additional funds secured during the negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework, I am confident that the youth guarantee will make a real difference to the job prospects and lives of many younger people. They deserve nothing less.

It is important that this week's meeting will focus on making a reality of the unrealised full potential of the Single Market through the timely implementation of the Single Market Act I measures and the Single Market Act II proposals, when they have all been made available by the Commission. Similarly, I look forward to leaders' highlighting the considerable potential that lies in smart regulation. Reducing the regulatory burden, especially on our small and medium-sized enterprises, should provide a competitiveness boost and enhance the potential for job-rich growth. The European Council will return in June to consider in detail President Van Rompuy's roadmap on four potential elements aimed at strengthening Economic and Monetary Union. I expect that leaders will highlight the need for steps towards deepening integration to be measured so they can actually add value and be accompanied by an equal commitment to strengthening democratic accountability and legitimacy. Ireland, as the holder of the EU Presidency, is working closely with President Van Rompuy to facilitate discussions among Ministers across a range of Council formations. I warmly welcome the continued focus by the European Council on the delivery and implementation of the various measures which constitute banking union, including the single supervisory mechanism.

The discussion that leaders will have at the European Council on the Union's strategic partnership with Russia is welcome and timely. The critical importance of the EU's relationship with Russia is borne out by the simple fact that the EU is Russia's largest trading partner and Russia is the EU's largest energy supplier. Beyond our mutual trade and investment, which are critically important for our economies and our citizens' welfare, the EU and Russia co-operate effectively in many international foreign policy areas in the pursuit of peace and security. I know from my work last year as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and from my meetings with the Russian foreign Minister, Mr. Lavrov, that Russia plays a vital role on many issues by using its status as a permanent member of the Security Council and drawing on its extensive diplomatic experience and outreach. These issues include the protracted and delicate mediation with Iran to persuade it to abandon its nuclear ambitions, and the fight against terrorism. At the same time, there are some divergences in values. The EU needs to use the platform of its relationship with Russia to communicate its concerns about a number of recent developments, including those which relate to human rights. This week's discussion at the European Council will be an important one in that context. There will not be written conclusions on this issue. This should encourage the free-flowing and frank exchange that these issues merit.

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