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

Commemorating the Schuman Declaration through Europe Day is rightly focused on stepping away from the day-to-day debates on policy proposals. It is an invitation to us all to look instead at the bigger picture, the fundamental achievements and directions of what remains the most successful inter-state organisation in history. The European Union has many failings, but they come nowhere near outweighing the positive contribution it has made to a continent which was once defined by near-permanent conflict and widespread poverty. It has enabled rising standards of living which would have been impossible if every member state had stood alone. The Union's critics are fully entitled to criticise it, but, equally, they undermine their own arguments when they refuse to acknowledge the sustained progress in many areas enabled by it.

The events in Ukraine should concern us all. The people of Ukraine want to live in an independent democracy. They have repeatedly been let down by their leaders and are now facing a conflict directly fomented by a former imperial power which does not recognise the right of Ukraine to be a sovereign and genuinely independent state. Ukraine has already been partitioned by Russia which has actively encouraged the Russian-speaking population in the east of Ukraine to stand against the majority. Europe has a moral duty to stand against this aggression and the idea that one state can partition another in this way. On this island, we have seen that encouraging divisions does immeasurable long-term damage. Further significant sanctions are becoming both reasonable and, unfortunately, inevitable.

I pay tribute to the Irish personnel who have participated in the work of the OSCE in Ukraine and elsewhere. They are a reminder that Ireland continues to build on its proud record of promoting the peaceful reconciliation of disputes. They also disprove the myth that Europe is or wants to be an aggressive military superpower. It continues to respect the neutrality of member states which do not want to participate in a military alliance and enables these states to better participate in tasks associated with preventing conflicts and protecting human rights.

In many of our debates on European issues there can be a real imbalance. We hear a defence of whatever has been agreed to by leaders sitting in the Council and then attacks on everything they have and have not done. There is a false division at the heart of debate whereby there is an expectation that one must defend or oppose Europe, with little room in the centre ground. As I have said in a series of lengthy policy statements on Europe, my party believes there must be a space for "critical friends" – those who are absolute in their belief in the idea of a union of European states but who reserve the right to criticise the decisions and directions set by its leaders.

For the past six years the European Union has experienced what is by far the biggest crisis in its history. The economic and financial crises have been added to by a political crisis. While there are welcome signs that Europe's economy is recovering and that stability has returned to its financial system, major concerns remain. Core flaws in the design of Economic and Monetary Union have not been addressed and the new banking union is incomplete and insufficient. Growth forecasts suggest unemployment will remain high, with youth unemployment stuck at a level which will directly lead to long-term social problems. In spite of this, the leaders of the Union, especially the Heads of State and Government who meet in the Council, are expressing their satisfaction with how things have developed. They continue to show a lack of ambition or urgency.

The only person in a leadership role who has risen to the crisis is Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank. He assumed his current position more by accident than design. It was part of closed negotiations between a few larger states. The Taoiseach admitted here in 2011 that he had not even talked to Mr. Draghi and did not know his views before agreeing to his appointment. In spite of this, President Draghi has implemented changes in policy which are the direct and primary reasons the sovereign debt crisis has eased and some growth has returned to Ireland and the eurozone. It is a pity that the need of governments such as our own to promote themselves means that they have failed to acknowledge the central role of one EU institution in helping member states. Of course, the political approach of the Government also means that it has not acknowledged the central role of failed and now abandoned EU policies in Ireland requiring the troika's support. The success of President Draghi's policies has been confirmed in recent days by the exit of Portugal from its support programme on 17 May 2014, the return of Greece to the debt markets and the low borrowing rates faced by Spain and others who were on the edge of requiring support.

The Government recently deployed its spin machine to manipulate an OECD report on its jobs plan. It ignored two very important statements in the report which undermined the Government's spin. First, it stated there was no direct evidence of the link between the plan and the jobs which the Government was claiming to have delivered. Second, more importantly, it stated there was direct evidence that the jobs being created were linked to improved economic conditions in Europe.

It is a pity the Government's eagerness to promote itself is getting in the way of acknowledging how central EU recovery has been to our own. This is not to say the ECB's policies are all what they should be. It remains the case that Ireland has not received full justice. Greece receives the profits from ECB holdings of its bonds and Ireland should do so, too. In addition, there is the issue of conversion of the promissory notes into bonds held by the Central Bank of Ireland. From the moment the deal was announced I pointed out that the Central Bank of Ireland should be allowed to hold them to maturity because selling them early would cost us billions and wipe out the entire benefit of the deal to Ireland. The Taoiseach has repeatedly dismissed concerns others and I have raised on this issue, but the evidence is incontrovertible that there is pressure on the Central Bank of Ireland to sell them early. It is long past time for the Government to state this would be unacceptable.

While the situation with the economic and financial crises facing the European Union is undeniably better, the political crisis is getting worse. In most countries parties and individuals promoting anti-EU sentiments, frequently in an ugly populist way, are doing well. The extremes of the right and the left are united against the European Union and in challenging them there has been no strong political leadership. In fact, many leaders have indulged anti-EU sentiment rather than confronted it. The decision of the British Conservative Party to seek a renegotiation of the United Kingdom's membership as a prelude to an in-out referendum is hugely significant for Ireland. Even though their review of competencies is disproving anti-EU arguments, the destructive and negative debate which is mostly confined to England continues. Ireland and others need to make their positions clear - we should never support the agenda of hollowing-out the European Union and reducing it to a free trade zone. It is only a union which invests in its regions, supports equality, demands decent working conditions and protects its citizens which benefits Ireland. We must not stand on the side lines when these fundamental issues are being debated. We must not allow the Tories to believe they can gain all of the benefits of access to the European market, with none of the responsibilities of common standards. We must stand against the race to the bottom and in favour of the vision of a Europe which sees economic development as an enabler of social progress. If we have learned one thing in recent years it should be that progress in Europe is not something that is inevitable - it must be worked for. The vision set out in the Schuman Declaration 64 years ago is as relevant today as it ever has been. What is missing is the leadership to act on that vision.

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