Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I first saw this item on the agenda, it was entitled, Statements on Europe Day, but now I see it has been amended to read, "Statements on Europe Week". I notice that two Europe Days are being celebrated this week. The Council of Europe marks Europe Day on 5 May. The Council of Europe is an international organisation that promotes co-operation between all the countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation. Founded in 1949, it has 47 member states, with over 800 million citizens participating in it. We should celebrate Europe Day on 5 May. This House should be lauding that day because the Council of Europe has meant a lot to this country. It has allowed citizens whose court cases failed in this state to go to the European Court of Human Rights, ECHR, for redress. The ECHR is an institution of the Council of Europe, not the European Union, as a lot of Irish people seem to mistakenly consider it to be. Many politicians like to allow Irish people to continue to think along these lines. People have been able to have their rights vindicated in the ECHR which has had a huge impact on our national laws, most recently in the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill which arose from an ECHR ruling, not from a ruling of the European Union.

The other Europe Day being celebrated this week and, unfortunately, the one this House wants to celebrate and commend is Friday, 9 May. It commemorates the 1950 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When it was introduced, Jean Monnet said it was the first step in the federation of Europe. It is unfortunate that we are celebrating it in the House. The federation of Europe started in 1950 with the European Coal and Steel Community between Germany, France and the Benelux countries. It has proceeded through Ireland's accession to the European Economic Community, as it was in 1973, and the formation of the European Union. In 2007 European Commission President Barroso said, "... I like to compare the EU, as a creation, to the organisation of empire. We have the dimensions of empire." That is the project on which the European Union has embarked. It is the project into which successive Irish Governments and all of the major Irish political parties like to lead the people, blindfolded.

In today's contributions, rather than looking at the overall direction of Europe, we hear talk about recovery from the crisis and what the next European Council will do. It is stuff that would put the average Irish person to sleep. Their eyes glaze over when they hear Europe being mentioned because it is so mundane and drawn out that they are not interested.

The result is that there is no discussion of the direction Europe is taking, where the process will end and where Europe wants to see it end. The end of the process is a fiscal union, a federation of European states and a united states of Europe. That is the project in which we are participating and the one into which the Government and its predecessors have tried to lead the people blindfolded and asleep by stifling discussion about the overall direction of Europe.

We have seen it recently with the crisis in Ukraine where the European Union facilitated and encouraged the overthrow of an elected government and supported fascist participation in the interim administration. That crisis will now be used to further develop the military aspirations of the European Union. We have even heard, on 14 April, Catherine Ashton ask European Ministers that if Ukraine is not a trigger to get serious about spending, pooling, sharing and smart defence, what more do we need to get real. That is the agenda - the militarisation of the European Union - Catherine Ashton, the Commission, the large member states and the Government want to see pursued to provide us with all the trappings of empire. As Angela Merkel wished for in 2010, we could even have a European army in the future.

These are the issues we should be discussing in the context of the overall direction of the European Union when we discuss Europe Day and Europe Week, a celebration of the Schuman Declaration of 1950. I hope we will some day have a discussion in the House on the Council of Europe's Europe Day which would be something in which we could all participate.

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