Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity, as usual, to outline my expectations to the Chamber ahead of the European Council meeting taking place tomorrow and Friday. This will not be a business-as-usual Council, not only because of what we will discuss - we have several important items - but because of what we will remember. Prior to our opening session my colleagues and I will gather in Ypres for a solemn ceremony at the Menin Gate to mark 100 years since the start of the First World War. It will be a moment to remember all those who were lost in that terrible war, including 35,000 Irishmen. It will also be a moment to remember what the European Union has achieved in our once bitterly divided Continent. I will be honoured to represent Ireland at the ceremony and to reflect on both the past and the future with the 27 other Heads of State and Government in our Union. As we grapple with the challenges of the future, we must not forget the dangers of the past.

The first session of the Council will take place following the ceremony tomorrow evening. President van Rompuy has made clear that he wants leaders to focus on agreeing a strategic agenda for the EU for the coming five years at that session. This will be a key focus for me at this Council. Having considered our substantive priorities I expect we will nominate a candidate to be the next European Commission President the following day. I have already said publicly that I expect the nominee to be the candidate of the European People's Party, Jean-Claude Juncker.

The agenda for the meeting is exceptionally full. On Friday the meeting will deal with the signing of association agreements with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova and approval of the granting of candidate status to Albania; the adoption of new strategic guidelines on justice and home affairs; the completion of the European semester 2014 by endorsing the country-specific recommendations; reviewing progress on the climate and energy framework to 2030; endorsing the adoption by Lithuania of the euro from 1 January 2015; and endorsing documents on the maritime security strategy and overseas development assistance.

I appreciate that there is an understandably high level of interest in the process of nominating a new Commission president and that this has attracted considerable international media coverage. At the informal summit on 27 May my colleagues and I gave President van Rompuy a mandate to undertake consultations on the nomination. These have been ongoing and the President will report back to this meeting. As I have stated, my firm expectation is that Jean-Claude Juncker will be confirmed as the nominee and will go on to be endorsed as President of the new European Commission by the European Parliament.

I am, of course, acutely aware of the reservations that some member states, most notably our colleagues in the United Kingdom, have expressed regarding the nomination process. Clearly the incoming president must display an understanding of and interest in the sensitivities and relations that some countries find themselves in for a variety of reasons. I am confident that Mr. Juncker has the qualities and experience required for the job. I believe he is committed to delivering on our strategic priorities and to strengthening economic recovery and working to boost employment throughout the Union. I endorsed his election as the EPP lead candidate in Dublin in March and I will continue to support his nomination at the European Council.

There is a danger that at this time of change the Union could get caught up in institutional processes and personnel questions and this must be avoided. The challenge is to focus on the real substance, that is, the issues that matter for the people of Europe and to set a clear strategic agenda for the period ahead. This will be my priority at the European Council. Quite frankly we must respond to the political message sent by voters across the Continent in the European elections who called on us to take the initiative and show clear leadership.

There is no mystery about what our headline messages must and will be. Jobs and growth remain vital for the future of the Union. We need to drive forward the areas that can make a real difference in sustaining the recovery. In doing so, we must strive to combat poverty and social exclusion. In fighting unemployment in all parts of the Union we must ensure that we get education and training right and that young people are given the skills they need for the modern and digital economy.

Completing the Single Market, especially the digital single market, remains a core priority for me. Ensuring that our businesses, in particular the small and medium-sized enterprise sector, can access financing and operate in a supportive environment with the right conditions is essential. The opportunities offered by growth in trade are understood by all and we must continue to progress key trade negotiations, in particular with the USA. Energy security is another vital area essential for growth and the Ukraine crisis has thrown this into the spotlight.

We live in a complex and globalised world. The EU has a unique role to play as a global entity in an often unstable environment. In focusing on economic growth, we must also ensure that we are not inward facing. The EU must enhance its efforts to shape our external environment in a direction conducive to spreading international peace, security and prosperity.

The strategic guidelines on justice and home affairs are to be considered by leaders on Friday. The process of developing the strategic guidelines started when the relevant Ministers discussed the future of JHA at the informal council in Vilnius a year ago. Since then the issue has been the subject of intensive work. In March of this year Vice President Reding and Commissioner Malmström issued their respective communications setting out what they believed should be contained in the new guidelines. Broadly speaking, there has been little disagreement among member states. Most have emphasised that, following the development of an extensive legal framework over the past 15 years, the priority now should be a period of evaluation and consolidation. As such, the guidelines should focus primarily on ensuring optimal implementation of the existing legal architecture. At the same time Ireland and others have stressed that the guidelines should be flexible enough to allow for further legislative measures where there is clear and objective evidence that these are necessary and that any additional costs are justifiable. Several such issues have been highlighted, including trafficking in human beings, people smuggling, cybercrime, radicalisation and foreign fighters. These are challenges which the Union cannot address alone. The guidelines reflect this and call for improved links between the EU's internal and external policies. It is also worth noting that the guidelines to be adopted are less prescriptive than earlier programmes. This should allow the Commission and the Justice and Home Affairs Council more flexibility over the next five years. It is also expected that there will be some discussion on horizontal issues like data protection and free movement. We are actively participating in the data protection reform package which remains under negotiation. The EU Council is likely to highlight the importance of these discussions. I expect that Heads of State and Government will also affirm free movement as one of the fundamental freedoms of the Union, while also noting that possible abuse should be sensibly tackled.

The 2014 European semester process will be concluded on Friday when the European Council endorses the country specific recommendations, CSRs, to member states. Ireland is a full participant in this year's arrangements. Deputies will be well aware of the process from the good engagement which has taken place at committee level. The semester process brings together the different strands of the EU's stronger post-crisis economic governance arrangements. The key focus is on development and implementation of jointly agreed measures to support growth and jobs. We agree priorities at EU level and we apply them at national level.

The Commission presented its CSR package on 2 June. These were informed by member state submissions and by the 17 indepth reviews already produced in March under the macroeconomic imbalances procedure with one for each of the 16 member states identified in the alert mechanism report as being at risk for such imbalances and one for Ireland following our exit in December from the EU-IMF programme.

Following presentation by the Commission, the CSRs are settled within the Council on a comply or explain basis.

This means the Commission's proposal stands unless a qualified majority of member states support an amendment. The Commission can also, of course, agree sensible changes to its own proposals.

Last week's meeting of employment Ministers on 19 June settled the CSRs relating to employment and social policies. Finance Ministers on 20 June settled the CSRs on budgetary and economic policies. The General Affairs Council then yesterday approved an integrated set of final CSRs for endorsement by Heads of State and Government at this week's European Council. These will in turn be reflected in a final Council recommendation adopted by finance Ministers in July.

There are seven CSRs for Ireland. They address measures in the following areas: restoring balance to the public finances, including through the adjustment to be agreed in October that will bring the headline budget deficit below 3% of GDP in 2015; improving the cost effectiveness of health care spending in line with the future health reform programme adopted in 2012; strengthening our active labour market policies consistently with the work being taken forward by Intreo and SOLAS under Pathways to Work; developing in this context a more robust response to the particular challenges associated with intergenerational transmission of poverty through what are described as low-work-intensity households; streamlining our supports for SMEs and entrepreneurship, with a particular focus on access to finance, in line with the direction set under the Action Plan for Jobs; completing the work under way to deal with the post-crisis legacy of non-performing loans in the financial sector; and, finally, pressing ahead on legal services reform, including through the Legal Services Regulation Bill that we are committed to enacting this year. It is clear that the overall emphasis here sits well with policy orientations that we have already firmly established at national level, particularly through the medium-term economic strategy, the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work.

Some minor technical and drafting issues were raised with the Commission. It was, in turn, happy to agree suitable amendments through the work of the committees that prepared last week's meetings of employment and finance Ministers. That is why we see these CSRs as broadly sensible policy orientations. They point in the same direction we have set for ourselves. That is what we should expect from the European semester process, and that is why shared analysis supporting shared conclusions is important.

As part of its consideration of the semester, the June Council will also agree further steps in the area of regulatory fitness and performance, REFIT. Essentially, this means striking a better balance between the goals of EU regulation on the one hand and the administrative burdens it can impose on the other, particularly for SMEs, which will create most new employment. President Barroso spoke about this in last year's state of the Union address when he spoke about the EU needing to be big on big things and small on smaller things. Discussions on Friday will be informed by a new communication from the Commission on REFIT. This will set out welcome progress in the three key areas of withdrawing unnecessary propositions, simplifying what is in place and repealing what is out of date. The Commission has also produced an important scoreboard that will bring transparency to ongoing monitoring of progress. I will continue to support a high level of ambition for the REFIT programme that is consistent with a stronger overall emphasis on improving the business environment for job creation.

The Council will also take stock of the progress being made towards the final decisions to be made in October on the new climate and energy framework for 2030. A lot of work still needs to be done to address the issues that have been raised by member states in the discussion to date. Ireland faces a most serious challenge in meeting targets for 2020. The challenge will be more serious for 2030. The matter will be the focus of serious discussion and negotiations in order to make it possible for future governments to be able to reach realistic targets by 2030. Ireland is working closely with the Commission to reach a common understanding of the issues facing us in the transition to a low-carbon economy, including the issue of emissions due to our specific agricultural profile. This has already been acknowledged to be of particular importance to Ireland in the last European Council. The focus of this Council's discussions in this area, however, will be on energy security. I have asked the Minister of State, Deputy Donohoe, to say a few words on this and on the external relations focus of the European Council in his statement. I will, of course, be happy to report back to the House after the European Council. I have shortened my contribution by almost three minutes.

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