Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to update the House on the meeting of the October European Council. The main outcome was an agreement, after difficult and intensive negotiations, on a new EU climate and energy policy framework for the period to 2030. I am satisfied this ambitious agreement also represented a positive outcome for Ireland and will provide further detail on our approach shortly.

The European Council discussed economic developments in the Union and we had a more detailed consideration of the situation in the eurozone at a subsequent euro summit. We also considered a number of external relations issues, particularly the EU's response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the situation in Ukraine. The Minister of State, Deputy Dara Murphy, will address in greater detail in his contribution the issue of Ukraine and other external relations issues.

The fifth assessment report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the final instalment of which was published last weekend - brings the urgency of tackling climate change into stark relief. The need for concerted global action had been confirmed already at the UN summit in New York in September, which I attended. The European Council was faced with the challenging task of agreeing an EU climate and energy policy framework for the period to 2030 - setting targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, as well as for renewable energy and energy efficiency.

A successful outcome at the European Council was by no means a foregone conclusion. Negotiations in advance of the Council had revealed differing viewpoints among member states as to how ambitious our targets should be. Naturally, each member state wanted to see its own priorities and constraints - reflecting a diversity of economic situations, patterns of energy and geography - accommodated in the agreement.

It was a significant achievement that, following lengthy and at times difficult discussion, agreement was reached and a set of headline targets was determined. By 2030, the EU is to achieve a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases, to draw at least 27% of the energy it consumes from renewable sources and to increase energy efficiency by at least 27%. Some have criticised this agreement as insufficiently ambitious. However, it was clear that it represented the best available compromise. It now allows the EU to lead by example in encouraging other countries to bring forward targets and policies of their own in advance of the UN climate conference in Paris in December of next year.

My general aim at the European Council was to secure a fair, balanced and achievable deal for Ireland in the context of an overall agreement. I would like to thank my colleagues, particularly the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, and Teagasc, for their stalwart efforts during the advance negotiations which were so important in achieving a successful outcome. Our crucial specific objective was for the conclusions to take account of the special position of agriculture, given that emissions from our already carbon efficient agriculture sector make up a much higher proportion of total emissions here in Ireland than in any other member state.

The specific recognition in the final agreement of the multiple objectives of the agriculture and land use sector represented a major breakthrough for Ireland, as did reference to ensuring coherence between the EU's food security and climate change objectives. There was also an acceptance of the sector's limited mitigation potential. Overall, this represents a successful outcome in the context of our ambitious plans to sustainably increase food production in line with Food Harvest 2020.

On the basis of a proposal from Ireland, the contribution of afforestation to greenhouse gas mitigation and sequestration was also recognised by the European Council. Again, this is crucial for Ireland as we put in place major investments with a view to expanding new forest cover. We await further detailed proposals from the Commission as to how these important and clear principles will be fleshed out, but the parameters of the future approach have been laid down.

A further key issue for Ireland was the setting of a national target for the reduction of emissions in non-traded sectors. The starting point is that the 20% target agreed some years ago for 2020 has proven to be ill-founded, unrealistic and unattainable. It did not recognise the implications of the particular importance of agriculture in Ireland. In addition, our capacity to invest in the wide-ranging infrastructural and energy efficiency measures required has been severely limited by the difficult state of our public finances. Even though our economy is now improving, the need to reduce our national debt burden will continue to impose significant fiscal constraints.

At the European Council, I emphasised the economic and fiscal challenges that Ireland has endured and still faces. I stated emphatically that our agreement to the headline targets was based on the clear understanding that our national target for the non-emissions trading scheme sector, which includes agriculture, must take account of our specific circumstances and should be both deliverable and economically sustainable. However, as the negotiations progressed, it became clear that there was not going to be an agreement on the so-called non-ETS targets at this time. Therefore, I focussed on ensuring that the European Council itself, which operates by consensus and not by majority voting, must return to this question in due course to make the necessary decision on national targets.

This was agreed and made quite clear in the conclusions. The European Council will keep all the elements of the framework under review and, as is its role under the treaties, will give strategic orientations, notably - and I quote language I successfully proposed - "with respect to consensus" on the non-emissions trading sector and some other issues. It is an important issue in that when the European Council comes back to review issues, it will come back for a purpose, and that purpose is to have consensus, because the Council operates on consensus. That means our negotiators will have that as a backstop on each occasion the European Council reviews the issues.

While the outcome of the Council is clearly a positive one for both Ireland and the Union as a whole, much work remains to be done. The negotiations to agree binding national targets will undoubtedly present challenges and the Government will remain fully engaged. Meanwhile, we will continue to play our part in realising the EU ambition of becoming a competitive low-carbon economy by 2050. This will call for sustained action at a domestic level.

The current low rate of growth in Europe remains an overriding concern for the Council. We shared our perspectives on recent economic developments, as well as ideas for boosting economic growth and investment. There was a separate discussion among leaders of eurozone countries. The President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, made a comprehensive and, I must say, stark presentation on the difficult issues facing the eurozone and the need for a broad and multifaceted policy response. One common theme in interventions at the European Council was the importance of structural reforms. Ireland was referenced several times as a positive example of how such reforms, while painful in the short term, can provide a strong foundation for boosting growth. Member states were encouraged to continue on the path of reform, notwithstanding the challenges.

Many of my colleagues emphasised that low investment is eroding Europe's growth potential and called for the boosting of investment levels. Support was expressed for the incoming Commission's intention to mobilise an additional €300 billion in public and private investment over the coming three years, and we expect to have further detail on this initiative in advance of the December European Council. The European Council also welcomed the establishment of a task force, led by the Commission and the European Investment Bank, with a view to identifying and addressing blockages to investment and also developing a pipeline of potentially viable projects of European significance. Meanwhile, the Euro Summit called for work to continue to develop concrete mechanisms for stronger economic policy co-ordination and tasked the new President of the Commission, in conjunction with the other relevant individuals, to prepare the next steps on better economic governance in the euro area in general.

This European Council did not take detailed decisions on economic issues, focusing instead on the difficult and delicate negotiations necessary to achieve agreement on the climate and energy policy framework. However, our discussions provided valuable orientation ahead of more substantive decisions at the December European Council. It was clear that, right across the Union, the unwavering focus remains on addressing the challenges of low growth and high unemployment.

One issue which had not been foreseen for the European Council but which, in the event, featured prominently in discussions and related media coverage was the issue of EU budget contribution adjustments, which, on the basis of a leaked document, was highlighted in the UK media on the Friday morning. Deputies will be aware that the UK in particular has serious concerns in regard to the volume of, and basis for, its additional assessed contribution. The issue is now being considered in more detail by finance Ministers, and I hope the matter can be quickly clarified and resolved in a way that assuages political difficulties but respects the agreed treaty and legislative rules.

The European Council had an important and productive discussion on the EU's response to the Ebola crisis. This followed on from a detailed consideration of the issue by EU foreign Ministers earlier in the week. The spread of the Ebola virus in west Africa is unfortunately continuing at an alarming rate. The most recent figures provided by the World Health Organization indicate over 13,500 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola in west Africa, with almost 5,000 reported deaths. The disease is continuing to spread faster than the Governments of the worst affected countries in west Africa - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - and the international community can respond. We must unfortunately prepare ourselves for a further deterioration of the situation in west Africa in the short term, and we therefore have to redouble our efforts to limit the human, social and economic impacts of the epidemic.

Recognising this imperative, the European Council registered its deep concern at the spread of the virus and at the increasing number of people in west Africa infected and dying from it. We agreed that the EU must be at the forefront of international efforts to combat the virus. We committed ourselves to bringing the total for EU financial assistance to €1 billion, a target that is already close to being met.

From the outset, Ireland has been playing an important and active role in the Ebola response, and we are providing over €17 million in the region this year, directly and through NGOs. Our programmes in Sierra Leone and Liberia are focused on strengthening health systems in the two countries, and we have reprogrammed other funding directly to the Ebola response. Last week a grant of €1 million was approved for the newly established UN Ebola Trust Fund, which supports the activities of the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response. We are looking at what more we can do through our embassy in Freetown, given that we are one of the relatively few EU countries with an embassy on the ground.

The European Council also noted that EU member states are committed to increasing the deployment of medical and support staff in West Africa. In this regard, the earlier agreement at the Foreign Affairs Council on a co-ordinated EU mechanism to guarantee appropriate care for international health workers, within available resources, was very welcome. The European Council also welcomed the appointment of the incoming Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, as EU Ebola co-ordinator. I wish the Commissioner every success as he takes on this critically important role.

Given the gravity of the Ebola crisis, the European Council will consider the state of play again at the next meeting in December. To inform this discussion, we also called on the High Representative and the Commission to develop a package of measures addressing the wider political, security and economic implications of the crisis in the region.

I am very pleased that the European Council was able to conclude the institutional changeover by formally appointing the new European Commission. This followed a vote of approval by the European Parliament on 22 October. President Juncker and his team of Commissioners are now in their posts. Together with my Cabinet colleagues, I look forward to working closely with President Juncker and the 27 other members of the college over the new legislative term, building on the strong relationship we enjoyed with the outgoing Commission.

I would also like to place on record my thanks to the outgoing Commission, particularly to President Barroso and Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, for their excellent work. During the course of this Government, I had quite a deal of interaction with Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn. I must say I found her, as one would expect, to be both courteous and very efficient in dealing with any queries we raised on behalf of the country, and I thank her for that. In what has been an extremely difficult period for the EU, their commitment to improving the lives of EU citizens has never been less than total. I wish them well in whatever paths they may pursue from here on.

I also note that the October European Council was the final such meeting to be chaired by outgoing President Herman Van Rompuy. President Van Rompuy has been an extremely able, skilful and committed President, both as the chair of our internal negotiations and in representing the EU on the global stage. He demonstrated enormous patience in many of the interminably long meetings that took place during the Presidency and on other difficult issues. I would like to thank him most sincerely for his leadership. I look forward to working closely with his successor, Donald Tusk, who takes up duty on 1 December.

I will return in due course to update the House on the preparations for, and outcomes of, the next European Council, which will take place on 18 and 19 December.

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