Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Seventy years ago today the remaining Nazi leaders signed a total and unconditional surrender order which ended the Second World War. Out of the ashes and devastation that the war brought there was a growing realisation that something needed to change in order to ensure that Europe never fought another war of this magnitude and the need for greater co-operation and solidarity was obvious. The evils of fascism remained in some European countries, but many others marched forward progressively, creating more inclusive societies by building public health services and welfare systems which worked to create a safety net for millions who were experiencing poverty and hunger.

This Saturday, 9 May, marks the EU celebration of Europe Day. There will be a handful of official parties but it will go unnoticed by millions of citizens across Europe. It marks the date of the Schuman Declaration in 1950, which proposed the pooling of French and West German coal and steel industries and led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community. The people of this State voted to join what was then the European Economic Community on 10 May 1972. Many who argued against joining, highlighted issues such as sovereignty, independence, neutrality and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, the exploitation and use of natural resources, including mineral wealth, and the critical issue of jobs. There was also a discussion at that time about the direction of European and how it would evolve. Much has changed since then but many of the concerns raised at that time are equally relevant today. The EU is now made up of 27 members.

Two of the biggest challenges facing Europe now are the crisis in Greece and the drownings in the Mediterranean. At the heart of both issues lies the absence or the complete misunderstanding of the responsibilities and nature of solidarity. The Mediterranean is quickly becoming a graveyard. Last year, 3,200 men, women and children died while trying to cross the Mediterranean in coffin ships to reach the EU. Many came from impoverished countries in Africa and Asia and were fleeing conflict, persecution, and hunger. A total of 170,000 made the journey safely and landed in Italy in 2014. Over 1,700 people have died in the first four months of this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean. That is 100 times more than this time last year. How can we, as human beings and Europeans, turn aside and ignore this huge humanitarian crisis? This summer hundreds of thousands of tourists will be flying to the beaches of the Mediterranean to enjoy themselves. At the same time hundreds of thousands of adults and children will be making their perilous journeys, placed in overcrowded and unsafe rafts, dinghies and boats, desperately trying to reach the beaches, towns and cities of Europe. Thousands more face drowning.

We have heard that EU governments have planned to triple Triton’s mission budget to €9 million per month and provide some more rescue boats. As we face into this worsening crisis the plans for more money and rescue ships have yet to be realised. Just last weekend 6,770 people were rescued by the Italian coastguard. The Italian navy is still conducting search and rescue missions, while the EU’s Triton mission is primarily concerned with patrolling the EU’s borders. This is wrong and needs to be changed. It does not matter how much money is pumped into the Triton mission unless it has an active search and rescue mandate.

I welcome the fact the Minister for Defence is planning to send theLE Eithneto the region. However, we also need to examine and increase the number of refugees that Ireland accepts. For our population size we are taking far too few. We cannot rescue migrants and just drop them off in Malta and Italy and forget about them. We need to show greater solidarity with southern Mediterranean countries. There needs to be an EU focus on increasing our collective support and help to southern European countries which are on the front line and one of those initiatives must be to increase Europe’s refugee quota. The world is experiencing an unprecedented number of simultaneous humanitarian crises and the UN estimates that 50 million people are currently displaced. Ireland must play its part on the front line and at home.

The EU continues to mishandle Greece’s unstable debt and economic crisis. It is unacceptable that it fails to recognise that Greece’s debt is unsustainable and that this is also causing a humanitarian crisis, and needs to be reformed. The EU and the IMF are stalling progress on these vital issues. They continue to disagree on Greece’s reforms and debt, and this is to the widespread detriment of Greece and its people.

Where is the solidarity that was supposed to be the spine of the EU when it was established? The EU's decisions on Greece continue to be led by the Eurogroup. The Eurogroup is now a key body in the EU’s economic governance but it is not democratically accountable to anyone. Legally speaking, it is not an institution of the EU. It cannot make any laws. Regardless of that, however, no money will be released to Greece unless the Eurogroup says so. The Eurogroup does not have to update the public or the institutions on its work and no minutes of its meetings are kept. It is clearly in need of significant reform to tackle its lack of accountability and transparency. The Eurogroup, with the connivance of Europe’s finance Ministers, continues to bully and punish the Greek people for voicing their democratic wishes and seeking a fairer way forward.

Europe and its leaders would do well to reflect on the lessons of the past and to remember the issues that led to the rise of fascism in the past and that are leading to the growth of right-wing groups across Europe, as well as the decisions to cancel mass unsustainable debts after the Second World War and how this allowed European countries to recover and invest in their welfare states. This type of solidarity is hugely important in building a Europe of equals. Sadly, the EU is instead creating a two-tier Europe filled with inequality. It is a dangerous route and we need to learn the lessons from the tragedies that happened in the past. We can move forward.

People describe my party as anti-European, but it is far from that. We are critical of Europe and want to see a different Europe emerge. This message is growing across Europe. People want to see a different type of Europe - a Europe of solidarity. Those in need must be supported by all of us. The two issues I highlighted here this morning are clearly two messages that we can resolve.

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