Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I reported to the House on 20 October on the detail on the outcome of the European Council meeting of 15 October. That meeting dealt with several issues of importance to the Union, with a particular focus on the complex challenge of migration. Also discussed at the meeting were the report of the five presidents, Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union, and the UK plans for a referendum on its EU membership, and it was agreed in both instances to return to the issues in December. The French President, François Hollande, made a presentation in advance of the global Conference of Parties on climate change in Paris, and the European Council noted the publication of the international and independent report into the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine.

On Sunday, 29 November, EU Heads of State and Government held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Turkey. Co-operation with Turkey is central to the European Union’s overall approach to tackling the migration crisis, and the meeting agreed a joint statement along with the European Union-Turkey joint action plan which had been negotiated by the European Commission over the previous weeks. The statement noted the European Union's agreement to provide an initial contribution of €3 billion over two years in support of the 2.2 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. Member states including Ireland will contribute to this fund once the final arrangements have been agreed.

The statement also committed to strengthening relations between the European Union and Turkey, addressing common challenges through more structured, high-level dialogue and re-energising the accession process, on which the European Commission published its annual report on 10 November. The issues of visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens and border security, both of which are mentioned in the statement, are for Schengen member states to consider in the first instance. The action plan is intended to further support refugees and their host communities in Turkey and to strengthen co-operation in preventing irregular migration. Both the European Union and Turkey have set out their intentions under the plan, which includes financial support, resettling of refugees from Turkey to the European Union, law enforcement co-operation on smuggling, joint return operations, an improved legal framework, and compulsory registration and integration measures.

It is important to emphasise that the commitments made by Turkey and the European Union in the joint action plan will have to be fulfilled. Progress on this is being very carefully monitored and will be reviewed by the European Council in due course.

The shooting down of the Russian aircraft was not discussed at the European Council meeting in November.

I had no scheduled bilateral meetings in the margins of the meeting of European Union Heads of State and Government with the Turkish Prime Minister on 29 November, although I did, of course, have informal exchanges with a number of colleagues.

I last met Chancellor Merkel at the December European Council meeting. While I engaged with the Chancellor in the course of the Council meeting, we did not have a formal bilateral meeting. I did not raise retroactive recapitalisation of the Irish banks with her or with other counterparts at that meeting. I last held a formal bilateral meeting with Chancellor Merkel during my visit to Berlin on 3 July 2014, following her own visit to Dublin in March 2014.

The British Government's proposals for EU membership were discussed most recently at the December European Council. This provided a welcome opportunity to have a collective discussion of the issue with all 28 EU Heads of State and Government and the Presidents of the EU institutions, framed by the earlier exchange of letters between the UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk. At that meeting, Mr. Cameron opened the discussion by outlining the four broad areas where he is seeking change and by explaining the complex domestic politics around the issue in the United Kingdom. I intervened in strong terms in the subsequent discussion to present the Irish point of view, which is, of course, well known to this House and in the United Kingdom and other member states. I spoke about the importance of the issue to Ireland, given the uniquely close political, social, economic and cultural ties between our countries. I also emphasised the significance of UK membership to the European Union as a whole and I stressed the importance of working together to find a mutually acceptable solution.

Regarding the proposals themselves, Ireland is supportive of moves aimed at delivering more for our citizens. We share the United Kingdom’s enthusiasm for sustained effort under the "competitiveness" heading. The issues here are the drivers of long-term prosperity for the citizens of the European Union. Under the “economic governance” and “sovereignty” headings, although the details of the proposals remain to be clarified, we can also see where solutions might lie.

In the immigration and free movement area, we can more than likely support the proposals, subject to the details, in regard to addressing fraud and abuse and changing the way in which child benefit is paid abroad. The idea of limiting access to in-work benefits is more difficult, and there is opposition to the proposal in its current form. However, I am hopeful that, with willingness and determination, a workable solution in this area can also be found.

With regard to the debate itself, I was encouraged by the substantive and very constructive exchange of views about the four categories of reform proposed by Mr. Cameron, including the difficulties. There can be little doubt that this is a challenging and sensitive issue, but the atmosphere at the European Council meeting was very positive and there was willingness to find a way forward.

Prime Minister Cameron, while not withdrawing his proposition about limiting access to in-work benefits, signalled his openness to alternative ideas that would have the same effect. We agreed, therefore, to work closely together in the period ahead, with a view to reaching agreement on a package of measures at the February European Council meeting. While the legal form and implications of the final package remain to be teased out, I welcome the fact that the Prime Minister is not pressing for early treaty change. We now await the emergence of detailed proposals from President Tusk, which are expected in early February. These will allow all member states to develop further their responses under each of the four headings and participate in intensive and collective preparatory work at senior official level leading up to the next European Council meeting, which I understand will take place on 11 February. The aim is to secure an agreement that is acceptable to all of us and will allow the Prime Minister to recommend and campaign vigorously for a vote to remain in the European Union.

I met Prime Minister Cameron again in London yesterday and we had a further excellent discussion about the state of play. He updated me on his recent contacts with colleagues and I confirmed our strong support for a positive result.

This issue has implications for all parts of Government policy. The whole of government has, therefore, been engaged in tracking the development of the debate and framing our contribution to the negotiations that are under way. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs have particular responsibilities in this respect, as do other Ministers in relevant sectors, supported by officials across Departments.

In addition to the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union, the ongoing migration and refugee crisis was the main item of discussion at the December European Council. Heads of State and Government took stock of what has been done so far and looked at further shaping and implementing a comprehensive EU approach. There was consensus that, while important agreements were reached over the course of 2015 to establish a comprehensive response to the crisis, implementation of the measures, notably as regards the so-called hotspots, relocation and returns, has been far too slow. The European Council agreed that member states and the EU institutions must work together urgently to address these deficiencies in the system. Work on this is being progressed by the Presidency, the European Commission and the High Representative, who will report on progress at the February meeting of the European Council. Regrettably, however, in the month since the December European Council, the position has not improved and the urgent need for progress is more marked than ever. Building on earlier conferences and summits, the European Council also emphasised the importance of working with regional partners in the western Balkans and Africa.

Ireland has consistently called for an approach which addresses the root causes as well as the humanitarian challenges at European level. As I observed at the December meeting of the European Council, our immediate priority is to implement the resettlement and relocation proposals under which we have offered to accept 4,000 asylum seekers and refugees. In this context 176 Syrian refugees have already arrived in Ireland under the resettlement programme, with an additional 120 refugees due to arrive soon. While progress on relocation has been much slower, I am pleased that the first group of Syrian asylum seekers - a family of ten - arrived here recently under the relocation framework.

Our decision to opt into the relocation and resettlement programme last year was in addition to the substantial additional financial support Ireland has provided towards assisting those affected by the Syrian crisis, the World Food Programme, to which we have agreed to double our allocation in the years ahead, and the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, as well as the support provided by the Naval Service to humanitarian search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, of which Deputies are well aware.

The migration crisis will be a major ongoing challenge for the foreseeable future. I hope real progress will be made in the coming weeks and I look forward to discussing developments again with the other Heads of Government at the February European Council meeting.

As I noted, much of the Council's time was spent on addressing the migration and refugee crisis and the EU-UK negotiations. However, a number of other agenda items were also discussed. Most notably, the European Council considered actions in the fight against terrorism, building on the decisions taken at its February meeting and in light of the appalling attacks in Paris and elsewhere.

As outlined in my detailed statement to the House last week, there was also discussion of international developments, including the position in Syria, Ukraine and Libya, respectively, and a number of economic and financial issues, taking stock of discussions on the five presidents' report on economic and monetary union and developments in the Single Market following publication of the new strategy. Energy union and a forward-looking climate policy were discussed, following the very successful COP21 summit in Paris last year.

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