Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 11, inclusive, together.

The meeting of the European Council which took place in Brussels on 20 and 21 October addressed a wide range of issues. The formal agenda included migration; external relations, specifically Russia and Syria; trade, including the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement, CETA, TTIP, the EU-Japan free trade agreement, and trade defence instruments; and a range of other global and economic issues.

Although the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union was not formally on the agenda for this meeting, Prime Minister Theresa May updated other EU leaders on recent developments in the UK as an information point. She confirmed that the decision to leave the EU is irreversible and that the UK will invoke Article 50 before the end of March next year. President Tusk welcomed the Prime Minister to her first meeting of the European Council, as did all other EU leaders. He reiterated the agreed principles that there will be no negotiations until Article 50 has been triggered and that access to the Single Market is linked to the four freedoms.

The future direction of the EU post-Brexit is a matter of ongoing consideration in accordance with the roadmap agreed at the Bratislava summit on 16 September. I did not have any scheduled bilateral meetings at this meeting of the European Council. However, I had informal exchanges with a number of my counterparts, including Prime Minister May and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, during the course of discussions and in the margins of the meeting. At every appropriate opportunity in my exchanges, I made it my priority to emphasise and explain Ireland’s particular concerns in relation to Northern Ireland, Border and citizenship issues, the common travel area, and the interconnectedness of our economies. The implications for Ireland are of the utmost seriousness and while there is an appreciation of this among EU partners, it is imperative that we continue to stress our particular position.

Corporation tax reform was not discussed at this meeting of the European Council. As I mentioned, the appalling situation in Syria was on the agenda for the meeting, as was our relationship with Russia. The European Council was united in its total condemnation of the attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia, on civilians in Aleppo. Efforts to assist refugees from the Syrian conflict were also reviewed. While no new actions were agreed in regard to families from Aleppo, Ireland, along with other EU member states, is participating in the EU measures agreed last September to take in Syrian refugees.

The meeting will be the subject of a full debate in the House, as are all scheduled meetings of the European Council, tomorrow afternoon.

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