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

I quote from the reflection paper from 7 June which the Minister of State may not have seen. We have our priorities all wrong regarding Europe. When I and my colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, brought forward a Bill to enshrine neutrality into Bunreacht na hÉireann, we were repeatedly and wrongly told that the Constitution already protects Irish neutrality. In that debate, the Minister of State himself stated that there were no proposals to create a standing EU army and we are not, and will not, become part of any alliance of permanent military formation but that is clearly the direction in which the Commission and the European External Action Group wish to move us. Why has the Irish Government not vetoed this latest step to create a standing EU army? The Commission has been totally dismissive of the democratic will of states and their citizens. When it comes to military integration, Jean-Claude Junker's Commission has adopted an attitude of "when" rather than "if". An Irish Government should be able to tell the Commission that it will not accept this latest step and neither does the Irish people who actively support Irish neutrality en masse. The Commission's stated aim of achieving a security and defence union by 2025 marks a shift in EU policy which undermines national sovereignty.

As we have seen in Iraq and Libya, military intervention only worsens and prolongs conflicts. The focus of the EU and its member states should be on increasing international co-operation which improves democracy, human rights and development and not a militaristic foreign policy which will exacerbate instability. While Europe fails to adequately provide for refugees fleeing war and conflict, it is shocking to most people that the Commission would prioritise an increase in military spending. These priorities are all wrong and that is the view of most Irish people.

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