Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 10, inclusive, together.

I attended my second meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 19 and 20 October. The agenda included migration; Digital Europe; security and defence; and external relations. The future of Europe was also discussed over breakfast on Friday, followed by a meeting of the European Council in Article 50 format - without the UK - to discuss progress in the Brexit negotiations.

In advance of the meeting, I was invited, along with the Dutch Prime Minister, to join the leaders of the Nordic and Baltic countries - Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - who meet regularly ahead of European Councils. Although Ireland is not part of a formal group in the EU, as a small northern European nation with an open trading economy, we have similar positions on many issues, particularly economic matters. I was very pleased, therefore, to attend this meeting with like-minded partners and to have the opportunity to share our views, including on the future of Europe debate.

The meeting of the European Council, which was attended by the leaders of all 28 EU member states, as well as President Tusk and President Juncker, opened with an exchange with the President of the European Parliament. The shocking murder of the well-known journalist in Malta was raised by several leaders and Prime Minister Muscat thanked EU partners for their messages of condolence and noted that an investigation is under way. On migration, the Commission confirmed there has been a decrease in the number of migrants travelling to Europe and, crucially, a welcome drop in the number of lives lost at sea. I drew attention to the distressing human rights reports from Médecins Sans Frontières in regard to the reception facilities in Libya. I also raised the question of support for Africa more generally, and said that Ireland will double its commitment to the EU Trust Fund for Africa over the next few years, taking it from €3 million to €6 million. This is, of course, just one small element of our overall development aid contribution to Africa. The House may be aware that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is currently visiting Africa.

Digital Europe was one of the most important items from an Irish perspective, and I am pleased that the language we agreed for the conclusions reflects our ambitious approach and the input we provided, along with a number of like-minded countries. On the question of the taxation of digital companies, I emphasised that this must be considered at a global level, given the nature of the digital economy. The OECD is the best forum for this and I insisted on including a reference to the OECD work in the conclusions. The Commission has also been invited to present proposals early next year but these will require further discussion and, as a taxation issue, any decisions will be subject to unanimity.

On security and defence, it was confirmed that discussions around permanent structured co-operation, or PESCO, as it is known, are ongoing, with some aspects still to be settled. The ambition is to be ready to launch it in December. Ireland will, of course, not do anything that compromises our long-standing policy of military neutrality or that undermines the constitutional guarantees which are reflected in the protocols to the Lisbon treaty. EU leaders agreed to return to security and defence issues at our meeting in December.

External relations were also discussed on Thursday evening, including in regard to Turkey and Iran. Prime Minister May also spoke about developments in the UK in regard to Brexit. The situation in Catalonia was not discussed.

On Friday morning, President Tusk chaired a useful exchange on the future of Europe, based on his Leader’s Agenda. There was support for his proposed approach, which envisages further additional meetings at the level of Heads of State or Government. This issue is very important for Ireland as we want to ensure the Union continues to work for our citizens. In this context, under the leadership of the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, we will shortly launch a citizens’ engagement programme to allow for broad debate on the future of Europe.

We then met in Article 50 format to discuss the Brexit negotiations. Michel Barnier confirmed that, in his view, there has not been sufficient progress to enable us to move to phase two of negotiations on future relationship issues. However, in light of the progress that has been achieved, we agreed to start considering within the EU 27 what might go into additional guidelines regarding the framework for the future relationship and possible transitional arrangements, ahead of moving to a discussion of phase two as soon as the time is appropriate.

Ireland’s overall priorities are clear: to protect the peace process; to avoid any new barriers to trade or the movement of people on our island; the maintenance of the common travel area and all the associated rights that come with it; an effective transitional arrangement leading to the closest possible relationship between the UK and the EU; and to work for the future of the European Union, with Ireland at its heart. As I noted, Prime Minister May made some constructive comments over dinner on Thursday, including a rejection of any physical infrastructure on the Border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, further clarity is needed and I would urge the UK to provide more detail on how its stated commitments on EU citizens’ rights, the UK financial settlement and Ireland-specific issues will be given meaningful effect so that sufficient progress can be made and, ultimately, an agreement can be reached.

The agenda for the next formal meeting of the European Council is not yet available. The meeting is scheduled to take place in Brussels on 14 and 15 December.

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