Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome what the Minister of State has said about enlargement, in particular in respect of the western Balkans. If we are to bring peace, stability and progress to that region, we must be accommodating where countries meet the standards required by the European Union.

I also welcome what the Minister of State said about the multi-annual framework and the need to protect the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, in particular. Some reform of CAP is needed, but the policy is of major importance to Ireland and we should do everything possible to protect the payments under CAP.

I have a question about PESCO. I understanding we are participating in two projects. There is a need to report back to the House regularly on this and maybe to put a formal mechanism in place because there was a great deal of concern about joining PESCO when the vote was taken in the Dáil. It is not necessary to go into the detail of the two projects, but how would the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, feel about putting a mechanism in place to report to the House on our participation in these projects and the contemplation on participation in further projects?

The elephant in the room is the major trade dispute with the US, and it would seem that President Trump is threatening the multilateral world order. It would seem also that the EU is very much on its own in respect of many issues because of the changed policy in the USA. There is a major trade dispute under way. Was there much talk about that at the European Council meeting? Are the Heads of Government concerned about that? Is there a danger that these tariffs will be extended to agricultural products? That would be a real concern for us in Ireland and the EU generally.

The eurozone reform is being driven by France and Germany in particular. There has been a suggestion that a eurozone budget will be created and other proposals arising from that. Does the Minister of State agree that Ireland would be cool towards these proposals? These discussions are under way. We would need to be careful in respect of these proposals if we are to bring the citizens along with us in support of any measures along these lines.

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