Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank those who have contributed to the debate on what will be a very important meeting of the European Council over the next two days. While Brexit is clearly the priority for Ireland, migration, internal security and economic issues are also important for the Union as a whole.

The Taoiseach has spoken in some detail about recent developments on migration, economic and monetary union, and expectations in this area for the European Council. I will focus my remarks, therefore, on the internal security issues for discussion on Thursday as well as some external relations issues that might arise.

The EU has achieved good progress in recent years in supporting member states to ensure internal security and fight terrorism, and in strengthening our collective security. As a Union, we need to protect the public and respond intelligently to a rapidly changing security environment.

Some of the discussion on Thursday will be based on the proposals outlined in President Juncker's state of the Union address on 12 September. These include completing the security union, new rules to remove online terrorist content, new measures to fight money laundering and to protect elections from malign foreign influence, reopening Schengen borders, and using the civil protection mechanism. The objective of these measures is to add value to existing and planned national measures, and to reinforce Europe’s long-term response to new and emerging threats. EU leaders had an open-ended exchange on these and other proposals at the informal summit in Salzburg last month, and the outcome of those discussions will feed into Thursday’s meeting.

While Ireland’s participation in some of the current and proposed measures is limited due to our position under Protocol 21 and our non-participation in the Schengen border acquis, we are generally supportive of EU measures to protect the internal security of the Union and its citizens. The attacks in Salisbury and on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague demonstrate the need for vigilance. We continue to support EU initiatives, including the regional EU centres of excellence on the mitigation of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear risks.

At the European Council on Thursday, leaders are expected to focus on the increasing complexity of the cyberthreats we face. As the Taoiseach has said, although we are not part of any military alliance, we are certainly not neutral when it comes to cybersecurity. Cybercrime has become increasingly challenging in recent years. Perhaps the most heinous form is online child sexual exploitation but other, new and innovative forms, including that relating to the integrity of our electoral systems, also continue to emerge.

Many member states have experienced disinformation campaigns in their own countries. There is strong support for efforts to protect against these and the unlawful use of personal data. Ireland established an interdepartmental group last December to consider the risks to our electoral process, including through examining recent experiences in other democratic countries with respect to the use of social media by third parties. The abuse of the online space by people promoting terrorism, whether by encouraging or directing atrocities, is also a cause of great concern. The challenge for member states and law enforcement agencies is in trying to remain proactive in these areas while fully respecting our European values, fundamental rights and freedoms, and international law.

The global nature of the Internet means that individual countries cannot tackle the challenge alone. Ireland supports the concept of a collective response mechanism for large-scale cybersecurity incidents. We must ensure that we can co-operate in combating such illegal activities effectively while continuing to promote an open, global, free, peaceful and secure cyberspace where fundamental rights and freedoms, in particular the right to freedom of expression, access to information, data protection, and privacy and security, as well as our core EU values and principles are fully applied and respected both within the EU and globally.

Another area for discussion on Thursday is the need for further strengthening of police, judicial and intelligence co-operation. This is an important element of the efforts to reform and improve the functioning of the security union. While Ireland’s participation is limited, we recognise that achieving interoperability of databases will be a significant step forward in the shared European fight against crime.

Acknowledging that internal security is partly dependent on a properly managed external border, leaders are also expected to discuss proposals to enhance the European Border and Coast Guard. We are generally supportive of the need to strengthen border protection and believe that continual high-level engagement is necessary to ensure a proper and long-lasting protection of our external borders.

Discussion of external relations is likely to include an update on the recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as climate change, relations with the Arab League and developments regarding Russia. We must be realistic about the challenge that Russia poses to our core values - the rule of law, democracy and human rights - which are central to our European way of life. In the long term, a strong and stable relationship between the EU and Russia is desirable as a strategic goal. Unfortunately, we see little evidence that Russia is seeking to improve its relationship with Europe. As our response to the events in Salisbury demonstrated, the European Union is strongest when it is united and when we speak with one voice. This is our strength and it is essential for us to be effective.

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