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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 11, inclusive, and 13 together.

I attended the European Council in Brussels on Thursday, 21 March, and Friday, 22 March.

As I outlined in my statement to the House on 27 March, the agenda included: Brexit; jobs, growth and competitiveness; external relations; climate change; and efforts to combat disinformation. European Union reform was not an item for discussion at this meeting.

We also met the leaders of Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein and marked the 25th anniversary of the European Economic Area.

Brexit was the main focus at this European Council and we spent most of Thursday on this. We had a lengthy exchange and question-and-answer session with Prime Minister May and listened carefully to her requests. She asked for an extension of Article 50 until 30 June and also for formal endorsement of the agreements reached in Strasbourg the previous week between her and President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The 27 EU leaders then had a detailed discussion about the best way forward and we endorsed the two documents agreed in Strasbourg.

We also agreed to extend Article 50 until 22 May if the withdrawal agreement was approved last week.

If it was not approved, as has proven to be the case, we agreed to extend Article 50 only until 12 April, a key date in terms of the European Parliament elections, by which time the UK must have outlined an alternative way forward for consideration by the European Council.

We stated that the withdrawal agreement, including the backstop, is not for renegotiation and that any unilateral commitments the UK Government might make must be compatible with this in spirit as well as in letter. In light of the rejection of the withdrawal agreement by the UK Parliament on 29 March, we now await indications from the UK of its intentions.

On Friday, we met European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and discussed the economic outlook, as well as how best to prepare the European Union for increasing global economic competition.

This includes the strengthening and deepening of the Single Market, a matter in respect of which Ireland has been very active in calling for progress, particularly in the areas of services and digitalisation.

We discussed our priorities for the EU-China summit on 9 April and our overall relations with China, including in the context of issues relating to trade, industry and human rights.

I was very pleased that we formally appointed Professor Philip Lane as chief economist of the European Central Bank and a member of its six-person executive board.

Under external relations, we committed once again to Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and expressed our readiness to continue backing the countries affected by the recent cyclone in Africa.

On climate change, we reaffirmed our commitment to the Paris Agreement and endorsed the development of a long-term climate strategy the EU. We also discussed disinformation and agreed on the need for further efforts to protect the European Parliament elections and elections across the EU.

Before the first working session on Thursday, I attended two meetings. One was the EPP summit while the other was a meeting of the Nordic-Baltic Group, which Prime Minister Rutte and I attended as guests. We are like-minded small northern European countries and share interests and perspectives on issues across the EU agenda. This is a useful way to strengthen our co-operation.

I also had a short bilateral meeting with Prime Minister May on Thursday afternoon. I did not have any other formal bilateral meetings in Brussels but across the two days, I engaged with my EU counterparts using the opportunity as I always do to promote Ireland and Europe's interests.

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