Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The European Council meeting on Thursday will bring together the Heads of Government from across Europe to agree a shared vision for what is a crucial period in the history of post-war Europe. It is no exaggeration to say that national leaders are facing major threats to our economic prosperity and our way of life. In 2014, the Council agreed five priorities for the period 2014-2019, and a lot was achieved. The EU has experienced five years of uninterrupted economic growth, with wages increasing and youth unemployment falling by a third. Greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 22% compared with 1990. The European Commission has already published its contribution to the discussion of the next five years, as well as a list of unfinished business. Labour welcomes the focus on the European pillar of social rights, including a fair and modern tax policy, on sustainability and climate change, as well as on maintaining a rules-based global order and developing stronger relations with our closest neighbours. Under the heading of the European pillar of social rights, the Commission names "access to quality, energy-efficient affordable housing for all in Europe". This was the focus of Frans Timmermans, the second most senior Commissioner after Jean-Claude Juncker in the outgoing Commission. He is still a contender to become the next Commission President. Timmermans will doubtless play an influential role in the next Commission. I hope that his initiatives to open up European funding for public housing projects will be embraced by the Commission and by national governments.

From Labour's perspective, the European Commission's proposals represent a skewed and incomplete agenda. Their focus on the Single Market does not include sufficient emphasis on protecting workers in precarious jobs and does not address the problem of income and wealth inequality in Europe. The next five years must include decisive action to improve workers' rights and the security of jobs.

Europe needs a more positive agenda on inter-culturalism and integration rather than just managing migration. Insufficient attention is paid by the Commission to the still-existing deficiencies in the eurozone institutions and our lack of instruments to help us deal with the next economic crisis is already manifest. There will inevitably be another economic crisis. There is also insufficient mention of the core periphery structure of the Single Market. This will be crucial for Ireland if the UK does leave the Single Market because our peripheral location will be even more pronounced, with greater costs likely to affect the import and export of goods. Ireland and other countries need a set of rules that are designed to counterbalance the economic advantages enjoyed by countries at the centre of the Single Market. With the increased push towards tax harmonisation - of value-added tax, VAT, as well as corporation tax - Ireland will need a new strategy to ensure its future economic prosperity.

In addition to its strategic agenda for the next five years, the meeting of the European Council will also involve the Heads of Government considering the union's multi-annual financial framework for 2021-2027. This will undoubtedly be planned on the basis of the UK having left the union, which means all remaining countries, including Ireland, will be paying that bit more to keep European programmes operating. One myth that is frequently circulated here is that of the net contributor. This concept is misleading. Technically, the UK is a net contributor to the European Union. In cash terms, the UK pays more to the EU than it receives in direct payments such as CAP, LEADER funds and so on. As part of the Brexit narrative, it was claimed that this is British money being lost into a Brussels black hole. That narrow, transactional view of the EU is not only deeply tainted by Euroscepticism and hostility towards supporting poorer countries, it is also a serious misrepresentation of how modern economies work. Access to the Single Market and customs union removes tonnes of red tape, because countries agree to share common standards and rules, not only for goods like foodstuffs, but also for services. Easy access to a market of 500 million people provides each European country with massive economic benefits. The whole is literally greater than the sum of the parts.

What we are paying for is easy access to a large market, which is also governed by decent social and environment protections. We are paying for a well functioning Single Market and customs union for the very simple reason that we benefit enormously from membership of the Union in terms of cheaper imports and greatly expanded markets for our goods. In this way, every member state is a net beneficiary. We need to learn lessons from the Brexit debacle and to avoid reinforcing misunderstandings, such as the idea that what we pay into Europe is somehow less than the total economic benefit we derive from EU membership.

The other major issue to be formally discussed by the Heads of Government at this week's European Council meeting is climate change. I know the Taoiseach will be keen to show off the Government’s new climate action plan to his European colleagues to reassure them that Ireland intends to rise from its current inadequate position at the bottom of the European league table on climate action and to do better. I caution against too much praise, however. There are good measures in the plan but there is also a lack of ambition at the heart of it. The Government appears to have abandoned the fundamental core ambition to get our annual carbon emissions down to 33 million tonnes by 2030. We cannot rely on our European or international partners to do this for us and I hope the Government will reflect on how its plan, which was published this week and will be debated in this House, can be reinforced to achieve that target.

Brexit will inevitably loom large in the informal discussions around the European Council meeting. Theresa May is now formally a caretaker Prime Minister until her successor is picked. We are closing in on the next deadline, by which time the United Kingdom is expected to leave the European Union, and Theresa May’s successor may only have a matter of weeks to have any impact on the current situation. We have held off holding a general election in this State precisely because the risk of instability in our Government at this crucial moment when the UK leaves the European Union needs to be avoided. However, the changing of the guard at EU level creates its own instability at a particularly difficult moment for us. On 1 November, the new Presidents of the European Commission and the European Central Bank will take office, along with the new High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. One month later, the new President of the European Council will take office to replace Donald Tusk. This is important because if the UK crashes out of the European Union on 31 October, the new President of the European Commission could begin his or her first day in the job facing a disorderly British exit from the Union and a crisis in Ireland with respect to the Border and the all-island economy. The Government must use all of its influence to ensure that the next senior officeholders of the Union are not only well briefed on Ireland’s concerns but have a track record of supporting and understanding Ireland throughout the Brexit negotiations.

I am sure we will receive solidarity and support from our European partners in the worst case scenario. We have received that solidarity to date. It would, however, be preferable to avoid any further cliff edge negotiations, never mind an actual fall into the abyss. For this reason, I hope the Government will convey Ireland’s support for unconditionally giving the new UK Prime Minister a further extension to the UK’s exit date from the EU beyond 31 October, if the UK requires it. We can and should prolong the UK’s departure, not least because it is likely that a majority of British people now favour remaining within the European Union. However, the UK needs to go through a democratic process in order to resolve some of the tensions and divisions that have arisen and fundamentally caused rifts within British society. It would be in the interests of this country and the European Union for the UK to remain a member and we should afford that possibility every opportunity to become the end result in this torturous process.

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