Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Perfect, I thank the Minister of State. We await the next European Council statements because this happened on every occasion with the previous Taoiseach.

There exist two dominant narratives about the outcome of this European Council. The first is that of the establishment of the European Union, and echoed very much by the Taoiseach here today, where this is a victory for European solidarity. On the other hand, we have the more blunt and, in reality, more honest narrative from, among others, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, who stated: "We're here because everyone is taking care of their own country." So, no hint of a spirit of European solidarity from him or, if the reports are to be believed, from many others at the negotiating table. Fundamentally, at the negotiating table they are representing the interests of big business in their own countries.

If one looks beyond the rhetoric and behind the top-line figures, what does one find? There are €360 billion worth of grants and €390 billion worth of loans. The point has been made that for many people in many countries the loans are not worth very much. Let us examine the grants. There is, obviously, a real concession in the fact that European-wide borrowing is taking place and there is disbursement of grants. At the same time as making that concession in respect of the crisis, the establishment across the European Union, the Commission and the Governments that make up the European Council, have taken advantage of the crisis to go further in establishing what is referred to conditionality. In order to get this grant money, a business will need to meet the country-specific recommendations. Again, the EU is using the shock of the crisis as a kind of shock doctrine to reinforce the power of the European Commission to demand structural reforms. The latter will not be reforms that benefit ordinary people or improve public services in the coming years, they will be reforms of a neoliberal and austerity-driven character.

The agreement states that member states shall prepare national recovery and resilience plans that will be reviewed and adapted. It also states: "The recovery and resilience plans shall be assessed by the Commission within two months of the submission. The criteria of consistency with the country-specific recommendations ... shall need the highest score of the assessment." It further states that they will have to be approved by the Council, etc. The agreement is being used to reinforce the power of country-specific recommendations that have up to now been used to demand labour market reform in a negative way for workers, to demand privatisation and to demand liberalisation.

The other telling point about the nature of the agreement is the way in which the countries with far-right and dictatorial Governments, such as Poland and Hungary, were treated. Their Governments subvert any form of democracy at home. Hungary has effectively suspended democracy and replaced it with semi-fascistic and dictatorial one-man rule by decree. The European Union has, effectively, attached no conditions to the funds they will receive. Instead, those at the negotiating table, including the Irish Government, gave them huge concessions. Poland, which is a major polluter, has essentially received an exemption from emissions targets as part of this deal, no longer needing to reach the already unambitious and inadequate target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Look at what else was lost in the process of negotiation. The point has already been made by Deputy Boyd Barrett about health spending being taken away altogether. The original Commission proposal contained €30 billion for a just transition fund. This has been cut by two thirds, or €20 billion, to €10 billion. This gives a real vision of what the priorities are for those who rule across the European Union.

We need a socialist green new deal on a European level. We cannot go from the Covid-19 crisis into the impending climate catastrophe we are facing. This is not just about using the language of a green new deal, as the Government and the European Union leaders do. Instead it is about a radical transformation of our society to put people's needs and our planet, instead of profit, at the centre.

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