Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have been reviewing the conclusions of the European Council meeting which seems to have covered a lot of topics. What strikes me about how the conclusions are presented is the unnecessary language used. Do the European Council, the European Commission and other EU bodies ever produce materials in accessible format? We hear about civic engagement and involving citizens in our democracies, yet reports are produced in a way that prevents people from understanding what is going on. If these reports were written in plain English and plain languages, it would make a lot of sense. Our legislative and policy processes can exclude people and make it seem that local, national and European issues are not matters for them. I know that parliamentary language must be used but there should also be concurrent, accessible information for people who are interested.

The Council dealt with Covid-19, climate change, security and external relations. Section 2 in the conclusions relates to Covid-19 and the advance purchase agreements. The Council has invited the Commission to present a proposal on rapid antigen tests and the mutual recognition of test results. It is welcome that the Council is looking for a co-ordinated approach around vaccination certificates and common frameworks. It makes sense to work together on this if we want to re-open cross-border tourism which is vitally important.

Section 3 on climate change talks about delivering in the most cost-effective manner possible. Earlier this morning, I spoke about the €50 million that the Irish Government is spending on statistical transfers of renewable energy for missing our own targets. Our climate change actions will not be cost-effective for us if we keep missing our binding targets. The Commission has also been asked to bring forward a proposal on a possible EU green bond standard and to look at ways to strengthen the EU's emissions trading system.

Section 4 deals with security. Points 25 and 26 of this section reference the importance of preventing radicalisation online. There are calls for illegal online content to be addressed, as well as the dissemination of terrorist content online. The Council called for support for initiatives to understand better the spread of extremist ideologies. This is a very important issue and is connected to the measures that will be taken around Covid-19 and vaccinating the population. The rise of conspiracy theories as well as anti-mask and anti-lockdown protests across Europe have links with the far right and must be addressed. However, I do not think the far right is the intended target here and I ask the Minister to tell us what is the target.

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