Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. The agenda for this week's meeting of the European Council is being discussed by EU affairs ministers at the General Affairs Council meeting today, at which the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, is representing Ireland. Hence, the reason I am in the Chamber.

The June European Council will return to economic issues. As the House will be acutely aware, the international economic outlook is serious. The uneven receding of the pandemic around the world has seen the emergence of inflationary pressures, a situation that has been exacerbated by the indefensible Russian invasion of Ukraine. The economic impacts are significant, including a sharp rise in energy and commodity prices. The most recent figures published on Friday show that euro area annual inflation was 8.1% in May and 8.8% across the EU. The European Central Bank has indicated that interest rates will begin to rise in a graduated way from July. While we do not know how matters will unfold in the global economy over the period ahead, clear risks are already apparent within the eurozone and across other developed economies.

This week's meeting will generally endorse the country-specific recommendations for this year's European semester process. The European semester is the annual cycle of economic and fiscal policy co-ordination among EU member states. It brings together the different strands of the EU's economic governance framework, whereby member states co-ordinate their economic policies to support growth and jobs.

In May, the European Commission published its analysis of relevant issues in each member state. This analysis provides the analytical underpinning for country-specific recommendations. The Commission's assessment is a broadly positive one, reflecting Ireland's strong economic performance prior to, and in the recovery phase from, Covid-19. The report noted that Ireland was the only EU country to avoid recession during the pandemic and that our labour market had emerged from the pandemic fairly unscathed. However, it also noted that challenges remained.

We are broadly happy with the four country-specific recommendations being agreed for Ireland this year. They are consistent with national policy orientations that have been firmly established already. The specific recommendations for Ireland cover, in broad terms, fiscal policy and investment; implementation of our national recovery and resilience plan; the circular economy; and reducing reliance on fossil fuels and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy. These were discussed by ministers at the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on 16 June, insofar as employment and social policies were concerned, and at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 17 June, insofar as macroeconomic and structural policies were concerned. Approval is expected at General Affairs Council meeting today of the integrated country-specific recommendations for transmission to this week's European Council. More generally, the House will recall that the Government welcomed the spring package when it was produced by the Commission on 23 May.

It is good to see the return of country reports and country-specific recommendations this year. These are key aspects of the European semester process and help to drive progress on structural reforms. Let me take this opportunity to thank the European Commission for its useful analysis in the country report for Ireland. It is undoubtedly an important input into our national dialogue, including yesterday's national economic dialogue in Dublin Castle. I particularly welcome the focus on energy policy and realising the potential of our vast renewable resources, which is in line with our national policy objectives.

I expect that this week's European Council will welcome the fulfilment by Croatia of all of the convergence criteria as set out in the treaty and endorse the Commission's proposal that Croatia adopt the euro on 1 January 2023, as recommended by finance ministers last week. As the House is aware, Ireland marks 20 years of using the euro this year. Croatia's adoption of it will be a further significant milestone in the history and evolution of the single currency area. Croatia will be the 20th EU member state to adopt the euro as its currency. It follows Lithuania, which joined the euro as its 19th member state in 2015. It is only within the last three decades that Croatia was embroiled in a terrible war. The fact that it is now set to join the single currency is positive for both the people of Croatia and the entire EU. It has our best wishes as it advances its preparations for the changeover from the kuna in the months ahead.

EU leaders will meet in euro summit format on Friday, 24 June. This will provide them with an opportunity to hear directly from the president of the European Central Bank, Ms Christine Lagarde, and the president of the Eurogroup, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, on the latest assessment of the economic outlook. Last week, the Eurogroup issued a statement on the future of the banking union, with an agreed focus in the near term on strengthening the common framework for bank crisis management and national deposit guarantee schemes. The EU framework has been significantly reinforced over the past decade and the European Commission has been invited to make legislative proposals as a further step in strengthening the banking union.

The Conference on the Future of Europe has been an unprecedented experience of transnational deliberative or participative democracy, with many worthwhile recommendations emerging from the process. Steered by three co-chairs representing the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, it has been driven by an executive board consisting of an equal representation of the three institutions as well as observers from key stakeholders. Citizen engagement was supported by an innovative multilingual digital platform, where any European could share ideas, and by national and European citizens' panels. I was pleased that one of the four Europe-wide citizens' panels met in Dublin in February to finalise its input.

Inclusivity and listening to all perspectives was the core philosophy of Ireland's domestic engagement in the conference. This was led by the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, who worked closely with European Movement Ireland on Ireland's national programme. This included a number of sectoral and regional events and events with Irish people living in the EU. The Minister of State also held a series of consultations with young people, the LGBTQI community, new Irish or migrant communities, Travellers, islanders, Gaeltacht communities and community groups.

During the closing ceremony in Strasbourg on 9 May, President Emmanuel Macron, on behalf of the Council Presidency, the President of the European Commission, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Parliament, Ms Roberta Metsola, received the final report, which contained 49 proposals and more than 320 specific associated measures.

The proposals reflect nine broad topics, including a stronger economy, social justice and jobs, education, culture, youth and sport, digital transformation, European democracy, values and rights, rule of law, security, climate change, environment, health EU in the world; and migration. Each of the recommendations is presented in the final 336-page report, which also aims to provide an overview of the various activities undertaken in the context of the unique process that the Conference on the Future of Europe has been. Ministers will have a further political exchange on the conference at today's General Affairs Council and I expect that this will include ensuring high priority to showing citizens that the EU institutions are listening to them and will follow up on their recommendations. EU leaders are expected to take note of the proposals set out in the final report of the conference at this week's European Council meeting. This will include inviting effective follow-up by the three institutions, namely, the Council, the Commission and the Parliament, each within their own sphere of competence and in accordance with the treaties, and ensuring high levels of transparency for Europe's citizens.

We welcome the assessment carried out by the Council secretariat and the Commission, which showed that a large proportion of the recommendations can be implemented within the current treaty framework or through new or amended EU legislation. Other specific measures would require treaty change to be fully implemented, including issues relating to the balance of competence in fields such as health and education; broadening the use of qualified majority voting; and treaty-based institutional matters. It is clear that the recommendations of the conference therefore include suggestions that can be implemented quite quickly, as well as some that are more ambitious and wide-ranging.

As we embark on more detailed consideration of the recommendations, our guiding principle should be the question of how we can best prepare our Union to continue to meet the needs of its citizens into the future. This includes respecting important principles such as subsidiarity, while protecting and strengthening the commitment to our shared values. Ireland is ready for this debate. We will work to constructively shape our new future and are open to considering treaty change if this proves necessary. We should first, however, do what we can within the existing framework. Our focus for now will remain on the most immediately realisable actions that can clearly respond to the expectations of our citizens for better engagement on decisions directly impacting on their daily lives. I look forward to further discussion of the outcome of the conference over the period ahead. I wish to thank Members again for their active participation in this debate. The Taoiseach will report to the House following this week's European Council.

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