Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 13, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on Europe oversees implementation of programme for Government commitments on the European Union and related issues. It generally meets in advance of formal meetings of the European Council. It last met on 13 October, ahead of the meeting of the European Council in Brussels on 20 and 21 October. As I previously reported to the House, that meeting considered a number of pressing issues facing the European Union, including Russia's illegal war on Ukraine and our collective response to it; wider impacts of the war, including on food security, price and supply challenges related to energy and how best to advance our collective response to them; economic challenges; and a number of international issues, including COP27 and the upcoming European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, summit.

The next meeting of the European Council will take place in Brussels on 15 and 16 December. I expect the agenda for the December meeting will continue the work on the important issues we addressed in October. Those include developments in the war in Ukraine; energy, including proposals we asked the European Commission to develop at our meeting in October; and the economy. I expect that we will also address a number of international issues, including the European Union's relationship with countries in the Union's southern neighbourhood.

An EU-ASEAN summit, bringing together European Union leaders with our counterparts from ten countries in south-east Asia, will take place on 14 December, ahead of the meeting of the European Council. This will mark the 45th anniversary of the partnership dialogue between the two regions and two of the world's most advanced regional integration initiatives.

A meeting of the Euro Summit is also expected to take place following the meeting of the European Council. It will consider economic prospects for the period ahead. It is envisaged that the Cabinet committee on Europe will meet in advance of that meeting to consider issues on the agenda.

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