Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will participate in the December meeting of the European Council in Brussels next Thursday and Friday. The agenda will cover EU enlargement, Ukraine, the Middle East and the mid-term review of the multi-annual financial framework. There will also be discussions on security and defence, migration and certain items relating to external relations. European Council President Charles Michel will report back on consultative meetings he has been holding with leaders in EU capitals to develop the EU's strategic agenda for 2024 to 2029.

In my statement I will cover the situation in the Middle East, Ukraine, including Ukraine's EU accession ambitions, the review of the multi-annual financial framework, and work to prepare the EU strategic agenda. In his remarks, the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, will cover other aspects of enlargement, security, defence and migration.

It is extremely distressing that the truce between Israel and Hamas has been brought to an end. The seven-day truce saw over 100 hostages released from Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many of them women and teenage boys detained without trial. We call for an end to the practice of administrative detention by Israel. I know all in this House were relieved to learn of the release of nine-year-old Irish citizen Emily Hand. The Government worked hard with our partners in the region to facilitate 56 Irish citizens to leave Gaza. We will continue to engage with international partners to ensure that Irish citizens and accompanying dependants wishing to leave the territory can do so safely. Our thoughts, of course, continue to be with those who are still being held hostage and those who have been subjected to indiscriminate attacks and unprovoked violence. I am thinking of the aid workers, the journalists and the citizens of Palestine and Israel, who are innocent in this appalling situation and whose lives have been needlessly destroyed. We condemn all those who seek to cause suffering of others. Ireland continues to reiterate our call for all hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally.

The truce also enabled the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. Despite this, the UN reports that the volume of aid entering Gaza is not sufficient to meet the extensive needs of the people there. That is why we will continue to call for the establishment of a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire. The high number of civilian casualties, particularly children, in the Gaza Strip is deeply shocking. International humanitarian law, which includes an obligation to protect civilians, applies in all conflicts and all circumstances and to state and non-state actors alike.

The Government is deeply concerned about rising violence and deaths in the West Bank, including increased incidents of settler violence and displacement of Palestinian communities. This is unacceptable. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the families of two children killed in Jenin last week, during an operation by the Israeli security services. Ireland has stressed that the protection of civilians must be paramount and is obligated by international law. The settler violence against Palestinians in their homes and on their farms is provocative and risks escalation of the current phase of the conflict. I also offer my condolences to the families of the three people killed in the terror attack in Jerusalem. Terrorism is never the answer. Violence is never the answer. Ireland will continue to work with our EU partners and the UN to support efforts to combat terrorism wherever it exists.

The international community must work urgently to de-escalate the situation in Israel and Palestine. We call for a durable ceasefire and have engaged with multiple regional partners to that end. Most recently, on the sidelines of COP28, I discussed the situation with many leaders, including those from the region. Among them were King Abdullah of Jordan, the Emir of Qatar, the President and the foreign minister of Egypt, the President of the UAE, the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the Prime Minister of Iraq. The Tánaiste is in the region visiting Saudi Arabia as we speak. We also discussed the role of the international community as the conflict enters its third month, and I reiterated the need to focus on a pathway to peace.

Ireland has been very clear that continued and increased development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people is absolutely essential. We welcome the rapid conclusion of the Commission's review of EU aid to Palestine. As we had always expected, the review shows that there is no evidence that money has been diverted for unintended purposes, and that in turn shows that the Commission's existing controls and safeguards work well. I also welcome the quadrupling of the EU's humanitarian support to the Palestinian people to €100 million. Ireland has contributed an additional €13 million in humanitarian assistance in addition to our annual development and humanitarian budget of €29 million.

At the December European Council, leaders will discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, notably the humanitarian situation and the prospects for reviving a political process on the basis of a two-state solution. The situation will continue to evolve between now and the Council meeting, and leaders will respond accordingly. I believe Europe needs to unite around a new push for a two-state solution and an end to terrorism and occupation.

The situation in Ukraine continues to be a matter of grave concern. Ukrainian civilians are bearing the brunt of Russian aggression as Russia continues to target indiscriminately civilian infrastructure. We are heading into another difficult winter, with likely further attacks on energy infrastructure and civilian targets by Russia.

Ireland has committed over €210 million in assistance to the Ukrainian people since the war began in February 2022. We are also hosting over 100,000 Ukrainians in Ireland, 70,000 of whom are in State-provided accommodation.

The December European Council will seek to find agreement on the EU's future security commitments to Ukraine, which will be informed by a report from the high representative, Mr. Borrell. The package will assist Ukraine financially, including helping it to maintain essential public services, ensure macroeconomic stability and restore critical infrastructure destroyed by Russia.

An agreement will be sought under the mid-term review of the multi-annual financial framework or, potentially, separately, should other issues hold up agreement on the MFF. A decision is also proposed on increasing military assistance through the European Peace Facility and the EU military assistance mission, EUMAM. Ireland's security assistance to Ukraine is and will continue to be directed exclusively towards non-lethal aid.

Leaders will consider commitments to the Ukraine peace formula, proposals on extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilised Russian assets and, it is hoped, welcome agreement on the 12th package of sanctions. We firmly endorse President Zelenskyy's peace formula. There can be no doubt that it is up to Ukraine to determine the terms and conditions and timelines for any peace agreement or the timing of any ceasefire.

While providing assistance to Ukraine, Ireland has been to the fore in working to ensure there are consequences for Russia as a result of its illegal invasion of a neighbouring country, a democratic and sovereign state. This includes endorsement for strong sanctions and engagement on accountability mechanisms across the multilateral system. Discussions on the 12th package of sanctions against Russia are ongoing. Building on the measures introduced in the 11th package, there will be a continued focus on strengthening implementation and combatting circumvention.

A decision will also be taken, as part of the broader discussion at the Council on EU enlargement, on whether to open negotiations with Ukraine on its accession to the EU. The Commission’s enlargement report, published in November, has recommended opening negotiations and Ireland is strongly in favour of Ukraine's EU path. The same goes for Moldova. While Ukraine will need to progress a range of reforms that is likely to take some time, extending EU membership to Ukraine is also central to guaranteeing Ukraine’s broader economic and societal stability and security.

Leaders will revert next week to the proposed revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027. This is the EU's budget. Further to our discussion in October, it remains the case that the goal of reaching an agreement as soon as possible is one that is shared by most member states but this goal is not yet reflected to the same extent in the level of new moneys that should be committed to new priorities.

The political context for striking an overall agreement also is no less challenging than in October, including having regard to current budgetary difficulties in Germany, negotiations to form a new government in the Netherlands and indications from Hungary that it may block agreement on this and other agenda items. However, broad-based support on providing sustainable multi-annual funding to Ukraine continues to provide a strong foundation for our wider discussion. This €50 billion Ukraine package accounts for around half of the overall amount that formed the basis of the proposals made by the Commission in June. The multi-annual funding package proposed for the period to 2027 comprises €19 billion in grants, and a further €33 billion in guaranteed loans. Member states also agree on the need to ensure Ukraine’s ownership of its recovery and reconstruction, and appropriate alignment of this financial support to the reforms and investments that will be advanced as part of a future accession plan to be prepared by the Ukrainian Government.

As well as the €50 billion package, the Commission’s proposals in June also proposed a further €49 billion in new spending on priorities such as migration and external action, and mobilising new investments in strategically important technologies, as well as some technical adjustments to take account of higher interest costs. As the Spanish Presidency has highlighted, member state views on these other elements of the proposed package continue to diverge quite significantly. Differing views include the extent to which there may be further potential to redeploy unallocated funds to new priorities, as well as the extent to which proposed new spending is fully warranted.

Work in the Council is ongoing at both the technical and political levels ahead of next week’s meeting. Ireland is deeply and constructively engaged. We hope to be part of efforts to strike an overall agreement, including through our commitment to ensuring that the EU budget is always funded and managed in the most cost-effective way.

The European Council President, Charles Michel, will provide an update to leaders on the work to prepare the EU Strategic Agenda 2024-2029. This is a keynote reference document, agreed by the European Council that sets out the priority areas of the Union’s policy. It guides the work of the European Council and provides guidance for the work programmes of other EU institutions for the forthcoming legislative term after next June’s European elections. President Michel wrote letters to leaders in June 2023, setting out proposed priorities for the years ahead in the areas of EU external relations, security and defence, energy challenges, our economic and social base, migration and the protection and promotion of EU values.

Work on the future agenda was launched at the informal meeting of members of the European Council in Granada in October, and continued via a series of smaller meetings in Berlin, Copenhagen, Zagreb and Paris in November. I attended the round of talks hosted by President Michel and the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, in Copenhagen, with the Prime Ministers of Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria and Latvia. During the meetings, we discussed the future direction of policy, budget, and decision-making, including preparations for a greatly enlarged European Union. These conversations are necessary and welcome, as much has changed since we developed the last strategic agenda in 2018 and 2019. We have faced unexpected and unprecedented challenges, which tested us as a Union and we rose to them. We need to absorb the lessons we have learned from these crises, as we consider the upcoming legislative period.

Following the December European Council meeting, President Michel will begin to formulate proposals to be considered at a further round of consultations in the new year, before the work is concluded by the European Council in June. Ireland will continue to reflect on our priorities as a fully engaged and enthusiastic member of the European Union and we will feed into the development of the strategic agenda in the months and years ahead. In his remarks, the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, will consider enlargement, security and defence and migration policy. Immediately prior to the European Council meeting, I will join fellow EU leaders for a summit with the leaders of countries in the western Balkans to discuss their future EU perspective. I will update the House again in the new year following the meeting of the European Council next week.

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