Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I welcome President Pöttering. In my role as Deputy Leader of the House and representing the Green Party, Comhaontas Glas, I join in the welcome given to him by previous speakers and welcome several aspects of his speech. Senator Fitzgerald has raised the details of the position on climate change and energy security and I, too, welcome those aspects of the President's speech. It is an important role that the European Parliament will be playing in years to come. The provision on climate change in the reform treaty was a recent initiative of the Irish Government. It is the main difference between this treaty and the constitutional treaty and accompanied my party's participation in Government in this country. It is very welcome to see the European Parliament playing a role in advancing that important agenda. Indeed, it is the key agenda as the Union moves forward in years to come.

I wish to ask President Pöttering about ongoing concerns relating to the structures of the European Union. It is fair to say that several of the debates in this country that have accompanied the development and devolution of the Union, through the various referenda campaigns, have focused on concerns regarding a democratic deficit. The European Union is a union of democratic nations and is formed by particular values. The essence of democratic values is to have an ongoing, open and democratic debate. I would be pleased to hear President Pöttering's views on the importance of such critical engagement about what the Union is and what it is evolving into.

In Ireland, despite the existence of fora such as the Forum on Europe, the fact is very often lost that we need people to put forward arguments regarding whether the right direction is being followed. The upcoming debate in this country must be informed as much by critical voices as by those who are intimately involved in the structures of the European Union.

The essence of the democratic deficit is the involvement of the ordinary EU citizen. Each of the structures of the Union — the Parliament, Council and Commission — must demonstrate how the deficit exists now and how it can be lessened in the future. I am particularly keen to hear the views of the President of the European Parliament on that issue.

The President also mentioned the role Ireland plays as a donor nation and referred to our per capita contribution in terms of development aid. This is an area in which the European Union, collectively, plays an important role. Does the President believe strategies can be devised to prevent that from being undermined by some of the trade policies of the European Union? Is there a need to engage with developing countries in a better way? Senator Frances Fitzgerald has already mentioned that trade matters must be examined critically to determine how they might affect the interests of small and peripheral countries such as Ireland. I am interested in the President's response in that regard.

I wish to ask President Pöttering about the foreign policy direction of the European Union. We have had two instances in the past ten years where European Union member countries have chosen to take different positions, despite the move towards a common foreign policy. I cite the example of the Iraq war in 2003 where member countries took independent positions and the EU did not adopt a collective position. We are seeing that again now in the recognition of Kosovo as a new country. While Ireland has made such a recognition, several member states are uncomfortable about doing so and, again, there is no common EU position. Does Mr. Pöttering, as President of the Parliament, see this as one of the reasons there probably will never be a fully common European foreign policy acceptable to all members and that there will always be incidents and issues of policy where member states will decide on a national interest basis what their individual foreign policy positions will be?