Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am always on the clock when I am in the Seanad Chamber. I will try to respond to all of the points made. There was a lot of overlap in the contributions, with almost everyone highlighting the potential of the free trade negotiations, particularly those involving the United States. I am really enthused and encouraged by the energy and optimism that exists in this Chamber about the potential for that agreement. I also welcome Senator Zappone's offer of support for those negotiations and we may come calling on her if we need a friendly American accent to assist us. The potential is indeed great and many speakers have mentioned it. However, I do not underestimate the challenge, which is not just confined to agriculture.

Interestingly, in the last couple of months I have had some very positive discussions with the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. Ireland is the biggest per capita beef exporter in the world, and at the moment we cannot export our beef to what should be a huge market for us, namely, the United States, in particular its east coast. The IFA is very enthusiastic about the opportunity. Of course, that is not to say that it will not enter into discussions with some degree of caution, as one would expect any sectoral representative organisation to do, but it certainly sees the opportunity and potential that exists. I am really enthused by that. I do not know that the IFA can speak for all of the farmers of Europe but the potential is certainly great and Ireland is really well positioned to take advantage of that.

There are many potential obstacles, however, as with all aspects of regulation. Potential pitfalls lie in the digital agenda and in the realm of data protection. These are issues we are trying to progress within the Single Market at the moment. In a sense, we must sort out our own house first and we are making significant progress on the digital agenda. In terms of the EU's internal negotiations, there are a lot of US firms based here which have their own concerns which they are actively bringing to the table in all of the institutions and, indeed, among the member states through lobbying, which is the norm in EU policymaking. It is interesting because now we must also deal with these issues with potential trade negotiations with the United States in mind. It is a massive undertaking.

It is very ambitious to think that we will agree a mandate at EU level by the end of the Presidency but this is our opportunity. Ireland is a country with a particular relationship with the US and a particular interest in attracting investment from there. We also appreciate the potential from opening up these markets, unlike other larger countries in Europe which do not have economies as open as ours and which are not as open-minded as we are about trade. In that context, it is up to us to really push this agenda. If we miss this opportunity, the whole process might be slowed down again, which would be unfortunate. Once we get to the point where we have a mandate, we can then get into the negotiations. Of course, that will also take time. I was speaking at an event last night alongside a representative from IBEC. We were discussing how long this process might take. Normally a free trade agreement, FTA takes a minimum of 18 months to negotiate and I would expect that a US FTA would take slightly longer, because of the scale and complexity. We really need to inject impetus into this process now so that we can reap the rewards in two or three years time, which must be our goal.

To answer Senator Brennan, FTA negotiations are under way with Canada. There are some complications and, needless to say, agriculture is part of those complications, but I am optimistic that we will reach an agreement that will deliver results for Europe and Canada. Our relationship with Canada is strengthening all of the time. There are an awful lot of young Irish people in Canada at the moment, as we are all very well aware, and we can harness some of the opportunities that exist there as well.

Senator Zappone asked about free movement, which is so complex. We have taken our eye of the ball somewhat in terms of some of the priorities we have been pursuing for the last decade, particularly with regard to the Stockholm programme. With the financial, banking and economic crises, some of these issues have slid down the agenda. The Irish Presidency will be prioritising the Schengen package and the asylum package, which are two massive areas where we are trying to make progress. We must deal with the question of Romania and Bulgaria entering into Schengen. We are not part of the Schengen area but others are very anxious to get into it. That is really where the focus is for us at the moment.

The point Senator Zappone made is excellent in respect of the recognition of documents and the recognition of civil status. These are issues we have all come across in our dealings with constituents. We all know of European citizens living in Ireland or Irish citizens who have moved to other countries and the issues they face can be hugely complex. There is no doubt that we must simplify that process and the idea of a data exchange platform is the future and is the way to do it. It is also the way to do it with safeguards and protections for data and also for citizens' rights. I take on board what Senator Zappone has said and will communicate her views to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, who leads on these matters for us. His agenda is extremely full as it is but I recognise and share the concerns of Senator Zappone that if we are to deliver on genuine free movement of people in Europe, we really must tackle this.

Connected to that, of course, is one of our Single Market priority files concerning the recognition of professional qualifications, on which we have made great progress already in our Presidency. We hope we can bring that to a conclusion by the end of the Irish Presidency, which will mean that young professionals from Ireland and all other member states will have their qualifications recognised much more easily in other jurisdictions. It is incredible that Europe, which has free movement of people, has the lowest mobility rate of any region in the world.

Some of this has to do with language barriers and so on, but much could be done to free up the system and realise our shared goal of the free movement of people. The issue is on our radar.

A number of Senators raised the question of enlargement. As I am leading the Government side on this matter during our Presidency, I am engaged with it. We are happy that some files are progressing quickly, but others have unfortunately slowed down. Often, a slowing is due to domestic situations in member states. It is not always in the control of the Presidency.

At my informal meeting with European affairs Ministers in Dublin in January, I mentioned that I had invited all of the candidate and aspiring candidate countries to send their European integration Ministers and-or chief negotiators. They are usually the same people. The aspiring candidates of the western Balkans are Albania and Bosnia, the latter of which was mentioned in this debate and has been raised with me in this House and at the European affairs committee. I am conscious that the Oireachtas is engaged on the question of Bosnia. I visited the country last summer. Everything is happening. There has been a high-level dialogue and engagement with Bosnia-Herzegovina has occurred at all levels to try to keep it focused on a path towards the EU. This is not easy, as there are many internal difficulties, but we are giving every support that we can, as is the European Commission.

Likewise, we had hoped for a Commission progress report on Albania in April, but Commissioner Füle has announced that he will not issue a progress report because of the proximity of the Albanian elections. This is the right decision, as there have never been free and fair elections in Albania. Before we can consider granting candidate status, we need it to demonstrate that there can be such elections. Unofficially, the decision has been to postpone the report.

On the other hand, I am optimistic about Serbia and Kosovo. Prime Minister Da?i? was in Dublin last week. I met him in Belgrade last autumn. We have engaged intensively. The Taoiseach has personally encouraged the Prime Minister and his Administration to engage fully in the high-level dialogue with Kosovo. The Belgrade-Pristina dialogue is being chaired by Baroness Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. There have been strides. It is exciting. The region is delicate and there are many sensitivities, including in terms of the issues between Kosovo and Serbia. The leaders of both have engaged fully in the process and significant steps have been taken. I am optimistic that, when the Commission issues its report in April, it will recommend opening negotiations with Serbia and launching negotiations for a stabilisation and association agreement with Kosovo. It will be an historic decision and I am confident that it will be taken under the Irish Presidency. It will probably be taken at the June European Council meeting. We are working hard to ensure that we deliver on it.

Turkish accession negotiations have been stalled for a number of years and there has been no progress. The Irish Presidency has achieved a breakthrough, as we have managed to get agreement from France, which had blocked a range of chapters, to unblock chapter 24 on regional policy. We have begun taking steps towards unfreezing negotiations with Turkey. The country is an important strategic partner for Europe, including in geopolitical security terms, and is seeing economic growth. It is an important country. Whatever the outcome of the negotiations will be, we must strive to bring Turkey closer to Europe and vice versa. I am pleased to report that the Irish Presidency is making progress on this front.