Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, to the House.

Europe Day commemorates the Schuman declaration of 1950, a statement by the French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, in which he proposed to place the French and German production of coal and steel under one common higher authority. This led to the first prototype of the European Community, known as the European Coal and Steel Community, established in 1952. The EU's choice of this date, rather than the official founding date of the European Coal and Steel Community is significant, as Schuman's speech was concerned with economic growth and cementing peace between France and Germany.

Nearly 70 years on from that speech, it cannot be denied that the lasting peace in western Europe has indeed been a more than significant achievement. The development of agreed standards with regard to human and civil rights in much of Europe must be recognised. This is the much vaunted social Europe that was much in evidence in the later decades of the last century but, alas, seldom seen these days.

There was also significant progress with regard to economic growth and prosperity. However, that growth came to a crashing halt in 2008. Today, the European Union is facing unprecedented challenges, many of which are as a direct result of the failures of long-standing EU policy and the thoroughly undemocratic nature of the EU bureaucracy itself. The past decade in particular has seen the EU tie itself to a neoliberal vision which has had devastating consequences both for the peoples of Europe and the wider political landscape. We have had a decade of harsh austerity measures, aimed at dismantling of public services and driving down wages and living standards. In many of our countries, welfare and social security have been hit by the full force of that austerity agenda, targeting the very poorest in our society.At the same time large-scale and vital public investment across Europe has been all but abandoned as this neoliberal dogma has allowed many valuable public assets to be sold cheaply for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. We have seen an ideological war waged by the European Union and an unelected Commission, in particular, with an ever increasing determination to privatise and commodify public assets and public services. The rightwards trajectory in European politics has led to many of the so-called social democratic parties slide to the right, aligning themselves with the old Thatcherite mantra that there is no alternative, thus creating the space for the rise of the far right across eastern and much of western Europe.

Beyond Europe’s borders we have seen war and climate change drive the mass displacement of people. Forced migration and a refugee crisis on a scale not seen since the Second World War are tearing communities and families apart. That, in turn, is being exploited by some of the ugliest elements in politics - people who are determined to promote fear and division within societies. The rise of the far right is directly connected to the neoliberal agenda of the European Union. Our world is slipping back towards the threat of global conflict spurred on by national chauvinism and neo-imperial ambition. The human and democratic rights to which I referred, including freedom of speech, are increasingly coming under pressure on the fringes and even within the borders of the European Union. Just look at what is happening in Catalonia today. The Prime Minister of a democratically elected government has been forced into exile and his parliamentary colleagues have been imprisoned simply for fulfilling the democratic will of the Catalonian people. We have seen the use of brutal violence to suppress civil rights. The authoritarian mask of the Spanish state has certainly slipped, but the situation in Catalonia has also exposed the European Union’s lack of empathy or desire to truly uphold human rights when it matters.

We must also consider the disgraceful EU deal with Turkey, whereby, in return for cash, Turkey will accept the role of jailor for tens of thousands of refugees deported from the European Union and held in indefinite detention. Amnesty International has described the conditions in the refugee camps as squalid and we already know about the notorious human rights record of the Turkish Government. Where are the European Union’s much vaunted human rights values in this disgraceful barbarity?

I must also mention Libya and the actions of EU member states, including our own, in helping to turn back fleeing migrants and hand them over to the authorities in Libya where, according to Amnesty International, they are left to reside in "hell". Torture, rape and the selling of migrants into slavery are commonplace and it is a source of huge regret that we are complicit. An excellent motion was passed two weeks ago at the Council of Europe calling on member states to call the Libyan authorities to account for their actions and to insist on proper standards of human rights in return for co-operation with the Libyan coastguard. I pay tribute to the Irish team at the Council of Europe and our vice president, Senator Joe O'Reilly. Alas, however, I fear that the particular resolution will be ignored by those same member states, including Ireland.

We are witnessing a blatant move by France and Germany to create an EU army through PESCO, a move which will make the strategic aims of the European Union inseparable from those of NATO. It will commit EU member states to providing troops to intervene in conflicts, as well as increasing contributions to defence budgets. It is worth remembering that both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael voted in favour of this blatant breach of our neutrality. Article 29.4.9o of the Constitution specifically states the State will not adopt a common EU defence policy where such a policy would include the participation of the State. The Government's decision to join PESCO runs totally contrary to that article.

The European Union is at a defining crossroads. If it continues down the path it is on, turning its back on the ideals of Robert Schuman in the context of economic growth and human rights values in pursuit of a fortress Europe and persisting with its rigid adherence to neoliberal values, coupled with ever increasing militarisation, ultimately, the entire European project will unravel. It is time for the voices who believe in the vision of a social Europe, a democratic Europe and a Europe that respects national sovereignty, rather than in the ever increasing centralisation of power, to be heard.