Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am very glad to be able to join with others in marking and celebrating Europe Day. Europe, as a concept, came out of moments of tragedy and of vision. It is an extraordinary idea that we can try to work together in these ways. It is one I wholeheartedly support and I am very passionate about being a citizen of Europe. There have been moments when Europe at its best has been extraordinarily positive in pressing forward rights for groups in different countries and in allowing countries to challenge each other to do better in terms of rights.Women's equality in Ireland, for example, owes quite a lot to the pressure from the European Union. Minority groups such as the Roma and Travellers, although minorities from different countries, have managed to find solidarity by connecting, finding common patterns and causes, and by being able to build a better challenge to governments across Europe.

Europe's precautionary principle has been an important new way of approaching the environment by comparison with the approach taken elsewhere in the world. Again, by recognising different national interests, we have been able to press each other to do better in meeting climate change and environmental targets. That is appropriate.

The general data protection regulation is an extraordinary triumph, an example of how, when we work on something together, we can create better rights and connections. Also to be considered is the telephone licence for citizens across Europe.

We need to acknowledge that Europe is coming out of a recent period in which it has been very much moving away from democratic engagement. There has been a diminishment in that regard in recent years. During the poor period of recession and austerity it seemed at many times that the European institutions put market sentiment far above public confidence or public engagement. Quarterly returns, our fiscal targets, took high precedence over long-term solidarity and engagement in the crafting of a shared future. For example, the future set out in Europe 2020 which outlines a sustainable and inclusive vision fell by the wayside when the fiscal targets were prioritised. That has come at a cost which has now been recognised. There is a renewed commitment to the social pillar. People need to see this thinking being followed through with real resources for the social pillar in Europe in order that it is not just a decorative flourish. There should be a proper pillar that is a load-bearing part of what it means to be European and why it is good to be.

Regarding the budgetary debate taking place in Europe, agricultural and other issues will be discussed. I would like to hear from the Minister of State that Ireland will bring gender and equality proofing to the European discussion on the budget and finance. That is important. People have seen that the areas that affect them are being curtailed. We cannot be complacent about the European Union, but the response to complacency must never be cynicism. It needs to be creative and there needs to be challenge. The European Union needs to welcome challenge. It needs to welcome the challenge on trade policy, in respect of which people have said they want trade to be conducted in a way that engages them as citizens and ensures they keep their democratic space for engagement. That signal has come through loud and clear and it needs to be said. We cannot say there are huge areas of policy in which we will not listen to or engage with people. The connection to decision-making is vital, as are the facts that people are being heard and that decisions can be changed. There has been concern about corporate capture within Europe. It does not serve us in our collective project if we allow that to be seen. Citizens need to be heard equally.

I want to finish with two vital points on the future of Europe and our collective work in that regard. There is a real danger that the European Union will erode its human rights credibility. In the treatment of migrants and the immigration control agreements mentioned we face a danger not just of affecting thousands of lives in a bad way but also eroding our international credibility as peace builders, peace brokers and human rights champions, of which we have heard that we are all very proud.

On peace building, the PESCO notification mentioned does not contain the words "peace", "peace building" or "peacekeeping" at any point. That is a real concern. I was very disappointed to see the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Simon Coveney, at yesterday's assembly on the future of Europe again blurring the lines on neutrality and talking about security in an abstract way. He was putting out the red herring of cybersecurity in the hope we would all believe it was too complicated and believe that somehow we had to sign up to very deep militarisation at a time when the Iran deal was falling through and we were seeing a hawkish push towards militarisation worldwide because of cybersecurity. Let us be clear: the way to deal with cybersecurity is through civil and engineering mechanisms and electricity services. Bearing in mind social protection, it is of serious concern when most data protection experts have identified the single customer view database as a honeypot. If we are serious about cybersecurity, we must deal with it in the way I advocate, not in some abstract, militarised way.

The wonder of the European Union is its multilateralism and that it involves multiple parts coming together. We really need to push back. There is a push-back towards big power politics on the global stage and even within Europe, considering that we hear the idea of a two-speed European Union or a European Union that is about the big powers and their friends, or coalitions of the willing. Let us be multilateralists. Let Ireland be the champion of peace building, multilateralism and bringing different perspectives together. When we can achieve that in the European Union, we be an example to the world. That is what we need to champion, but I worry that we are slipping. I ask the Minister of State to assure me that we are not.