Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to the House.

As Members will know, today we are holding statements to commemorate Europe Day. In doing so, we acknowledge and honour the most profound impact that the European Union has made on our country since we became a member of the then European Economic Community in 1973. Senator Craughwell will probably remember that, as I do, as opposed to other Members who probably were not even born then.

Europe Day, which is marked annually by the Oireachtas, commemorates the Schuman Declaration which was presented by the then French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, on 9 May 1950, 74 years ago today. The declaration, which proposes the pooling of resources in the production of coal and steel, led to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, which was the precursor to the European Union.

Ireland has had profound membership benefits since joining the European Union. Our citizens have obtained a range of different benefits, including the ability to move and work in other member states, fewer restrictions on business through the Single Market, the euro currency, common standards for important products, most notably food and medicines, better protections for the environment, funding for infrastructure projects and, of course, the very successful Erasmus programme.

On 1 May last, we as a country and as a Union marked the 20th anniversary of the Day of Welcomes, the single largest day of enlargement of the European Union, when ten countries acceded to membership in the wonderful year of 2004.