Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Seanad for the invitation to participate in this debate on the future of the Europe 2020 strategy. It is an honour and privilege to be here today.

It is fitting that the occasion allows me the opportunity to commend once again the very valuable work undertaken by the Joint Committee on European Affairs in contributing last November to the European Commission's public consultation on the future of the Europe 2020 strategy, including an important series of public sessions with key stakeholders. I see the committee's report as representing an important milestone in stepping up engagement by the Oireachtas with the European semester process of economic policy co-ordination and with the core objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy. We face few greater challenges in our role as public representatives than ensuring we have in place the right foundations for the sustainable prosperity of all of our people.

As the House is aware, Europe 2020 is the EU strategy to support growth that is smart, sustainable and inclusive. Its ten-year plan, which was adopted in 2010, is based around five headline targets in the areas of employment, innovation, climate and energy, education and social inclusion. These are translated into specific goals for each member state, with progress being monitored through the European semester process.

For the EU as a whole, performance against these objectives is at best mixed, having been overshadowed and undermined by the economic and financial crises that began to emerge in the euro area at around the same time as the Europe 2020 strategy was adopted. The EU-level climate and energy and education targets are broadly on track. This means that 20% improvements in greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, and energy efficiency have been achieved. Increasing third level educational attainment to above 40% and reducing non-completion of second level education to below 10% have also been achieved.

However, the innovation target of raising research and development investments to 3% of GDP is unlikely to be met based on current projections. There has actually been negative performance against the employment and social inclusion targets, with fewer people working and more people at risk of poverty and social exclusion across the EU than when the strategy was agreed, reflecting the depth of the economic and financial crisis in recent years.In 2008, the overall employment rate in the European Union for the 20 to 64 age group peaked at 70.3% after a period of steady and sustained increase. However, employment trends reversed in subsequent years, with the rate falling to 68.4% in 2013, which marked a deviation of 6.6 percentage points from the European 2020 target of 75%. The evidence none the less suggests that Europe is now once again in the early stages of recovery from this period of deep and protracted recession. The year 2015 is the first since the onset of the crisis in which the economies of all member states are expected to record economic growth. Recovery in Ireland is particularly strong and remains firmly on course. The Commission's 4.8% estimate for Irish gross domestic product growth last year is the highest for any country in Europe, with a strong performance of approximately 3.5% growth expected to continue this year and indeed next year. The tough decisions already taken by this Government will bring the headline Exchequer deficit to below 3% of GDP this year, allowing us to exit the excessive deficit procedure in 2016. This will be a further important milestone following the successful exit from our EU-IMF programme a little more than 14 months ago. What is probably of greatest importance is the recovery we are seeing in our labour market. We have almost 1.94 million people at work, which is up around 95,000 since the low point in mid-2012. The latest EUROSTAT estimate yesterday put our unemployment rate in January at 10%, now more than one full percentage point below the euro average of 11.2%, which represents a clear downward path from a height of 15.1% in 2012. We are now set to be back in single digits within the coming months.

The key risk to the Irish economic outlook, as acknowledged by the European Commission, is a period of prolonged weakness in the wider euro area. We can reasonably expect, however, that lower oil prices, the expanded asset purchase programme recently announced by the ECB and the depreciation of the euro will also contribute positively and collectively to what remains a fragile recovery. The Commission's latest forecast on 5 February offered GDP growth of 1.3% for the euro area and 1.7% for the European Union as a whole. Private sector lending has also returned to a positive position, and the Commission's economic sentiment indicator also rose slightly in February for the second month in a row, which does mainly reflect improved consumer expectations.

We can see early signs of this more positive economic outlook beginning to feed through to Europe's labour markets, though it is fair to say this is not significant and not to the same degree as in Ireland. However, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area, 11.2%, is down in January from 11.4% in the previous month and down from 11.5% for the corresponding month last year, January 2014. This is the lowest rate we have seen since April 2012. The EU unemployment rate was at 9.8% in January, down from 9.9% the previous month and from 10.6% a year previously. This again is the second consecutive month in which the rate of unemployment for all 28 member states is back in single digits. We should, however, bear in mind that these are average figures and they mask significant regional variations. Unemployment rates are as low as 4.7% in Germany and 4.8% in Austria but as high as 23.4% in Spain and 25.8% in Greece. Crucially, youth unemployment remains the major challenge across Europe's economies. There are as many as 4,890,000 people under the age of 25 unemployed in the European Union, while in December 2014, some 3,250,000 unemployed persons under the age of 25 were living in the euro area, giving average youth unemployment rates of 21.2% and 22.9%, respectively. The youth unemployment rate is as high as 51% in Spain, and the figure is almost the same in Greece, at 50.6%, while the rate in Croatia is 44.1%. Italy is also at 41.2%. In Ireland, the unacceptably high youth unemployment rate is 22%. A situation in which well educated young Europeans face little or no prospect of joining the labour market is completely unacceptable.

It is very welcome that the extent of this challenge is exclusively acknowledged in the work programme of the new Commission led by President Juncker, building from the political guidelines he presented to the European Parliament on the occasion of his election last July. President Tusk, the new president of the European Council, has also made explicit reference to the need for ruthless determination to end the economic crisis. This political emphasis is reflected strongly in the ambitious investment plan presented by the new Commission in its first major announcement on 26 November last. The investment plan will aim to mobilise €315 billion in net additional investments in the real economy over the next three years, which is consistent with the Europe 2020 objectives. The Commission's proposals are designed to attract private investors by reducing complexity and sharing risk, and the focus is essentially on quickly establishing a pipeline of high-quality projects that would otherwise be unlikely to succeed. There are three key elements to this. The first is the setting up of the new European fund for strategic investments, EFSI. This will be guaranteed an initial budget of €21 billion, supporting €63 billion in new higher-risk EIB lending, which should mobilise a further €252 billion from private investors. Second is the setting up of a credible project pipeline and an advisory hub, and this will include significant stepping up of technical assistance to member states and deepening of co-operation with national promotional banks. Third, there will be improvements to the regulatory environment, including further streamlining of single market rules for digital and energy infrastructure in particular and also for capital markets. It is clear that President Juncker's investment plan cannot be a magic bullet for all of Europe's economic problems, but it is also likely that it can make a significant and overdue contribution, combined with the right mix of structural, fiscal and monetary policies. EU-wide investments are now down 15% on 2007 levels. This is a gap of around €430 billion, or somewhere between €230 billion and €370 billion relative to historical norms. These are the Commission's own estimates. There are also private sector surplus savings of around 3.5% of euro area GDP. This approximates to a figure of in the region of €350 billion which is required to be recycled effectively to support appropriate expansion in economic activity. Successful implementation of the Commission's proposals can therefore begin to close the gap with net additional annual investment of €100 billion out to 2017 and beyond. This would be the equivalent of boosting the GDP of the European Union area by around 0.8% per annum, before multiplier effects are applied. It is not unrealistic to think in terms of potentially adding a full percentage point to the annual aggregate GDP growth, which is vital. In view of the levels of growth around Europe, the addition of a percentage point would be extremely welcome. The EFSI is essentially being designed to provide additional risk-bearing capacity to the European Investment Bank, which will allow it to obtain private-sector finance for these new projects. As Vice President Katainen has indicated, there is plenty of liquidity in Europe but it is not currently being translated into investment. The Taoiseach was, therefore, happy to support strongly the firm endorsement by the December European Council of this overall approach, including setting clear expectations for political agreement between the Council and Parliament by June. While there are many issues of detail that remain to be settled over coming months, there is now consensus with regard to the broad outline of this new approach.

As the Taoiseach indicated to Dáil Éireann on 27 January, he has asked his Department to ensure a coherent and well co-ordinated approach by Government Departments to the new investment plan. While we need to be careful about setting unrealistic expectations about potential benefits for Ireland, there may be opportunities to develop synergies between the new investment plan and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, both of which were established by the Government last year.

The new EU investment plan shares the focus of these initiatives on using public resources to mobilise a stronger pipeline of private sector investments in the real economy. We should not lose sight of the plan's main benefit to Ireland, which is its potential role in contributing to stronger growth in our European partners, which is badly needed. As one of Europe's most open and trade-dependent economies, any boost to the growth prospects of the wider European economy also becomes an important boost for Irish prospects and interests.

It is also encouraging that the emphasis of the investment plan will be reinforced by the European semester 2015. The annual growth survey, as presented by the Commission on 28 November, is proposing that the next phase of the European semester process will be advanced on the basis of a threefold emphasis on boosting investment and pressing ahead on national and EU level structural reforms, which will also be underpinned by continued fiscal discipline. As the House is aware, the European semester is a set of processes, developed in 2010, whereby member states co-ordinate their economic policies to support growth and jobs. We agree shared priorities at EU level in first half of year and we then implement them at national level in the second half of year. It is fundamentally designed as a mutual surveillance process that is supported by the European Commission. The key lesson of the crisis is that we need to take these arrangements seriously, particularly in so far as the stability of the single currency area is concerned.

Members will have noted that the Commission produced its comprehensive country reports for each member state last week. There is now a window of more than two months before draft proposals for the next round of country-specific recommendations are produced by the Commission in mid-May, for adoption subject to amendment by the Council in June. Members may be aware the period for deliberation was very much shorter last year. In the case of Ireland, the assessment in the new country report is a broadly positive one, reflecting the strength of the economic recovery under way and supporting, in turn, a gradual unwinding of the deep imbalances developed during a period of appalling economic mismanagement. We are one of only five member states whose budgets were found by the Commission in November last to be fully compliant with the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact. Of course, it is our own citizens who benefit most from that reality.

I look forward to a fuller discussion of the Commission's analysis at my meeting with the Joint Committee on European Affairs on 10 March, which will look ahead to the meeting of the General Affairs Council on 17 March that will prepare for the spring European Council a number of days later. I hope that other joint committees can also take an interest in the sectoral assessments set out in last week's country report in so far as matters falling within their respective areas of responsibility are concerned. I believe this is the opportunity for Oireachtas committees to engage at sectoral level with the recommendations. It is an important rationale behind the widening of the period between the reports of last week and the country-specific recommendations which will follow in a number of months.

Returning to the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 strategy itself, the new Commission is due to present proposals this year for an improved and updated strategy, ensuring we have the right post-crisis arrangements in place for supporting growth and jobs in Europe. The Commission's preparations in this regard will, of course, be informed by the public consultation to which the joint committee made its important contribution last November. In an increasingly knowledge-intensive and interconnected global economy, it is crucial that we have a shared view of changing challenges and opportunities at both the domestic and EU levels.

The Commission's proposals were originally expected to be presented before the spring European Council. This timeline has now been reset to the latter part of the year, keeping the political focus in the first half of the year on getting the new investment plan, which is so important, up and running. The Commission has, however, produced this afternoon a short review of the public consultation process, along with a refreshed status update yesterday on EU level progress against the five headline targets. In my first meeting with the joint committee on 25 September last, I stressed that we need to unlock a new wave of EU-wide investments, supporting growth that is smart, sustainable and inclusive. This means investments in the knowledge, skills and next generation infrastructure necessary to compete successfully in the digital economy; investments in setting a clear path to decarbonisation, appropriately balanced with global food security objectives; and investments in the education and active labour market policies necessary to ensure greater adaptability to accelerated change and to address the most deeply embedded forms of social advantage. I believe the new Commission's proposed €315 billion investment package sets the right direction and should become an important driver of the reinvigoration of Europe 2020 objectives that is so clearly needed.

I look forward to hearing the Senators' views and to continuing my close engagement with the joint committee on these matters as they progress in the coming months.

Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Dara Murphy, to the House. As a former member and Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, he had a very close involvement with that committee, which proved a good start for his work in Europe.

He has outlined in great detail the progress that has been made with regard to the 2020 strategy. The Joint Committee on European Union Affairs has carried out research and held hearings and deliberations in this regard, which is all on record. I will not repeat what the Minister has said. There is nothing in this speech that I could disagree with. It is extremely well crafted and it is a good mid-term review, in the sense that it is now 2015 and this process runs from 2010 to 2020. It is important that the Minister of State would continue to monitor the situation.

I pay tribute to the work of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, headed by the Chairman, Deputy Dominic Hannigan and the Vice Chairman, Deputy Seán Kyne, and with a membership including Deputies Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Bernard Durkan, John Halligan and Joe O'Reilly, and Senators Colm Burke, Aideen Hayden, Catherine Noone, Kathryn Reilly and myself, although there may be some change in that membership as it has been updated recently. The members are moving forward well with their work.

Frankly, the situation is very serious at the moment. As the Minister of State knows, on 7 May the general election will take place in the United Kingdom. Mr. Cameron has pledged that, if he is returned as Prime Minister, he will hold a referendum on the future of Britain's membership of the European Union. This is extremely serious from Ireland's point of view.That is why I will not give information on what work is going on at the moment. It is in the public domain that consideration is taking place. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs is carrying out an important scoping exercise on Ireland's position in regard to a potential exit by Britain from the European Union. Members have just returned from a visit to Britain but some have remained to work with colleagues and interested parties in that regard.

I am very encouraged by the statement made by An Taoiseach on 13 January in Dublin Castle when he attended a conference called Representing the Global Island. He said:

The debate in relation to the future direction of the UK's relationship with the EU has been gathering pace. Given Ireland's particularly close relationship with the UK, I am sure that many of you will have already been approached for your perspectives on the situation. The Government's position is clear and unequivocal: we want the UK to remain in the EU. This is clearly in our national interest, and in the wider European interest.

Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator.

Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister of State. This debate is very important. If one were to go out on to the street and ask people about the Europe 2020 strategy they would struggle to answer. Senators and the Minister of State have a role to play in improving that situation. In a way, he gets buried and caught in the detail because of the work he must do. Therefore, as other public representatives, it is up to us to try to tell the story of Europe better. It is good to see progress being made at this level. The European strategy is not simply about the economy; it is not a question of saying "It's about jobs, stupid." Europe is about much more. The strategy is an effort to address those other areas, which include poverty, social inclusion, education, and climate change.

Senator Leyden has rightly pointed out that the challenge faced by us all is how to ensure that the cohesion of the Union can remain intact. The recent terrorist attacks in France and Denmark show how fragile we always are. The European experiment has brought some challenges, and many people disagree with the European project, but for me it is very simple. Europe has remained largely at peace since the European Union was established. Obviously the European Union has grown, morphed and changed as time has passed. We ought not to forget that peace is very valuable and we should not take it for granted. Senator Leyden has said that sovereign states make their own decisions about what they will do. However, it is in our interest and our shared interest that our nearest neighbour and friend remain with us in the European Union and that we continue to work together.

Having looked at this at the mid-term stage, I recognise that the priority remains the same: how do we tell that story better? How do we say to people that what happens in Europe matters? How do we convey to people that decisions about issues such as employment, particularly youth unemployment, and the risk of poverty are big questions that the European Union, through its Parliament and Commission, grapples with and is trying to change? We still have not succeeded in conveying that message.

Europe faces serious challenges, not least the literal and physical aging of our community. People will stay alive for longer, and birth rates in certain European countries are low or falling. Therefore, we will have an enormous cohort of people over the next 20 to 30 years who will grow very much older. The question is how will we cope with that situation if we cannot currently cope with young people. The Minister of State listed the shocking statistics for youth unemployment of up to 51% in places such as Greece and Italy, as well as a high unemployment rate for Croatia.If we cannot employ our young people, how will we look after our elderly people, among whom we will be? It is a very sobering challenge and, in many ways, one to which we do not pay enough attention. We seem think it will be all right and that somehow we will work it out and it will be fine, but it will not be fine because there will be too many of us and not enough younger people in jobs. In part it is about jobs, as it always will be.

We have seen in certain early education projects here, particularly in Ballymun, in the UK and in the US, very strong evidence that early intervention at a very young age, particularly with young parents of young children, pays dividends of better concentration in schools, more children staying in school and more children with aspirations for the future. However, we still do not do enough of this. This is not just an Irish issue, as we do not do enough broadly speaking. Rather than trying to fix some of the problems which have already manifested themselves, it would seem most logical to start with those yet to be born, where we can make the greatest impact. I would love to see us driving this common sense approach to dealing with the many challenges in the Europe 2020 strategy and those which go beyond it.

I would like to address in particular the issue of regional development. I note the European Movement's observation that regional and local development are very important. It states, in not so many words, that it ought to be taken more seriously. I commend the joint committee's work in holding hearings, but the 2020 strategy will fail to deliver its targets on regional issues if it remains a top-down and non-inclusive process. In its report, the joint committee stated it encourages greater engagement between stakeholders, with a strong emphasis on a partnership approach.

I live in Sligo in the north west, which would be described by academics as a lagging region. It has lagged for a long time; in fact, it has probably always lagged. Various proposals have been put forward to support and encourage lagging regions. So long as we have lagging regions in countries, we will always have a lag which will pull against achieving big targets, such as those for employment. We must concentrate energy on regionalisation and take it very seriously. Bodies such as the Western Development Commission has put a lot of work into the creative aspect. Fáilte Ireland has put in an enormous amount of money into the Wild Atlantic Way, which will have a specific economic benefit through tourism. Much work has still to be done. As with the ageing issue, we do not spend enough time concentrating on the structures which ought to be put in place for regions in Ireland.

I commend the work being done by the Minister of State. The 2020 strategy is good and strong but it has many challenges. I wish the Minister of State well with his work and I thank him for his presence in the Chamber.

Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)
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Tá céad fáilte roimh an Aire. Maith é as ucht cúpla focal Gaeilge a úsáid ag tús a óráide ar son Seachtain na Gaeilge. Is breá an rud é sin a chloisteáil.

In our opinion, the European 2020 strategy has been flawed since its inception. As the European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC, pointed out, the strategy relied on inefficient instruments, in particular, the opening method of co-ordination. Subsequently, economic governance structures were established to better co-ordinate economic policies, and Europe 2020 had to fit into this new governance architecture which was not conceived to help it reach its employment or social objectives. It is a strategy which paves the way for an even greater concentration of wealth in Europe. It is obvious the goals of Europe 2020 are clearly subordinate to the economic goals of the European semester. Why are there consequences when economic targets are not met but by contrast there are no consequences for not meeting social or environmental targets?

The Commission pretends the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy has started to deliver results, but this cannot be said of the Europe 2020 goals. The policies of the European semester might be appropriate for attaining its own goals but not the 2020 goals. An easy example of this is an assessment of austerity. As the ETUC points out in its mid-term review of Europe 2020, austerity is a policy which may be appropriate for enforcing fiscal consolidation, but the austerity policy has counter-productive and negative effects on research and development, innovation, the alleviation of poverty, unemployment and climate change, and is a complete hindrance.

While billions have been poured into bailout funds since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, no substantive decrease in deprivation rates is discernible. Furthermore, according to the annual growth survey, unemployment rates remain historically high nationally and EU-wide. This has led to a divergence in employment and social outcomes. Youth unemployment remains alarmingly high in many member states, and the risk of poverty is increasing, with nearly 120 million Europeans living in or at risk of poverty, while at home 30.5% of our population lives in enforced deprivation.

The social impact of the crisis is immense. The economic and financial crisis has created a widespread social crisis, with a growing gap in the distribution of resources. The recent development of economic governance has increased disequilibrium and social imbalances. All Members of the House know inequality has increased in this country and, what is more, inequality has increased throughout Europe, particularly in countries under troika programmes. The European Commission staff working document on the country report for Ireland 2015, highlights the shortfalls in achieving Europe 2020 goals in Ireland to date. Our country specific recommendations show our failures. On facilitating female labour market participation by improving access to more affordable and full-time child care particularly for low-income families, the report found Ireland has made no progress. This is similar to point 18 of part two of the mid-term review. On the commitment to reduce the number of people experiencing consisting poverty to 4% by 2016, which is an interim target, and to 2% or less by 2020, the report stated achieving the national target remains ambitious. We are also set to miss the target on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We need to recognise the situation changes from country to country and a one size fits all approach does not work.

The political decisions of the Government and EU leaders to wed themselves to austerity, and their collective failure to embrace an ambitious stimulus programme, is why we see rampant social problems and high levels of unemployment. A radical change in policies, together with job creation and poverty reduction measures, were urged by Sinn Féin and reiterated by our MEPs and their partners in the Confederal Group of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left, GUE-NGL. As the ETUC further outlined, to transform Europe 2020 into a success story, first and foremost the austerity policy must end and a second more appropriate policy in favour of employment, research and innovation, education, the alleviation of poverty and strong action against climate change has to be designed. To paraphrase Danish MEP and GUE-NGL member, Rina Kari, we as Europeans will not be able to roll back poverty without adequate public services, a living wage and decent work, therefore, reorienting the 2020 strategy must be root and branch and based on human development and social and economic progress. It is not surprising that at the halfway stage Europe 2020 targets are a long way from being close to being met. There is no escaping that Europe 2020 in its current form reinforces the neoliberal system which led to the crisis.

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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In deputising for my colleague, Senator Noone, I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs to the House and compliment him on the excellent work he is doing and on his superb efforts in promoting our country abroad. As he outlined, Europe 2020 is the European Union's ten year jobs and growth strategy. It was launched in 2010 to create the conditions for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, at a time of practically zero growth throughout Europe when many economies were still moving in the wrong direction.

At the commencement of the Europe 2020 process back in 2010, five headline targets were agreed for the EU to achieve by the end of 2020. These covered employment, research and development, energy, education, and social inclusion and poverty reduction. All of these are important to each European member state, none more so than Ireland.

The European Commission held a public consultation on the strategy between May and October 2014, and published the results this month. The results of this consultation will form part of how the Europe 2020 strategy should be taken forward as, naturally, things can change over the course of ten years, and the halfway point marks a good time for reflection on achievements to date and potential changes in course over the coming five years.It is intended that proposals to review the strategy will be presented before the end of 2015.

In particular, the strategy has served as a guide for the design and programming of the European Structural and Investment Funds over the period 2014 to 2020, and it is in this context that we can easily see a number of important applications for Ireland. In the consultation period, 755 contributions were received from 29 countries. There are four main outcomes from this. First, Europe 2020 is seen as a relevant overarching framework to promote jobs and growth at EU and national levels. Its objectives and priorities are meaningful in the light of current and future challenges. The second outcome is that the five headline targets represent key catalysts for jobs and growth and help to keep the strategy focused. Furthermore, most of the flagship initiatives have served their purpose, yet their visibility has remained weak. I fundamentally agree that most people still have not heard of Europe 2020, let alone the aspirations, mechanisms employed or intended goals. There is a big public relations job to be done in this regard. This is a clear area for improvement, and a matter to which I will refer. The final outcome from the consultation is that it is believed there is scope and a need to improve the delivery of the strategy through enhanced ownership and involvement on the ground.

There is no question that, half way to the 2020 deadline, the delivery of the jobs and growth objectives is mixed across Europe, notably owing to the impact of the crisis. However, in an Irish context, there has been a notable number of achievements, not least our sustained reduction of the unemployment rate, in respect of which we moved from far beyond the European average to below it. Our rate is still decreasing at an average of 6,000 people per month.

Ireland's level of youth unemployment, while still too high, is far lower than that in Portugal, Spain and Italy. This is as a consequence of our domestic programmes, such as the Action Plan For Jobs, being designed to augment and dovetail neatly with the Europe 2020 programme. One successful initiative I am happy has been successful to date is the Youth Guarantee scheme, which was piloted on the north side of Dublin, and I hope to see it rolled out elsewhere throughout the country.

On the social front, the crisis has led to increased exposure to poverty and social exclusion and rising inequality. We see this less in Ireland than in other nations because our tax system is designed to flatten the inequalities. This was glossed over very much in the recent TASC report, which received a lot of coverage. While poverty, social exclusion and inequalities are issues on which we still need to work extremely hard if we are to tackle them, we should note the circumstances in other European countries have been far worse.

One of the aspects of the Europe 2020 headline targets that seems to have caught the public imagination concerns the moves towards the Europe 2020 headline targets on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the crisis there have been positive structural trends, for instance, in education levels, building a more sustainable energy mix and the reduction in the carbon intensity of the economy. As a consequence, the European Union is on course to meet or closely approach its targets on education, climate and energy, although it is clear that we still have a distance to go in Ireland, and there is still work ahead to reach our Europe 2020 targets.

This is not the case with employment, research and development, and poverty reduction, regarding which the impact of the crisis has been most acutely felt. In all areas, it is clear that efforts need to be sustained to consolidate progress and make further advances. One of the main reasons the targets on greenhouse gas emissions reduction and the use of renewable energy are often highlighted is that the regulations are supported by a legally binding framework at EU level, including values to be reached at national level.

Growing divergences across and often within member states have hampered progress towards the Europe 2020 targets. The crisis has led to a growing gap between the best and least well-performing member states, instead of the desired convergence of economies. In 2013, for example, the employment rate varied from 52.9% in Greece to 79.8% in Sweden. Ireland is above Greece in this respect but not yet at the level of Sweden.

One point worth noting is that there is overwhelming support for an EU strategy in favour of jobs and growth. A large majority, or 86%, of the respondents consider that Europe needs a comprehensive and overarching medium-term strategy for jobs and growth for the coming years. It is interesting that 86% of respondents have positive views on an EU strategy in favour of jobs and growth. This is a very high number, although it is perhaps symptomatic of the self-selecting nature of participants and not entirely indicative of the public as a whole. Nevertheless, in this context it is perhaps worth noting the European Commission's own Eurobarometer survey, carried out among European citizens, clearly shows a positive shift in attitude for the first time since spring 2011.

The image of the European Union continues to improve. A majority of Europeans have a positive image of it. The proportion in this regard is 39%, which is up four percentage points since spring 2014. Some 37% have a neutral image, representing a decrease of one percentage point, and just 22% have a negative image, representing a decrease of three percentage points. This is the third consecutive time that the proportion of Europeans with a positive image of the EU has increased. As a consequence, the proportion of Europeans for whom the EU conjures up a positive image exceeds the proportion with a neutral image for the first time since the Eurobarometer survey of spring 2011.

The successful implementation of the strategy has been affected by weaknesses in terms of awareness. I referred to that at the outset. First, the contributions to the public consultation point to an awareness gap regarding the strategy. I am sure the Minister of State will continue to work on this. I wish him continued success. I share some of the concerns expressed by Senator Leyden on the implications of the referendum in the United Kingdom. The Minister of State, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Taoiseach and everybody else will be doing everything possible to convince those in the United Kingdom of the importance of remaining within the European Union.

Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the four Senators for their contributions. Unfortunately, we heard from Sinn Féin the usual point that everything is a disaster, with no suggestions anywhere at all as to what we might do to improve the lot of people of Europe.

May I pick up on the last point on which Senator Mullins, Senator Leyden and Senator O'Keeffe touched in their contributions, namely, the issue of Britain? It was not part of the discussion on Europe 2020 but the Senators are absolutely correct to state that when we travel to other EU countries, our view on what may happen in the United Kingdom is very much solicited and sought given our proximity to that jurisdiction. I met Senator Leyden briefly before this session and we talked about the excellent work that the Joint Committee on European Affairs has undertaken in travelling to the United Kingdom over recent days. I saw the programme, which comprised a very extensive set of meetings with representatives from all sides of the debate in the United Kingdom. I very much welcome the report of the committee, which is chaired by Deputy Hannigan. From the report, I will learn the committee's interpretation and assessment of the meetings.

We are and have been absolutely forthright in stating that we want the United Kingdom to stay within the European Union. We very much have shared interests with our neighbours across the Irish Sea. With regard to many of the issues raised and discussions at EU level, we find ourselves on the same side. We have a very significant trade relationship and there has been frequent reference to our shared border with the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland and the difficulties this may present. Equally, having stated our national position that it would be in the interest of Ireland and the United Kingdom and, broadly speaking, the European Union if the United Kingdom were to remain a member state, we are still very much in a vacuum.A general election is to take place and there are different opinions. We should remind, in so far as we can, the people of the UK and our citizens that the UK has played an enormously important role in the formation of the EU. When I speak to any group, I often say it is not a question of Ireland and the EU as two separate bodies, but that we are part of a family of 28 member states. Similarly, the UK is a vital and important part of Europe and the EU and has been part of the most successful peace process the world has ever seen. After many wars over hundreds of years, culminating in the Second World War, Europe, through the coal and steel agreements and then the European Economic Community, EEC, came together as a family of nations. Sometimes, when we discuss economic issues, austerity, fiscal stability targets and excessive deficit procedures, we forget that the reason we have a family of nations is so that the terrible horrors the people of our continent faced for so many hundreds of years can never happen again. We hope the debate will be productive. While we do not know what will happen in the UK after its general election, we would support many of the interests and concerns that have been iterated by politicians on both sides in the UK. We look forward to engaging in that space.

I agree with Senator Mullins about the visibility and purpose of the Europe 2020 targets. The ambition of them is to improve the live of our citizens through education, research and development, social cohesion policies and employment targets. The targets aim to use the benefits and effects of a sometimes nebulous concept of economic growth to improve the lives of the 500 million citizens we have. As Senators O'Keeffe and Mullins said, we all have a job of communicating the importance of converting what has been a very poor period of economic stability in Europe to a period of growth and that the purpose of it is not to tick a box or fulfil an upward trajectory of a curve on a spreadsheet but to confer benefit on the people who badly need it. I particularly like Senator O'Keeffe's reference to how correcting youth unemployment will confer a benefit on people who retire. The ratio of those who retire to those who are working is crucially important, especially given the ageing demographic in Europe, which must be addressed separately. We need our young people to work and to feel they are a valuable part of European society.

Regional development is vitally important for Ireland and in all elements of dialogue we have always been, and continue to be, very aware of its importance to us as a peripheral island nation on the edge of Europe. We have extremely strong regard for regional development and will continue to work towards it. I thank the Cathaoirleach for the invitation to come here to discuss Europe 2020. It was the correct policy for Europe five or six years ago to set itself ambitious targets for 2020. While we are all aware of the enormous economic difficulties that beset Ireland and many European countries and set back many of the targets, some of them have been achieved.

Senator Leyden mentioned the Committee on European Union Affairs, of which he is a member and of which I was formerly a member. It is an excellent committee because it has a very co-ordinated and productive pro-European outlook, which we do not have enough of in the Oireachtas. Ireland is very pro-Europe and it is to be hoped this enthusiasm can continue to grow. I was unaware of the data Senator Mullins mentioned which show that, for the first time, the number of people who have a broadly positive view of Europe has surpassed the number who have a broadly neutral view of Europe. This is the sort of information we need to communicate, that the European project is alive and well and that there is continued space for politicians in both Houses in this country and across Europe to extol the virtues of what is a wonderful part of the world in which to live, the European Union.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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When is it proposed to sit again?

Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)
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Ar leath uair tar éis a deich, maidin amárach.