Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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At the beginning of the new EU institutional cycle, Ireland is keen to play its part in shaping the European policy agenda. This has included conducting an initial, cross-departmental analysis on the recent reports by Enrico Letta “Much More than a Market” and Mario Draghi “The Future of European Competitiveness”. This work commenced immediately following the publication of the Draghi Report in early September.

Overall, Ireland agrees with Draghi’s view that Europe faces an urgent competitiveness challenge that needs to be addressed. The EU’s future prosperity depends on our ability to ensure that the EU remains an attractive and innovative place to invest and do business, with all Member States able to contribute and benefit. With that in mind, Ireland has identified a number of policy priorities which were the focus of our response:

• Revitalising and strengthening the Single Market, particularly in services, through the new Single Market Strategy and through application of rigorous competition policy and robust s
• Focussing on SMEs and supporting them in scaling up in Europe, which will facilitate them in expanding into global markets;
• Supporting measures on simplification and reduction of the regulatory burden, while maintaining high ambition in terms of environmental protection standards;
• Prioritising an EU wide approach to deployment and investment in grid infrastructure.

Ireland’s initial assessment on the Letta and Draghi reports was shared with the European Commission this week, and will be used by officials in Ireland’s Permanent Representation to the EU in advocating and communicating Ireland’s positions.

In developing the initial assessment, officials within my Department have consulted across Government Departments and drew on a wide range of published positions and research on these reports.