merrion street

Speaking at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) this afternoon (Thursday), the Minister for European Affairs, Paschal Donohoe TD, said Ireland’s participation in the European Semester process will enhance the growth and social prospects for Ireland, and all EU Member States (see full speech below).

The European Semester process enables the co-ordination and oversight of the policies being implemented by all EU Member States to ensure that our national goals of job creation and growth are fully realised. Now in its fourth year, this is the first time Ireland is a participant of the process, having been in a bailout programme until December 2013.

“The world in which we live is changing at a rate never seen before, with the global economy predicted to double in size by 2032, and double again by 2050. Our agricultural communities see this change in the prices they can achieve for their produce. Young people feel it in the impact technology is having on how they communicate with each other. We feel it in our working lives and in how new industries blossom and wither in response to shifts in global competitiveness.

“Whether it is in relation to climate change, consumer issues or bank regulation, there is no doubt that by working together, the 28 members of the EU are capable of achieving so much more than we could ever hope to on our own. Through the European Semester process we can ensure that everyone remains on the right path and that the efforts being made here in Ireland are not undermined by loose policies implemented elsewhere.

“The Semester provides a structured process over the first half of the year for co-ordinating, in advance, policies to improve the growth and social prospects of individual countries. The outcomes of this process – the so-called Country Specific Recommendations – are then reflected in the national budgetary cycle and decisions in the second half of the year. In essence, it is a way of agreeing and implementing a shared understanding of what each Member State needs to do promote jobs and growth.

“By continuing to focus on what’s in our best interest; that is tackling unemployment, ensuring sustainable budgets, restoring normal lending to the economy and modernizing our public administration, we will create the conditions in which our country, and our people, can once again grow and prosper.”