merrion street

Thank you for the opportunity to be with you this morning. It is my great pleasure to discuss the issues facing Europe and Ireland with such an esteemed audience of achievers.

Before I move on to a discussion of next year, let me talk a little about 2012, which was an exceptional year for Ireland in international circles. In addition to what was happening within the European Union, Ireland was busy in unexpected places as we held the chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. I had the privilege of representing the country at many international events and in many countries around the world.

The OSCE Ministerial meeting in the RDS about two weeks ago got some media coverage but this centred more on the presence of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, than the wider context. I should explain that its origins go back to the seventies and the gradual détente in the Cold War.

Today its most important function is to be a forum for political negotiations and decision-making in the fields of early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management, post-conflict rehabilitation and election monitoring. The OSCE does wonderful work and provides great support to governments and civil society especially in countries emerging from troublesome pasts.

Representing Ireland as the chair of this organisation meant I travelled to many places which ten years ago I might have had to look for on the map. This brought me into contact with the fact that many of the citizens of the geographic entity of Europe are still suffering greatly from unresolved historical disputes and territorial disagreements.

The work of both the OSCE and the EU are mutually beneficial because in the countries in Europe where the OSCE is most active, membership of the EU is the ultimate goal. The reforms supported by the OSCE support and prepare these states as they travel that road. This whole process has an immensely positive stabilising effect in neighbouring countries which, very recently, were ravaged by war.

I mentioned the OSCE because it would be a legitimate question to ask – why did Ireland get involved? What was in it for Ireland? Why should we be active in international affairs?

There has been a lot said about Ireland’s reputation abroad, about the “reputational” damage done by our financial and fiscal collapse and our dependence on outsiders. There is no doubt this happened and there is no doubt that this is damaging to us. On this island we have worked our way through the conflict in Northern Ireland. We worked our way through the issues of identity, sectarianism, institutions of the state which were not impartial. We did it by a process of diplomacy and contacts and we did it with significant international help, from North America and from Europe.

In the OSCE we have the opportunity to share our experiences, to transmit the support we received down the line to other conflicts where the need is great. We have the opportunity to be seen to have a leadership role and to be competent in our diplomacy and analysis.

All of this is part of working our way back to being seen as a significant international partner, with something to offer, and capable of delivering. This is exactly what we need to do in our Presidency of the European Union which Ireland will assume on the 1st of January for the seventh time since it joined the EU in 1973.

This role involves Ireland managing the EU agenda, chairing Councils across nearly all policy areas, representing EU governments in discussions with other EU Institutions, and a range of other responsibilities.

The core themes of the Irish Presidency will be stability, growth and jobs in Europe.

Some of the role of the Presidency has changed since the Lisbon treaty was introduced. The Taoiseach no longer chairs the European Council and the role of the Foreign Policy “High Representative” also is more important.

In terms of the way the Irish Presidency intends to do business, as with our six previous Presidencies it will work tirelessly to deliver tangible results for citizens – not lofty statements, but rather, concrete outcomes

We will pursue the necessity of economic governance in Europe. Key areas for progress will be the European Semester process, Banking Union and other important elements of the financial services reform agenda. In tandem with developing this new governance, focus will be placed on the real economy in terms of SME financing, better access to public procurement opportunities, research funding and ease of doing business.

The Single Market has been Europe’s great success story – besides peace! It will be further developed through agreement on more measures arising from the Single Market Act proposals, and through supporting innovation. In particular, we will pursue agreements on a package of legislation to promote Europe’s Digital Economy.

There is so much potential here left to be tapped and if we build confidence in this sector the benefits could be enormous. To give a couple of figures, 35% of all internet users avoid shopping online because of safety concerns. Progress on this front alone would make a big difference, especially for SMEs which we believe will drive Europe's recovery. According to European Commission figures, for every job lost offline, the online sector creates 2.6 replacements.

We will also play our full part in securing agreement on the EU’s budget 2014-2020, leading on to sector-specific work on key areas such as the reform of CAP and the Horizon 2020 research framework programme.

Of course, Europe’s recovery cannot happen in isolation and Europe must be a strong player on the world stage. If as is expected, that 90% of economic growth by 2015 will occur outside the EU, then we have an imperative to capture the impact of this expansion for EU citizens, workers and business.

We will prioritise new trade agreements (including with the United States) so that our job-creators can seek and win more business around the world. We will pursue the enlargement agenda and our relationship with Europe’s neighbours. And we will place particular focus on hunger as part of the development agenda.

The European Year of Citizens will be launched in Dublin on 10th January by the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, myself and Commission President Barroso. Its aim is to raise awareness of the many rights we enjoy as EU citizens. As part of a Presidency which we hope will reflect the spirit of the Year of the Citizen and strengthen social cohesion, the Irish Presidency is prioritising a range of initiatives in areas ranging from youth employment to removing obstacles that hinder free movement and promoting greater access to education for all Europeans through initiatives such as “Erasmus for All”.

Of course, biggest question that we face is “Where do we go from here?” The Eurozone has been through a difficult period. Many commentators a year ago were quite certain that the Euro would not survive. Clearly many commentators were wrong, and they were wrong because they actually failed to understand the Union.

Most big ventures have what is called a “foundation myth.” It is the explanation people have for why things happened the way they did. Sometimes it is true, sometimes it isn’t, and most of the time it is partially true. The Foundation Myth of the Euro is that it was the price France extracted from Germany for support for German unification. There was a fear that an enlarged Germany would be too big and too powerful, but also because it stretched so much further to the east, it would become more detached from the western European venture which was the European Union.

That is partially true, I suspect. What it does is explains why the Euro was introduced when it was. It does not explain why the Euro exists. There had been plans for economic and monetary union since the seventies, and there had been different calls for progress over the intervening years. But no one ever doubted that it would happen, only the when and how was to be decided.

Greater economic and monetary union it was always going to happen because of the way the European Union works. It has to keep moving or it will fail. Terrible mistakes were made and now the EU is moving at considerable speed to rectify those. This, of course, means pushing for greater political and economic integration, a vision not shared by all and therefore up to us to successfully communicate the benefits.

We know that the Euro is now much more stable than it was a year ago, because of the efforts made by all involved. We also know that decision making was, at times, poor, slow and acrimonious. Leaders have now finally realised that the only solution to these problems is more Europe not less. We are making progress towards a banking union, with a single supervisory authority. There will be other economic instruments to come which will have to be done centrally. Our role will be to support the debate and bring things to a stage where decisions can be made.

Our British colleagues, our most important bilateral partner, seem to view the situation differently to us. I have a sense that Britain never looked on the European Union as a political project. They thought it was to be a technical operation which would supply them with a lot of what they wanted – a super free trade area, and a home market for the City of London and its financial and related services. So much of the current discussion in Britain, as far as I can follow it, seems to be on the basis that it is possible to step outside the door, but still be part of what is going on.

It is difficult to predict where this reflection will lead. Nor do I have any sense of what, if any, “deal” will be struck. But I am fairly certain that there is no such thing as a semi-detached relationship with the Union. Members are either in or out, for precisely the reasons I have outlined. Britain has been our ally in Europe and I very much hope they will remain at our sides for many years to come. Ireland, as President of the Council in 2013 will act as a bridge between the UK and the EU.

For us, for the next six months we are absolutely focused on our agenda and our priorities as EU leaders.

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world,” wrote Wilde.

We in Europe must see dawn soon. The millions of unemployed young people need to see dawn; the families burdened by bills they can’t pay need to see dawn; the politicians holding back from delivering necessary results need to see dawn.

Because without a new dawn in Europe the dream that has brought us a half century stability and prosperity is in danger.

I believe that we can emerge from this horrible night, but not automatically. In this case, in these times, the dawn depends on what we do. That is why is so important for Ireland to be active internationally.

The future is uncertain and we need to do everything - everything - we can to realise a better future than this present so that our young people can dream again.