Chairman, I am delighted to be with you today. Looking around this chamber I see so many people who have served this country with distinction and integrity on the European stage.
I have been asked to look forward for the next fifty years. Given that a day is a long time in politics, it could be said that fifty years is an eternity in European politics!
These are not easy times. We need to focus on the present and deal with the virtually unprecedented challenges facing us, as legislators. But in focusing on these challenges, we must not forget the bigger picture, for instance the structures in which we are working and we must take care not to damage these structures irretrievably. Most importantly of all we must not forget the welfare of our citizens
We are facing a major economic crisis in the Eurozone and risk blighting the future of many of our citizens. The cause of the crisis is not the Euro, but the Euro, or its structure, may be an obstacle to facing down the crisis.
We created a monetary union in 1992 with the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty. But the prospective members of the eurozone refused to agree to common fiscal union. We failed to incorporate a mechanism for the kind of fiscal transfers which would – in a proper federal system - compensate the weaker economies for their inability to boost competitiveness by devaluing their currencies and the fact that they would be stuck with inappropriate interest rates. Nor did we include an effective mechanism to enforce fiscal discipline. This was a serious, but understandable mistake.
During the era of cheap money and low inflation these shortcomings were not brought into focus. Now we have a currency without an economic infrastructure or many of the supports which more established currencies have, including for instance, a lender of last resort.
It is urgent that these shortcomings are addressed, as rapidly and effectively as possible. I don’t want to say much about the content of the new Financial "Agreement" because it is under negotiation as we speak. But I would like to acknowledge that there is a risk that we are busy worrying about the next crisis, and how to avoid it, when we should be concentrating on the present one.
The markets have their job to do but they also have questions to answer. They seem to want the current problems to be made to disappear. We would all like that very much, but even the very short-term thinkers of the markets cannot really believe that this is possible.
As Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama’s former chief of staff said we should not let a good crisis go to waste and whatever my views about timing, I am a full supporter of any move to improve the functioning of our economic union. We need to find a means of ensuring that the necessary structures and disciplines are in place and I look forward to contributing on this.
I mentioned at the beginning that I am concerned that, in the rush to mend current problems, we neglect the kind of relationships which sustain the Union. In particular we need to avoid the methodology which has marked the past year or so, where proposals come from certain member states, and are driven on to the agenda without the normal consultation and discussion taking place.
Therefore we must return to the community method of decision making, underpinned by a strong European Commission. This is of the essence if small countries are to have their say. The Commission’s capacity to forge proposals that are coherent and considerate of all Member States is of vital importance.
The intergovernmental method has not served us well to date; the increasing focus on nationalistic demands has not been helpful in dealing with the current crisis. The eurozone leaders’ meeting as the decisive decision apparatus of the Union must be counter-balanced by a strengthened European Parliament and Commission. Both can govern in the representative interest of all member states and the wider European Union, as opposed to the interest of the larger nations. Both can serve the needs and promote the goals of the European society.
We need to be vocal supporters of the community method and ensure the appropriate structures are used for decision making. One of the ways we can do this is to develop coalitions with other states in the Union, small and large. Since becoming Minister of State I have spent a lot of time travelling, to try and visit as many of our partners as possible and I hope to go on doing this. Not only was I trying to explain what Ireland is doing to regain its economic sovereignty, but I was trying to see who shared our concerns, who wanted the Union to move forward in the way we desire.
These are difficult times and the more co-operation and joint activity there is, the better. We, as a country have benefited hugely from the unique balance between small and large which has distinguished the European Union, and we have an obligation to support it.
But I am deeply concerned that we have failed miserably to pass on this understanding to any of our electorate. Any of you who, like me, were involved in either of the Lisbon campaigns will have been as concerned as I was. It was not the content of the Treaty and the difficulties around it which was at the back of some much negativity. It was the complacent Eurosceptism which I met so often, based on an understanding of the European Union which is completely at odds with what I understand it to be.
Of course the European Union is not a free lunch for this country or any other. But I, and I think most of you, understand that its fundamental objectives are benevolent, and, for all its shortcomings, it is the least bad way of managing this continent to have been dreamed up yet. I can only say that we as politicians have failed to show leadership in this area for many years. We gritted our teeth and told our electorate that this European thing was good for them, but we rarely engaged with the detail, and we failed absolutely to communicate the passion we have.
We have sustained our commitment on the back of the emotional attachment of so many of the last generation of political leaders – both those who had been involved in the construction of Europe in the ‘fifties and ‘sixties on the continent, and leaders like the late Dr Garret FitzGerald who educated several generations of young politicians with his analysis and enthusiasm. We have to ask ourselves whether this will last into the next generation, and where the commitment will come from.
The spirit of unity and co-operation that marked the last 50 years has been dangerously undermined in favour of short sighted national interest. Europe has been treated as a trough where leaders come to feed their electorates. The more meat they can bring home, the greater the leader, in the eyes of national electorates. As Charles A. Kupchan pointed out in this month’s Foreign Affairs, "Current leaders and electorates tend to assess the EU through a cold and often negative valuation of costs and benefits".
This mindset has to change. Politicians and governments must resist the temptation to turn inwards, as is so attractive during crises. The globalised world is here. We cannot wish it away. Do we want to face it alone, or with the solidarity of our neighbours?
The European society lacks advocates and defenders. The custodians of the European ideal have deserted their posts. And yet our people still cherish the kind of society it provides. The next 50 years must be about that ideal, which was the flourishing of an idea to rid a continent of war and replace it with peace, to eliminate poverty and empower people towards prosperity, to remove despair and instil hope. European integration has always been about the urgency of improvement. We need to rediscover that urgency.
I hope that our next generation of leaders will come from a broad variety of backgrounds. One of my priorities this year is an EU Jobs initiative to get more Irish graduates to apply to work in the EU institutions. That is at least a start, in creating a cadre in this country, as, hopefully, in other European countries, which has been exposed to the range of European ideas, experiences and histories which make our continent so fascinating.
So what is Europe? What does it mean to live in this continent; to be part of the European Union? Today you have been looking ahead and looking back, and we need to recognise that being European in the contemporary sense is not just about geography. Being European is not about sharing an exclusive common culture. Many of us do share cultural traits with our fellow neighbours but every country in Europe is proud of its cultural diversity, and rightly so. Cultural hegemony is not something any of us aspire to. Being European is not about being part of a European nation. There is no such thing. The European Union is not, and never will be, a super state.
Being European is about something that rises above all of these things. It is about shared values. The values of us Europeans are the rule of law, respect for fellow human beings, compassionate social systems and abhorrence of human rights abuses. The European identity is about the European society. It is about embracing democracy and rejecting totalitarianism. It is about protecting those who cannot protect themselves through our social provisions. It is about recognising and furthering the rights of our neighbours and working to advance this principle in other parts of the world. The shared European identity is about co-operating and working together to create a truly compassionate and decent society.
If we can recognise this and cherish it, we can use it to our benefit to plot the road ahead. If we advance on the basis of these key principles, these foundations that have brought a continent from horror to peace, then we can regain the legitimacy required to face the future.
Most important of all, if we can face the huge challenges which present themselves while remaining true to this identity, we can provide solutions that will be embraced as credible and necessary by our publics.