The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton TD, this morning
(Friday 1st February 2013) delivered the keynote address at a conference organised by the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Movement Ireland.
The theme for the conference is ‘Ireland 40 years on; the benefits, opportunities and challenges of EU membership’ and it marks Ireland’s fortieth anniversary of accession to the EU and the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
"Let me reiterate our strong commitment to the Union that is based on our shared values but also reflects, more concretely, the benefits of membership we have experienced over the past forty years and which have helped to transform Ireland, economically, politically and socially,"
said Minister Burton.Minister Burton went on to speak other priorities for the EU Presidency: "Ireland’s Presidency programme focuses on three key elements – stability, jobs and growth. Our citizens want to see the EU respond effectively to the crisis and a return to stability and growth.
"The single most pressing issue facing Europe today is the scandalous level of unemployment, particularly among our young people. We have to give people hope for the future and we have to avoid the creation of a lost generation. That is why I have placed such a priority on securing agreement on the Youth Employment package including a Youth Guarantee aimed at providing training, further study or employment to young people. Under such a Guarantee, a young person under 25 years of age would be guaranteed a job, training or an educational placement within a set number of months of becoming unemployed."
Minister Burton will welcome Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs from across the EU to Dublin next week and plans that the discussion of the Youth Guarantee in this informal setting will complement the more formal debate in Brussels.
The Minister also said that, during its Presidency, Ireland will also work to promote greater equality, social cohesion and inclusion in Europe and she outlined a number of other priorities including:
· promoting the digital economy and the Digital Single Market by working to advance agreement on issues such as Intellectual Property Rights, Cyber security, e-Identification, Data Protection, high-speed broadband rollout and web accessibility.
· seeking to address measures outstanding under the current Single Market Act such as the Professional Qualifications Directive which can boost growth, competitiveness and employment.
· prioritising the external trade agenda and will host a meeting of Trade Ministers which will focus in particular on the EU-US trade relationship.
· advancing Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Japan, India and other strategic partners.
· supporting the SME sector which is the backbone of the European economy by making progress on programmes like COSME which seek to facilitate access by SMEs to EU funding.
· Enhancing new business and job creation across the EU through the Entrepreneurship Action Plan.
· The Presidency will prioritise making progress on discussions on the Connecting Europe Facility but also on building agreement on proposals such as the Energy Infrastructure Package, the Draft Directive on reducing high-speed broadband rollout costs and legislation in the rail and aviation sectors to deliver future benefits to European business and consumers.
·
Managing as efficiently as possible the European Semester process of economic and budgetary coordination. This will help to ensure that Member States stay on track to reach their agreed targets of sustainable economic growth and social cohesion under the Europe 2020 Strategy.·
Ireland will also work to make good progress on the Banking Union proposals which are necessary to restore stability and confidence to the financial services sector and to break the disastrous link between banking debt and the sovereign.
Minister Burton concluded her address on the issue of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF): "Ireland believes that the European Union requires a budget that is both fit for purpose and that can support economic recovery and growth by underpinning areas such as regional cohesion and development and innovation. The European Council in November made considerable progress in narrowing the very large differences between Member States on the MFF. But more work is needed and soon.
"The Irish Presidency will do everything that it can to promote agreement on this issue. We have assured President Van Rompuy of the Presidency’s full support in his efforts to finalise agreement on the MFF and we hope this can be achieved next week if all Member States show sufficient good will, and flexibility."