I am delighted to be here to mark Europe Day and to speak to the many benefits we have felt through our membership of the European Union. Today is also an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come over the past half century. This afternoon, I will speak to the transformative effect EU membership has had on our country, the benefits accrued through previous waves of enlargement for all of us, as well as the potential of future enlargement. I will also touch on the EU’s approach to migration.
Ireland’s membership of the EU has been transformative. Our country is almost unrecognisable from what it once was. The economic, social and political shifts over the past five decades have been nothing short of seismic. Our 50th anniversary gave us an opportunity to reflect on Ireland’s membership of the EU and the many changes we have seen since 1973. When Ireland joined the European communities, it was one of the poorest countries in western Europe. We had been independent for just five decades and were still quite inward looking. Our voice, such as it was, was small in a world dominated by large states. We were a small and at that time relatively poor island off the coast of Europe and had little opportunity to make our voice heard. Membership of the European Community and later the European Union amplified our voice on the world stage and in the process gave us the confidence to seek out different ways of amplifying our voice. It gave us the impetus to strengthen our own human rights record, to drive forward civil and social rights, to introduce gender equality legislation, to improve protection of workers’ rights and rights of minorities, and to become a much more tolerant, kinder and inclusive country than the Ireland of 1972.
The people of Ireland have consistently recognised this reality. I was pleased this week to see data from the European Movement of Ireland. Its poll shows that 84% of the people of Ireland believe we should remain a member of the European Union. That is an overwhelming endorsement of the Union, its values and its achievements.
Today, Europe Day, we reflect on the progress we have made in consolidating peace, prosperity and democracy across the European Continent. We know, however, that our task is still not complete and that our Union is still not whole. Fifty years ago, Ireland benefitted from the EU’s very first enlargement. The last half century of EU membership has transformed the country and we believe that every European country that is transitioning to democracy and to the adoption of European values deserves the same opportunity, provided, of course, they meet the necessary criteria for membership. We welcomed the European Council’s decisions in March to open accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina and to take forward the work towards the accession of Ukraine and Moldova. We believed those were the right decisions and advocated strongly for them. Those were the right decisions based on the progress in reforms we have seen in all three countries since the previous conversation about the issue at the European Council in December 2023. It is vitally important that all candidate countries continue to seize the current momentum on enlargement by making rapid and meaningful progress on accession reforms. In recent weeks, the General Affairs Council had the opportunity to meet all of the accession countries and to hear the different opportunities and challenges they are facing as they implement rule of law and other changes to help move them along the accession process.
Reforms have to be driven from within candidate countries themselves. The EU has a number of tools at its disposal to help with the implementation of those reforms. The countries have to do it themselves but the EU supports them. The most recent addition to that toolbox is the new growth plan for the western Balkans, which involves a €6 billion investment to bring the region closer to the EU and to boost the regional economy.
On a bilateral level, Ireland is playing its part in increasing engagement on enlargement. Next year, for example, we will open new embassies in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Chisinau, enabling us to more proactively assist those three candidate countries. We have also established a new enlargement fund, allowing us to provide technical support to candidates in preparation for their eventual EU membership. Ireland will continue to be a voice in support of enlargement in every practical and political way it can. At the end of the day, the EU’s entire future will benefit from enlargement by allowing more people to work together in prosperity, progress and peace.
The benefit of the 2004 enlargement and other enlargements has been that Irish people and companies have the benefit of being able to trade in those countries. More countries are within the European construct, democracy and the rule of law. We are able to maintain those relationships and that progress for those states, rather than risking anything else. That is important, and the next wave of enlargement provides a similar opportunity for Ireland as much as it does for Europe.
Migration is a key issue of concern for the public and irregular migration remains an enormous challenge for the EU and its member states. The challenges it presents cannot be effectively addressed by any state acting alone, particularly where numbers of irregular arrivals are continuously increasing across the EU and in Ireland for different reasons, such as climate difficulties and, of course, an increase in geopolitical instability. Intergovernmental regional dialogues and mutually beneficial partnerships remain essential to achieving long-lasting results in the better management of the different migratory pressures, including in relation to the external dimensions of migration.
Ireland favours intensifying co-operation with countries of origin and transit in order to prevent loss of life and to reduce pressure on European borders. That should be done in full transparency, embedding human rights in the relationship to balance the partnership and ensure that implementation is in line with international law. Co-operation on return and readmission remains a priority to improve the effectiveness of the EU return policy. Sustainable reintegration and promoting the option of voluntary return are key components. Ireland welcomed the political agreement reached in December last year between the EU co-legislators regarding the outstanding EU migration and asylum pact measures, and the recent vote in the European Parliament passing all measures of the pact. Ireland is firmly of the view that Europe must address the shared challenge of unplanned migration through collective effort and has always supported a predictable and flexible system of responsibility and solidarity with regard to the reception and management of protection applications. In that context, the pact is a significant improvement on the current protection system.
As Senators will be aware, the Government recently approved opting into the non-Schengen measures contained in the pact. Subject to approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas, which will be formally sought in the coming weeks, it is hoped that Ireland can opt into the pact and work with other EU member states to implement these substantial reforms. Ultimately, we know that migration requires a humane, comprehensive and co-ordinated European response.
Like all of our friends and partners in Europe, we find ourselves in an increasingly contested and volatile global environment. In particular, Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine has clearly had a fundamental impact on Europe's security, including on that of Ireland. Simply put, we can no longer rely either on our geographic isolation for our security, nor believe with any seriousness that we can insulate ourselves from world events. For that reason, the Government is committed to broadening and deepening Ireland’s international security engagement as well as our domestic efforts to ensure the security of our country.
As the EU has made clear, we know that Russia has demonstrated a continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, notably by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the EU and beyond. On 3 May, Ireland joined EU member states in strongly condemning the latest malicious cyber campaign conducted by Russian-controlled actors against democratic processes in Germany and Czechia. As we underlined with our partners, this type of behaviour is not only contrary to the UN norms of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace but is also in clear contravention of international law.
We know that certain foreign governments, including Russia's, have deliberately and strategically targeted European societies with false and manipulated information. The objective of this activity, much of it online, is to generate confusion, to sow or amplify division and fear, and to undermine trust in governments and democratic institutions. There are a number of important initiatives under way at EU level to combat this activity, including through new EU toolboxes on hybrid threats and foreign information manipulation and interference, all of which Ireland engages with and fully supports.
That work is complemented by the EU Digital Services Act, the powers for which came into operation in February 2024. At a domestic level here in Ireland, the State is committed to protecting our democratic processes and ensuring the integrity of our elections but we must be aware of external threats. In particular, the Electoral Commission is working to ensure fairness and integrity in Ireland's democratic processes, including by attempting to prevent foreign information manipulation and interference. The Government is also committed to publishing a national counter-disinformation strategy later this year to co-ordinate a whole-of-society approach to combating the harmful effects of disinformation.
While, as we know, there are no plans to alter our policy of military neutrality, it is incumbent on us to take our own security and responsibility towards our like-minded partners, particularly our fellow EU members, more seriously than ever before. Neutrality does not mean having no ability to protect ourselves or our own sovereignty. The investment in our Defence Forces is an absolutely crucial part of this.
I look forward to hearing the views of Senators. I thank them for their ongoing interest in the political and democratic Union we have helped shape since 1973.
