Good afternoon everybody and welcome to this special meeting of the Select Committee on Europe Day in the Dáil Chamber. I congratulate the Minister of State for European Affairs, Deputy Lucinda Creighton, on her appointment as Minister of State and particularly for facilitating Europe Day this day at such short notice.
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for making the Dáil Chamber available to the select committee. It is crucial that EU matters are taken from the committee rooms of the basement of LH 2000 and debated on the floor of the Dáil on a regular basis.
I compliment the Commissioner, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, for a fine address to the Dáil and for outlining the relevance and importance of her research, innovation and science portfolio towards achieving the goals of EU 2020.
I thank all the MEPs and TDs who have made a special effort to be here today to participate in the first Europe Day of the current Government.
I welcome everybody in the Gallery and also those who are looking in or listening to the proceedings from outside the Chamber.
The 9 May 1950 marked the origin of what is now the European Union, an economic and political union consisting of 500 million people in 27 member states. It was a union born from disunion and devastation. It was the determination of the founding fathers, Schumann and Monnet, to harness and channel the key industries of two world wars, coal and steel, to create peace, prosperity and solidarity for European states after the worst destruction of lives and property the world had ever experienced. It is fitting, therefore, that this important occasion be marked by our national Parliament annually.
The European Union is the largest economy in the world. It represents 60% of Ireland's exports and imports and is vital to our national economy. The current financial crisis means that now more than ever the future of our country and that of the 27 member states are fundamentally interlinked.
The programme for Government 2011 makes provision for the annual Europe Day to be the focus of a parliamentary debate to review national progress in implementing the European Union's current programme and in identifying the major issues of concern to Ireland for future programmes.
The theme of today's meeting is very much about looking forward to what Europe, and Ireland's role within Europe, will look like in 2020, including the role of the Oireachtas.
Where do we want to be in 2020 as Europeans, as Irish citizens and as Members of the Oireachtas? The European Union aims to achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by 2020 and the Europe 2020 strategy seeks to deliver high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion. Its five headline targets cover employment, research and development, climate change, education and poverty. The Commissioner, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, has already outlined to the Dáil the central role of research and innovation in achieving these goals. The emphasis on a smart economy across Europe mirrors the enduring strengths of our own small, open market economy of highly skilled workers. The kinds of jobs and investment created by Google, Intel and the pharmaceutical sector are examples of exactly the kinds of success stories that the EU as a whole aims to provide. Ireland's national reform programme under Europe 2020 sets national targets under each of these headlines.
In the wake of the Lisbon treaty a joint Sub-Committee on the Review of the Role of the Oireachtas in European Affairs examined how best the Oireachtas could maximise and implement its role and I was delighted to have been a member of that committee. The sub-committee produced a report and a number of recommendations on a cross-party basis, many of which have been included in the programme for Government. They focus on engaging with the European Union institutions, on improving accountability to the Oireachtas and on communicating Europe to our citizens. The Government is committed to implementing these recommendations as quickly as possible.
Ensuring compliance with the principle of subsidiarity forms a major plank of the future role of the Oireachtas in EU affairs. Subsidiarity is a fundamental principle of European law and requires that action should be taken at the nearest possible level to the citizen, be it at international, national or local level. The Lisbon treaty has introduced a crucial role for national parliaments. National parliaments are now the official EU watchdogs of new policy proposals emanating from the Commission to ensure that they do not intrude into matters that can best be addressed by the member states themselves.
Already the Dáil has established a select committee under Standing Order 103 specifically for the purpose of debating whether a Commission proposal to form an EU-wide common consolidated corporate tax base, CCTB, breaches the principle of subsidiarity. The outcome of this committee's deliberations may well have a significant impact on the future of Ireland's special corporation tax rate. The speedy establishment of this committee demonstrates the commitment of the new Dáil to engage fully with the EU institutions in the interests of the Irish people.
When speaking of fundamental principles it is worth recalling that the EU treaties acknowledge the fundamental values on which the EU project is based, namely, lasting peace, unity, equality, freedom, security and solidarity between members states and their peoples and respect for the rule of international law. These are values the world needs equally today in 2011 as on 9 May 1950.
We will now move on to hear contributions from Members of the European Parliament. There are ten Members of the European Parliament present and I will ask them to speak for three minutes each, beginning with the leaders of the groups. All members will have three minutes each and the first speaker is Mr. Gay Mitchell, MEP, a member of the Fine Gael Party and a member of the EPP.