Joe Higgins
Question:28. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans for when Ireland assumes the Presidency of the European Union on 1 January 2013. [43032/12]
View answerWednesday, 17 October 2012
Questions (28)
Written answers
I and other members of the Government are committed to using Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU to tackle the greatest challenge facing citizens across the EU today which is to create jobs by stimulating economic growth. This will be the major overarching theme of the Irish EU Presidency.
Over the past 20 years the Single Market has boosted Irish exports and created thousands of jobs. One of the aims of the Single Market Act II, which was published by the European Commission on 3 October, will be to respond to changes in the economy over the coming years, particularly by exploiting the potential of the digital economy for business and consumers and contributing to growth and jobs creation. Ireland will also seek to promote external trade during its Presidency and will hold a meeting of Trade Ministers in Ireland during the Presidency which will focus on the EU-US trade relationship. There will also be a strong focus on tackling the causes of unemployment, and in particular youth unemployment.
As Presidency Ireland will work to restore confidence and stability in Europe’s economy by seeking to effectively implement economic governance measures and reach agreement on banking proposals to strengthen supervision. The Government is supporting the current Cyprus EU Presidency in its efforts to secure agreement on the EU’s budget from 2014-2020. We stand ready to take any remaining tasks that fall to us on 1 January next to ensure that the EU has a budget that can underpin economic growth and job creation in Europe through programmes of major importance to Ireland and other Member States such as CAP, CFP and the Horizon 2020 framework for research and innovation, to name but a few.
In relation to the Common Foreign and Security Policy, as Presidency, we will actively support the High Representative and the EEAS in promoting effectiveness and coherence in the EU’s response to current foreign policy and security challenges. While the Foreign Affairs Council agenda is mainly driven by current events, the crisis in Syria, the Middle East Peace Process and the Iran nuclear issue seem likely to remain high on this agenda in the first half of 2013.
In the area of development aid, we will focus on themes including shaping the post-2015 framework for international development as we look beyond the 2000 Millennium Development Goals. This issue will figure prominently at the Informal meeting of EU Development Ministers in February 2013. We are also planning to organise an international conference in Dublin, bringing together the themes of hunger, nutrition and climate justice, working in close cooperation with Mary Robinson. It will aim to bring the voices of local communities in developing countries to bear on the policy debate on the future of global development.
In my role as Chairman of the General Affairs Council during the Presidency, I will ensure that EU Enlargement will also be a priority for the Irish Presidency.