Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
52. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has any special arrangements made for the term of the EU Presidency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50917/12]
View answerIreland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union will centre on delivering results on three core priorities: promoting stability, and creating the conditions for job creation and sustainable growth. Renewed growth and employment creation require strong and stable economic foundations. This is why the Irish Presidency is attaching such strong importance to the Banking Union proposals, and in particular advancing agreement with the European Parliament on the Single Supervisory Mechanism to restore confidence and to strengthen credit flows to SMEs to get Europe’s economy growing again. At the December General Affairs Council, Ireland presented its roadmap for implementing the European Semester, the new system for coordinating economic and budgetary policy within the European Union. Effective implementation of the Semester process is critical to restoring health to public finances across the Union. Stimulating sustainable economic growth to create employment is a key priority for the Presidency. In the run-up to the Presidency the Government reviewed work agendas across all Council formations to highlight proposals that have the potential to deliver jobs and growth. The Irish Presidency will place a particular emphasis on tackling youth unemployment which remains far too high in many Member States, including Ireland. As Presidency, Ireland will push for a comprehensive EU approach to tackling this challenge, starting with the Youth Employment Package. In particular, we aim to achieve consensus on the principles of the Youth Guarantee. The objective is to ensure that young people, who are not working or studying, receive an offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or traineeship. Identifying ways of tackling youth unemployment will also be the main focus of the Informal meeting of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers which is taking place in Dublin in February.
The Presidency has identified other areas to promote growth and jobs. These include an emphasis on securing agreement on draft legislation to improve the operation of the Single Market.
The Presidency will also work to secure agreement on a number of proposals and programmes aimed at supporting the next generation of research and innovation in Europe. It will also seek to advance proposals that support the growth of the digital economy and the broader digital agenda, including areas such as cyber security, e-signatures, data protection, web accessibility and high-speed broadband rollout. Progress in this area will deliver benefits for European consumers and business alike.
The EU’s external trade agenda is one area where we see significant potential for a greater contribution to growth and to jobs, particularly for Europe’s SME sector. 90 percent of future global growth is set to be generated outside Europe. That is why economic relations with key strategic partners, including the US, Canada, Japan and China, feature strongly in our Presidency programme.
With the benefit of Ireland’s close links with the US, we will work hard to agree the opening of Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the US. Ireland will be the first country to hold an informal meeting of Trade Ministers during its Presidency which signals the priority given by Ireland to this issue.We also expect to give political impetus to economic, trade and investment relations with other strategic partners including India, Japan and the countries of ASEAN. The EU’s relationship with China will also receive particular attention with a focus on investment protection and market access.
These are just some of the key priorities that Ireland has identified as central elements of its Presidency programme which was published last week. The programme was discussed with the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission and the Commission College who visited last week. The Taoiseach formally presented the programme to the European Parliament on 16 January. I am very encouraged by the response that the Government has received from the institutional partners and our partner states in support of the Irish Presidency’s objectives.
