12 Nov 2014, 16:17
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs will meet tomorrow to consider the EU’s Enlargement Strategy in the most recently published progress reports from the Balkans region. Erwan Fouéré, Associate Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies, will be addressing the Committee.
Chairman of the Committee Dominic Hannigan said: “The Committee looks forward to discussing the EU's enlargement strategy and the latest progress reports relating to the Balkans region. Irishman Erwan Fouéré enjoyed an extensive career as an EU diplomat and now works with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) where his main research is on the EU's role in the Balkans, with a special focus on Macedonia.
“Enlargement is one of the EU’s most successful policies. Discussion tomorrow is expected to focus on how, despite this success, the appetite for further enlargement has waned in recent years across many Member States. The Committee has a longstanding interest in the Western Balkans and is gravely concerned that instability and lack of reform in some candidate countries is undermining their progress towards EU Accession. We look forward to examining some of these key issues with Mr Fouéré at tomorrow’s meeting.”
The meeting will commence with a separate discussion on the forthcoming General Affairs Council Meeting with Dara Murphy TD, Minister of State for European Affairs. This meeting is likely to set out the agenda for the upcoming European Council meeting in December.
The meeting takes place tomorrow 13 November at 2pm in Committee Room 3, LH 2000. Public proceedings can be followed online here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
Committee Membership
Deputies: Eric Byrne, Seán Crowe, Timmy Dooley, Bernard J. Durkan, John Halligan, Dominic Hannigan (Chair), Seán Kyne, and Joe O’Reilly
Senators: Colm Burke, Aideen Hayden, Terry Leyden, Catherine Noone and Kathryn Reilly