Is mór agam an deis chun an Teach a chur ar an eolas faoi na torthaí ar chruinniú Chomhairle an Aontais Eorpaigh sa Bhruiséil Déardaoin agus Dé hAoine seo chaite, 1 agus 2 Márta.
Ar an mbeartas eacnamaíochta a bhíothas ag díriú go príomha ag cruinniú seo an earraigh den Chomhairle. Murab ionann is cuid mhaith dár gcruinnithe sa Bhruiséil le déanaí, áfach, bhí an ceann seo suaimhneach go maith. Ní raibh aon chúlra géarchéime ann, tar éis aontú ar an gcomhaontú nua don Ghréig ag deireadh Eanáir, aontú ar an gconradh nua agus ról gníomhach an Bhainc Cheannais Eorpaigh, agus airgead á chur ar fáil do bhainc aige anois. Mar sin féin, cruinniú an-tábhachtach a bhí ann, don Aontas agus dá chuid ballstát araon.
Bhí an t-am againn le haghaidh plé mionsonraithe ar bheartas eacnamaíochta an Aontais Eorpaigh, go háirithe faoin mbealach le cothromaíocht a chinntiú idir leanúint leis an gcomhdhlúthú agus gníomhú chun treisiú le poist agus le fás; d'atoghamar an tUachtarán Van Rompuy, a leanfaidh ina chathaoirleach ar an gComhairle Eorpach go deireadh na Samhna 2014; bhreathnaimear ar aghaidh ar roinnt cruinnithe mullaigh idirnáisiúnta atá romhainn; agus rinneamar roinnt ceisteanna tábhachtacha idirnáisiúnta a mheas, go háirithe staid na Siria. D'aontaíomar freisin ar stádas iarrthóra a thabhairt don tSeirbia.
Ar imeall na Comhairle, bhí mé i láthair ag an gcruinniú mullaigh sóisialta tríthaobhach agus shínigh me ar son na hÉireann an conradh nua ar chobhsaíocht, ar chomhordú agus ar rialachas san Aontas Eacnamaíoch agus Airgeadaíochta, faoi réir a dhaingnithe ag muintir na hÉireann sa reifreann atá romhainn.
Discussion on economic matters began when we first met on Thursday evening and continued over dinner. The format facilitated a free-flowing exchange among leaders. I am pleased to be able to tell the House that there is now a shared view around the European Council table that to enhance prospects for economic recovery in Europe, we also need to give real momentum to the drive to create jobs and promote growth. These are the issues that matter most to the people of Europe. I have consistently argued in favour of a balanced approach and am pleased that this has now become a real focus for our work. We are also considering how best to step-up implementation in order that all the commitments entered into are delivered upon, and I expect this is something to which we will return at our next meeting.
As I told the House last week, ahead of the meeting together with 11 of my colleagues, I wrote to President Van Rompuy and President Barroso setting out eight priority areas on which action needs to be taken to drive growth in Europe. Our letter, which was subsequently endorsed by several additional member states, formed one of the crucial inputs into our discussions on a balanced economic strategy and to our eventual conclusions on this issue.
President Van Rompuy's issues paper was another important input. Looking across a range of important economic indicators, it highlighted the extent and range of shared challenges which we continue to face in Europe. Setting existing performance out in tabular form, it made it easy to see where each member state is doing well and where further improvement is required. This underscored the fact that there can be no one-size-fits-all approach to reform and recovery. We need a targeted and differentiated approach.
At the meeting I highlighted the extent of our adjustment over the past three to four years. I recalled that these have been painful adjustments for the Irish people, but that they have not been in vain and are now beginning to deliver real results, particularly with our return to growth last year, our strong export performance and our continuing ability to attract and retain investment from around the world. I highlighted the importance of our very well-educated workforce, in which we have invested as a people. Our significantly improved competitiveness position - with falls in unit labour costs and property prices - combined with a general pro-enterprise approach places us in a good position to avail of growth in our main markets. However, we are not doing as well as we should be in a number of areas. Apart from the overarching need to get people back to work urgently, we also need to do much more in terms of the availability of venture capital and investment in research, development and innovation. This highlights the importance of speedily resolving the outstanding issues surrounding the European patent of which Ireland is a strong supporter.
The meeting was an important staging post in the European semester process. We endorsed the five priorities for 2012 set out in the Commission's annual growth survey, which include growth friendly consolidation, restoring normal lending, promoting growth and competitiveness, and tackling unemployment. These priorities will be reflected in the national reform programmes to be submitted by member states in April under the Europe 2020 strategy. As we are a programme country, we are not obliged to submit a full national reform programme - meeting our programme targets remains our goal - but we will in any case provide a progress report.
We also discussed preliminary findings and best practices relating to the 2011 country-specific recommendations under the semester process and commitments under the Euro Plus Pact. We agreed that, while important measures have been taken by all member states, reforms in certain areas are lagging behind and implementation is uneven. Furthermore, we noted that the Commission's recently published alert mechanism report points to certain challenges and potential risks of macroeconomic imbalances, and we urged the Council, the Commission and member states to act to address these issues swiftly.
We also acknowledged that resolute action is required on unemployment, particularly youth unemployment. We called on member states to increase efforts to make it easier and more attractive for employers to hire people, to remove barriers to the creation of new jobs, and to implement active labour market policies, particularly to strengthen the participation of young people, women and older workers in the labour market.
The Commission will shortly publish an employment package which will focus on strengthening growth through mobilising Europe's workforce, promoting job creation in key sectors, and improving management of skills needs. Removing barriers to professional mobility will be a welcome focus. This is another example of how the vital work we are doing at national level in Ireland through the jobs action plan can be complemented and reinforced through action at European level. Again, this is the type of focus we need.
Through its meetings at the end of January and last week, the European Council has now mapped out an extensive programme of work for the period ahead, completing the Single Market, including in the digital area, and supporting our SMEs in order that more jobs can be created. We have identified our priorities - those areas with the greatest potential to contribute to growth - many of which will be right at the top of the agenda during Ireland's Presidency in the first half of next year. We look forward to making progress on issues that are of great concern to our businesses and our people, whether it be reducing the costs of high-speed broadband infrastructure or making it easier for people with professional qualifications to move and work across Europe. We will seek to make life easier for businesses, including cutting the red-tape burden and advancing measures to support micro-enterprises.
There is now a better fit between this renewed emphasis on the growth agenda at EU level and our own national emphasis through the programme for Government. Later today, the Tánaiste and I will publish a progress report on the implementation of the programme for Government. What we now need is to ensure implementation both at national and European level. The House can be assured that I will be keeping the pressure up on this.
I therefore welcome agreement at the meeting that we can do more to ensure ownership and responsibility at the level of the European Council for driving this work forward. More effective peer pressure has a role to play. We have therefore asked the Commission to provide scoreboards of how we are all performing, and we have asked President Van Rompuy to ensure that progress on Single Market issues is regularly monitored by the European Council.
