Speech by the Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern T.D. to Dáil Éireann on the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2008 on Tuesday, 8 April, 2008
When I signed the Reform Treaty in Lisbon last December together with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, it was in the full knowledge that it represented an essential part of the process of 'moving on' for the European Union. The EU is moving on from a period of reflection and consultation. It is moving on from a phase of talking about institutional reform, to a phase where the Union can fully focus on the work at hand and prepare for the challenges ahead.
During my entire political career, I have held a strong commitment to the European Union. My core belief is that Ireland benefits hugely from our membership. Not just in financial and economic terms, but in terms of our capacity to look outwards and to engage with the world beyond our shores. As I said last week at the IMI, Europe has allowed the Irish people, as a nation, to define ourselves externally in terms of what we are, rather than what we are not.
I want to salute again the decision of our political forebears to apply for membership of the European Communities and to contribute over decades to the evolution of the European Union of today. I salute too the decisions of the Irish people when consulted from time to time over the past thirty-five years to say "yes" to Europe's development.
I am saddened that despite the evidence of five decades of Europe and thirty-five years of our own membership, there are still those who instinctively want our nation to withdraw into its shell: they continue to put forward the same arguments, evoking European monsters hiding under the covers of necessarily detailed Treaty language. They were wrong when they initially opposed our membership in 1972. They were wrong when they opposed the Single European Act and the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice Treaties and they are wrong still.
When opening the debate in this House last Wednesday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said it could be argued that Ireland has benefited more dramatically than any other country from EU membership. I believe that to be correct. Since we joined the Union, we have made as much, if not more, of the opportunities that membership has afforded us than perhaps any other Member State.
But this is no zero sum game: we did not seize those opportunities at the expense of any other Member State. That is one of the great attributes of the European Union. Indeed, our increased prosperity and progress also helps those around us, just as it is in our own interest to have successful European neighbours. Just as with our past, our futures will be also shared. A future within an effective, dynamic European Union is in Ireland's best interests.
We have the privilege of living in one of the most peaceful and prosperous regions of the world. It was not always that way, and there is nothing written in stone that says it will always be. We have to work continuously to maintain and improve what we have. No one with any sense believes that we could have achieved what we have achieved for our region by acting as individual Member States. And it would be foolish to believe that we can sustain our shared success by pursuing it individually.
The Union we have today is the fruit of working together for fifty years. But it is also the living tree that will bear the fruit of the next fifty, for the generations coming. We can and do enjoy the fruit, but we must also tend our tree. That is what the reform which this Treaty brings about is designed to do.
The European Union, which we have developed over fifty years, affects many sectors of our society now. Its development reflects real changes in our world as the influence of borders wanes in the face of technological and social change. When I addressed the European Parliament in 2006, I spoke of globalisation, technological change, migration, energy security and terrorism. I commented that it was not the European Union that dreamt up these challenges. Yet we know, logically and intuitively, that our best hopes of managing them lie with the Union.
People expect us to deliver on their aspirations and their needs
and expect that we, as politicians, will develop and maintain the capacity to do just that. We are now asking the public to approve a Treaty which will ensure that the Union can keep pace with change: in short, that it can continue to meet the needs of our public.
Ceann Comhairle, it is true that this Treaty does not contain a big ticket issue as others before it did: there is no Single European Act, or no single currency to be launched, on this occasion. Nor, in its structure, is it a thing of beauty. But its focus on improving the functioning of the Union, rather than altering radically its area of competence, represents a level of maturity within a Union of fifty years standing: what we are doing now in Europe is getting our house in order; we are tending our tree.
Let me briefly recap the key elements of the Treaty.
The reformed decision making methodology will see greater use of qualified majority voting within the Council, whereby a double majority of population and Member States is required with appropriate safeguards. This is both logical and intuitive: approval of a decision requires the support of a clear majority of the Member States representing a clear majority of the people. However, unanimity will continue to be required for decisions in sensitive policy areas.
In this regard, I see that taxation features in the newspapers again today. So let me once again spell out the situation. The Treaty will change absolutely nothing here - decisions on taxation will continue to require the unanimous approval of all Member States. Nothing could be clearer.
So while the idea of a Common Consolidated Corporation Tax Base, or CCCTB, can of course be discussed, I see no prospect of it coming into effect. And the Reform Treaty does nothing to change that. CCCTB is something to which I have been consistently opposed. In my view the idea is unhelpful, unnecessary and unworkable. Many other Member States are coming to the same conclusion, even though the topic has not been discussed yet by EU Finance Ministers.
Returning to the Treaty, the increased role for the European Parliament, particularly as co-legislator, is welcome and brings greater democracy to the Union. The European Parliament is a key institution and one to which our media ought to pay greater attention. Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of welcoming the President of the Parliament, Hans Gert Pottering, on his visit to Ireland, and I very much appreciate that he addressed the Seanad this morning.
The new role for national parliaments, particularly in relation to the protocol on proportionality and subsidiarity, represents a key measure to move decision-making closer to the citizens. The operation of the protocol presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the Oireachtas. It is an important and welcome development, and I am confident that the Oireachtas will fulfil its new responsibilities extremely well.
In addition, this involvement of national parliaments opens up the possibility of increasing the public's understanding and awareness of the work of the European Union.
The new posts of President of the European Council and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy are sensible, indeed necessary, responses to the need for greater coherence in the Union's business and its external representation.
The rotating six month Presidency has served the Union well and Ireland has a proud record of delivering excellent Presidencies. The privilege afforded to me to serve as President of the European Council in 2004, particularly the honour to welcome what were then called the new Member States to full membership in May 2004, is one I will always treasure. The six month rotating Presidency continues in a changed form.
But the role of the European Council has grown over the more than ten years that I have been a member. We now need even better preparation of, and follow up to, meetings to ensure that the work of the Council is translated into real benefits for all of our citizens. Suggestions that the post of European Council President will give its occupant excessive powers are well wide of the mark. The new President will be appointed by the European Council and responsible to its members. The President's powers will derive from decisions of the European Council, which the President will chair. Decisions will, as always, continue to be taken by the Member States.
On the external relations side, it was clear that a single representative of both Council and Commission is required if the Union is to be able to punch its weight internationally. That has led to the High Representative position and to the new President of the European Council being given a role with regard to external relations. However, they can only articulate agreed EU positions.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights which reflects the Union's values and underpins the rights of individuals across the Union is brought into effect by the Treaty. It is right that the Union has this clear expression of the Fundamental Rights which are central to the development of so many areas of the Union's work.
The explicit inclusion within the Union's competences of climate change, at my initiative, means that confronting one of the world's greatest challenges is now hard-wired into the machinery of Europe. Few issues capture as neatly why we need the Union. Few issues illustrate so compellingly why the Union is looked to the world over as an unparalleled model of international sharing of sovereignty. As for climate change itself, there is no doubt that changes are necessary if we are to confront the challenge. Those changes may not be easy. But as we enter a new energy era, it is also a moment of immense opportunity.
Ceann Comhairle, it is difficult to believe that more than six years have passed since we adopted the Laeken declaration, which could be thought of as the origins of the Treaty we are debating today. It committed the Union to strive to be more democratic, more transparent, and more effective. This Treaty delivers on all of that for our Union.
It will be more democratic thanks to the increased roles for both the European and national parliaments, and the introduction of the citizens' initiative.
It will be more transparent because of the changes in the way the Council will conduct its business, and because the role of national parliaments in scrutinising proposed legislative measures will ensure a greater awareness of them.
It will be more efficient as a result of the revised decision making procedures, the reduction in the number of Commission members, but with full equality of Member States, and the introduction of the new posts of President of the Council and High Representative.
When I signed the Treaty on behalf of Ireland, I did so also knowing that we had achieved all our key goals during the negotiations, as we had done earlier with the Constitutional Treaty. No country gets everything it wants in these negotiations but we are extremely satisfied with a Treaty which enables Europe to function much more effectively and efficiently and which does not adversely affect any of Ireland's key interests.
Ceann Comhairle, we know the world is changing fast and many are intimidated by the feeling of the future rushing towards them. Globalisation is so real that many are already tiring of it. Indeed, Ireland is often referred to as among the most globalised countries in the world, probably because we are.
In truth, for hundreds of years, and sadly not for the happiest of reasons, we have been a highly globalised people. This has served us well in recent times, in ways we could never have anticipated in the unhappy circumstances that gave rise to it. One salient point to be made about our progress is that our people no longer have to leave their country. Our membership of the Union has played a central role in achieving that change, not least by encouraging foreign investment and giving companies assured access to lucrative markets across the continent.
The European Union has also been an immense support to the peace process on this island. It is hard to imagine that the many positive changes we have witnessed in the past ten years would have come about without the support and encouragement of so many from beyond our shores as well as those within Ireland, North and South.
The wisdom of previous generations that resolved to face outwards has its reward in the peace, stability and prosperity we enjoy today. The responsibility to future generations is now ours.
There can be no doubt but that the best way to preserve the progress we have made is to remain actively and positively engaged with Europe and the wider world. We must continue to go abroad and seek to influence the world which influences us. We must resist passivity or any sense of fatality about global change, but seek to shape and embrace that change. We must never turn in on ourselves and become blind to the challenges and the opportunities that are evolving all the time.
Europe must play its global role
For the European Union, the same arguments apply. As the largest integrated market in the world, with a leading currency, home to many of the world's most successful economies, host to societies with among the best living standards on our planet, and as a democratic, stable area of peace and prosperity, Europe simply must play its role in the world. The European Union is a force for good.
Our values are clear: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
If our values do not shape our world and our future, then others will.
Conclusion
Ceann Comhairle, for many, many years I have represented Ireland, and pursued Ireland's interests, in Europe. I, my party and the Governments I have been privileged to lead, have worked tirelessly to ensure that Ireland reaps the benefits of EU membership, that our voice is heard on the European stage, and that the Union is attuned to our interests and needs. This reflects the desire of the vast majority of members of this House for a constructive engagement with the Union.
The negotiation of the Reform Treaty is the latest chapter of that work, and Ireland's national interests have been well protected in its negotiation. We must now ensure that the Union is equipped for the future. We need the Union to continue playing its role both within its borders and on the global stage. That is what the Treaty sets out to do.
That is why it is vital that this House adopt this Bill giving effect to the referendum on the Reform Treaty. And above all, it is why it is vital not just that we have a "yes" vote on 12 June, but that it be a resounding and confident "yes".
ENDS