Opening remarks by Tánaiste at the Annual EU Heads of Missions Lunch, hosted by the Belgian Presidency

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I would like to thank Ambassador Van Vlierberge for her kind invitation to meet with you all today. I also want to congratulate her and the team in the Embassy for contributing to a very successful Belgian Presidency of the EU which has accomplished much on the legislative and policy front since the start of the year.

Now that the new European Parliament has been elected, we need to start preparing earnestly for the coming five-year term.

The European Council will hold a special meeting next Monday to consider and try and reach agreement on the top-level appointments that now need to be made.

The regular European Council at the end of June will discuss and agree the new Strategic Agenda setting out the Union’s key priorities for the next five years as well as agreeing a Roadmap on the internal work necessary to prepare our Union for future Enlargement.

President Michel has already identified his main theme in preparing the next Agenda as ensuring we can continue to deliver a strong, prosperous and democratic Union and that is certainly an overriding objective which Ireland can fully support.

Amongst all the many priorities which will have to feature when Leaders agree the next Strategic Agenda later this month, we have put emphasis on the importance of competitiveness and working to complete the Single Market being front and centre in determining our future work.

Unless we can continue to deliver prosperity and greater economic opportunities for our citizens, we are unlikely to be able to deliver on all our other objectives.

In charting our future path, it is however difficult to look beyond the immediate and the horrendous conflicts still raging in our own neighbourhood, in Ukraine and Gaza.

We are facing an incredibly grave situation in Ukraine and I know that many of you are facing the threats of hybrid and covert operations by Russia on your territory. We need to re-establish momentum at EU level on support for Ukraine urgently.

Our support for Ukraine remains multifaceted. We have contributed extensive political, humanitarian, military, and economic support to Ukraine since February 2022.

We are committed to continuing this support. We have also welcomed over 107,000 Ukrainians to date under the EU Temporary Protection Directive, the equivalent of over 2% of our population.

We have taken a number of important decisions at EU level in recent months, including on the Ukraine Facility, Ukraine Assistance Fund and the opening of accession negotiations. Together, these send a strong signal to Russia, and around the world, of the EU’s commitment to supporting Ukraine.

It is essential that we now follow through on these decisions and avoid any further delays. Further delays on this are completely unconscionable.

Ireland has continued to press at EU level for progress with regard to the Ukraine Assistance Fund and the opening of accession negotiations. We will continue to work with all of you to support Ukraine however we can for as long as it takes.

This week’s summit on “Peace in Ukraine” will be an important first step in coming together as a global community to discuss how we can support a future peace process for Ukraine, based on the UN Charter and its principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Ireland is committed to supporting a successful Summit, both through the Taoiseach’s participation in the Summit, and through both his and my engagement with global partners to encourage a high level of attendance.

On Gaza and the Middle East, you will know the priority which Ireland attaches to supporting all efforts to bring about an immediate ceasefire, to secure the release of all hostages, and to ensure full and unimpeded humanitarian access to the suffering population of Gaza.

As President Biden has said, it is clearly time for this war to end and for the day after to begin.

The EU, beginning with the FAC and the European Council later this month, must lend its full support to the Arab Peace Vision and to the efforts led by the US to secure an immediate ceasefire.

We in the EU also need to make clear that we continue to believe firmly in the Two State Solution.

We simply cannot go back to the status quo ante when this phase of the conflict is over.

It was precisely to keep the Two State Solution a viable prospect that Ireland, along with Spain, Norway and now Slovenia, have decided formally to recognise Palestine as a State.

It is intended as a step towards a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace agreement as well as a clear reaffirmation that Palestinian self-determination is not negotiable.

Just as the international community collectively needs to make progress in ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and advancing the Two State Solution, so we within the EU must also advance our own key strategic goal of Enlargement and preparing to welcome our Partners in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Neighbourhood.

I really hope that we can continue to make substantial progress in advancing the Enlargement process during the term of the next Commission and Parliament.

Of course, we cannot set a date or deadline for admitting new Members. That, ultimately, must remain up to the candidate countries themselves in delivering the necessary reforms and fulfilling the requirements of the acquis.

Advancing on the accession path must remain a merit-based process. However, we can ensure that reforms and progress achieved are duly recognised and rewarded. That’s why it is so important to try and convene inter-governmental conferences this month with Ukraine and Moldova as well as Montenegro which remains in many ways the front-runner among the candidate countries.

We also have to prepare ourselves internally in order for our Union to expand to thirty-plus Members.

This won’t be an easy task. Many of the difficult policy and budgetary issues to be confronted will have to be addressed within the context of the next MFF negotiations, not least in relation to areas such as the CAP and Cohesion policy.

We are already anticipating that these budget negotiations will be one of the major challenges confronting our Presidency in the latter half of 2026.

However, we within the EU have to have confidence in our own resilience and in the fact that we managed to deal successfully with previous waves of Enlargement, including in admitting ten new Member States in May 2004. This is a message we also need to continue communicating to the public in each of our countries in the coming months and years.

For our part, we are open to considering whatever policy or institutional changes may ultimately prove necessary though, like most Partners, we favour those which can be implemented within the existing legal and Treaty framework.

We also recognise the need to look at how we can improve our decision-making process and ensure that the EU can continue to exercise its influence as a key international player.

Most of you will be aware that we have joined the recently re-named Group of Friends of Improving Decision-Making in the CFSP as an Observer member. While sharing many of the concerns about greater use of QMV which smaller Member States have, we believe it is important to be involved in this emerging discussion and to engage in trying to shape it.

Like all of our friends and partners in Europe, Ireland is conscious that we find ourselves in an increasingly contested, dynamic and volatile international security environment.

While there are no plans to alter our policy of military neutrality, the global security context obliges us to take both our own security and our responsibility towards our like-minded partners more seriously than ever.

For this reason, the government is committed to broadening and deepening Ireland’s international security engagement as well as our domestic efforts to ensure the security of our country.

Having progressed a national conversation on these issues through a Consultative Forum on International Security Policy last year, the government is now advancing a range of measures to meet the challenges of the future.

These include continuing our longstanding support of the EU’s Common, Security and Defence Policy and active participation in the EU’s civilian and military CSDP missions and operations.

The government is also committed to transforming our Defence Forces, including through a significant increase in the defence budget from €1.1 billion to €1.5 billion, in 2022 prices, by 2028.

In addition, the government is moving ahead to amend the current “Triple Lock” which governs the overseas deployments of our Defence Forces and which effectively gives permanent UN Security Council members, such as Russia, a veto over Irish deployments.

I have already highlighted the priority which we attach to keeping competitiveness and the strength of the European economy front and centre in discussion of our future priorities.

We look forward to a well prepared discussion at this month’s European Council on competitiveness and the recommendations of the Letta and, if it is available, the Draghi reports.

We really hope these two reports can provide further impetus to deepening and completing our Single Market which remains integral to our overall prosperity and competitiveness as an economic bloc.

Any measures eventually agreed aimed at improving global competitiveness must not undermine the integrity of the Single Market. Preserving the level-playing field has to remain our collective priority.

I want to conclude by saying a few words about the issue of Migration which is so much dominating public discourse in so many of our countries.

Irregular migration remains an enormous challenge for the EU and its Member States, and particularly those which are on the frontline such as Italy, Spain, Greece and Cyprus.

Ireland has always tried to respond with solidarity in addressing this issue.

Effective partnership, both amongst ourselves and with third countries, is of course indispensable if we are to achieve sustainable results in the better management of migratory pressures. The EU has and is continuing to do a lot of very good work in this area of the external dimensions of migration.

Our work in this area must always be fully consistent with our international legal obligations.

It also has to address all the aspects of this very complex issue, including responding to the root causes of migration.

The government has, of course, welcomed the political agreement between the Parliament and Council last December which paved the way for final adoption of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact by the ECOFIN on 14 May.

We have consistently argued for some time that it would only be through collective effort, based on an equitable system of responsibility and solidarity, that the EU could truly get to grips with the challenge posed by irregular or unplanned migration.

You will be aware that the government recently approved opting-in to all the non-Schengen measures contained in the Pact.

Subject to approval by both Houses of the Oireachtas, which will be formally sought in the coming weeks, it is hoped that Ireland can opt-in to the Pact and work with our EU Partners to implement the substantial reforms it contains.

Ultimately, we know that migration requires a humane, comprehensive and coordinated European response.

I have not attempted to address all the challenges and priorities which the Union must deal with in the coming years in my short remarks.

Thank you again for the invite to address you today and to Ambassador Van Vlierberge and her team for all the excellent work in carrying out their Presidency responsibilities.