Committee on Constitutional Affairs Ordinary meeting
Legend
Transcript markers
- text Sentence being played
- text Search result
- text Intervention cited by the link you opened
Click a sentence to play the video from that moment. Select text to quote it with the speaker, timestamp and link.
More options
Offset
Transcript offset
Export
Replay
Versions of this video
Transcripts may differ slightly from one version to another.
AFCO European Parliament
Follow its sittingsThomas Byrne
Indeed, yesterday, we had a ministers' lunch on the roadmap where we were addressed by Enrico Letta, who is the author of much of the work that led to the roadmap. He's a special rapporteur on the one market. On values, our presidency will strive to deliver on the founding EU principles of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and the respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities as reflected in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union. At the General Affairs Council, I will work to uphold the rule of law across the European Union and in candidate countries. I look forward to the Council's annual dialogue on the rule of law, including country-specific discussions in the autumn.
And on security, the presidency will strive to advance measures towards the EU's security and defense in the face of contemporary threats, promoting active support for Ukraine. The presidency is committed to agreeing an ambitious budget for the EU, the Multiannual Financial Framework, to ensure we will have the power to transform Europe for the better in the decade ahead. Timely agreement on the MFF will demonstrate to EU citizens our commitment to deliver on shared priorities and ambitions. Our presidency goal is to deliver a meaningful and ambitious simplification agenda while maintaining environmental protections, fundamental rights, and other standards.
The Irish presidency sees enlargement as a key expression of our values. Yesterday, we had what we called Super Tuesday for EU enlargement, when I had the honor of chairing the most intergovernmental conferences held in a single day since 2002. This was a signal moment for enlargement. Ireland has consistently supported enlargement, which is one of the European Union's greatest strategic successes. Successive enlargements have extended peace, stability, democracy, and prosperity across the continent.
Against the backdrop of an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment, enlargement has acquired an even greater strategic significance. Ireland wants to see the completion of accession negotiations with Montenegro and to make substantial progress in negotiations with Albania. We're also working intensively in advancing accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova during our presidency. The European Union remains a work in progress, adapting to opportunities and responding to challenges. In Granada in 2023, EU leaders underlined the need for the European Union to be ready to meet the challenges of the next wave of enlargement, calling for pre-enlargement policy reviews on the Union's governance, policies, resources, and values.
We've had a number of ministerial-level discussions on these at the General Affairs Council. I look forward to the publication of the Commission's policy reviews, which I understand will happen in the coming period. I've taken note of your own work as a committee on EU reform, including your most recent report. I note that you underline the need for greater efficiency and the importance of democratic legitimacy. You highlighted the potential for greater use of existing flexibilities under the treaties and the importance of maintaining the unity of EU institutions and upholding the spirit and the law of the treaties.
I note that in light of the new impetus in the enlargement process, and recalling the Granada Declaration, EU leaders have decided that the European Council will hold a strategic discussion on enlargement and reforms at its meeting in October. As chair of the General Affairs Council, I will support productive and successful discussions at the Council on the policy reviews whenever they are brought forward by the Commission. Our shared objective is a European Union that remains effective, democratic, and capable of delivering for its citizens, and open to those European countries that have freely chosen our common values and meet the obligations of membership. Democratic accountability is deeply woven into the Union's institutional framework. Strong democratic institutions reinforce public confidence, improve decision-making, and underpin the legitimacy of the European project.
As members would be aware, discussions concerning the Parliament's right of inquiry have been ongoing for many years. They do involve complex legal and institutional questions. Successive Councils have maintained a number of concerns regarding previous proposals. Over the past year, extensive technical engagement between the services of the Parliament, the Council, and the Commission has helped clarify many of the issues. The new rapporteur represents an opportunity to approach this file with fresh eyes.
Though the margins for agreement are very tight, with a clear understanding of all positions, we see an opportunity to close the file. We understand the Parliament intends to bring forward a new proposal soon. When that is presented, the presidency and the Council stand ready to engage constructively with the Parliament and the Commission in the hope that agreement can be found in the common ground that already has been established. Public confidence in institutions depends on effective decision-making and confidence in their integrity. Citizens rightly expect that those who serve within the European institutions are subject to clear ethical standards.
The establishment of an inter-institutional ethics body is an important step in strengthening that confidence. The progress that has been made in recent months towards making the ethics body operational is welcome. Important advances have been made on the draft rules of procedure, and preparations have continued regarding the appointment of the first group of independent experts. The presidency remains fully committed to maintaining that momentum. The Council will work closely with the Parliament, the Commission, and all institutions to ensure that the remaining technical and political issues can be resolved in a manner that commands broad confidence.
We will work to strengthen the resilience of European democracies and the systems underpinning them, as we face increased threats from malign influences seeking to sow mistrust and discord between our citizens and governments. Protecting and strengthening European democracy is not an abstract ambition, and the Democracy Shield is one of our priorities. The presidency welcomes the substantial work undertaken by the Parliament's special committee on the European Democracy Shield. Strengthening democratic resilience and defending our European values require an effort by all actors, in the spirit of a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. Democratic resilience extends beyond responding to external threats.
It also requires strengthening public confidence in our democratic institutions, promoting media literacy, supporting an informed public discourse, and ensuring that all citizens are equipped to participate in democracy. We will work to enhance democratic participation and community resilience. The presidency will work in the Council to prepare conclusions on this important aspect. Transparency is essential for political accountability and democratic governance. The Commission proposal on the transparency of interest representation on behalf of third countries seeks to strengthen confidence in democratic decision-making across the Union and supports efforts to address foreign interference.
The presidency recognizes both the importance of the proposal's objectives and the complexities of the issues involved. Discussions among member states have demonstrated broad agreement on the need to respond effectively to foreign interference, while also highlighting the importance of avoiding unnecessary administrative burdens and ensuring legal safeguards. I'm conscious many of these concerns were also reflected in the Parliament's response to the Commission's proposal, and I must congratulate you on beating the Council to it in that regard. Against that background, the presidency intends to give renewed momentum to this file. We will continue discussions with the objective of securing a Council general approach which is balanced, fair, and effective.
Should sufficient progress be achieved, our ambition is to open inter-institutional negotiations with the Parliament. As we get closer to the halfway point in this Parliament, preparations of course begin for the next set of European elections. In this regard, the Council looks forward to Parliament bringing forward proposals concerning the composition of Parliament, in line with the principle of degressive proportionality and mindful of the likelihood of further enlargement of our Union. I'm also informed that AFCO will work on amending the Parliament's rules of procedures to take account of the change to permit proxy voting for pregnant MEPs and MEPs who recently gave birth. For our part, we will encourage member states to ratify this as soon as possible, and indeed we intend that Ireland will be among the first member states to do so.
Council has taken note of the Parliament's decision to ask for the Authority for European Political Parties and Foundations to proceed with its proposed verification procedure. Council respects that an independent process is now in train and encourages all parties to observe the values of the Union as set out in the treaties, including the conduct of the process. The recent resolution on the regulation on the statute and funding of political parties and foundations, in particular the proposal to re-examine the funding levels for European political foundations, has also been taken into account. And let me to turn to the EU's relationship with the UK. For me as an Irish minister, this carries particular significance and is of strong interest to our presidency.
During our presidency, we want to move the EU-UK relationship forward. We've always supported the strongest possible EU-UK relationship, and I welcome the UK's desire for a closer relationship with the EU. We believe that a successful and balanced second EU-UK summit, with clear deliverables, will be a good basis for building on the relationship. We look forward to receiving clarity on the summit date in the coming weeks, I suppose waiting for political events to happen in London in particular, and also work at the Council too. In line with the common understanding reached in May 2025, we anticipate that agreement will be reached in the next summit on a youth experience scheme, emissions trading systems linkages, and a common sanitary and phytosanitary area agreement.
Advancing the legal texts giving effect to these would be a key priority for Ireland during our presidency. These agreements bring tangible benefits for all. They cut red tape for business, they support our shared climate goals, and they strengthen our vital people-to-people contacts. We would also like to see work on an electricity agreement substantively advanced, as well as work on an appropriate UK financial contribution to the EU's cohesion policy. Additionally, we hope to see further cooperation in the area of security and defense.
The UK's a vital and like-minded partner in this changing geopolitical environment. It's in our mutual interest to have a good relationship in the area of foreign and security policy. Throughout the presidency, we will also prioritize the continued implementation of the existing agreements with the UK, including the Windsor Framework. We look forward to working with our EU partners and UK and Northern Ireland stakeholders on the effective implementation of the Windsor Framework arrangements, recognizing the importance this agreement plays in protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and the integrity of the single market. Chair and honorable members, the program I've outlined this afternoon reflects the ambition of the presidency to deliver practical progress across a broad and demanding agenda.
Whether we discuss enlargement, reform, democratic resilience, ethical governance, transparency, or our external relationships, our approach is consistent and will be consistent. We will be constructive. We will engage with the Parliament. We will seek consensus where possible. Ministers from the Irish government, from the Irish presidency, will speak as member of parliament to member of parliament.
We remain firmly committed to strengthening a European Union that is effective, democratic, resilient, and capable of delivering for all citizens, and look forward to hearing your views and our questions.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much, Minister Byrne, and I think we get the spirit of the Irish presidency, very concrete, very hands-on, for strength with unity and also grouped around the strong democratic institutions. And with this, I will give the floor for two minutes to each coordinator here, and we will use the ping-pong system, so the minister will reply to each coordinator. Colleagues, I ask you to really stay within the timeframe you are given, and we start with the EPP and Loránt Vincze.
Loránt Vincze
Thank you, Chair. Minister, welcome to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. Good to have you here, and thank you for the exchange that we already had in the preparation of your presidency. Thank you for making an inventory of the main topics that not are only part of AFCO competencies, but also are related to a more general approach on governance and institutional issues. Certainly, you mentioned topics that are already work in progress on our part in the committee, but also legislation that we are awaiting from the Commission.
I would highlight two topics. You mentioned actually both. First is enlargement. As you said, yesterday was a signal moment, a genuine milestone for enlargement.
Certainly this momentum reflects the credibility of the merit-based enlargement, and we are looking forward to working closely with the presidency to keep this dynamic firmly on the institutional agenda. As you rightly pointed out, future enlargements will inevitably raise important institutional questions, including the balance between Union's institutions, the composition of the Parliament, voting arrangements in the Council, legislative efficiency, and the democratic legitimacy of decision-making in a larger Union. And while these issues are not presented explicitly in the presidency's program, they are closely linked to the presidency's enlargement agenda. So, in your view, which internal reforms will be necessary to ensure that the European Union's institutions can continue to function effectively in an enlarged Union? And I can only hope that this is not only the unanimity topic that is concerned and that should be addressed.
And second, you also mentioned the funding of European political foundations. We had a recent report adopted on that, and there has been earlier a clear commitment made by the three institutions involved in the negotiations of the current recast to reassess the financial framework governing European political foundations. We had an exchange of views here in this committee in March, where all the stakeholders were present and obviously said we need to address this matter. So I would like to invite the presidency to raise the awareness and to encourage the Commission to come up with a proposal, but also help us to build momentum in the General Affairs Council to prepare this piece of legislation to be well received in a negotiation among the institutions. Thank you.
Thomas Byrne
Sorry, could you just repeat the exact question of the European political foundations, actually, please?
Loránt Vincze
So the question is, since we are awaiting now the Commission to prepare the presentation of the recast, and it is a unanimous decision needed from the side of the Council, we believe that discussions should even preempt the presentation of the proposal from the Commission. We need dialogue between the three institutions to well prepare this momentum and really have a quick adoption of this, I believe, we believe, a more technical amendment to the regulation, and it's not involving a large political debates, hopefully, and manage to solve this issue for the foundations.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much, Lorant Vincze, and I give the floor to the minister.
Thomas Byrne
Yeah, I think that's the latter is work we can take forward certainly during the presidency. I think there's already work underway by my officials to have that discussion and to bring forward that work, I can say that. On enlargement, I think yesterday was a fantastic moment. It builds a momentum from the Cyprus presidency, the Danish presidency. I was Europe minister previously, 2020 to 22.
We talked a lot about enlargement. I visited the Western Balkans, but really very little was happening. And there are still some applicant countries blocked, if we're honest about it. But we had the most intergovernmental conferences yesterday since 2002. That is bringing a huge momentum to the table.
I see in the news this morning that the leader of Serbia is with President von der Leyen in Kyiv today, which again I think is an important moment, I hope, in terms of the, you know, reconciliation, integration of Serbia as well. And that's something that we can talk to our Council colleagues about as well.
So, yes, we have member states joining, and of course first in the list because of the work that they've done is Montenegro. It's a merit-based process. Montenegro aren't going to, certainly not use up a huge amount of resources, and not going to make too much of a difference to the workings of the institutions. But it is the case that we do need to look at the whole question of reforms in the context of enlargement. We agree with that.
It is important to ensure that the Union has the strength to act, to respond to the changing environment. The Granada Declaration said that not just the applicant states, but the EU itself needs to be ready at the time of accession. So what I think we're going to have is proposals from the Commission, I think in the autumn, on areas relevant to this. And I think the Council will take forward that work, I would say as a matter of urgency, and engage with the Parliament of course on it as well. We need to keep democratic legitimacy, and we also have to understand, I keep saying this, that democracy can be a slow process.
It's very easy for one man, and it is usually a man who's in a dictatorship, if we're honest about it. I don't think that's offensive to, it tends to be, these people who make these terrible decisions by with one person. But when it's a democracy, when it's all of us here representative of the entire population, we know that things, things can take time. But at the same time, we do need a Union that can respond. So I, and there is an element of urgency, I would accept that, because, because Montenegro, and now because of yesterday's intergovernmental conference, Montenegro are halfway through the effectively the accession negotiating process.
We've also started the drafting of a treaty of accession. That work has started in the Council. So there is an urgency to the reforms and the discussions that we will have that starting, we've obviously we've had lots of discussions on reform, but I think in a serious way from September, because we need to be ready. We need to be ready for the ratification processes in the member states too on enlargement. I think that's certainly something that the reforms will help answer a question on.
So I think you can take it that we will, we will move this forward as soon as Commission proposals are out, and we do expect that in the autumn.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much. And the next speaker from S&D is Juan Fernando López Aguilar.
Juan Fernando López Aguilar
Good day, Minister Byrne. As I told you yesterday, welcoming you to the Committee of Liberty, Justice and Home Affairs, you are not holding the rotating presidency of the European Union for the first time. You Ireland, you are actually a veteran. You've been 53 years in a story of success in the European Union. And it has actually made a difference in every aspect of Ireland everyday life.
It's a story of success economically, growth, socially, fighting inequalities, but most importantly, bringing up a very Irish European identity, which is what the European Union is all about. So we can only wish you well. And as to the questions I would raise, certainly, the first is as to enlargement. Because yes, yes, yes, we are well aware that there are candidates which are actually making progress, Montenegro in the forefront, but it's numbering nine and could even grow bigger, the number of all candidates, because Kosovo has applied, although it's not been recognized as state formally yet, but Iceland is having a referendum on the matter. So the thing is that certainly institutional reforms are absolutely requested.
Montenegro, well, it's not such a large country, is it? It's 620,000 population. Would that, would not make that big an impact in the European Parliament composition.
But when we're talking of Ukraine, that's a completely different matter. It takes institutional reform, not only as to the unanimity when requested, it's also about qualified majorities, it's also about blocking minorities in the Council, it's also about the composition of the Commission itself. So it takes institutional reforms. I would like you to dwell on your perspective, your added value as Irish presidency as to the institutional reforms which are requested in order to incorporate successfully not only Montenegro, but all the all the ones numbering right behind. Then the second question goes as to the Electoral Act.
Yes, you mentioned that you're keeping an eye on the ratification process of the proxy, but actually we have adopted some more ambitious reform of the Electoral Act pending of the Council. Any prospect that the same way that you have done your best in order to unblock the inquiry right of inquiry file from the European Parliament, that you do alike with the electoral reforms which are also needed to update the EU Electoral Act, more ambitious than the proxy? And finally, a question that you have not mentioned, and it relates to a countryman of yours, Commissioner Michael McGrath, engaged in the ratification of the European Convention of Human Rights, fulfilling the mandate which is enshrined in Article 6 of the Treaty of the European Union, that the European Union shall access the European Convention of Human Rights. We're not there yet. It's pending 15 years now, the negotiation.
What are your prospects of having it completed through the Irish presidency? Thank you.
Thomas Byrne
Thank you, and thank you very much for your very kind words about Ireland. Indeed, my country has been transformed by our European Union membership, both economically and socially. And that's why we've always taken the view from a national point of view that we shouldn't pull the ladder up on other other countries who wish to join the European Union. We've taken a very pragmatic approach at all times during our membership of the European Union and we will continue to do so. And that is certainly imbues our spirit during this presidency.
I'll answer the last point first, just on the on the Council of Europe and the European Convention of Human Rights. What an important document. Indeed, I can say from direct experience in Ireland, it's a key part of the Good Friday Peace Agreement, actually, the European Convention on Human Rights. And it is also important for us and we've been a strong supporter of the European Union acceding to the European Convention on Human Rights. We had the Reykjavik Summit in 2023 of the Council of Europe, which was the the first summit of the Council of Europe for quite some time.
It's the Irish presidency of the Council of Europe that actually pushed for that summit. We had the we were the ones who were who were in the driving seat looking for that summit. And that summit welcomed the 2023 agreement on the draft accession instruments as an important accomplishment of the process of accession of the EU to the Convention. Then last November, as you probably know, the Commission requested the Court of Justice to give an opinion on the compliance with EU law. So we're waiting for that, of course.
It's in court. The presidency, the Irish presidency, we intend to continue our work towards the conclusion of the accession. And we look to see what opportunities are there in the internal rules to make this happen. And we will keep Parliament fully informed. On the various treaty proposal the various proposals for reform, I accept that they're positive and I can give an I accept that they're they're necessary to look at.
And I can give an absolute guarantee that the presidency will I'm happy to engage with with with this committee and with members on reform as the enlargement process continues.
We've had of course the Conference on the Future of Europe, which I think was an important moment. I sat on it as the Irish Minister for European Affairs at the time and we've we have seen many of the proposals from that are considered by the Council to be already in place. But we do need to ensure that we maintain and reinforce our capacity to act to ensure the the well-functioning of our institutions. In the Council, I would say that the initial discussions have focused on exploring what the treaties offer us already, what we're not using already. We have looked at several items such as of course expediting decision-making and making full use of existing provisions such as the passerelle clause.
We've seen recently with the the loan to Ukraine where we used enhanced cooperation, not for the first time but for one of the first times. And indeed in the Irish case this involves special treaty constitutional provisions that we have and that we're not very very used to using them. So I think that we have seen changes happening. I think the Ukraine loan and the precedence that's there for that is a very significant one actually in terms of the decision-making of of the Union. What I can say is that we will continue to we will continue to to work on this and it is necessary absolutely in the context of enlargement.
On the electoral law package from 2022, obviously discussions between Council and the Parliament have been deadlocked for some time. If new ideas are brought and I speak on behalf of the Council here, if new ideas are brought forward on this, we are certainly happy to consider them and discuss them with our Council colleagues.
Marieke Ehlers
Dankjewel voorzitter, minister Byrne, fijn u weer te zien vandaag. Volgens het programma van het Iers voorzitterschap is EU-uitbreiding een absolute topprioriteit en u zei ook zojuist nog net dat uitbreiding een groot goed is. Nochtans wordt u al meteen geconfronteerd met een veto van maar liefst acht lidstaten waaronder Nederland wat betreft de toetreding van Servië en het openen van nieuwe clusters. De acht lidstaten zijn bezorgd over de bescherming van de rechtsstaat en de nauwe relaties die Servië met Rusland zou onderhouden. De Servische premier beweert dan weer dat de EU dubbele standaarden hanteert in het toetredingsproces.
Mijn vraag hier is wie heeft er nu precies gelijk, de acht lidstaten of de Servische premier? Kunt u ook uitleggen aan onze burgers wat nou precies de voordelen zijn van verdere uitbreiding, voornamelijk met betrekking tot de kosten voor nettobetalers zoals Nederland? Mijn tweede vraag gaat over de Ierse Criminal Justice Act. Na jarenlang verzet van de Ierse bevolking en onenigheid binnen de Ierse regering werd haatspraak uit het wetsvoorstel gehaald. Op die manier maakt Ierland een duidelijke keuze voor vrijheid van meningsuiting en tegen censuur.
De Europese Commissie daarentegen wil dan weer de andere kant op. Hoe rijmt u de schrapping van haatspraak uit de Ierse Criminal Justice Act met uw toewijding aan het EU Democracy Shield, de Europese censuurwet van Ursula von der Leyen? Dank u wel.
Thomas Byrne
On the Criminal Justice Act, I don't have direct responsibility for that, but I can say that the Criminal Justice Act as enacted, and Irish law as enacted, is completely in compliance with EU rules in this area as things stand. And that's all I can say on that. I don't have day-to-day responsibility for that legislation. What I would say is on enlargement, we cannot progress enlargement as a matter of fact without the unanimous agreement of each and every member state in each stage of the process of negotiation. That's the way things are at the moment.
So if member states have a difficulty, we try to find out what the difficulties are, how the accession applicant country can resolve those difficulties. And if member states aren't satisfied, then the process doesn't continue. And we've lots of examples of that, including you mentioned Serbia. And that's the prerogative of the member states. And what people would be concerned about, I'm sure in the Netherlands, is are issues like the rule of law, are issues like the alignment with our foreign policy, are issues about democracy, are issues about the general alignment, I suppose, of Serbia with the Western European viewpoint.
But they're still an applicant country, they're still an accession country, Serbia. So I suppose it's our job as Council to progress that. But if member states say no, then we can't have an accession conference. And we didn't have an accession conference with Serbia this week. We had an accession conference with four applicant countries yesterday.
We see other countries who are blocked for different reasons in the process, for example North Macedonia and others in various stages. But again, if I don't have the member states, then we can't progress it. And that is just a fact of life for the presidency. It's what we have to work with, and the member states make that decision. But why would we want enlargement?
Yes, you say there's a cost. Well, the cost of Montenegro is negligible. It's very, very small. If Iceland were to join, I don't expect there would be any cost to Iceland joining the European Union, for example, if they changed their mind and restart negotiations. But what I can say is that for a country like Ireland, and I suspect the Netherlands is in the same position, that the opportunities that new markets offer us more than outweigh the costs that we see written down in accounts.
The opportunities of the single market are incredible and give to all of us a greater wealth, a greater national income than we otherwise would have. And that's the benefit of the European Union. That's where the opportunities are. There is a cost to Ireland being in the European Union, but the benefits that we achieve as a nation, as a people, and I would say the benefits that all of us achieve as nations, as people, as citizens of the European Union, are far greater than any financial amount we put in. First of all, we're a peace project and we are an economic project.
And the benefits of the peace project are obvious but incalculable in some ways. The benefits to our economy are calculable. We can calculate the benefits to our single market, and lots of our ministries do that in various member states. So I think it's not as simple as the MFF, because again, if the MFF is spending money all across the European Union, there's no doubt there are Dutch companies and there are Irish companies and French companies and German companies and Bulgarian companies, etc., all gaining from the spending that the European Union is doing. I think it's really, really important to look at enlargement in that context as well as being a good thing to do.
Secondly, I think enlargement is very important from our security point of view as well. It brings us all together when security is a key focus for governments, and rightly so at the moment, joining us together in parliamentary committees, in decision-making bodies such as the Council or the Commission, I think makes life better for our citizens.
And again on security, a number of the countries that wish to join the European Union are already members of NATO. So, so they certainly bring added value for certainly the member states that are already part of the NATO organization.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much, Minister Byrne. And the next on my list is Sandro Gozi for Renew because for ECR I don't see anybody in the room.
Sandro Gozi
Okay, thank you, Chair, and thank you, Minister. Dear Thomas, congrats, you used all the right words. So from the language point of view, for the words point of view, you are perfect for the majority of this committee. And I'm serious, it is not... it is clear that now we hope that to the right words follow the right acts and decisions we have been waiting for from the Council for such a long time. You are... I would like to tell you that to congrats you, you are the first minister of a rotating presidency who recalled the Conference on the Future of Europe, which has been blatantly neglected by the Council.
We like it because we think that there are very good ideas which have the support of the majority of the public opinion there, starting from defense, for example. You also referred to another fundamental summit, which is the Granada summit. And I think that we should go back to the spirit of Granada, which the European Council has forgotten. Because as you rightly recall today, in Granada the leaders, the heads of state and government clearly said that enlargement must be preceded by also a reform of the governance of the Union. Governance, budget, and some key policy issues, that was what was said in Granada.
Nothing happened since. And it would be the first time that we engage into a very heavy enlargement without reforming the Union. So we really count a lot on the Irish presidency to start serious talks on the reform of the European governance and institutions, using the clauses as we have also indicated in our report on the institutional consequences of enlargement, but also not moving away from the need to tackle also potential treaty reform. And on that, I recall that the simple majority is enough to start, to get the ball rolling. And I think that if you start with the simple majority to put on the table also some targeted reform, you can achieve.
It is clear that the Commission report is very important, but also the Council can play a role. Very last point, the electoral law must be part of an overall political compromise between us. It's stuck in the Council. Let's start to talk between Council and Parliament and let's put the democratic dimension within this package of reviewed European governance. Thank you very much, Chair.
Thomas Byrne
Yeah, on the latter, it just hasn't been possible so far to get the member states to agree on a general approach, and that's maybe the simple answer on that. So we can certainly continue to work on it or if different approaches were brought forward. Look, thank you for your kind words about my words, but I also hope it's been followed up by action because we've already had four intergovernmental conferences less than two weeks into our presidency. It's only two weeks ago today that I sat in Dublin Castle and we formally inaugurated our presidency. So I feel we have started to achieve.
So we are starting to achieve. We've a very short presidency. We will all go on vacation for August. I'm sure many of my officials will be continue to work during that time. So I think my words are being matched with action.
My ambassadors are over at Coreper I think at the moment talking on the Russian sanctions on the 21st package.
And again, thank you for mentioning the Conference on the Future of Europe. I had a discussion with one of our national parliamentarians who attended the Conference on the Future of Europe and she suggested that we get the from a national point of view, if I may say so, that we get our Irish delegates together again to do our own national follow-up. I thought it was an intriguing idea and we'll be considering that proposal nationally. But I think there's a certain inevitability to a discussion on reform as we approach enlargement, as the enlargement story gets more real and more real. And that is entirely my objective as we move forward accession conferences, that we create this reality of technical momentum, which is new accession countries meeting the requirements that we set for them at a technical level, but matched by political agreement that they've done that.
That then drives forward political momentum on the accession process. People in capitals, indeed in the Parliament, I'm sure you are already, but need to listen then, oh, what do we do now? So there will be inevitably a discussion, a serious discussion on reform in the autumn. I have to say, listening to what member states are saying, and I'm not speaking strictly from a national perspective now, I would say that there would be quite a few member states who would hope to work within the existing treaties because there are, again, I don't want to speak too much from a national point of view, but there are member states with particular constitutional requirements in respect of treaty change. But we're in the hands of the members of the Council on that.
I think the objective would be to see what we can do within the existing treaties. That's the first, I suspect, because I feel there's a lot that we can do and we certainly will be very imaginative in our approach and we'll work very, very closely with the Commission on this because this is a conversation that has and will become very urgent in the autumn.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much. And the next speaker for the Greens is Daniel Freund.
Daniel Freund
Danke, Frau Vorsitzende. Thanks, Minister, for being with us today. Your country is probably the leader of the member states when it comes to lobby transparency. The rules that you have in Ireland on that are quite strict and good and seem to be functioning well. We have agreed now on this ethics body and it entered the agreement entered into force, was ratified over two years ago.
And I know that my institution bears the largest responsibility for not doing anything since, but it has been now in the hands of the Council since the 1st of January. I know there has been some progress on the rules of procedure and the appointing of experts and so on, but it would really be nice if we could finally make this body operational under the Irish presidency. I think it would go very well with the track record that your government and your country have on these issues. The second question that I have is, so in the Parliament in the last plenary, we asked the Authority of European Political Parties to indeed launch a procedure and verify whether the ESN party respects the Article 2 values. Can you debrief us on what the Council position on this has been now?
Has there been a similar request? I think our institutions both bear some responsibility for European democracy and the respect of our values. So I think it would be good if as many as possible of the three institutions actually signal to the Authority that indeed such an examination now is warranted. I'm going to leave it at that as the time is approaching the end.
Thomas Byrne
Just on the inter-institutional ethics body and thank you for your kind words on Irish lobbying.
If I may something if I may say something about it, it's got to the stage now where lobbyists are almost competing to be in the register. So you might find that you're stopped on the street by somebody even just to say hello, how are you, and you find it's in the lobbying register. I think it's like a matter of it's like a medal for them or something, but anyway, look, they they do it and it's very easy to find out who speaks to me, very, very easy. And then of course there's a freedom of information request then inevitably into the ministry asking for details of the meeting. So anyone that meets me, unless it's really from another government, you can find out exactly what was said at our meetings.
You'll be also pleased to hear that about four months ago, when one of my officials as we prepared for the presidency came to me, "Well, Minister, we've this this issue I want to talk to you about, it's the ethics body in the EU." So already some months ago, my officials were highlighting this as an important issue. So what I can say is that that we do agree. That's that's my answer to what you said on the ethics body, we agree. The presidency welcomes the significant progress made at the technical level on the rules of procedure for the ethics body and we aim to bring the work to a satisfactory conclusion.
We would explore with everybody the the best time for a first political meeting of of the ethics body. So that's our position, it's very, very simple and it's something that my officials have been preparing in the background for quite some time. On the the issue regarding the ESN party, the Council have considered the letter, taken note of the Parliament's decision requesting the authority to proceed with the verification. Of course we attach great importance to the values of the EU under Article 2 and it's essential that all political parties, institutions and their respective members observe these values. The Council has committed to keeping itself informed and returning to the issue as required.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you, and the last speaker on my list for ESN is Christina Anderson.
Christine Anderson
Yeah, thank you, Chair. Thank you, Minister. So there seems to be a long-standing debate about the Union's capacity to act. It tends to focus almost entirely on decision-making or to take decisions more quickly, on unanimity, on streamlining decision-making and on ensuring that dissent by individual member states should not be able to derail the so-called European train. However, democratic government also requires that decisions can be reviewed and, when necessary, adjusted.
A viable political system must be able to not only act or to act quickly, but also to recognize its mistakes, reverse course and hold decision-makers accountable. And you did touch on that accountability on your in your presentation. The Commission's role, however, has changed considerably over time. It now exercises many functions traditionally associated with government. It sets political priorities, initiates legislation, supervises implementation and enforces Union law.
Yet political responsibility remains weak and dispersed. Once the Commission has set a particular course, it is often extremely difficult to change it, even when the policy proves to be unsuccessful. My question is, does the Irish presidency agree that greater European capacity to act must be matched by an increased means of correctability, particularly on the part of the EU Commission? What institutional reforms would you support to make the Commission genuinely more accountable for its policy choices and to ensure that the major EU decisions can be revised or reversed when they fail?
Thank you.
Thomas Byrne
Well, the first thing I'd say is that Parliament has its own framework agreement I think recently agreed with the Commission. Let's see how that works. But I also think that the position of the Commission is more defensible than that in some ways. At the end of the day, the Commission is appointed after European election. We have seen actually directly as a result of parliamentary elections that the Commission has taken on housing as a major policy.
How can the European Union, whether you agree with that or not, that is something that has arisen from democratic elections. The European Council meets on a regular basis and I suppose gives the general, it's like a board of directors almost, it gives the general guidance to the institutions, but particularly to the Commission. The Commission can't pass laws, it can only initiate them. And the fact certainly coming from a small member state, we've always taken the view that the Commission being the only initiator of laws is actually protection for small member states. And again, I speak briefly nationally there.
But no law can pass without this institution agreeing and without the Council agreeing. So I think that there's a complicated democratic process. It operates. And we should all make full use of that democratic process. And in your own framework agreement, I'm sure that you can utilize the opportunities that are in that to hold the Commission democratically accountable, which of course is the democratic duty of all elected members of the European Parliament and indeed of the elected governments of the member states of the European Union as well.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much, Minister Byrne, for this first very important and very I think for our committee members very concrete exchange. And I would now like to give the floor to members for one minute. We will collect them all and afterwards also let the minister reply. And I would like to ask you so that we make the best use of this time that we have for the exchange to avoid duplicating questions or raising questions again that were answered in this extensive round. And with this, I first give the floor to Thijs Reuten.
Thijs Reuten
Thank you very much, Chair, and welcome, Minister. Good to see you. I do not have a question really. I just wanted to use the opportunity as rapporteur for the file of the right of inquiry to thank you and also your team for the very constructive and committed start that we made. And I also use the opportunity to inform the colleagues and aside of the shadows in my team that we are indeed progressing on this file.
And that's also reflected by the fact that none of the coordinators mentioned it. So I think there's a large trust now in the process. And I'm really looking forward to try to close it as you said. We know from the Parliament that compromises will be needed. It's a special procedure.
It also requires special attention to the file. But I'm looking forward to get a solid right of inquiry in a regulation providing a strong legal basis. And hopefully we can continue right after the summer in this constructive spirit as we are in now. So hopefully you will also convince other member states of the fact that it's also in all our benefit not to pass this file on again as you have found it again after thirteen years returning to the presidency. So let's try to finish it.
Thank you.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you. And the next speaker is our colleague Andrius Kubilius.
Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis
Thank you very much indeed. I would like to continue in Lithuanian, okay?
Ačiū labai, ministre. Kalbėsiu lietuviškai, nes jūs kalbėjote keltų airių kalba, kadangi Airija, Lietuva ir Graikija yra trio ir pirmininkauja. 2013 metais man teko kartu su jūsų ministru James Reilly ir su graikų ministru Adonis Georgiadis pirmininkauti sveikatos tarybai. Ir mes tada pasiekėme daug tikslų: medicininių prietaisų, medicininių diagnostikos prietaisų, tabako kontrolės ir kituose dalykuose. Bet aš dabar norėčiau atkreipti dėmesį į tai, ką jūs pasakėte apie konkurencingumą, apie vertybes ir apie saugumą.
Dėl konkurencingumo, aš manau, kad visas trio, Airija, Lietuva ir Graikai, turbūt labai aktyviai pasisakys, kad mes turime priimti Biotech Act. Ir aš labai norėčiau palinkėti Airijai sėkmės ir didelės sėkmės. Ir dėl Ukrainos viena maža pastaba: mes smarkiai vėluojame su Ukrainos įsipareigojimais Ukrainai, atidarytas tik vienas klasteris, nors buvo pažadėta atidaryti šešis.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much, and the next speaker is our colleague Vigenin.
Kristian Vigenin
Thank you, Chair, thank you, Minister, for your presentation in our committee. A lot of important questions have been answered already, but I would like to raise a topic which is more practical but has important political implications as well and is related to the proper functioning of the European Union. I welcome the presidency's intention to address geographical imbalance among the staff in the EU institutions. This issue goes beyond ensuring fair access to positions for all nationalities. It is also about ensuring that the experience and perspectives of newer and smaller member states are adequately reflected within the European administration.
Persistent underrepresentation may weaken citizens' confidence that the institutions fully understand the realities across the whole Union. What concrete measures does the presidency envisage to improve geographical balance while preserving, of course, also the merit-based recruitment, professional independence, and equal standards of all candidates? I saw that this is part of your priorities. Thank you so much.
Joachim Streit
Vielen Dank, Frau Vorsitzende, sehr geehrter Minister, es macht uns sehr stolz, dass Sie heute uns im Europäischen Parlament hier im AFCO besuchen und auch zu unseren Fragen persönlich antworten in dieser, ja, in dieser Zeit. Es ist keine einfache Zeit, aber viele von uns haben auch zu Hause ihre Probleme, weil wir Kommunalpolitiker sind, in Rathäusern, in Bezirken, und viele Gesetze der Länder, aber auch der EU führen bei uns dann zu Kosten. Wir haben auf meinen Vorschlag hin hier im AFCO und im Europäischen Parlament das sogenannte Konnektivitätsprinzip beschlossen, das heißt, wer bestellt, bezahlt. Was könnten Sie sich in der irischen Ratspräsidentschaft vorstellen, dieses Konnektivitätsprinzip auch stärker einzubringen, dass es auch zum Gesetz in den europäischen Verträgen wird?
Daniel Freund
Thanks, nice that I can take a second shot at the question that I didn't manage to ask in the first round. So in the last 16 years, half the vetoes that were issued in the Council came from Viktor Orbán. So he is now gone, now we hope that we can take more decisions in the Council in the coming months and years.
But I mean this problem that a single guy can basically block us, can weaken us, can extort and blackmail us, I think is an issue that we need to solve now. I would like for us to assure that this cannot happen again. You said that there is some debate now with the enlargement treaties upcoming. Are you looking at all at the 140 pages of proposals that this Parliament has voted on three years ago almost? Is that part of the debate in the Council?
Thanks.
Gabriele Bischoff
And I have two more speakers on my list, also again our colleague Helas.
Marieke Ehlers
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Minister, perhaps something got lost in translation, so I will try again on the Irish criminal justice law. I am not asking you to comment on the law as such. I was drawing an analogy between the fact that the Irish have not included hate speech in their law and therefore are clearly fervent protectors of the right to free speech. And I asked how do you rhyme that with the attack on free speech by the EU through the EU Democracy Shield, through the interpretation of the DSA, etc., etc.
So that was the question from an EU perspective as your role as Minister of EU Affairs and not to comment on the Irish law as such. Thank you very much.
Csaba Bogdán
Yes, thank you very much and nice to have you here. You mentioned that the reinforcing democracy plays an important agenda in your in your activity. And I'd like to ask you what is your suggestion as an approach for bridging the gap or narrowing the gap between governments and citizens?
Gabriele Bischoff
And with this, if we don't have any more questions here, I'm very happy to give the floor to Minister Byrne for the different questions.
Thomas Byrne
Thank you and thank you for your questions and comments. And indeed I'll try to get through them all and please bear with me. On the right of inquiry, as I said, we're going to work with the Parliament and the Commission on a new proposal and within the Council we will work to achieve achievable solutions. To our colleague from Lithuania, thank you for speaking Lithuanian. It is I'm someone who's interested in languages and I sit beside the Lithuanian colleague at the General Affairs Council and every so often I come across a word that is the same in Irish as it is in Lithuanian.
And so every the odd it's they're both Indo-European, distant, very, very distantly related, but it just shows us we are all one effectively. We all come from one one source and I think it's always important to remember the diversity but we're all brought together here in in our European Union. And can I say as well how proud I was to see the river in Vilnius turn green for Saint Patrick's Day. That used to only happen in Chicago, but we have a reverse diaspora of Lithuanians who moved to Ireland when they joined in 2004 under our presidency, who moved back to Lithuania. And there's great relations between the two countries because of our European Union membership.
And that is the same for many of us around the table. We will work hard on the Biotech Act and we will we will work really, really constructively on that. On Ukraine, we did open one cluster yesterday. That's progress.
I'd like to make more progress, and I can absolutely assure you, as I assured the Ukrainian government yesterday, that we're going to continue to work with the member states to open more clusters and to work with Ukraine towards accession. But I think it's important to remember as well that, you know, just about two months ago, three months ago, we did not imagine we might, we thought we might, we hoped we might, but it was not realistic to suggest that we would be opening clusters in this fashion with Ukraine and indeed with other member states, other accession countries too. So I think that we've made good progress, and I think it is important to celebrate that progress and work towards more progress. On the underrepresentation of certain member states in the institutions, in the employment in the institutions, the Parliament has a court case, and of course we're very interested in the outcome of that. I have a national position on that.
I've taken a very strong interest in this personally from an Irish point of view many years ago, and I can certainly recommend the strategy that I took because we now see a significant increase in the number of Irish people applying to work in the institutions. We took that as a national initiative, and indeed we will discuss this issue in the Council. Obviously there are various interests in the Council on this issue, but there's a lot that individual member states can do. And indeed we activated some of our MEPs to talk about this. So I know my colleague Barry Andrews, for example, had a public meeting on this very issue, which had a very high attendance.
So again, these are things that we can all work together to attract more of our nationals to work in the institutions. They're working for Europe, of course, the European Union, but it is important that I suppose all member states' voices are get heard in the process to some extent. On the connectivity principle, I think that is something we can support and work towards. On the issue of vetoes, yes, I mean, MEP Freund has set out I suppose a factual position. Sometimes it is a fact that member states will issue vetoes where there's a point of very significant national interest at stake.
We have seen that on other occasions other than the case of Hungary. But we also can say though, and I know a lot of people here would have different views, but we have achieved a lot actually with unanimity. A lot has happened even with unanimity. But it is wrong to use vetoes simply to extract something else or simply for reasons that don't really go to the heart of your national position. And again, these are issues that can be discussed indeed at the Council, but I think would be challenging to move on.
And the last question... Oh, about democracy, yeah, how can we engage on the European perspective? I think it's, look, I think all of us as elected representatives have a duty in that, whether in the European Parliament, national parliaments, or at the Council. I think we have a duty to continue to explain how we work here. Sometimes you also need to explain, like we come into this room in particular and we all know the details of how laws are passed and how the European Union works.
We cannot assume that from everybody around the Union, even some very highly educated people. I think we constantly need to explain our methods and keep going back to the very basis of this Union, which is peace, peace between France and Germany, which in fact inspired the peace in Northern Ireland. The peace in Northern Ireland was inspired by John Hume, the famous MEP, only MEP to have won the Nobel Prize while sitting here. And he stood on the bridge in Strasbourg and said, well, if France and Germany can make peace, why can't we in Northern Ireland? And how right he was.
And I think fundamentally we have to go back to this, go back to the very origins of this project and keep working with the needs of citizens in mind.
On the issue of the Criminal Justice Act in Ireland, this is obviously a national issue, but there is no conflict whatsoever between the Criminal Justice Act and European law. You will find that the rights in the European Union to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association are among the best protected in the world, if we're honest about it. And the Irish Criminal Justice Act is completely in compliance with the requirements of EU law. We also protect minorities in Ireland very well and we continue to make sure that we work hard on all those issues.
Gabriele Bischoff
Thank you very much, Minister Browne. And I'm sure I can speak in the name of the majority of members here. We are very impressed by your ambitious but at the same time very pragmatic and also very serious approach here in difficult times to deliver for our Union and also that you are one of the believers in that our strength lies in the unity of the European Union and that we all, all different institutions have to play our part that we can improve the strength of the European Union and with this protect our citizens here. And also I think I always appreciate very much that having yourself a long experience as a parliamentarian, as a minister also to answer all of the questions and also having really an exchange because this is what we are always looking for when we invite the presidencies. So thanks again for your presence here.
We wish really the Irish presidency and you personally every success because it will be also our joint success in the end and we look forward to a very fruitful cooperation with you, with the presidency. And also with this, I can emphasize again that after this very good, motivating exchange, we have finished the morning session of our committee meeting. And I would like to remind you that the committee meeting will resume this afternoon at 3:30 PM in this same room. I want to thank the secretariat and the interpreters and the first part of this meeting is closed.