ANALYSIS:The Government should quickly propose the new Irish EU commissioner and begin lobbying for a good post, which can help rebrand Ireland, writes JAMIE SMYTH, European Correspondent in Brussels
THERE WERE a lot of relieved smiles on the faces of EU officials in Brussels on Saturday when the first results indicating a Yes vote began filtering through. But the widest grins were worn by Irish officials working at the three EU institutions, who have endured a difficult 16 months since voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty in the first referendum in June 2008.
Last year’s No vote to Lisbon took the rest of Europe by surprise. So often cited as the poster boy of Europe, Ireland had for the second time in seven years voted against an EU treaty that most of its partners had agreed to implement.
The goodwill generated by voting Yes to the Nice treaty in a second referendum in 2002 and negotiating an EU-wide agreement on the EU constitution evaporated almost overnight.
When combined with Ireland’s spectacular economic collapse, there is little doubt our standing in Europe and the influence we yield at the EU negotiating table has suffered a blow.
After the first Lisbon referendum Ireland’s EU ambassador Bobby McDonagh warned TDs the No vote had created a “light bulb flashing over our heads” when his officials entered negotiations.
The fear among Irish officials and politicians is that our resounding Yes vote won’t be enough to restore the goodwill in Europe that has enabled Ireland to score a series of diplomatic victories in recent years: official EU status for the Irish language; the internal markets portfolio in the commission; EU ambassador to the US and the secretary general of the commission – for the second time in a row.
“Voting Yes will restore our position somewhat but we are not back to where we were before Lisbon or before the Nice No,” said Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell, who served as European affairs minister between 1994-97.
“We were the white-haired boys for a long time but many of the new member states just can’t understand why we voted No after benefiting so much from the union,” said Mitchell, who suggests a diplomatic offensive needs to be launched by the Government now to mend fences in Europe.
The first big decision for Taoiseach Brian Cowen to take is to nominate a high calibre commissioner, and quickly. Negotiations are already under way in Brussels between European Commission president José Manuel Barroso and other EU leaders over the distribution of portfolios for his new team. Cowen should formally propose an Irish candidate this week and begin lobbying for a good job, which can help rebrand Ireland in Europe.
One possible target is a new commission post for innovation, science and research, which may come with a €50 billion RD programme. Other key posts that reflect the EU’s changing priorities are energy and climate change, although bigger member states are likely to win these plum posts. To have any chance of landing a heavyweight portfolio the Irish candidate must be well known in EU circles, willing to network in and around Brussels and be a good communicator.
Former European Parliament president Pat Cox and former taoiseach John Bruton – currently EU ambassador to the US – are the best candidates we’ve got. To show he is serious about Europe, Cowen needs to cast aside party affiliations and nominate one of them.
Government Ministers also need to engage more in Europe. Too often the trip to Brussels for a council meeting is seen as a chore for busy Ministers with an eye on domestic politics. But building relationships with EU counterparts and intervening in debates – even when the issue may not be of direct interest to Ireland – is crucially important to building influence.
Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan are both good networkers at EU level, a factor that may have helped the latter to secure hundreds of millions of euro in European funds for Irish electricity projects.
The Government should review its position on a range of key EU portfolios, particularly in the justice and financial field where in recent years we have tended, almost automatically, to follow the British line. With a Tory government set to take power next year we need a more nuanced approach, which won’t see Ireland opting out of key laws that shape the new Europe.
The European Parliament, often ignored by national governments, is now a key powerbroker in the legislative process. Under Lisbon it becomes even stronger and with just 12 MEPs Ireland really needs its Ministers to engage more regularly with it to ensure we influence amendments to key laws. Ireland, which currently has more top ranking EU officials per head of population than any other state, should also send more of its civil servants and officials to work temporarily in Europe. In a union of 27 states it will be harder to get the top jobs unless Irish people know how Brussels works.
To have influence in Brussels Ireland also needs to get its own house in order. The sky-high budget deficit needs to be brought under control to assure EU partners and investors we are serious about rebuilding our economy. But there is a real need to reinvigorate public support for the union and to bridge the communication gap between Dublin and Brussels.
“There is a responsibility on us to provide a higher level of information about the EU than other states because we are committed to make people vote in referendums on European issues,” says David O’Sullivan, director general for trade in the commission.
He cites a need for more emphasis on Europe in schools to educate a younger generation, which has lost touch with the benefits that EU membership has brought for the Republic.
But there is also a clear need for the Oireachtas to take a lead role in communicating with Europe and scrutinising the new laws coming from Brussels. “You can’t just turn on the tap on Europe three weeks before a referendum and hope people get into line. There needs to be a constant debate,” says O’Sullivan, who notes the Yes vote should mark the opening of a new chapter of engagement with the EU and not a return to indifference.