On Tuesday 9 June Ireland’s ambassador to the EU, Aingeal O’Donoghue, presented three strands of work for Ireland’s 8th Presidency of the Council of the EU, starting on 1 July: competitiveness, security and values.
“At the intersection of these elements are the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), support for Ukraine, which represents a horizontal challenge across many areas, the broader question of EU enlargement and the EU’s global engagement”, she added at an event organised by the EPC.
On competitiveness, the ambassador highlighted the ‘One Europe, One Market’ roadmap, which comes with “very clear and very ambitious deadlines”. “We, as the Irish Presidency, are taking this very seriously in order to move this agenda forward”, the ambassador pledged. She highlighted simplification, notably in digital, the environment, the automotive sector and food safety (see EUROPE 13884/8).
Aingeal O’Donoghue also mentioned the package on tech sovereignty and the draft Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA). Asked about European preference in the IAA, she acknowledged that the way to strike a balance between global engagement, a trade diversification agenda and a European preference strategy was still the subject of debate. The ambassador specified that, at the March European Council, the debate had focused more on specific critical or vulnerable sectors and on seeking targeted and proportionate approaches for those sectors.
Deepening the single market -“the achievements of which should not be underestimated, but where much still remains to be done, both for goods and for services”, in particular the 28th regime - will be a priority. The same will apply to energy, including energy security: the legislative package on electricity grids and the next revision of the Emissions Trading System will also be at the heart of the Irish Presidency.
In addition, the Savings and Investments Union, with the ‘market integration and supervision’ package, the securitisation proposals and the pensions regime, will be dealt with as a matter of priority by the Presidency.
On security, Ireland will work on Member State-led capability coalitions, the future European security strategy, the military mobility package and the AGILE programme.
As for ‘values’, the ambassador considered that they were “the real driving force behind our action. […] Values are the foundation of our European community. They matter in normal times, but they matter even more in times of instability and uncertainty”. Beyond Ukraine and enlargement, the ambassador highlighted unwavering support for the rule of law, democratic resilience and civil society engagement, with the ‘European Democracy Shield’, but also ‘Global Europe’, with very firm support for the UN and international law.
Moreover, “Ukraine represents a horizontal challenge for all of us in how we translate our support and solidarity into practice”, the ambassador added, highlighting the continuation of financial support beyond the €90 billion loan, sanctions against Russia and the country’s accession to the EU. While the first cluster of accession negotiation chapters with Ukraine, and also Moldova, is expected to be opened in the coming days, “the essential task will be to open the other negotiation clusters and consolidate the negotiations” with the two countries.
Aingeal O’Donoghue promised that enlargement would feature “prominently” on the Presidency’s agenda. “There remains a genuine conviction that we had that opportunity [to join, in 1973] and that we must open the door to others and guarantee them that same possibility. That strongly shapes our approach to enlargement discussions, because we can currently see momentum that is not as strong”. Besides Ukraine and Moldova, Ireland intends to focus its efforts on progress in negotiations with Montenegro - which wants to conclude negotiations on all chapters by the end of the year - and Albania.
Lastly, on the Multiannual Financial Framework, the amount of the budget and its sources of financing, as well as work on the 20 or so legislative instruments that will implement the MFF programmes, will be an “essential element” of the Irish Presidency. “We fully share the ambition of the President of the European Council to see the negotiations on the Multiannual Financial Framework concluded before the end of 2026, and we will do everything in our power to achieve that”, the ambassador pledged.
While the Cyprus Presidency is expected to present, within days, the first set of elements for negotiation (‘negobox’), “during the first months of our Presidency, we will focus on drawing up a new ‘negobox’ to be submitted to the European Council”, she added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)