The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Helen McEntee, explained, on Tuesday 14 July, before Members of the European Parliament in the Committee on Foreign Affairs and then the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, that she wanted to strengthen interinstitutional coordination, both between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, and between the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS).
The minister highlighted the need to increase dialogue mechanisms between the Council of the EU and Parliament “in order to create momentum and a mutual understanding of each side’s objectives”.
Moreover, “it is essential to look carefully at how (the Commission and the EEAS) operate. We need to look at ways in which any of our services, any of our structures, are working and operating and how they complement each other, how the work of the Commission can complement the work of the external service and vice versa”, she stressed. Ms McEntee promised that, during the six months of the Irish Presidency, she would work “not only with Ms Kallas, the High Representative”, but would also work “more broadly on how we can improve our overall approach and our structures”.
“How do we make sure that when we’re talking as Europe, we’re talking as one voice? How can we ensure the strategic relevance of the decisions we take within the EU, particularly vis-à-vis external bodies and the multilateral structures of which we are also a part of?”, she questioned, adding that it was a “constant challenge and a necessity” to ensure coordination, close collaboration and the allocation of the necessary funding.
The functioning of the EEAS could be discussed at the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers (Gymnich) on 2 September in Ireland.
Ms McEntee also presented the priorities of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13899/27). She highlighted Ukraine as a “cross-cutting priority”. Accordingly, the Irish Presidency will work with its European partners to maintain unwavering support for Ukraine, politically, militarily and financially. “We must guarantee Ukraine access to the funding it needs to defend itself against Russia”, she stressed, backing the next disbursements “as soon as possible” of the €90 billion loan to Kyiv for 2026 and 2027.
Beyond the 21st package of sanctions against Russia currently under negotiation, the minister said she hoped “to see new measures in the months ahead”, particularly on the Russian shadow fleet.
The Presidency will also do everything possible to ensure Ukraine’s full integration into EU defence initiatives, so that it benefits from the same access as the Member States.
The Middle East is another Irish priority. Ms McEntee returned to the discussion held the previous day at the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council on banning trade with the Israeli settlements (see EUROPE 13908/4).
“We have not managed to reach a consensus on the possibility of putting this option to a vote”, she said. Thus, she added, “the next step is a meeting of our ambassadors to determine whether there is a majority to put this proposal to a vote”.
Work on the security strategy. The minister also announced that the Presidency would work on the future European security strategy, which should be presented in the coming weeks by the Commission and the High Representative (see EUROPE 13898/20).
Explaining that the foreign ministers had adopted, the previous day, a document aimed at identifying common threats, Ms McEntee said that the next step was for the Commission, in collaboration with the High Representative, to define the broad outlines of the strategy.
According to Ms McEntee, it will address the issue of overall security, including from an economic and maritime perspective. “This strategy is an opportunity to bring real added value to all Member States. To do so, it must be as inclusive as possible, so that all Member States can identify with it and see their security needs reflected in it”, she explained.
According to the minister, the key principle underpinning the development of the emerging European security strategy, as set out by many Member States, is that “Russia remains the most significant and direct threat to European security”.
“For our presidency, the intention is that we would bring forward a roadmap to then be able to move and implement the strategy more broadly”, Ms McEntee said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)