Page 18 - Signal Summer 2018

| SECURITY DEBATE |

and defence policy ignites a debate in Irish politics where While the concern varies from member state to mem-
name-calling and wild exaggeration become the order of ber state and according to political orientation, there is
the day. no denying that security and defence is as important as
ever to Europeans. We need to understand and be aware
So why is now the right time to review Irish security and of other member states views on this. Be aware of the
defence? I see three reasons why now it the time. sensitivities of member states like Estonia or Latvia who
Firstly, the debate on the future of Europe is under- live on the collar of Russia. Or member states like Finland
way and security looms large in that debate. PESCO is or Sweden who are rethinking their traditional security
now underway and we welcome Ireland’s involvement needs.
in it. And many want to build a Common European
Defence Union as an outcome to the debate on the One of the responsibilities of Irish MEPS is to explain
future of Europe. We need to have a view on what type to our own voters the concerns of other European citi-
of Common Defence Union we should be part of, if at all. zens. We cannot live in a vacuum, cut off from important
And we also need to debate this, so as to design a new debates that are happening either in the EU or in other
Defence Union with our own priorities in mind. member states. Understanding other member states
concerns is good for Ireland and our ability to build new
The potential of a Common Defence Union also has alliances, especially as the UK leave the EU.
implications for the EU budget into the future. As net
contributors to the EU budget since 2014, our contribu- Thirdly, we need to debate this because Ireland has
tion will grow significantly over the next MFF from 2021 decided to remain in a European Union without the UK.
to 2027, we are uniquely placed to design and defend We have decided that the EU will be our main connec-
the importance of the EU budget. In fact, just yesterday tion to the international community and for good reason.
the Commission announced a major increase in defence The EU is our biggest market now and into the future.
spending for the next 7-year EU budget. A brand new Protecting our economic interests in a fully integrated
defence budget heading is proposed which commits €13 single market is crucial for Ireland. The EU allows small
billion over 7 years. The amount speaks for itself really countries like Ireland have influence. Brexit will inevitably
and shows how seriously Brussels is taking its security lead to a closer and more integrated EU or at a minimum
and defence objectives. to a two-speed Europe. So the days of the perennial opt-
outs and the ‘half-in half-out’ commitments are over. Too
On PESCO we have made a start in signing up to 2 often in recent years, Ireland has become known as the
of the 17 collaborative projects in the area of maritime Dr. No of EU decision-making. Brexit is a game changer
surveillance and security training. But we have to ask moment for Ireland in navigating our new relationship
the question - could we have been part of more? When with the EU. We will obviously never agree to something
the next call for projects takes place we should be put- that is not in our interests but we must take our member-
ting forward our own ideas and also explaining to the ship of the EU more seriously, now that the UK is leaving.
public why these activities are important for our Defence
Forces. There are areas that we could lead on through Politics matters in how the public sees the importance
PESCO; for example, the Irish army is considered a world and significance of issues. This State has a fundamen-
leader in the area of bomb disposal and regularly trains tal choice to make as to whether or not it wants to
armies and police forces around the world. deal seriously with defence-related issues. That means
expenditure of course, but it also means making the brief
PESCO is not a dirty term. It’s not something to be hid a political priority.
away from the public debate. The public will be suspi-
cious of that which they do not know. So constant expla- The Minister for Defence should always be a full cabi-
nation is required as to the importance of our involvement net position in a full Government Department of State.
in PESCO. At a policy level, so much of the development that is
occurring is at an EU level. We need a fuller national
Secondly we need to be involved in this debate debate on these developments and that requires political
because across the EU other governments and citizens leadership.
are genuinely worried about Putin’s Russia, ISIS and how
mass migration could potentially undermine European Our document is a discussion document. That’s nor-
security. Research from the Pew Research Center this mally within the world of politics code for saying - we
year highlighted ISIS, global Climate Change and cyber- don’t have agreement! As four MEPs we would like the
attacks from other countries as key areas of concern for discussion document to become a springboard for further
ordinary European citizens. debate and hopefully some more concrete commitments
around the next FG manifesto. But in truth much of what

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