Mattie McGrath on EU Budget, Single Market and Funding Priorities
Mattie McGrath questioned whether the government's February position — that Ireland could be a net contributor and pay more to the EU budget — still holds amid the coronavirus crisis. He argued Ireland should remain willing to increase the EU budget, but only if key priorities such as the CAP, cohesion funding and investment in research and innovation are protected.
Question to the minister
Mattie McGrath asked the minister directly if the government's view was unchanged since the February meeting when the Taoiseach said Ireland was in a position to be a net contributor and would pay more. He sought clarification in light of the pandemic and concerns about European solidarity.
Support for a larger EU budget
McGrath said the government's position is still that the overall EU budget should increase, arguing that the EU's challenges are expanding and that the coronavirus has added to those needs. He reiterated that Ireland has benefited from EU membership, including funding and single market access.
Concerns about the single market
He pressed on what the Taoiseach meant by returning to a fully functioning single market, saying it is integral to the free movement of goods and people and to economic functioning. McGrath highlighted unfinished work on the single market — particularly for goods, services and the digital single market — and stressed the need to adapt it to the current crisis.
Conditions for paying more
While affirming that Ireland should be willing to pay more, he made clear that payment must not come at the expense of priorities. McGrath said he would not support increased contributions if funding for the CAP, cohesion, and research and innovation were not protected.
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Minister, I wonder, is your opinion, are the opinion of the government the same as it was at the February meeting, where the Taoiseach said that Ireland was in a position to be a net contributor and would pay more, and at the European Council that Ireland was willing to contribute more to the budget over the next seven years. In view of where we are now with this devastating pandemic and lack of solidarity for Europe, is that still the government's position? Could you answer that, please? Thank you, Minister. Sorry, I'll refer to my earlier response. Absolutely, that's still our position. The view is now more than ever. We have additional areas of concern that we need to respond to. Our initial view was always that the EU, while it's getting smaller, should not have a smaller budget because our challenges are expanding and getting bigger. The coronavirus has obviously added to that, so our view is still the same. We should increase our overall budget. We've seen how we have ourselves benefited through our membership of the European Union, the funding that we have received back, but also our membership of the single market. The question earlier is, what does the Taoiseach mean by going back to a fully functioning single market? It's integral to the free movement of our goods, people, to the functioning of our economies, and it's important that we protect us and that, as we work through this crisis, the single market, which is still not yet complete, there's still a lot of work to do in that area, particularly in goods, still in services, in the digital single market as well, that we continue our work, but that we use it, particularly as we develop in these areas, that we adapt. And to the current situation we find out to the current situation we find out to the current situation. So, what does the Taoiseach mean by going back to a fully functioning single market? What does the Taoiseach mean by going back to a fully functioning single market? It's integral to the free movement of our goods, people, to the functioning of our economies, and it's important that we protect us and that, as we work through this crisis, the single market, which is still not yet complete, there's still a lot of work to do in that area, particularly in goods, still in services, in the digital single market as well, that we continue our work, but that we use it, particularly as we develop in these areas, that we adapt to the current situation we find out. The current situation we find ourselves in, and I think in particular that applies to the digital single market, but to answer your question, yes, we still feel we should pay more, but at the same time, we're not willing to pay more if priorities like cap, like cohesion funding, like investment in research and innovation are not protected. Thank you. Final question.
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