A NEW REPORT, produced to coincide with Ireland’s current presidency of the EU and the country’s 40th year of membership, has been released today.
Containing interviews with Lucinda Creighton, Peter Sutherland, Pat Cox and Micheál Martin, the report – Forty Years A-Growing – An Overview of Irish-EU Relations – by Notre Europe – Jacques Delors Institute, was produced with the aim of grasping the “specificity and subtleties of the Irish debate on Europe, both historically and in its most recent developments.”
In her interview, the Minister of State for European Affairs, Lucinda Creighton, believes that Ireland’s neutral stance is ‘narcissistic’ and is used by Ireland to “tell everyone who wonderful we are”.
EU membership and the Irish people
Believing that Ireland had an “almost unbridled” enthusiasm for Europe in the ’70s and ’80s, Creighton said that she wasn’t sure if “it was a very well thought out enthusiasm”:
We were a very poor country, we wanted to be anything but the United Kingdom, and we wanted to be part of that project which was moving forward.
This changed, somewhat, in the ’90s and the ’00s, as the Irish became “much more critical and questioning”.
Although we vote for it, the European Parliament is completely remote from citizens. It is not a scant knowledge of how the institutions work: there is no knowledge of how they work – and I don’t mean that in a condescending or negative way about the public…
Ireland’s European concerns are not unique, according to Creighton. The issue, she said, was how countries handled European affairs. “When we have a success… the national government tries to take all the credit for it,” she said. “But when things go wrong, we blame Europe.”
Responding to the likelihood that Ireland would now become a net contributor to the EU budget, the minister said that that the country was “resigned to that,” adding: “After forty years of membership, that is fair enough”.
Europe’s power issues
While Creighton agrees that there are Irish worries over the balance of power in Europe, she believes that this is no longer driven by population numbers but is instead between the creditors and the debtors.
On the topic of Ireland’s perceived public resentment of Germany, she finds it “quite disturbing how negative the views about Germany are”.
Creighton finds the belief by bailout countries that they are “being harangued and beaten up by Germany” to be really worrying, especially as this is the “perception propagated by our media on a daily basis”.
Is the ‘them and us’ attitude hurting Europe?
“Very much so,” said Creighton. Describing the lack of understanding between the bailout countries and the rest, she encounters the view time and again that “the programme countries wouldn’t be in the mess they’re in, had they played by the rules and not been so spendthrift.”
While she believes that this view may be applicable to Greece, it does not apply to Ireland. “We ran a budget surplus before the crisis,” she said.
Admitting that her sometimes defence of Germany results in her being labelled as ‘Little Missy Europhile’, Creighton believes that a greater level of understanding – and empathy – is required from both sides.
From Ireland’s point of view, Germany needs to understand that “by paying unsecured senior bondholders, which the Irish government had no obligation to do, we protected German banks.”
Why a blanket bondholder guarantee?
“Well, I wasn’t part of that government…,” Creighton responded, saying that she would “certainly disagree” with the decision that was taken.
While believing that the banks of “systematic importance” should have been saved – Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland – Creighton is resigned to the fact that the wrong decision was made.
Unfortunately now that is all history for us: it has happened and we need to move on.
Documenting how private banking debt turned into sovereign debt, Creighton believes that Ireland cannot default.
They [the Irish people] would like some degree of leniency from the European institutions; they would like the Troika to come forward with a report on the promissory notes’ restructuring; they would like to see a hand of friendship from our European partners. But no one expects the debt to be written-off completely.
On the subject of moral hazard, Creighton said she is ‘Germanic’ in some of her outlook.
“I believe in good spending; I believe in fiscal prudence; and I think that moral hazard is a very important question,” she said. “As a German taxpayer I would be asking: ‘do we really want to hand over our credit card to the Greek government?’”
Ireland’s corporation tax rate
While happy with a greater coordination of tax policy at European level, ceding control of Ireland’s tax rates would, in Creighton’s opinion, be a step too far.
Describing the corporation tax rate as transparent and applying to all companies whether big or small, she said that it is applied consistently, “without bias or favouritism”.
It [the corporation tax rate] is not the only element of our industrial policy, but it is a crucial part of it.
Irish neutrality
“We have developed this perception of ourselves that to be neutral and to not engage in any sort of common defence is a badge of honour,” Creighton said.
Believing that Ireland, as a country, has never really considered what would happen if it was to be attacked, she says that our position on neutrality is quite narcissistic.
We do not have to worry about its consequences, and we can parade it around the world, go to the United Nations and tell everyone how wonderful we are.
In favour of a “European common defence”, Creighton thinks that this could gain political traction in the short term.
Ireland’s EU presidency
“It is sometimes easier to lead a successful Presidency as a small Member State than if you are a big Member State, because others are not so suspicious of your motivations,” Creighton said.
“I hope that because we have been so successful in implementing our programme for the past eighteen months, there will also be good will towards Ireland. That could also put us in a key position to really make some progress.”
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