 Good evening everybody, some familiar faces in the crowd and some not so familiar. I'd like to firstly thank Jill and the Young Professionals Network for the invitation and the opportunity to come and address you and hopefully engage in a lively Q&A slash exchange of ideas later on in the evening. I'm really pleased to see that there is the Young Professionals Network for starters because I've been coming to events at the Institute of European Affairs for many years and I'm sure all of you will have often at different points had the same feeling where you look around the room and you're probably about 50 years younger than the average age profile. So it is important, certainly I think if we're to to faster and cultivate a strong sense of being European and why Europe is important to us and all of that, I think it's important that our generation takes some responsibility, that we don't just sit back and that I always or wait for others to do it for us, but that we, you know, we try to become the vanguard ourselves and pass on to future generations. So if you bear with me, there are some remarks which I've prepared which I'd like to share with you some thoughts on where we are and then I'd like to have an exchange as I said and hear from you any thoughts, ideas you have, because I think that's probably the most enriching, certainly from my point of view and probably from your point of view as well. So I suppose when I was thinking about this, you know, I was thinking to myself that for our grandparents' generation at least and probably for our parents' generation, you know, Europe and, you know, the whole concept of the European project was really a no-brainer. I mean people in Ireland didn't really have to think twice. For the originators of the European concept, the rationale was extremely clear. All of them had suffered greatly and had witnessed unimaginable suffering during World War II. You've heard this before, you probably don't need me to remind you, but I'm going to do it anyway, because I think it is important to put it in context because it is extraordinary. You know, the people who had seen the very worst in human terms were prepared to literally believe the best of their fellow men and I think that's quite extraordinary and the nationalism which caused two world wars on the continent within a period of 35 years had to be essentially suppressed for the greater good and we know the rest, sovereignty was pooled and I certainly, probably along with many of you in the room have argued that by sharing sovereignty we have enhanced sovereignty, certainly in the case of smaller member states, but unfortunately since then I think there's no doubt that the concept of the European project has lost a lot of its public appeal and we can place I think some of the blame at least on the generation which ran the Union before us, so that's probably our parents and the EU has sadly lost some of its ability to engage on a political level with many of its citizens if not most of its citizens and to some I think the EU means to them a series of closed doors, of committee rooms full of indistinguishable suits and it appears to have lost the ability to look out for and protect its citizens and I think that's something that we need to recapture and when we consider for example that there's 44% youth unemployment in Spain right now it's hardly any wonder that there are question marks over the added value which the European Union brings to member states, so for the first time probably since the start of the industrial revolution our generation is likely to be worse off than the generation of our parents and it's quite a sad reflection on all of us on the member states on the EU and probably on the world order, but it's one that I think we have to look at and analyse and consider new ways forward. I think one of the problems that we have in terms of capturing the imagination when we talk about Europe is that we actually have a lot of difficulty in describing it. I think that's one of the essential problems so we know it when we see it we know that Tallinn and Dresden and Zagreb and all of these places are part of Europe but we can't really explain why, so I think we need to find a means of describing describing it in terms of what Europe is, maybe it's a continent of moderation whether in climate or topography or in religion, in philosophy, Tony just talks about an ethical coherence and I think that there is actually something in that, why do pretty much all Europeans abhor the death penalty or the subjugation of women for example, there is a coherence about the things that we can recognise about the European Union, about Europe, about the European project even if we can't always put words on it, if we can't necessarily describe it and we could sit here and talk about economic policy and I have to say I've been doing that for the last 10 months but I think there's a broader point to be made, even 20 years ago when the first steps towards an integrated and enlarged European Union became possible, Europe was a bigger place, a more relevant place, it was richer than pretty much anywhere else in the world and it was among one of the most innovative economies on the globe and that has changed, we no longer live in a bipolar world since the end of the Cold War where Europe was on the winning team, we now live in a multipolar world and the scale of the game and the scale of the challenge has increased immeasurably pretty much, so it's not only by recognising our similarities as Europeans and sorry, it's only by recognising our similarities as Europeans and working together that we can maintain our place in the world and make our voice heard, it also means that if we want to see a world order based on the sort of moderation and human respect that I mentioned which I think identifies Europe, it can only happen with United Europe which is determined to play a coherent role on the world stage, today I think it's pretty much nonsense to think that any individual European country could be a serious player on the economic field against China or Brazil or in India and we've heard that many times but it is reality, it's also not possible for an individual country to deal with the other major challenges that face us like energy supply and security, climate change, global poverty, all of these big issues which have been on our agenda for decades now, we can't solve them alone, we can only do it by cooperating and the world may be a better place than it was at the end of World War II but it's also much more complex, it's only the EU with the correct coherent and democratic structures and with economic strength of course can protect its citizens and I contend that that's very not just important to a country like Ireland but important to all members of the European Union and it's in all of our mutual interest to make that happen and for that reason I'd like to share some of the issues that I've been working on the last few months and I'm not going to talk about European summits or the specific lead up to treaties that are in the pipeline and things like that, I'm going to talk about engaging with the EU agenda and I think this certainly from my perspective with my responsibility for coordinating European affairs and government and having witnessed I think certainly a weakening in the position of Ireland within the European Union and vis-a-vis the other member states, I think this is really important in an EU of 27, we have 27 voices each trying to articulate a point and the fact is that if you don't speak if you're not audible particularly if you're not coherent you will be forgotten that's the nature of it, things evolve people move on everybody has their own agenda so in order to influence decisions we have to engage and my government when we came into office we had an explicit commitment to restore Ireland's standing as a respected and influential member of the European Union that stated in our programme for government and it has literally driven our agenda in respect of European affairs and European engagement since the get-go and members of government have been availing of every opportunity and creating opportunities to meet EU colleagues and representatives of the of the institutions in order to underline the government's constructive engagement with the European agenda and to ensure closer working relationships at a political level across the Union and aside from meetings and discussions with counterparts asked and around my own council for example the general affairs council I have very deliberately planned as many visits as possible to other member states and I've met with as many EU counterparts during my visits and also we've had quite a quite a significant number visiting Ireland it's inevitable I suppose when even new government that people want to come and suss you out and get to know new counterparts so it's been a very important process it's been a two-way process and yes it is about making our voices heard and securing vital national interests no doubt about that but it's also and I think it's important to say this about contributing to the debate to the overall all debate not just from a national perspective but it's also about doing our bit to contribute to and to ensure that we can secure the future of the European project which is vital to Irish people and to Ireland but it's also bigger than us and to underscore how serious the government is about all of this we transferred responsibility for the coordination of all aspects of EU affairs to the Department of the Taoiseach from foreign affairs because we don't consider this activity to be foreign affairs we we rather we consider it to be an integral part of the day-to-day domestic agenda of the Irish government and I think that was a very important symbolic move also very important practical move which I think speaks volumes it's also important that we engage effectively and meaningfully with the EU agenda because Ireland is going to hold the presidency of the European Council for the seventh time during the first half of 2013 and I'm sure you're all aware of this but it falls on on my lap in terms of the preparation so it's something that I'm literally talking about 24-7 at the moment I don't know how many briefings I've done on at this stage but it is hugely important it's a great opportunity and it's also going to coincide interestingly with the 40th anniversary of Ireland's accession to the European Union so hopefully it'll be a cause to celebrate and I certainly envisage opportunities for us to to showcase what's worked what's been good and what has helped enhance Ireland and Irish people as a society since we joined we joined with Denmark of course who've just taken over the presidency and the UK who have always had a slightly different path shall we say on the European journey than we have but that's not to say that we can't cooperate on lots of issues a key factor in the positive perception of Ireland in Europe has been the reputation which we have developed painstakingly I would say over the past four decades for impartial and effective presidencies and you know all governments all parties have contributed to that in Irish society and I think it's something that we can be very very proud of it's a good legacy and just to give an example of you know the key role that we have played in some instances we played a very important role for example in the reunification of the European continent and that's something we can be proud of during our 1990 presidency Ireland oversaw the approach to German reunification and that's certainly a legacy of which I'm proud and one that we've probably forgotten by and large in this country and again in 2004 I think most of us are young enough to remember at least this much that Ireland held the day of welcomes here in Dublin at Oris the Nuke Theron which marked the accession of the 10 new member states and saw the EU expand to eastern and central central Europe which I think was a really momentous day in the in the context of everything that had gone before not just the Cold War but going right back to the beginning of the 20th century so our task for the presidency in 2013 in my view is probably the greatest challenge to date for this country and it will be to run a presidency that contributes to the renewal of the European project after what has been a traumatic period and let's face it probably will continue to be a traumatic period right up right up to and possibly even during the the Irish presidency so that's going to be a huge task and you know I'd be interested to hear from you this evening about how we can do that if you have ideas or thoughts on it it's going to be a presidency that focuses on growth and jobs a presidency that puts prosperity back on the European agenda and above all we intend that it will be a presidency that recognizes that the European Union is about the prosperity and security of its people and therefore for the Union to have legitimacy its people have to be prosperous and secure and that's something that I think is you know I think in a historical context when you look back over the last 40 years you can say certainly you know it has been a success and comparatively we're all much better off and we're all much safer and there's peace on the continent but in the short term in in terms of our short term memories I think it's a much bigger challenge because our generation don't remember that so I think you know it presents an exciting opportunity but also a very significant challenge and then just moving on because of the complexity of the EU there's there's certainly a tendency to neglect the human element of the European institutions which I might just mention for a brief moment and to ignore I think the human element of the European institutions is to ignore the central role that Irish men and women play in the success of the European project and I'm not talking about here in the domestic scene but rather in Brussels and the various institutions in other parts of Europe in fact here in Ireland I think we have a really proud tradition of contributing to the workings of the EU through its institutions. Irish people were and still are in my experience very highly regarded for their efficiency impartiality and I think we can all be proud of our legendary networking skills and they have devoted many areas and indeed you know we all probably come across some many people who've devoted their entire lives to working in the European Union and it is a very selfless contribution which has been very very important to building the institutions and indeed building the ideas that have helped to foster Europe and the European project and the European identity. There've only been five secretaries general of the European Commission and of these two have been Irish I think that's a pretty spectacular outcome for for a tiny country such as ours. The current Secretary-General as you know as Catherine Day I think she addressed the Institute not that long ago prior to her was David O'Sullivan who is now the Chief Operations Officer with the European External Action Service so two key influencers and pivotal people present at all of the key negotiations and so on and very important link for the Irish government as well while of course they're there guarding the treaties and doing you know their constitutional duties they do of course still look out for Ireland and for the national interests so they're a very important conduit for us and a very important point of contact and it's quite clear that currently Ireland is quite well represented at the middle and upper management levels of the institutions but there are absolutely insufficient numbers of officials of Irish nationality at the more junior grade so this is a real cause for concern and when you take into account that a lot of the senior officials the kind of 1973 generation are soon likely to retire we're going to find that numbers will fall very dramatically in the very near future so I suppose one of the tasks for me is to remind young Irish people that there are opportunities for Irish professionals to seek employment in Brussels and elsewhere in the next seven years the European Parliament for example is going to renew nearly 50% of its staff so why shouldn't you know a respectable number of them be Irish that has to be our objective as I mentioned one of the objectives of the government is to boost Ireland's engagement with the EU at every level and having a steady flow of Irish high quality candidates entering the EU institutions is not just beneficial for the EU but it's beneficial as well so with that in mind the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs have been working with a range of partners to encourage Irish candidates to apply for EU level career opportunities and they've set up a mailing list and if you're interested the email address is eujobsattaiseach.ie and next month I'm going to be launching a recruitment campaign to raise awareness of the career opportunities that are available to young Irish people and you know the way I think about this is that we all know so many people who have emigrated to Canada to Australia to New Zealand and to the UK we tend to go to English speaking countries I think we're a little bit intimidated by you know the prospect of the concord the competition the language requirements and so on I think we need to get over it and certainly it's going to be very much part of our campaign to encourage young Irish people to brush up on their language skills it's not that difficult and to go for it and to see opportunities and always remember if you're in Brussels you're a lot closer to home than you are if you're in Sydney or or Quebec or wherever so the the campaign which we're launching is going to be called originally the EU needs you and and I will be taking it to every third level institution in the country we're building relations at the moment with you know all sorts of sectors in in colleges who are interested be it European study studies be it law be it business whatever so there's a great opportunity there and we're involving the European movement the Commission and also all of the stakeholders here in Dublin in planning that campaign so I think it's going to be very exciting Irish graduates are highly sought after in the EU institutions so you know I hope that some of you might consider careers in the European institutions in in in future and you know contribute in the way that the likes of Catherine Day and David O'Sullivan and many many others have done I think another good example of you know the educational benefits and I suppose part of free movement as well is that you know three million young people have benefited from from opportunities to study in other countries through the Erasmus program and so on I know I'm sure many of you in the room have have benefited from that project as well that was launched by Peter Sutherland when he was commissioner which is interesting our Irish ambassador our commissioner and I think it's a good example of how Ireland's membership of the EU has opened up our opportunities I suppose for young Irish students and ultimately for for young Irish profession professionals which I hope is of relevance to you but it's also created opportunities for young professionals at home and I think one example here is well there are quite a few women in the audience and it's not that long ago that women you know any woman working in the public sector had to give up her job when she got married that was forcibly dropped by the Irish government when we joined the the EU because because of the equality of opportunity legislation that was in place which we had to comply with when we joined so I think it's a good example a tangible example of you know how we have benefited particularly young people particularly young women have benefited from our membership and there are so many other examples but I think it's just it's one that strikes me looking around the room so I'm going to conclude because I know I'm going on but but I just want to say you know I think I'm always struck by the fact that we we don't really consider too often how exceptional the EU is I was at a conference Euro Asia conference months ago last June I think it was and Kevin Rod the Australian foreign minister was there former prime minister and he was saying you know he was really sort of I think driving home a point which we in Europe never really consider which is that you know we spend so much time looking inwards naval gaze and criticizing ourselves looking for the negatives in in our our unique construction the European Union and he was saying you know in Asia which is where they are you know if they could have even 100 of the level of cooperation that we have they would see it as an enormous bonus they envy us they look at the European Union they say wow you know that's such an amazing political and social construct which has by and large been so hugely successful of course it's not perfect nothing is perfect but they envy it and he was saying you know stop the self-flagulation and get on with it and start appreciating what you do well more and I think we could learn a lot from from that sort of advice the eighth spoke of great hatred little room for our own troubles in Ireland and I think you know he could have been speaking about the the European continent and its history yet in the middle of the last century something changed and I think you know this is something we have to remind ourselves of particularly because we weren't around that hard fought consensus displaced all too easy conflict and what has developed really is exceptional and it's to be cherished and it's something that we have to fight for and hold on to Europeans often seem seem unaware of the concrete and tangible change that the project has affected on its borders and in the western Balkans today for example Europeans Irish men and women amongst all others are working together to heal the divisions of the bloody and awful conflict that occurred there and although progress is slow there is progress and that's to be appreciated and that is due in in very large part to the intervention and the work of the European Union and we Irish I think know more than more than most that there's nothing greater that we can make them peace nothing more fragile obviously but also nothing more powerful when you achieve it and it's worth fighting for and it's worth treasuring and since the inception of the European project Europeans have been doing just that so I think you know from Ireland's point of view we have been part of it we are part of it and I think that's something that we can be extremely proud of thank you