Brendan Burgess
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A very good opinion piece in the Irish Times
The reality is that in a decade Ireland has gone from holding agriculture and rural development (a third of the EU budget), to trade (the crown jewel of the EU’s competencies) via financial services (stripped of the important bits) to the thankless task of policing wannabe European dictators under a “democracy shield”.
And while much immediate attention will focus on Fianna Fáil’s continuing naivety on European affairs (voting against von der Leyen’s reappointment) or the Irish Government’s refusal to nominate both a man and woman as requested by Brussels – these are only the latest examples of an Ireland totally out of touch with EU realities.
And those realities are grim for Ireland. Because it’s increasingly hard to refute the prevailing view of Ireland in Brussels. Principally, Ireland as a quasi-corporate tax haven. A freeloader on security and defence. An enforcer of the EU’s digital and data protection laws that has been criticised for dragging its feet. A state that constantly preaches about fiscal discipline, yet simultaneously disregards its own financial rules. A monolingual anglosphere economy that doesn’t even have a co-ordinated strategy to replace its ageing citizens working in the European institutions. The list goes on.
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Ireland’s engagement with Brussels is sprinkled by a ‘we know best’ attitude that is unbecoming of our history and self-perception
The reality is that in a decade Ireland has gone from holding agriculture and rural development (a third of the EU budget), to trade (the crown jewel of the EU’s competencies) via financial services (stripped of the important bits) to the thankless task of policing wannabe European dictators under a “democracy shield”.
And while much immediate attention will focus on Fianna Fáil’s continuing naivety on European affairs (voting against von der Leyen’s reappointment) or the Irish Government’s refusal to nominate both a man and woman as requested by Brussels – these are only the latest examples of an Ireland totally out of touch with EU realities.
And those realities are grim for Ireland. Because it’s increasingly hard to refute the prevailing view of Ireland in Brussels. Principally, Ireland as a quasi-corporate tax haven. A freeloader on security and defence. An enforcer of the EU’s digital and data protection laws that has been criticised for dragging its feet. A state that constantly preaches about fiscal discipline, yet simultaneously disregards its own financial rules. A monolingual anglosphere economy that doesn’t even have a co-ordinated strategy to replace its ageing citizens working in the European institutions. The list goes on.