TÁNAISTE MARY Coughlan has said that the European Union should concentrate its energies on job creation to return the continent to prosperity, not on a European Monetary Fund.
Addressing an audience in Berlin yesterday, the Minister for Trade, Industry and Employment shot down last week’s proposal by the German government to stabilise the euro with a new agency modelled on the International Monetary Fund.
“I appreciate the views here,” she said, “but we need to get sustainable economic growth and greater competitiveness in the EU. That’s not to say that we won’t discuss the future but I feel that is an academic discussion at the moment.”
The Tánaiste said the Government’s priorities were to recapitalise the banks, support enterprise and attract foreign direct investment.
Her four-day visit to Germany concludes today after high-level government and trade meetings in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Munich.
The Tánaiste’s visit however was as much about polishing up the image of Ireland that has been tarnished in Germany in the last years thanks to the economic meltdown and the ups and downs on the Lisbon Treaty.
To that end, she was the guest of honour at Sunday’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Munich.
Ms Coughlan said her priorities were to explain Nama and the Government’s cutbacks, as well as to rebuild confidence in Ireland as a place for doing business and a good value holiday destination.
After bad coverage last year, the mood towards Ireland has softened once more in German public discourse.
Indeed Ireland is now cited in the German media as an effective model of belt-tightening that Greece should note.
There is recognition, too, though, that Ireland still has some way to go.
“Ireland’s stony path” was how the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper described the road ahead yesterday.
“It’s questionable whether the Government can hold to the tough spending cuts and hold onto the low income and corporate tax rates,” it noted. “Low taxes don’t sit well with a huge pile of debt. Much depends on future growth and a public that has to carry the programme.”
Ms Coughlan won praise from her audience for her speech in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate.
“She made an excellent impression, combining substance with the ability to sell,” said Dr Dietrich von Kyaw, former German permanent representative to the EU.
“To be able to do that is a gift, she’s good.”