EU: Ireland will seek to reduce regulation of business during its six-month presidency of the European Union, according to the Minister of State for European Affairs.
Addressing the sixth Europe Asia Forum in Brussels yesterday, Mr Dick Roche said promoting economic reform during a time of sluggish economic growth would be a central challenge for the presidency.
"We will champion the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises, highlight the need to complete the internal market for services, and move ahead with regulatory reform," he said.
"We are conscious that successful regulatory reform, by easing the burden on business, will support stronger economic growth and deliver benefits in terms of job creation. We are equally seized of the need to tackle restrictive practices which choke the capacity of businesses to grow."
Mr Roche predicted that the accession of 10 new member-states next year would bring great economic benefit to the EU and he praised the draft constitution drawn up by the Convention on the Future of Europe. He warned, however, that European lawmakers must do more to explain the EU to its citizens and to trumpet its contribution to their wellbeing.
"We must do more than preach to the converted. At a time of change it is entirely understandable that many people of goodwill become nervous and unsure. Doubts are often strongest where knowledge and understanding are weakest. This only underlines the need for more and better information about the EU and how it affects the citizens of Europe," he said.
EU leaders and foreign ministers meet in Rome on October 4th to launch an inter-governmental conference that will finalise the new constitution. The conference is due to end in December but many EU diplomats believe the issues involved are so complex and controversial that negotiations could continue into the Irish presidency.
A group of small and medium-sized EU member-states, including Ireland, is to meet in New York next week on the margins of the UN General Assembly to discuss common concerns about the draft constitution. Many small member-states are unhappy with proposals to abolish the automatic right of every country to nominate a Commissioner and to abolish the six-month rotating EU presidency.