Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. The European Union leaders
Speaker 1: will begin arriving in Brussels later ahead of tomorrow's summers.
Speaker 1: They're expected to discuss further sanctions on Russia, among other issues.
Speaker 1: This as we've been reporting on a new European plan
Speaker 1: drawn up with Kiev which aims to end the war
Speaker 1: with Russia. For more to discuss. I'm joined by Ireland's
Speaker 1: europe Minister Thomas Byrne. Minister, great to have you with
Speaker 1: us in our Brussels studio this morning on the issue,
Speaker 1: first of all, of sanctions on Russia. The expectation has
Speaker 1: been there will be in agreement tomorrow. Is that what
Speaker 1: we should be hoping for from this meeting?
Speaker 2: Well, I certainly hope so certainly what Ireland wants and
Speaker 2: what almost all member states want. I think, like every occasion,
Speaker 2: when we introduce these sanctions, we need to get all
Speaker 2: the member states on board. They're not all quite there yet,
Speaker 2: but in you know, previous iterations and multiple times all
Speaker 2: member states have come on board, so I would expect
Speaker 2: that to happen. And I think it is really really
Speaker 2: important that the European Union continue to use its leverage,
Speaker 2: continue to use its unit and indeed our power and
Speaker 2: our financial wherewithal to support Ukraine in what they're doing,
Speaker 2: which is defending themselves and legitimately under an international law,
Speaker 2: making sure that they are keeping themselves alive as an
Speaker 2: independent country, which they are entitled to do.
Speaker 1: One of the key issues that's been under debate is
Speaker 1: using frozen Russian assets to try and provide financing to
Speaker 1: Ukraine as well. It's been a divisive issue. It does
Speaker 1: it look like from the meetings that you've been having
Speaker 1: with ministers that has progress made on that?
Speaker 2: Well, I think there is progress made. I think it
Speaker 2: will take the Leaders to make the final decision on that,
Speaker 2: to call on the European Commission to bring forward proposals
Speaker 2: to introduce that and to allow the mobilized assets to
Speaker 2: be used again to help Ukraine its financial situation, to
Speaker 2: protect itself to run its economy. So let's see what
Speaker 2: the leaders discuss on that. But it certainly something that
Speaker 2: we support. Belgium clearly has particular issues with it which
Speaker 2: are very very understandable. But if the Leaders can agree
Speaker 2: and then the Commission will bring forward proposal and then
Speaker 2: we'll have to discuss it then. But this is something
Speaker 2: I think you see a huge desire among every member
Speaker 2: state to do something here and to make sure that
Speaker 2: we can use whatever power and leverge that we have.
Speaker 1: Is this an issue for Ireland as a neutral country
Speaker 1: if that money would then be used to buy offensive
Speaker 1: weapons for Ukraine's.
Speaker 2: Look, I mean we've given significant support in terms of
Speaker 2: defensive weapons, and there's a wide range in that definition
Speaker 2: of defensive weapons as to what we can do. We've
Speaker 2: given huge support in terms of refugees from Ukraine as well.
Speaker 2: Two percent for population are Ukrainian refugees. So look, we've
Speaker 2: examined any proposals. We are a neutral country in terms
Speaker 2: of we don't join military alliances, but we're absolutely not
Speaker 2: neutral when it comes to the right of Ukraine to
Speaker 2: defend itself from an illegal and full scale invasion by Russia.
Speaker 1: We've been reporting this morning on this new peace plan,
Speaker 1: a new twelve point plan. We're told that European countries
Speaker 1: are working on with Ukraine as well. Is this something
Speaker 1: that Ireland has been involved in.
Speaker 2: Well, look, it's not something that I've been involved in personally,
Speaker 2: but I can tell you that the agenda for the
Speaker 2: leaders at the European Council meeting this week is very
Speaker 2: much along the lines of helping Ukraine to defend itself,
Speaker 2: helping Ukraine to build up its munitions and its defenses
Speaker 2: in the face of this full scale invasion, and also
Speaker 2: in terms of my own focus, progressing Ukraine's membership of
Speaker 2: the European Union and the accession process. So yesterday in Luxembourg,
Speaker 2: as we as European ministers had a meeting with our
Speaker 2: Ukrainian counterpart, Taraskashus and that was designed and organized with
Speaker 2: Zavia Betel in Luxembourg, designed to you know, continue the
Speaker 2: discussion on Ukraine's incredible effort to join the European Union.
Speaker 2: And again that's the focus of the leaders as well,
Speaker 2: and it's certainly been a big focus of mind because
Speaker 2: I think that we, you know, for our own security,
Speaker 2: for Ukraine's European ambition, we have to progress this as
Speaker 2: efficiently and as quickly as possible as a merit based process.
Speaker 2: But believe you me, they are really working hard to
Speaker 2: ensure that they reach the thresholds or to join the
Speaker 2: European Union.
Speaker 1: Just on some of the other big issues that we're
Speaker 1: expecting leaders to be talking about. One of them, of course,
Speaker 1: is trade, and we've seen an increased content between the
Speaker 1: EU and China over recent days over the issue of
Speaker 1: the restrictions that China's placed on exporting rare earth metals.
Speaker 1: Now Marschefter its the U Trade chief, says that he'll
Speaker 1: be talking to his Chinese counterparts in the coming days
Speaker 1: more about this. Where does Ireland stand on the idea
Speaker 1: of escalating measures against China in retaliation for those rare
Speaker 1: earth curbs.
Speaker 2: Well, first of all, China needs to urgently roll back
Speaker 2: these restrictions and you know, stick to the WTO rules.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I was at a meeting of
Speaker 2: the G twenty trade ministers two weeks ago in South Africa.
Speaker 2: We'reland as a guest this year, and everybody around that
Speaker 2: table was supportive of the WTO. And I think that
Speaker 2: that's really really important. And we all had different nuances,
Speaker 2: but fundamentally business in breach. And I think Marizefkovich, I
Speaker 2: think I have to say he's one of the busiest
Speaker 2: commissioners I've ever seen in terms of his engagements right
Speaker 2: around the world on really important issues to European jobs,
Speaker 2: European manufacturing, in European trade. And look, I think he's
Speaker 2: going to take a judgment. We will be supporting Commission
Speaker 2: of Separavige in his work. We always do because think
Speaker 2: he's done such a good job and takes into account
Speaker 2: to member states and brings him member states along. I
Speaker 2: suppose as well, but we want to make sure that
Speaker 2: we have a level playing field around the world as well,
Speaker 2: and in China is one of the biggest trading countries
Speaker 2: in the world as well in terms of its own experts,
Speaker 2: so it can't pick and choose.
Speaker 1: Competitiveness is of course the key issue for this commissioner.
Speaker 1: It is one of the items on the agenda for
Speaker 1: the Leader's meeting as well. In terms of how we
Speaker 1: see a simplification agenda being implemented across Europe, it's a
Speaker 1: common complaint from businesses around red tape, but the most
Speaker 1: concrete action that we've seen, certainly in recent days has
Speaker 1: been to soften or push back the implementation of some
Speaker 1: key climate related laws. And thinking about the deforestation law
Speaker 1: being delayed by another six months, for example, is that
Speaker 1: how we should be reading what simplification looks like in
Speaker 1: this competitiveness agenda is essentially weakening some of the climate
Speaker 1: regulations that he has put in place.
Speaker 2: No, that's not what ARNA wants to do. We want
Speaker 2: to make sure that we actually can meet our climate
Speaker 2: ambitions because we believe they're absolutely necessary in terms of
Speaker 2: basically saving the planet. But also it is worth recalling
Speaker 2: the European Union in terms of some of the laws,
Speaker 2: which are very well meaning, over the last number of
Speaker 2: years has increased the administrative burden on companies, that's a fact.
Speaker 2: And the Commission, supported by the Member States, has decided
Speaker 2: to roll back on some of this because some of
Speaker 2: the form filling etc. It's just too much, and it's
Speaker 2: been done in the name sometimes of climate targets, are
Speaker 2: in the name of whatever else it is, and that's wrong. Now.
Speaker 2: The difficulty is, of course that they know we can
Speaker 2: only pass this simplification these laws if the Member States
Speaker 2: and the Parliament degree and I think it does need
Speaker 2: a strong cooperation between the Council and the Parliament to
Speaker 2: get this true and to work with the Parliament to
Speaker 2: listen to their concerns. This is a difficult challenge because
Speaker 2: some of these laws, quite frankly, have only been brought
Speaker 2: into the last number of years and we're asking some
Speaker 2: of the same people to roll back in them and
Speaker 2: kind of admit that maybe it wasn't going to work.
Speaker 2: So that's a difficult challenge, but I think we need
Speaker 2: to do it. We badly need to do it because
Speaker 2: our jobs depend on it, and we're coming undersignific and
Speaker 2: external pressure from our investors, from our companies, and particularly
Speaker 2: small and medium enterprises who were the lifeblood of our economies.
Speaker 2: So I think the work of simplification is very urgent.
Speaker 2: There are some rules, of course, in various sectors that
Speaker 2: will be postponed for a while, but we definitely don't
Speaker 2: believe that we should be compromising our climate ambitions.
Speaker 1: Okay, Thomas Barne, Arland's europe Minister, thank you very much
Speaker 1: for joining us.