The recent Irish No vote to the Treaty of Nice was unquestionably regrettable, delegates at a European Human Resources conference in Dublin were told yesterday.
"The lobby groups in Ireland against the Nice Treaty would like us to hide away where we cannot compete," IBEC director general Turlough O'Sullivan told delegates. He said the NO vote camp opposed every European Union treaty in favour of a narrow, inward-looking "little Ireland policy", with a nervous culture of self-sufficiency isolating the State from the world.
The better approach was to compete and to ensure Ireland did so effectively, he said. This meant Ireland must maintain and improve its cost competitiveness as it would be particularly vulnerable in the context of the enlarged EU.
Ms Odile Quintin, European Commission director general of employment and social affairs, said human capital will increasingly be the bedrock on which Europe's competitiveness will be based. She said this meant companies would have to design strategies to create more and better jobs in order to attract and retain employees - not only the young graduates, but also older workers.
This entails improving the quality of jobs, especially those offered to women, creating new flexibilities and new securities and strengthening workers' involvement.
These were concrete dimensions aimed at attracting and retaining workers, Ms Quintin said. She said that because ageing will affect European economies and the global economy puts a premium on knowledge-intensive products, Ireland was well placed as its workers hold key positions in many of Europe's best companies.
For this reason she hoped Ireland would support new EU initiatives on employment.
Mr O'Sullivan said the enlargement of the EU to include central and eastern Europe would offer both opportunities in terms of new markets and threats in terms of competition.
More competition in the economy will encourage further growth, improved competitiveness and consumer confidence, Mr O'Sullivan said.
It would also encourage more entrepreneureship, particularly in the new technology and liberalised markets.
The early implementation of such policies would maximise Ireland's competitive advantage.
He strongly welcomed the Government's announcement on the establishment of a "national forum on Europe" as it would allow all issues relevant to Ireland's future in the European Union to be fully debated.
