Those who took the view that the Progressive Democrats had become Euro-sceptics were wrong. The PDs always had been and were still committed to Europe but there were areas such as taxation where Dublin should continue to hold sway, Senator John Dardis told the conference.
The party, had enthusiastically supported every referendum on Europe and was deeply conscious of the benefits, economic and otherwise, that accrued to Ireland because of our EU membership. This did not mean, however, that we could not fight for our vision of the future Europe.
Mr Dardis said Ireland's relationship with Europe would change fundamentally over the next decade. Within a few years Ireland was likely to become one of the wealthiest countries in an enlarged Europe, self-sufficient in financial terms and net contributors to the European budget. Because of this shift, our mendicant approach would have to become a thing of the past. We were being called on to mature as a member-state and this was the reality that informed PD policy on Europe.
The first challenge would be enlargement in which a single market of 500 million people would bring new opportunities.
"I do not share the pessimism of some Irish agricultural commentators that the accession of Poland, Hungary and Slovenia in particular will irreparably damage Irish farming. EU membership will transform agriculture in these countries in the same way it did here. It will lead to a restructuring of farming there and ultimately allow Irish agriculture to compete on an equal footing," he said, adding that Ireland had enjoyed great gains in the past and Irish firms stood to do so in the future from the opportunities that enlargement would create.
But he warned that Ireland would have to continue to take control of its own destiny as far as economic issues were concerned. "We must have the freedom to carry forward the policies that have created an extra 270,000 jobs and halved unemployment in the past three years. Over-regulation and over-centralisation have not worked in Ireland and would work even less well for Ireland in Europe. Dublin is the place to decide taxation policy, not Brussels."
The objective of Ireland at the forthcoming intergovernmental conference in Nice and beyond that must be to ensure that our level of representation at institutional level remained adequate and meaningful, Mr Dardis said. "Because of the central importance of the Commission, it is essential that each member-state, including Ireland, retains the right to nominate a commissioner."
On European defence, he said Ireland had done well from the European club and should be prepared to reciprocate by being proactive in common security, foreign policy and defence.