Forget the positive image of Michael McGrath’s new job. Justice is a portfolio no one wanted – The Irish Times

The award of the democracy, justice and rule of law portfolio to Michael McGrath by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen shows how Ireland is losing its popularity in Brussels. Forget Dublin’s soothing diplomatic tone: justice is a portfolio that no one wanted.

Justice means guaranteed (and often personalized) conflict with states like Hungary and Slovakia. Enforcing the EU rule of law is not a secondary pursuit for a former finance minister seeking an economic portfolio.

The reality is that in a decade Ireland has gone from managing agriculture and rural development (a third of the EU budget) to trade (the jewel of EU competences), to financial services (stripped of the important bits) and the thankless task of policing Europe’s would-be dictators under a “democratic shield”.

And while the focus is mainly on Fianna Fáil’s continued naivety on EU affairs (voting against von der Leyen’s reappointment) or the Irish government’s refusal to appoint both a man and a woman as requested by Brussels – these are just the latest examples of an Ireland totally disconnected from EU realities.

And these realities are grim for Ireland. Because it is increasingly difficult to refute the prevailing opinion in Brussels about Ireland. Ireland is indeed seen as a virtual tax haven for companies. A profiteer in security and defence. A country that applies European digital and data protection laws, but has been criticised for its slowness. A state that constantly preaches budgetary discipline, but at the same time ignores its own financial rules. A monolingual Anglo-Saxon economy that does not even have a coordinated strategy to replace its ageing citizens working in the European institutions. The list goes on.

Consider Ireland’s recent failed attempt to host the new European Anti-Money Laundering Authority. While then-Finance Minister Michael McGrath claimed that Dublin was the “ideal location” given Ireland’s “good reputation for strong administration and governance and its unique perspective as an important common law jurisdiction within the EU,” the rest of the EU laughed that these were precisely the reasons why the AMLA would not take place near Ireland. And so it proved: the EU promptly chose Frankfurt.

Ireland, which was bailed out in 2010 because of its exceptional success as the Wild West of banking regulation and which remains, in 2024, a favoured location for multinationals seeking competitive tax planning, would still be the last place where Paris and Berlin would set up a new European financial body. Especially one charged with maintaining the integrity of the EU’s banking system.

This fiasco not only highlights Dublin’s growing disconnect from the realities of Brussels. It also highlights the growing hubris of Irish public policy, which implicitly seems to regard the Irish economic model as superior to those of continental Europe. This view is based on the mistaken belief that Ireland is now one of the richest members of the EU. Ireland’s engagement with Brussels is peppered with a “we know best” attitude – last seen in the Celtic Tiger era but probably revived by Brexit – that is out of step with our history and our self-perception.

The truth is that Ireland’s credibility has been in decline for at least two decades in Brussels. Two failed referendums on EU treaties, a reluctance to properly enforce EU data protection rules, a creative approach to taxing US multinationals, a willingness to sacrifice a senior EU trade commissioner (seen as kamikaze politics in Brussels) and an economic dependence increasingly centred on a very small number of US technology and pharmaceutical multinationals: this does not reflect the record of a consistent and constructive advocate of greater European integration.

Rather, it is the opportunistic and unprincipled approach of an island that continues to prioritise its core economic relationships with the US (corporate tax) and the UK (Common Travel Area) over broader European goals. There is no coherent vision of how Dublin wants to shape the future of the EU, no realistic strategy for Ireland to reconcile its eclectic mix of priorities with a centralising and consolidating European Union underpinned by higher defence spending, more flexible competition rules and significantly higher EU taxes. Ireland, now a significant net contributor to the EU budget, still has no idea what kind of Europe would best serve its long-term interests. Rather than thinking big and trying to constructively fill the void left by Brexit – by becoming the voice of a smaller, meaner, single-market-oriented EU – Ireland has retreated into its traditional role as a benign humanitarian.

Ireland’s official application to AMLA presented a multicultural and educated Ireland, with the classic photos of Powerscourt Waterfall and Ha’penny Bridge. It aptly explained that “the driving force behind our application is to strengthen our commitment to Europe and to help protect and project the values ​​of the Union on the world stage.” Sadly, two months after losing the competition, the Irish government received a letter from the European Commission. This letter of formal notice formally launched infringement proceedings against Ireland for incorrectly transposing existing EU anti-money laundering directives into Irish law.

In Brussels, we are the target of mockery.

Dr Eoin Drea is a Senior Research Fellow at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels, the think tank of the European People’s Party.