"The most impressive thing about the Irish presidency is that we begin it as one of the fifteen states of the Union and end it as one of the twenty-five. Enlargement is already becoming a reality - for example, delegations of the acceding countries sat at the same table with us during the Intergovernmental Conference.
We will continue all preparations for the new EU states to take their places in May as full and equal partners. This will be a fantastic moment in the history of Europe, worthy of crowning any presidency. The acceding countries have done an excellent job in joining our ranks. It was a difficult process. And we have done everything so that they are confident: their integration will go as smoothly as possible."
Lisbon Agenda. "In Lisbon in March 2000, we set ourselves the goal of becoming the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. Business people and ordinary citizens are already seeing the first positive and concrete benefits brought by many of the reform and renewal processes we launched under the Lisbon Agenda. But we would be deluding ourselves if we thought that this progress was fast enough. It is clear that many of the goals set before us are still to be achieved.
Thus, we need to give the Lisbon process a new impetus. I have sent letters to my EU colleagues indicating that this will be the most important goal of the Irish presidency. Our priorities are clear: sustainable development and employment growth. To achieve this, we will focus on a limited range of issues, but we will get them resolved."
A safer EU. "Recent events have shown with complete clarity: our citizens must feel that they live in a safer Union. And they want this Union to be part of a safer world. Crime in the EU must be fought consistently and effectively; in this regard, the Union must play an active, engaged, leading role in creating a peaceful and stable society. To this end, we must use all available instruments - political, economic, security-related and development-related, and, where necessary, peacekeeping and peace-enforcement. Only in such a coordinated manner can we successfully meet the challenges of the 21st century coming from non-state actors, including international terrorism, organized crime, drug cartels, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction."
External relations. "If we are serious in our commitment to making the multilateral system work, we must act now. We cannot, on the one hand, condemn unilateral steps, and on the other hand, refuse to take the necessary steps to turn the UN system into a more effective instrument for responding to threats to peace and security, including those posed by terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction...
As EU President, Ireland will be responsible for guiding the Union's contribution to UN reforms... For the EU, as one of the most ardent supporters of the UN system, the time has come to take part in giving momentum to support for reforms. We must accept this serious challenge, and we will...
Defense and security policy is a key instrument. With it, the EU can make a practical contribution to conflict prevention and crisis management. But in order to be able to do this, it is necessary to further develop the Union's capabilities, both civilian and military. Ireland will continue to work in this direction...
During the presidency, we will particularly focus on developing a policy of good neighbourliness in the 'Wider Europe', creating a zone of political stability and economic growth in the states adjacent to the new borders of the European Union."
EU-US relations. "We have long held the view that strong US-EU relations are an important element of the triangle of forces policy. The other sides of this triangle are firm commitment to the UN and an effective common EU foreign and security policy. Working together, we can achieve immeasurably more - we see examples of this in the Western Balkans, in the fight against global terrorism, and in Afghanistan. On these and many other issues, Europeans and Americans share common views and a desire to succeed."
Fighting poverty. "A far-reaching goal - to halve by 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty - serves as the foundation of our concept of international order...
That is why the EU is the world's largest donor of development aid... Ireland does not believe in an order in which the developed world looks away or shirks its responsibility. Our approach will be based on supporting initiatives proposed and led by Africa, including the New Partnership for Africa's Development."