Home Barry ANDREWS

On 15 June 2021, the Hungarian Parliament voted in favour of amendments proposed by Fidesz MPs that severely restrict freedom of speech and children’s rights. The Law prohibits the ‘portrayal and promotion of gender identity different from sex assigned at birth, the change of sex and homosexuality’ in schools, in television programmes and in publicly available advertisements on any platforms for persons aged under 18, even for educational purposes; the Law disqualifies such content from being considered as a public service announcement or social responsibility advertisement even if intended for adults; the Law introduces amendments to the Child Protection Act, the Family Protection Act, the Act on Business Advertising Activity, the Media Act and the Public Education Act.
I consider this law in breach of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary, in particular the freedom to provide services and freedom of movement of goods as set out in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and e-commerce Directive in conjunction with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Therefore I voted in favour of the resolution “Breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary as a result of the adopted legal changes in the Hungarian Parliament."

Ireland is not a member of NATO however we cooperate with NATO in a variety of areas including peace-support operations. Irish cooperation with NATO is fully in line with our longstanding policy of military neutrality, which permits the deployment of Irish Defence Forces for peacekeeping and crisis management operations only where there is a UN mandate, a government decision and parliamentary approval.
The Fianna Fáil delegation voted in favour of this report, which acknowledges and welcomes the contribution non-NATO EU Member States make towards global peace and security. The report also makes explicit reference to neutrality policies, which EU-NATO cooperation must respect, and notes that the EU can only advance towards a European Defence Union “should the European Council, acting unanimously, so decide”. This means that Ireland would have to agree to any developments in this regard, thus safeguarding our position. It should also be borne in mind that a Common Defence is specifically prohibited in the Irish Constitution. Finally, the report suggests that the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy should be discussed in the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe.