Managing Europe From Home: The Europeanisation of the Irish ...

development, on the one hand, and employment rights, on the other. In one sense,
it brought the two sides of industry under one roof and created a very large ministry
with multiple and possibly conflicting responsibilities.
Of all the sectoral ministeries, ET&E faces the most complex challenge in managing
EU business because of the multifaceted nature of its involvement. Every division of
the Department is significantly affected by EU activities. Traditionally, until the late
1990s, the Department serviced six different ministerial Councils – the Internal
Market, Consumer Affairs, Industry, Employment and Social Affairs, the trade brief in
the GAC, and Research. This was the largest number of Councils serviced by any
one department. The reduction in the number of Council formations reduced the
number of Councils serviced by the department and it now services four Councils:
Industry and Energy, Internal Market, Consumer Affairs and Tourism, Employment
and Social Policy and Research. The Department still deals with trade items (e.g. the
World Trade Organisation negotiations) within the GAC. The management of Council
business is rendered even more difficult as two Council formations – Internal Market,
Consumer Affairs and Tourism and Industry and Energy – have agenda items
involving other home departments. It is the practice for the Minister to attend the
Industry Council and for Ministers of State to attend the other Councils.
In 1997 the Department opted for a policy of complete ‘internalisation’ when it
abolished its EU unit that existed since 1969 and assigned responsibility for EU
business to those divisions with sectoral responsibility. This EU unit had come from
the Department of Labour when Labour and Industry and Commerce were
amalgamated. The consensus was that the Unit had a postbox function and no
horizontal co-ordination function. The decision to abolish the co-ordination unit was
premised on the fact that with six ministerial Councils and such a fragmented and
diverse EU involvement, no macro-co-ordination was needed. It was concluded that
complete ‘internalisation’ was the most effective strategy. This meant that a lead
co-ordinator was designated for each of the six councils and it also meant that
information had to be sent through five different channels, rather than having one
contact point. Following the implementation of the decision, a Committee on
European Affairs (CEA) chaired by an assistant secretary was given responsibility for
managing the transition and for dealing with horizontal issues. This Committee met
relatively frequently in the initial stages of its existence but gradually became non-