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European Commission devotes millions in funding to new energy technologies
27 Feb 2007 - More than 100 researchers and industrialists from Europe and beyond are meeting in Dublin for the FP7 Ocean and Wind Technologies EU Conference & Brokerage event on 28 February at the Royal Irish Academy. It is organised by the European Commission Research Directorate-General, Sustainable Energy Ireland and the European Commission Representation in Ireland.
The conference will focus on the funding available for wind and ocean technologies under the Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development. Over the next seven years, €2,350 million will be devoted to funding research into a portfolio of energy research activities including renewable energies, energy efficiency, hydrogen and fuel cells, clean coal, carbon capture and storage and energy networks.
Two calls for proposals under the energy funding programme will be issued in 2007 with closing dates for proposal submission on 3rd May and 28th June respectively.
The conference will be chaired by Dr Morgan Bazilian, Head of Energy Policy, Sustainable Energy Ireland, and opened by Noel Dempsey T.D., Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Speakers include Martin Territt, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, and European Commission research experts Thierry D’Estaintot and Anna Gigantino.
In mid-January, the European Commission adopted an ambitious new policy direction, known as ‘Energy for a Changing World’. Research into new, cleaner and more efficient forms of energy production and use are an integral part of this new approach.
Recent data confirms the strong growth of the wind sector in 2006 (26% of increased capacity compared to 2005). Ireland hosts one of the largest off-shore wind farms on Arklow Bank (25 MW). Similarly, ocean energy attracts increased attention as concrete practical applications are being demonstrated. World leading research is carried out in the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre of the University College of Cork and the Marine Institute in Galway.
A new energy policy
The world today is facing energy and environmental challenge, a challenge that is acute for Europe, and a challenge which is shared by all Member States. This is: how to secure competitive and clean energy for Europe against a backdrop of climate change, escalating global energy demand and future supply uncertainties. If one Member State fails to meet this challenge, other Member States will be affected. If problems arise outside the European Union, they can have an impact on the whole of the EU. This is why Europe needs a strong energy policy.
The point of departure for a European energy policy is threefold: combating climate change, promoting jobs and growth, and limiting the EU’s external vulnerability to gas and oil imports. The mainstay of the new policy is a core energy objective for Europe: that the EU should reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its energy consumption by 20% by 2020. This objective will enable the EU to measure progress in re-directing today’s energy economy towards one that will fully meet the challenges of sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply.
The EU target needs to be seen in the context of the need for international action of industrial nations on climate change. When such a commitment exists, the EU will need to do more. The aim should therefore be to increase the target to a 30% reduction by 2020 and 60-80% by 2050.
The concern is not only about climate change, it is also about Europe’s security of energy supply, economy and the wellbeing of its citizens. Even without climate change, there is every reason to take the steps proposed by the European Commission. Achieving the objective can limit the EU’s growing exposure to increased volatility and prices for oil and gas, bring about a more competitive EU energy market, and stimulate technology and jobs.
It is a huge challenge: in energy specific terms, meeting this overall greenhouse gas target will require the EU to reduce the amount of CO2 from its energy use by at least 20%, and probably more, within the next 13 years. But this will help transform Europe into a highly energy efficient and low CO2 energy economy, able to face with confidence future energy challenges. It will mean the EU taking global leadership in catalysing a new industrial revolution, benefiting the developed and developing world alike, while accelerating the change to low-emission economic growth and dramatically increasing the amount of local, low emission energy produced and used.
More information about the conference and an agenda can be found at: http://www.sei.ie/index.asp?locID=95&docID=905
More information about the Seventh Framework Programme can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/home_en.html
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Trinity research team shares visual effects Oscar
26 Feb 2007 - The Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, otherwise known as an Oscar for visual effects, was won by a team based in Trinity College Dublin, Sigmedia, led by Dr Anil Kokaram, together with a British visual effects company, the Foundry. The collaboration between the two teams was supported by the EU’s Research Framework Programme through its programme of Marie Curie Fellowships which support exchanges of know-how and develop new image and video tools.
The Sigmedia group is expert in video processing and won the Oscar for the development and design of the “Furnace” software tool for enhancing visual effects in motion picture sequences. The Furnace software has been used on a range of high profile feature films such as Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Batman Begins, King Kong, Superman Returns, X-Men 3 The Last Stand.
Congratulating the team, European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik said: "It's great to see European expertise being honoured at such a prestigious event. The Furnace software is just one of many examples of technological and scientific advances that are supported by the European research programmes, and have applications that give an extra edge to important European industries, such as film."
Background
The digital revolution in film and cinema presents new challenges to research and technology for the analysis, organisation and manipulation of images. The Furnace software tool has pushed the boundaries of visual effects in film production by using a new set of algorithms which enable the tracking of every pixel in a frame. As a result, daily film production concerns such as the removal of wires used for flying actors or objects are now automated rather than done manually frame by frame; grain reduction and dust busting have been successfully tackled in order to preserve the quality of film over time; image stabilisation and super resolution have been enhanced. Complex image processing, for example to add and delete actors and objects, which has up to now been done manually, can also be carried out automatically.
The Marie Curie Host Fellowships for Transfer of Knowledge between Industry and Academia improve cooperation across the two sectors by supporting mobility of researchers between them through staff secondments. The scheme has proven successful and under FP7 (2007-2013) it will be carried out through the Industry Academia Partnership and Pathways Fellowships in order to promote longer term cooperation across the two sectors.
It was also a positive night for EU research in other ways. The film An Inconvenient Truth, featuring Al Gore was honoured with the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. This documentary drew on results from the EU-funded EPICA project, which examined samples of Arctic ice-cores to establish levels of carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere over the last 650,000 years.
For more information:
EU's Marie Curie research fellowships: http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp6/mariecurie-actions/action/fellow_en.html
Academy Awards site: http://www.oscars.org/scitech/index.html
The Foundry site: http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/
Trinity College Dublin: http://www.mee.tcd.ie/
EPICA: http://www-lgge.ujf-grenoble.fr/epica-mis
FP7: http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/
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Irish school's online link-up with Malta makes final for European Commission prize
23 Feb 2007 - St Attracta’s Senior National School in Meadowbrook, Dublin 16, is one of six finalists for a European Commission prize, thanks to its online partnership with St Joseph Mater Boni Consilii School in Malta.
The project, ‘Once upon a blog’, is part of the European Commission’s eTwinning programme, which promotes the creation of international virtual school partnerships over the internet. The Irish-Maltese project was chosen in the four to 11 age group for the “wonderful interaction achieved between both pupils and teachers in both schools”, said the jury. It involves exchanging myths and legends and learning about each other’s lifestyles using blogs and podcasting.
European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth Ján Figel’ will be awarding three prizes to the winning projects in Brussels today. He said: “The eTwinning scheme can bring all corners of Europe to our children’s classrooms. By participating, school children get to appreciate other cultures and other languages, while sharpening their computer skills. In this way, eTwinning not only brings Europeans from all over the continent closer, it helps develop the kinds of skills that our increasingly ICT-dominated economy needs.”
Participation in the eTwinning programme more than doubled in 2006, with more than 8 percent of schools across Europe taking part in the two-year-old initiative. The scheme provides free access to a computing infrastructure, the eTwinning Portal, which facilitates the establishment of partnerships between schools across Europe. Schools are free to decide on the type of cooperation they want: from short-term projects lasting a few weeks, to long-term collaboration on joint curricula.
For more information on eTwinning, visit: www.etwinning.net
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Dairy policy: Commission simplifies Milk Regime
15 Feb 2007 - The European Commission today adopted a proposal that aims to simplify the Common Market Organisation for milk and dairy products. The modifications proposed concern private storage, butter intervention, import licences, drinking milk and aids for school milk. This package of rather technical measures would also allow the standardisation of the rate of proteins in preserved milk.
The milk package contains amendments of the following three pieces of legislation:
Council Directive 2001/114/EC relating to certain partly or wholly dehydrated preserved milk for human consumption
Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products and
Council Regulation (EC) No 2597/97 laying down additional rules on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products for drinking milk.
"The proposed changes will continue our ongoing exercise of simplification, which is very important to me," said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. "There are many things we can do to make the rules in the dairy sector work more effectively. In particular, I am keen to introduce a single rate of aid for the school milk programme. This will allow us to reflect changing consumer preferences and give more freedom to the Member States to decide how to organise the scheme on a national level."
Details
Concerning Directive 2001/114/EC, EU dairy industry and exporters of milk powders and condensed milk have for a long time requested a modification of the rules on protein contents in such products to put them in line with international standards (Codex) of a minimum content of 34% expressed in fat free dry matter. At the moment the natural protein content in milk powder ranges from 31% to 37%. The proposed change will allow EU producers to be on an equal footing with their competitors from outside Europe who produce according to those Codex standards and who have until now enjoyed a relative economic advantage over EU producers.
Concerning Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 the amendments proposed aim to simplify in relation to the following measures:
Introduction of a single rate of aid for school milk
As the current scheme is considered quite complicated and cumbersome, it is proposed, with a view to simplifying the system, to have only one rate of aid, irrespective of the sort (fat content) of milk delivered to pupils.
Removal of the intervention trigger system for butter
The European Commission wishes to eliminate the administrative burden brought about by the opening and suspension of butter intervention, which depends on the market price recorded in each Member State. Under the new proposal, the Intervention agencies would simply be able to buy butter at 90% of the intervention price from 1 March to 31 August or until the overall Community ceiling has been reached.
Removal of certain aids for private storage
As aid for private storage of cream or SMP has not in practice been used in the past by operators as support for the dairy market, the two measures can be considered obsolete and should be removed from the basic dairy Regulation.
Community definition of butter quality
For the purpose of certain Community market measures it is proposed to replace the 27 national quality classes for butter with a single quality definition.
Compulsory use of import licence to be abandoned: the compulsory use of the system of import licences is no longer considered as necessary as more appropriate systems (e.g. the DG TAXUD monitoring system) exist.
Removal of disposal aid for military forces: an obsolete scheme which should be abolished.
Council Regulation (EC) No 2597/97 currently provides that only three categories of drinking milk may be produced and marketed in the Community:
- skimmed milk (0.5% fat or less),
- semi-skimmed milk (between 1.5% and 1.8% fat)
- whole milk (3.5% fat or more).
In order to respond to changes in nutritional habits (tendency towards consumption of dairy products with less milk fat), as well as to comply with the general objective of encouraging the production of agricultural products which are demanded by the market, it is proposed to allow production and marketing in the EU of milk with fat contents outside the three abovementioned categories, provided that clear and readable information on the fat content is provided on the label.
The proposal would at the same time make a number of national derogations obsolete and provide for increased trade among Member States.
Also see Commissioner Fischer Boel's blog and:
http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/milk/index_en.htm
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Commission sets quota reductions for Ireland and UK following overfishing of mackerel and herring
15 Feb 2007 - The European Commission today adopted a Commission Regulation which provides for the reduction of certain fishing quotas for the UK and Ireland over the period 2007 to 2012. This is in response to overfishing of herring and mackerel quotas during the period 2001 to 2005. The decision follows on from in-depth investigations conducted by the UK authorities in 2005 and 2006. The reductions made by the Commission will be spread over a number of years, in order to avoid undue negative social and economic impacts on the fleets and processing industry affected by the reductions. For this reason also, the maximum annual reduction under this regulation will be 15% of the annual quota to be set by the Council in future TACs and quotas regulations. The Regulation will come into effect seven days after its publication in the Official Journal.
European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Joe Borg commented, "Over quota landings has a cost not only on account of their impact on the fish stocks but also in economic and social terms for the industry concerned. I welcome the full cooperation of both the UK and Ireland in this matter. We now need to move forward to ensure that this type of activities cannot happen again."
Investigations by the UK authorities revealed that over the period 2001-2004, the UK's national quotas were exceeded by 112 546 tonnes in the case of mackerel and 43 961 tonnes in the case of herring. Over the same period the Irish mackerel quota was overfished by 33 486 tonnes. It was also discovered that in 2005, the UK mackerel quota was again exceeded by 5 090 tonnes. The UK informed the Commission and Ireland of its findings, and the two Member States then reported details of the overfishing to the Commission, in full compliance with their obligations under Community law.
The Commission's decision is based on the provisions in the Basic Regulation on the Common Fisheries Policy. The relevant provision stipulates that when Member States exceed the fishing opportunities allocated to them, deductions will be made from their future fishing opportunities. Since the Commission has sole competence to decide such deductions, today's Regulation will automatically come into force seven days after its publication in the Official Journal.
The final amounts to be deducted are equivalent to the amounts overfished. However, a correction factor of 73% is applied to the quantities of mackerel fished between 2001 and 2004, reflecting the significant downward trend in mackerel quotas over that period. This is so as to avoid a disproportionate impact on the industry which, of course, includes the many honest fishermen who have fished within the law. The reduction corresponding to the overfishing of mackerel by the UK in 2005 will be made in its entirety in 2007.
For further details of how the reductions will be applied, please see tables below.
Annex 1
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quota deductions 2007-2012 (in tonnes)
|
|
Country
|
Species
|
Stock code
|
Zone
|
2001-2004 overfish
|
Correction factor
n.r.= not relevant
|
Total deduction
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
|
UK
|
Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)
|
2CX14
|
II (non-EC waters), Vb (EC waters), VI, VII, VIIIa, b, d, e, XII, XIV
|
112 546
|
0,734
|
82 609
|
12 391,3
|
14 043,5
|
14 043,5
|
14 043,5
|
14 043,5
|
14 043,5
|
|
UK
|
Herring (Clupea harengus)
|
5B6ANB
|
Vb, VIaN (EC waters), VIb
|
10 349
|
n.r.
|
10 349
|
1 552,4
|
1 759,3
|
1 759,3
|
1 759,3
|
1 759,3
|
1 759,3
|
|
UK
|
Herring (Clupea harengus)
|
4AB
|
IV north of 53° 30′ N
|
33 485
|
n.r.
|
33 485
|
5 022,8
|
5 692,5
|
5 692,5
|
5 692,5
|
5 692,5
|
5 692,5
|
|
UK
|
Herring (Clupea harengus)
|
1/2
|
I, II (EC waters and International waters)
HER/1/2.
|
127
|
n.r.
|
127
|
127
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
|
IE
|
Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)
|
2CX14
|
II (non-EC waters), Vb (EC waters), VI, VII, VIIIa, b, d, e, XII, XIV
|
33 486
|
0,734
|
24 578,7
|
3 686,8
|
4 178,4
|
4 178,4
|
4 178,4
|
4 178,4
|
4 178,4
|
Annex 2
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quota deductions 2007-2012 (in tonnes)
|
|
Country
|
Species
|
Stock code
|
Zone
|
2005 overfish
|
Correction factor
n.r. = not relevant
|
Total deduction
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
|
UK
|
Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)
|
2CX14
|
II (non-EC waters), Vb (EC waters), VI, VII, VIIIa, b, d, e, XII, XIV
|
5 090
|
n.r.
|
5 090
|
5 090
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
| |
|
Restrictions on carrying liquids through airport security checks
Statement from Martin Territt, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland (13 February 2007)
The European Commission is acutely aware of people’s concerns that restrictions on liquids carried through security checks at airports are causing problems. This is mainly an issue for people flying into Europe from outside the Union. Clearly, the Commission has no wish to see passengers unduly suffering inconvenience but security remains the first priority.
Furthermore, this is not only a European issue. Ultimately the solution will involve the World Civil Aviation Organisation - the UN agency that codifies the principles of international air navigation. In the meantime, the European Commission is reviewing the bilateral arrangements with third countries in order to avoid some of the difficulties encountered with the current arrangements.
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Students from all over the EU celebrate 20th Anniversary of the Erasmus Programme
Erasmus anniversary poster
12 Feb 2007 - The Erasmus Student Network Ireland (ESN) will host a 20th Anniversary Celebration of the EU funded Erasmus Programme on Valentine's Night, Wednesday 14 February, starting at 10pm in Boomerangs Nightclub, Temple Bar Hotel, Fleet Street, Dublin 2.
At 11pm a Birthday Cake will be presented and there will be a toast made by Tom Kitt, Minister of State and Government Chief Whip, followed by a photo shoot. The celebration will then continue into the night like Erasmus parties all over Europe do every week!
Irish students who have studied abroad on the Erasmus Programme and European students who are currently in Ireland on Erasmus will be taking part. One thousand students linked to the Erasmus Programme are expected. The party is on the same night as Valentine's night and in keeping with the date there will be a traffic light ball birthday party.
The Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, Martin Territt said, "The Erasmus Year has become a fixture in most European Universities and the students who have taken part have been enriched by contact with international centres of learning. For the European Commission, supporting high quality third level studies means improving Europe's competitiveness in the global market-place."
The event is organised by Erasmus Student Network Ireland and supported by the European Commission Representation Ireland, The UCD Smurfit School of Business and Boomerangs nightclub.
About Erasmus
Socrates/Erasmus is a European Union founded programme which offers third level students the possibility to study abroad in another European country for up to 12 months. It is supported in 31 countries across Europe and 150,000 students participated in the programme last year. The Erasmus programme started in 1987 with the aim to encourage and support academic mobility of higher education students and teachers within Europe.
It aims to boost quality and reinforce the European dimension of higher education by encouraging transnational cooperation between universities, improve mobility and full academic recognition of studies and qualifications throughout the Union.
ERASMUS consists of many different activities; student and teacher exchanges, joint development of study programmes (Curriculum Development), international intensive programmes, thematic networks between departments and faculties across Europe, language courses (EILC), European credit transfer system (ECTS).
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Irish children’s magazine nominated for EU Descartes science prizes from the European Commission
10 Feb 07 - An Irish children’s magazine and a high-tech telescope system that Irish scientists were involved in building have been nominated for this year’s EU Descartes science prizes from the European Commission.
Launched in 2000, the EU Descartes Prize for Research rewards teams of scientists for outstanding scientific or technological results achieved through trans-national research in any field of science, including the social sciences, humanities and economics. In 2004, a Descartes Prize for Science Communication was also launched. Together, these prizes bring science and society one step closer by stimulating European collaborative research and raising public awareness and understanding of science. The winners will be announced in Brussels on 7 March 2007.
‘Eureka’, a weekly magazine about science for children developed by Waterford Institute of Technology’s Centre for the Advancement of Learning of Maths, Science and Technology, has been nominated for the Science Communication award. It was nominated because of its unique approach in presenting scientific information in a themed and attractive way to younger children.
Irish scientists linked up with collaborators in Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, France, UK, South Africa and Armenia on the H.E.S.S. project, which is nominated for the research award. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is an array of four massive telescopes built and operated in Namibia. They have revolutionised astronomy at the very highest energies of the electromagnetic spectrum, several orders of magnitude beyond the energy range accessible to satellite-based instruments.
Martin Territt, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland, said: “The drive to improve scientific knowledge is vital if the EU is to compete in a globalised world. I am delighted to see Irish involvement in two categories of this prestigious prize which rewards excellence in research and in science communication.”
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Commission strengthens environmental protection through criminal law
9 Feb 2007 - The European Commission today proposed a directive that will oblige Member States to treat serious offences against the environment as criminal acts and to ensure that they are effectively sanctioned. It also sets minimum sanctions for environmental crimes across the Member States.
Offences such as the illegal emission of hazardous substances into the air, water or soil, the illegal shipment of waste, or the illegal trade in endangered species can have devastating effects on human health and the environment. They also undermine the efficiency of EU environment legislation. In serious cases criminal sanctions such as prison sentences should be applied, as they have a much higher dissuasive effect than, for example, administrative sanctions.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "The recent hazardous waste disaster in the Ivory Coast shows how environmental crimes can have devastating effects on people and the environment. It also underlines once again how urgent it is to improve the way environmental legislation is enforced in order to avoid such incidents".
Franco Frattini, the Commission's Vice-President responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, said: "The proposed directive is crucial to avoid criminals profiting from the existing discrepancies in Member States' criminal law systems which damage the European environment. We cannot allow safe-havens of environmental crime inside the EU".
Key elements of the proposal
The definition of environmental crimes varies greatly from one Member State to another and in many Member States; the levels of sanctions are inadequate. The proposed directive aims to ensure a minimum level of protection of the environment under criminal law throughout the European Union.
Member States will be required to ensure that a range of activities (e.g. illegal shipment of waste and unlawful trade in endangered species or in ozone-depleting substances) already prohibited by EU or national legislation are considered criminal offences, when committed intentionally or with serious negligence. Prison sentences of at least between 5 and 10 years and fines of up to 1,500,000 Euros will be established for cases in which particularly serious environmental crimes have been committed. These cases would include crimes that have resulted in death or serious injury of a person or a substantial damage to air, soil, water, animals or plants or when the offence has been committed by a criminal organisation.
In addition, the directive foresees supplementary or alternative sanctions, such as the obligation to clean up/reinstate the environment or the possibility of stopping businesses from operating.
The proposed measures will ensure that criminals cannot exploit the significant differences which currently exist between the Member States. Safe-havens for environmental crime should therefore no longer exist within the European Union.
Background
In September 2005, the European Court of Justice confirmed that the Community had the competence to adopt criminal law measures for the protection of the environment if necessary to ensure the efficient implementation of its environmental policy. For this reason it annulled the Framework Decision on environmental crime adopted in 2003 by the Council on the basis of a Member State initiative based on the provisions for judicial cooperation in criminal matters contained in the EU Treaty (Title VI, so called 3rd pillar). The proposal presented today by the Commission therefore is aimed to replace both the Council's Framework Decision of 2003 and a proposal for a directive already presented by the Commission in 2001, which was not taken into account by the Council when adopting the 2003 Framework Decision.
See also Memo/07/50
For more information on environmental crime: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/crime/index.htm
For more information on the activities of Vice‑President Frattini, please visit his website at: http://www.ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/frattini/index_en.htm
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New website launched on covering the costs of health care abroad
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_security_schemes/healthcare/index_en.htm
8 Feb 2007 - More and more people go to another European country to get health care, either because they fall ill during a holiday or work visit, or because they go abroad specially to receive medical treatment. This new site informs people about the conditions for covering costs of health care abroad through their national social security or health systems.
These important issues are dealt with in particular by the European rules on coordination of social security systems applying to citizens during their travels in Europe.
The information provided is designed to be as concrete and complete as possible. It includes examples of reimbursement levels for health care costs abroad in different situations, with the aim of giving people a broad idea of their rights. It is nevertheless subject to confirmation and clarification by the relevant social security institution or national health system depending on the individual case. This complex situation reflects the shared responsibilities between the EU and Member States, who have exclusive competence for defining, organising and financing their national health and social security systems.
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European Commission assesses Ireland’s stability programme
7 Feb 2007 - Having examined its updated stability programmes, the European Commission finds Ireland’s present budgetary position of generally sound and its projections for the coming years in line with its medium-term objectives. The Commission also came to the same conclusion for Finland’s and Luxembourg’s programmes.
With a sustained surplus but some risks of pro-cyclical policies in 2007, the public finances of Ireland provide a good example of fiscal policies in the medium term. Ireland is nevertheless invited to remain prudent in view of a possible slowdown in the housing sector. As Luxembourg and Ireland face a strong projected increase in age-related expenditure, they are also encouraged to improve the long term sustainability of their public finances.
The Commission needs not give any specific policy invitations for Finland, which plans for budgetary surpluses that, albeit declining slightly, are above its target of 2%, has a low public debt and is well provisioned for ageing costs. Luxembourg has not yet achieved its medium-term objective, but should do so this year.
Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia said: “All three countries run sound fiscal policies, although in the case of Luxembourg it has yet to achieve its medium-term objective. They are encouraged to pursue prudent fiscal policies especially as they experience an economic growth well above the euro area average and, in the case of Ireland and Luxembourg, to be able to cater for the projected increase in the costs of an ageing population.”
IRELAND
Ireland submitted a new update of its stability programme on 6 December 2006, covering the period 2006-2009. The programme is based on a plausible macroeconomic scenario, even though there are risks of a downturn in the residential construction sector and regarding property prices.
Ireland plans for declining general government surpluses throughout the programme period. While the foreseen surpluses compare with moderate deficits in the previous update sent in 2005 and are in line with Ireland's MTO of a budget close to balance in structural terms, there is a risk that the fiscal policy in 2007 may become pro-cyclical. The debt ratio is set to decline further from an already low level, a prudent stance given that Ireland's finances are at medium risk in the long term from an a projected increase in age-related spending.
Overall, the Commission considers that the medium-term budgetary position is sound and, provided the fiscal stance in 2007 does not prove pro-cyclical, the budgetary strategy provides a good example of fiscal policies conducted in compliance with the Stability and Growth Pact. In any case, it would be prudent to maintain room for manoeuvre against any reversal of the current growth pattern which has been led by strong housing sector developments.
In view of, in particular, the projected increase in age-related expenditure, the Council should invite Ireland to continue to implement measures to improve the long-term sustainability of its public finances.
Comparison of key macroeconomic and budgetary projections
|
|
2005
|
2006
|
2007
|
2008
|
2009
|
|
Real GDP
(% change)
|
SP Dec 2006
|
5.5
|
5.4
|
5.3
|
4.6
|
4.1
|
|
COM Nov 2006
|
5.5
|
5.3
|
5.3
|
4.3
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 2005
|
4.6
|
4.8
|
5.0
|
4.8
|
n.a.
|
|
HICP inflation
(%)
|
SP Dec 2006
|
2.2
|
2.7
|
2.6
|
2.0
|
1.7
|
|
COM Nov 2006
|
2.2
|
2.9
|
2.7
|
2.2
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 2005
|
2.2
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
1.8
|
n.a.
|
|
Output gap
(% of potential GDP)
|
SP Dec 20061
|
-0.4
|
-1.2
|
-1.6
|
-2.2
|
-2.5
|
|
COM Nov 20065
|
-0.5
|
-1.4
|
-1.9
|
-2.7
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 20051
|
-1.3
|
-1.9
|
-2.2
|
-2.1
|
n.a.
|
|
General government balance
(% of GDP)
|
SP Dec 2006
|
1.1
|
2.3
|
1.2
|
0.9
|
0.6
|
|
COM Nov 2006
|
1.1
|
1.2
|
0.9
|
0.4
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 2005
|
0.3
|
-0.6
|
-0.8
|
-0.8
|
n.a.
|
|
Primary balance
(% of GDP)
|
SP Dec 2006
|
2.1
|
3.3
|
2.3
|
1.8
|
1.6
|
|
COM Nov 2006
|
2.1
|
2.2
|
1.9
|
1.4
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 2005
|
1.5
|
0.6
|
0.4
|
0.5
|
n.a.
|
|
Cyclically-adjusted balance
(% of GDP)
|
SP Dec 20061
|
1.3
|
2.8
|
1.8
|
1.8
|
1.6
|
|
COM Nov 2006
|
1.3
|
1.7
|
1.6
|
1.5
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 20051
|
0.8
|
0.2
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
n.a.
|
|
Structural balance2
(% of GDP)
|
SP Dec 20063
|
1.6
|
2.7
|
1.8
|
1.8
|
1.6
|
|
COM Nov 20064
|
1.6
|
1.7
|
1.6
|
1.5
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 2005
|
0.8
|
0.2
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
n.a.
|
|
Government gross debt
(% of GDP)
|
SP Dec 2006
|
27.4
|
25.1
|
23.0
|
22.4
|
21.9
|
|
COM Nov 2006
|
27.4
|
25.8
|
24.4
|
23.6
|
n.a.
|
|
SP Dec 2005
|
28.0
|
28.0
|
28.2
|
28.3
|
n.a.
|
Notes:
1Commission services calculations on the basis of the information in the programme.
2Cyclically-adjusted balance (as in the previous rows) excluding one-off and other temporary measures.
3One-off and other temporary measures of -0.3% of GDP in 2005 (assumed: cf note 4) and 0.1% of GDP in 2006 (indicated in the programme); no information is given in the programme for 2007-09.
4One-off and other temporary measures taken from the Commission services’ autumn 2006 forecast (-0.3% of GDP in 2005, i.e. surplus-reducing).
5Based on estimated potential growth of 6.1%, 6.3%, 5.8% and 5.2% respectively in the period 2005-2008.
Source:
Stability programme (SP); Commission services’ autumn 2006 economic forecasts (COM); Commission services’ calculations
Click here more information.
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New European Commission strategy for long term viability of European car industry
7 Feb 2007 - The European Commission today agreed upon a comprehensive strategy for the European car industry, to keep the manufacturing of motorcars viable on a long term basis, at prices affordable to consumers. The strategy encompasses a variety of areas, such as reduction of administrative burdens, environmental sustainability, road safety, trade and overseas markets and research. The automotive industry is a major pillar of the European economy, representing 3% of the European GDP and 7% of employment in the manufacturing sector.
President José Manuel Barroso said: "The EU car industries are at the core of our economies. By positively taking up the climate change challenge, they will preserve and enhance their competitiveness in the long term. This is of crucial importance for consumers and workers alike. The strategy we adopted today covers the strategic issues - from road safety to the environment to research - that if addressed in a timely fashion will make sure that the EU car industries will remain strong and innovative world leaders."
Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy, said: “Today we have put forward our strategy to create favourable conditions for an innovative and thriving European car industry and to keep jobs in Europe. We have hit the right balance between the need for global competitiveness and progress in safety and environmental performance. We put the emphasis also on research and development to carry the industry well into the 21st century."
The automotive industry in Europe is currently characterised by cut-throat price competition, high raw material and energy prices, a strong emphasis on cost management and a restructuring of production processes. In line with its policy to improve the quality of lawmaking and to face the challenges of a more global competition the Commission in 2004 asked the High Level Group CARS 21, which brought together all the main stakeholders (including consumer and environmental organisations), to advise on future policy. Today's Communication is the Commission's response to the report presented by the CARS 21 Group. It outlines to the European Parliament and Council the direction in which the Commission intends to steer future automotive policy:
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Reduction of administrative burdens: The Commission will propose replacing 38 EC directives with corresponding global UN/ECE regulations, for instance on tyres, safety glass, fog lamps and seatbelts. By doing so, industry can rely on one single text valid throughout the world. In addition, self testing and virtual testing will be introduced for 25 directives and UN/ECE regulations to reduce compliance costs and make administrative procedures less costly and time consuming.
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Reduction of CO2 emissions: The Commission strategy is based on an integrated approach, involving not only engine technology, but also technological improvements (e.g. setting mimimum requirements for air-conditioning systems, the compulsory fitting of tyre pressure monitoring systems, setting maximum tyre rolling resistance limits and the use of gear shift indicators) and increased use of bio-fuels. It also focuses on additional efforts by Member States like traffic management, improvement of driver behaviour and infrastructure as well to further reduce CO2 emissions.
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Road safety: The Commission believes an effective road safety strategy should be based on a combination of improvement in vehicle technology, road infrastructure, driver behaviour and enforcement. A total of 11 future actions are proposed, including for example the mandatory inclusion of Electronic Stability Control and seat belt reminders and obligatory daytime running lights for new vehicles.
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Trade: The Communication proposes to assess the potential of using bi-lateral trade agreements (particularly in the Asian region) to improve market access and reinforces the need to enforce intellectual property rights globally.
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Research and development: Clean renewable fuels and vehicles and intelligent vehicles and roads have been identified as core research priorities. With approximately 20 billion Euro, about 5% of the industry's turnover, invested into research and product development the automotive industry is the largest R&D investor in Europe in absolute terms.
The Communication reflects extensive stakeholder consultation and dialogue on automotive issues and the Commission hopes that it will contribute to the policy-making culture and methodology in the future.
The Commission will together with all relevant stakeholders, conduct a mid-term review of the recommendations proposed by CARS 21 in the course of 2009 to monitor progress made by individual stakeholders.
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Avian Influenza: UK measures endorsed; Member States urged to tighten measures against H5N1
6 Feb 2007 - A Commission Decision approving the protection, surveillance and buffer zones set up in the UK due to the recent outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Suffolk (see IP/07/134), was endorsed by Member States today. The UK zones will now be added to the Annex of Decision 2006/415/EC[1]. At the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, the UK delegation gave an update of the action being taken in response to the confirmed outbreak of the virus on a large turkey farm last week.
All 159 000 birds on the UK holding have now been culled and all poultry in the restriction zones have been brought indoors. Movement restrictions have been implemented in the protection and surveillance zones and biosecurity measures have been stepped up. The origin of the virus is still being investigated. Further analysis of samples from the infected turkeys, which is being carried out by the Community Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza, may help to clarify the source of the outbreak.
The Hungarian delegation also updated the Standing Committee on the situation in Csongràd County, where 2 outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 occurred within 8km of each other at the end of January (see IP/07/97). The Annex of Decision 2006/415/EC has been slightly amended to include new areas which fall into the protection and surveillance zone following the second outbreak.
At today's meeting, the Commission stressed again that, in order to reduce the risk of avian influenza, Member States must maintain heightened surveillance and biosecurity, in conformity with EU measures which have been implemented since 2005 (see IP/05/1284). Member States were asked to review the measures that they currently have in place and advised to keep poultry indoors in identified high risk areas. The Standing Committee also discussed the issue of vaccinating flocks against avian influenza. While this is considered as a possibility in certain circumstances, such as the Dutch and French programmes agreed last year (see IP/06/210), it is not considered feasible to carry out wide-spread vaccination of all poultry flocks at this time. An international conference on vaccination against avian influenza, co-organised by the Commission, will take place in Verona, Italy in March to discuss the issue in more detail.
For more information, see:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/dyna/influenza/index.cfm
For the Defra map of UK restriction zones, see:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/ai/pdf/zones030207.pdf 
[1] Decision 2006/415/EC concerning certain protection measures in relation to highly pathogenic avian influenza of the subtype H5N1 in poultry in the Community
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European Commissioner praises Ireland’s transformation but points out challenges
2 Feb 2007 - On a visit to Ireland on 2 February the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Joaquín Almunia, praised Ireland’s economic transformation and budget surplus and said that Ireland was now facing other challenges. Along with the rest of the euro area, Ireland had to face the challenges of globalisation and the costs of an ageing population, as well as questions of competitiveness in the euro area.
The Commissioner said: “Economic and Monetary Union has brought macroeconomic stability and helped the Irish economy weather a number of shocks such as the ICT bubble and the consequences of September 11. Nonetheless, being a member of the EMU requires a permanent adaptation.”
Commissioner Almunia went on to praise Ireland’s initiatives in increasing investment in R&D and welcomed investment in infra-structure and enhancing workers’ skills. However, as well as pointing out Ireland’s diverging inflation rate compared to its EMU partners, he also highlighted a number of challenges for the future including pension reform, reducing carbon emissions and child-care.
The Commissioner is visiting Ireland to meet Finance Minister Brian Cowen and leading Irish economists, as well as to address the Economist Group at the Institute of European Affairs, attend the Annual Chairman's Lunch of the European Movement Ireland and address a European Movement student debate at Trinity College Dublin.
Background
Mr Almunia was born in Bilbao and has been European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs since April 2004. He studied law and economics, attending the University of Deusto, the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris and the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University, US. He has served as Spain’s Minister of Employment and Social Security and Minister of Public Administration and was the PSOE party's candidate for Prime Minister in 2000. Commissioner Almunia has written several books and founded the progressive think tank Laboratorio de Alternativas.
His portfolio includes economic policy coordination, economic surveillance of the euro area and the EU as a whole, policy assessment and the monitoring of budgetary policies and public finances of the Member States.
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.jpg "Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn")
