26 September 2008 - In a report just out, the European Commission says it wants to see all Europeans – from the West of Ireland to Eastern Romania – getting access to broadband Internet by 2010. And it asks whether a safety net guaranteeing a minimum level of services is really the way to go.

From 2003 to 2007, broadband take-up in the EU increased to 20% of households, averaged over all Member States. But rural areas around the EU are badly missing out. Seven percent of the EU's population have no access to broadband but this rises to 30% in rural areas. There are striking gaps in the EU: 100% of the population is covered in Denmark, Luxembourg and Belgium, but only 40 % in Romania (25% in rural areas) have broadband access. Even in strong economies such as Italy and Germany, 82% and 88% respectively of the rural population are covered.

In Ireland, while national DSL coverage is close to 90% (over 70% in rural areas), broadband take-up is below the EU average of 20% at 17%, and well behind those with highest usage in developed economies like the UK (26%) and  the Nordic countries (all over 30%).

With broadband increasingly important in daily life, managing the radio spectrum and mobile satellite services could be seen as an essential service. The question then arises: should there be a universal service obligation in telecoms – a safety net guaranteeing a minimum level of services, such as connection to a phone network and basic Internet access, filling basic needs that the market does not?

"High-speed Internet is the passport to the Information Society and an essential condition for economic growth. This is why it is this Commission's policy to make broadband Internet for all Europeans happen by 2010", said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding who visits Ireland next week, where she will speak at a conference hosted by ComReg on Wednesday 1 October at the Conrad Hotel in Dublin. "A lot has been achieved over the past four years, and new tools, such as Satellite Broadband, are well on track. It is also good news that the 8 best EU countries far outperform the US in broadband take up. But take-up requires access, and is not there in parts of the EU. We need to combine all efforts to make sure that all citizens can get connected soon."

The Commission's report shows that competitive markets for broadband Internet are providing EU citizens widespread and affordable access. However, further efforts are needed to ensure Broadband for All. So far, the EU has stimulated broadband with the following 3 tools:

(1) Telecoms rules for more competition and investment. Europe has almost 100 million broadband lines in January 2008 and a growth rate of 20%, with 52,000 new lines connected daily in 2007. Last week, the Commission published further regulatory guidance on ensuring competition and investment for optical fibre networks.

(2)  A new system to stimulate mobile satellite services, which can deliver broadband via satellite across the EU, was set up this summer. The European Parliament and the Council created a one-stop shop for authorising such services: instead of 27 procedures, mobile satellite operators now apply to the Commission.

(3)  In November 2007, the Commission made proposals for reform of radio spectrum management to free resources for new wireless services, which were mostly endorsed by the European Parliament on 24 September.

If the Council also accepts this new form of spectrum management, the Digital Dividend – extra radio spectrum available after the move from analogue to digital TV – can be used for new wireless broadband services, and not just new TV channels.

The Commission report asks if these measures are enough or should a new universal service obligation be considered.

The report also shows strong growth in the number of Europeans using a mobile phone. Since the present Commission took office, the level of mobile subscriptions has grown from 85% to 112%.

"These figures are an important vote of confidence of mobile consumers in the health of Europe's mobile sector", says EU Commissioner Viviane Reding. "They show that at present, there is no need to impose universal service obligations on mobile operators – even though at least some of their lobbyists try to make us believe the contrary these days."

Background:

Under the EU’s Universal Service Directive of 2002, universal service means that citizens must be able to connect to the public phone network at a fixed location and access public phone services for voice and data communications with functional access to the Internet.

The Directive also requires that consumers have access to directory enquiry services and directories, public payphones and special measures if they are disabled.

The Commission reviews the scope of the Universal Service Directive every 3 years. Today's report invites Parliament, Council, national regulators, telecoms providers, consumer associations and citizens to contribute to a debate on achieving Broadband for All in the EU. These contributions will feed into a Commission Communication in the second half of 2009 and possibly legislative proposals in 2010.

The European Parliament yesterday voted in favour of Commission proposals to strengthen other users' rights ensured by the Directive: the efficiency of the single European emergency number 112, especially for people with disabilities; and the right to change a fixed or mobile operator within 1 day while keeping one's phone number.

Report on the Scope of the Universal Service in Telecoms

Frequently Asked Questions

25 September 2008 - Most Irish people are interested in next year's European Parliament elections but less than 4 out of 10 will definitely vote in them. That's according to the results of a recent EU-wide opinion poll published today.

However, when those who say they will probably vote are added, the figure increases to 59%, a little more than the 53% who turned out for the Lisbon referendum.

Just one in four Irish people (24%) know that the European Parliament elections are taking place in June of next year. But this compares to an EU average of just 16% and just 3% of those polled in the UK and Finland. Residents of Luxembourg have the greatest levels of knowledge of the elections – 43% of those polled knew that the elections were scheduled for June 2009.

While across the EU, the most common reason for voting for a particular candidate in the European elections is his or her experience in European affairs, in Ireland it was the candidate's position on national issues which mattered most (46%), followed by how well he or she was known (45%). The candidate's experience in European affairs is only the third most important factor for Irish voters (listed by 38%).

More detail

Participants were asked to rate their likelihood to vote in the 2009 elections on a scale of 1 to 10. 8% of Irish respondents said they definitely wouldn't vote (1 on the scale), 37% said they definitely would (10), 9% placed their likelihood to vote at 9, 13% at 8 and 10% at 7.

Of those members of the Irish electorate who say they won't be voting in next year's elections, two thirds say it's because their vote won't change anything (66%) or because they don't know enough about the role of the European Parliament (64%), while over half say they are not interested in European affairs. 29% of those who plan to stay away from the polling station says it's because they are against Europe, the EU and the European project.

Today's survey also reveals that Irish concerns differ somewhat from those of other Europeans. Crime is the main issue that Irish voters would like to see addressed in the European Parliament election campaigns. Across the EU the main concern voters would like to see addressed is unemployment. In Ireland 70% of those polled mentioned crime, 58% mentioned unemployment and 50% mentioned economic growth. Across the EU 47% mentioned unemployment, 45% mentioned economic growth and 41% mentioned inflation and purchasing power.

For the complete report see: http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm

24 September 2008 - Consumer issues, restoring Ireland’s raised bogs, nature conservation and children’s story telling are just some of what's on offer at the EU Stand (Stand 519, Row K) at this year’s National Ploughing Championships in Cuffesgrange, Co. Kilkenny.

On Tuesday, Coastwatch made a presentation on the results of a survey on designated bathing waters in Ireland while solicitor Siobhán Duffy was on hand to address ‘Your Rights’ in the EU.

 On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons storyteller Pat Speight will be presenting a special set of stories for children visiting the event

On Wednesday, an expert from the European Consumer Centre in Dublin will be on hand to deal with consumer protection issues in the EU. Also on Wednesday there will be a presentation by BurrenLife on farming for conservation in the Burren, while on Thursday, Coillte will make a presentation on restoring Ireland’s raised bogs.

And throughout the week, the EU marquee will host a ‘Then and Now’ exhibition which shows a range of snapshots of the EU over the years since Ireland first joined on January 1, 1973.

All in all, the EU Stand has ‘something for everyone in the audience’!

23 September 2008 - Good news for those travelling abroad - the European Commission today will announce further changes to bring down the cost of roaming for mobile phone customers. The Commission says the cost of texting home when you're abroad is still far too high and is not justified by real costs.

The average cost of a roaming text in the EU is 29c and Commissioner Viviane Reding wants to cap it at 11c.

Commissioner Reding said "These companies have all the advantages of a single market - they can freely operate across the EU without having to deal with 27 different sets of rules. Their customers must also have the same benefits and right now, they're not getting them."

She also wants to cap the wholesale charges for using the internet on your phone when roaming. This follows many complaints to the Commission from the public - one English customer got a bill for €40,000 for downloading an episode of Prison Break onto his phone while on holiday!

The real cost is far below what gets charged to the customer and the new cap should be €1 per megabyte.

The Commission will also push mobile phone companies to charge roaming calls by the second, not by the minute. The changes should come in by July 2009.

19 September 2008 - Carlingford and the Cooley Peninsula has picked up a prize in a Europe-wide competition for the best tourist destinations. The "European Destinations of Excellence" (EDEN) were announced in May and the awards ceremony took place today at the European Annual Tourism Forum in Bordeaux, in France.

Carlingford was chosen because the judges found that it had unrivalled natural appeal due to the beauty of Carlingford Lough with its sweeping backdrop of Slieve Foy. Its rich culture of myths and folk tales also drew their attention.

Speaking at the event, European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen said: “If Europe wants to retain its reputation as the foremost tourism destination in the world, it has to build on its strengths and to demonstrate that its tourism regions are excellent. We should keep in mind that tourism is an increasingly important sector for our economy, with lots of new jobs being created in particular in small- and medium-sized enterprises. My sincere congratulations to the 2008 winners.”

The European Destinations of Excellence awards promote venues where commercial success goes hand in hand with social, cultural and environmental sustainability. The awards were launched in 2006 to draw attention to the value, diversity and shared characteristics of European tourist destinations.

Destinations from 18 Member States and from Croatia and Turkey won awards at today's ceremony. The criteria for the awards included specific local intangible heritage such as local cuisine, handicrafts, local arts or village life. See here for the list of the 20 winning destinations.

More information:

EDEN Awards

Failte Ireland

Tourism Forums

17 September 2008 - The European Commission wants to improve its food distribution programme for Europe's most deprived by boosting the budget by two thirds to around €500 million from 2009 and extending the range of food which can be provided.

The scheme was originally designed in 1987 to use up surplus farm produce ("intervention stocks") by distributing it to needy people. In Ireland, the most well-known example in the past was Butter Vouchers.

Now that surplus stocks are very low and will not increase in the foreseeable future, the updated scheme would allow farm produce to be bought on the market to top-up remaining intervention stocks. And the scheme would no longer be limited to products covered by intervention rules. For example, fruit and vegetables and cooking oil will, for the first time, be covered by the programme

Even though the EU has one of the highest living standards in the world, an estimated 43 million people in the EU are at risk of food poverty (defined as meaning that they cannot afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day).

The Commission wants more money spent on the scheme because rising food prices are hitting needy people particularly hard and the cost of providing food aid is rising all the time. In 2006, more than 13 million EU citizens benefited from this aid scheme. The take-up by country for 2008 is shown below.

2008 budget breakdown by Member State

2007 budget breakdown by Member State

"This is a concrete way in which the European Union can help some of the least fortunate people in our society," said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. "The recent hike in food prices has hit some people very hard. We need to extend this very successful scheme and make it more flexible so that we can help as many people as possible."

The choice of food would be for the Member States and food distribution plans would be established for three-year periods. Food would continue to be distributed in cooperation with charities and local social services.

While the EU pays for scheme at the moment, the new scheme will gradually move to co-financing with the Member State governments, reaching a 50/50 split by 2013.

Introducing co-financing will help to improve planning and management of funds and allow Member States to take greater responsibility for the programme.

The choice of food would be made by national authorities on the basis of nutritional criteria and distributed in cooperation with NGOs, as happens now. Food would be sourced either from intervention stocks, if available, or from the market with priority given to the use of intervention stocks where these are available.

Distribution must be free of charge or at a price no greater than justified by the costs of distributing the food. And Member States are free to choose whether or not to participate in the programme.

More detail

Aid is typically provided to a wide range of people living in poverty, including families in difficulties, elderly people with insufficient means, the homeless, the disabled, children at risk, the working poor, migrant workers and asylum seekers.

Member States that want to take part in the programme would select suitable organisations - usually charities or local social services - to carry out the food distribution. They would then identify their needs for a three-year programming period and make their request to the Commission, which allocates the budget. This would be done on an annual basis, to enable adjustments to be made if the situation changes in the course of the programming period.

Some 19 Member States currently participate in the programme.

For documents and more information, please see: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/freefood/index_en.htm

15 September 2008 - From 16 to 22 of September, the cities of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Waterford will join hundreds of other towns and cities across the EU to promote Mobility Week. The aim of the Week is to promote clean air in cities by cutting carbon emissions from transport and will see major public events designed to be fun as well as to get people thinking. The week finishes on 22 September with an "In Town without my Car" day.

Total national greenhouse gas emissions from transport in Ireland increased by 165% between 1990 and 2006. Facts on the effects and cause of greenhouse gases and information on the transport sector and how to reduce transport emissions are at www.change.ie

Each year there is a different theme for European Mobility Week. In 2004 it was Safe Streets for Children; 2005 was Clever Commuting; 2006 Climate Change; 2007 Streets for People. The theme for 2008 is Air Quality and Carbon Emissions. One of the aims of Mobility Week is to encourage towns to launch permanent measures to cut emissions from the transport sector – e.g. ‘Park and Ride’ parking, car pool schemes, cycle lanes and shuttle bus services to the inner city.

Just a taste of projects across Ireland: See here  [90 KB] for further information

Cork

Free Black Ash Park and Ride bus service
Rebel Pedal! Giant Bicycle Parade
Free "Pimp My Bike" workshop
Urban Ballet Dance performance

Dublin

Merrion Street closed to traffic 22 September
Irish Heart Foundation Pedometer Challenge
BMX cycling
Library Learning Bus

Galway

Car pooling promotion
Free Bike Doctor
Community Tree Planting Initiative

Limerick

Skateboard competition
Bus route map for commuters
Air and traffic monitoring

Waterford

Big Cycle from Tramore to Waterford
Marquee in People's Park
See here for more information on the European Mobility

Useful Links

The Dublin Transportation Office www.dto.ie, www.onesmallstep.ie, www.greenschools.ie offer useful advice on sustainable transport options for the general public and for schools.

Other useful links include: www.epa.ie, www.powerofone.ie and  Cork City Mobility Week 2008.

National Co-coordinator: Eoin Deegan at eoin_deegan@environ.ie.

10 September 2008 - Economic growth is expected to be 1.4% this year in the European Union (1.3% in the euro area) - around ½ percentage point less than forecast in April. The main downside risks identified in the spring forecast have materialised, with the financial turmoil deepening, commodity prices soaring and the shocks to several housing markets spreading more widely.

Inflation is expected to average 3.8% in the EU and 3.6% in the euro area this year following the continued strong rise in commodity prices. This represents an upward revision, although inflation could be at a turning point as the impact of past increases in energy and food prices gradually fades in the coming months.

The figures produced today are based on revised projections for the seven countries which together make up about 80% of the EU's GDP: is calculated on the basis of updated projections for France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. A full forecast covering all countries individually (including Ireland) is due on 3 November.

Joaquín Almunia, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner said today:" The continuation of the turmoil in the financial markets one year on, the near doubling of energy prices over the same period and the correction in some housing markets have had an impact on the economy, though the recent fall in oil and other commodity prices and the easing up in the euro exchange rate have provided some relief. In this difficult and uncertain environment we must learn from past mistakes and keep a steady course of action. Moving ahead with Europe's reform agenda is crucial to continue creating jobs and to cope better with external shocks. We must speed up the implementation of the road map to help restore confidence in the financial markets, and preserve the improvements in public finances so as not to increase the burden for future generations, which will already face the challenge of an ageing population."

As the global headwinds intensified, output has started to fall in several advanced economies in the second quarter of this year, caused also in some countries by a bust in the housing sectors.  GDP contracted by 0.1% in the EU and by 0.2% in the euro area. This partly reflects a payback following an unexpectedly strong growth in the first quarter, which was due to temporary factors to a certain extent. In addition, the continued rise in commodity prices, the ongoing financial turmoil and, in some cases, a housing shock caused confidence to deteriorate, capital costs to increase further and consumer-price inflation to surge, putting a brake on domestic demand.

For 2008, the Commission’s Economic and Financial Affairs Directorate General now forecasts growth at 1.4% in the EU and 1.3% in the euro area, which represents a 0.6 and 0.4 percentage point (pp.) downward revision, respectively, compared to the spring forecast.

External conditions increasingly unfavourable

The global economic situation and outlook remains unusually uncertain. One year after the outburst of the financial turmoil, the situation in the international financial system continues to be fragile with several key credit markets still severely disrupted. Commodity prices, especially energy and food prices, have soared since the last quarter of 2007, fuelling inflation – even if oil and other commodity prices have come down from their highs earlier this summer. Business and consumer confidence have declined significantly, to levels well below their long-term averages. While growth has remained robust so far in emerging economies, a global economic slowdown is looming on the horizon.

The European economies were generally sound prior to the outburst of the financial turmoil last summer. There were no major imbalances in the EU and the euro area as a whole, although this may not have been the case in all sectors and Member States. Activity held up relatively well, while the financial distress had an immediate adverse impact on some confidence indicators. As the global headwinds intensified over the past quarters, however, the fall in confidence indicators became more broad based across sectors and Member States (with particularly sizable  decline in the overall economic sentiment indicator in the UK and Spain). Eventually, activity measures also started to weaken. Various indicators, such as industrial production, orders and retail sales, point to a deceleration in the underlying growth momentum in both the EU and the euro area in recent months. Recent surveys also suggest a bleak outlook for the EU economies going forward.

The projected easing of inflation, which is expected to support households' disposable income and consumption to a greater extent during the fourth quarter, is one of factors that may bring about a turn in the trend.

Inflation at a turning point

Fuelled by high commodity prices, consumer price inflation continued to pick up in recent months. The contributions from energy and food prices to headline inflation increased significantly and amounted to 1.7 pps. and 1.2 pps., respectively, in July. The headline inflation rate decelerated slightly in August, to 3.8%, in the euro area, down from the record-high level reported in July (4.0%).

The upwards revision of inflation reflects the worse-than-expected outcome since the spring forecast. The gradual fading of the impact of past increases in energy and food prices in the coming months suggest, however, that inflation could be at a turning point. Nevertheless, future developments in commodity markets, as well as the capacity to contain second-round effects, will be key for the inflation outlook in both regions.

Risk assessment

The risks to the growth outlook stay tilted to the downside. In particular, developments in commodity and financial markets will continue to be the key factors shaping the growth outlook and the technical assumptions could also surprise on the negative side as they have done in the recent forecasting exercises.  Other risks relate to the underlying strength of the US economy, new calls for protectionist and other trade-distorting measures, but also to the capacity of some of the EU economies to adjust their internal and external imbalances. The risks to the inflation outlook appear somewhat more balanced, albeit they are still tilted to the upside. In particular and even if economic activity is set to slow sharply, the risk of second-round effects can not be excluded, although there is no evidence of any wide-spread such effects so far.

More detailed report available here .  

Table 1: Real GDP growth

Note: the quarterly figures are working-day and seasonally adjusted, while the annual figures are unadjusted.

Table 2: Consumer price inflation

9 September 2008 - The EU-China Managers Exchange and Training Programme (METP) is offering business leaders in Europe, including Ireland, a chance to go on a 10 months training programme in China. This scheme is funded by the European Commission and China, and aims to meet the rising demand for business people who can work in both regions. The EU Commission is calling on the Irish business community to take its place on the programme.

The long-term objective of METP is to improve the EU’s relationship with China through exchange and economic cooperation.

Martin Territt, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland said: “Despite the strong coverage China has received through the Beijing Olympics, the country and its business culture remains unknown to most European managers. To be successful in China, one needs a profound knowledge of its economy, culture and business ethics. And this is what METP offers applicants. It's a fantastic opportunity for Irish business people who want to get up to speed in this important area."

The application period for METP’s 2009 programme started this month.

Besides the organisation of the whole stay, the EU will cover all tuition fees. METP will provide participants with a monthly living allowance (about 1.000 Euros). All graduates receive an official diploma signed by the EU Ambassador to China.

METP is a four-year initiative of the European Commission and the Chinese Government and is divided into four intakes, each lasting ten months.

Application deadline for intake 4 is January 4th, 2009. Applicants should have no or only very limited knowledge of the Chinese language, and must have a minimum of five years work experience. In addition to credible academic qualifications the candidates have to present a compelling business plan for their stay in China.

Contact

For further information about application modalities, download instructions for the application dossier and for general information about METP visit www.metp.net.cn or contact the METP hotline at +49 69 15402 638.