There has been absolutely no suggestion from the European Commission of bringing in a "cow tax" in Ireland or anywhere else and to suggest otherwise is to deliberately mislead the public, Martin Territt, Director of the Commission Representation in Ireland said this week.

Responding to media reports, he said the European Commission has no powers to propose taxes of this nature to Member States.

“Only Member State governments have competence to develop their own national strategies on reducing emissions – not Brussels,” he said. “There is no excuse for the propagation of falsehoods designed to bring the European Institutions into disrepute."

A so-called "cow tax" is a matter solely for the Irish authorities.

See here for further information.

Nearly 400 representatives of national, regional and local authorities from all over Europe participated in the launch of the Internal Market Information (IMI) pilot project on the Services Directive, which requires Member States to work closely together by providing mutual assistance and exchanging information.

IMI is a multilingual electronic tool that the European Commission has developed to help administrations at all levels co-operate more effectively.The target for this awareness raising are national, regional and local authorities. 

It has so far been tested on the recognition of professional qualifications, where it is now operational. The kick-off for the IMI pilot on services is a crucial step in the implementation of the Services Directive which has to be completed by the end of this year.

For more information, please visit the IMI website:

http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/imi-net/index.html

3 - 27 March: Prague– Dublin – Paris Photographic Exhibition

The Embassies of France and of the Czech Republic have joined forces to present a cooperative photographic initiative in European Union House from 3 to 27 March 2009. The exhibition features the work of young photographers studying in well-known schools of photography in the Czech Republic (the FAMU in Prague: Filmová A Televizní Fakulta Akademie Múzických Umění), Ireland (the Dun Laoghaire IADT: Instituteof Art, Design and Technology) and France (the ENSP in Arles: Ecole nationale supérieure de photographie).

For more information, visit the website of the Embassy of France in Ireland at: www.ambafrance.ie or contact: scac@ambafrance.ie

Click here [19 MB]  to listen to some of the photographers talk about the exhibition.

12 – 13 March: Informal meeting of Defence Ministers

An informal meeting of the Defence Ministers of the EU Members States is being held today (Thursday) and tomorrow in Olomouc in the Czech Republic.

13 March: Live Webchat with Consumer Commissioner Kuneva

To mark the 10th anniversary of European Consumer Day, EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva will host a live webchat on 13 March 2009 with citizens from across the EU about their rights and their concerns as consumers.

People from across the EU will have the chance to ask the Commissioner direct questions on the issues that are of most importance to them, including unfair sales practices or the safety of daily consumer products.

The webchat will broadcast live on 13 March from 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. Click here to join the chat.

13 March 2009: Conference to Inspire and Motivate Ireland's Transition Year Students

Over 850 transition year students from schools throughout Leinster will attend the 3^rd annual ‘Leaders on Our Level’ conference which takes place tomorrow (Friday, 13 March) at Croke Park, Dublin from 9.30am to 3pm.

For further information please contact:
John McCormack, -  087 6620322  email johnamccormack@eircom.net
or Anne Hegarty, - 087 6432206  email:   anne.hegarty@TerenureCollege.ie

13 March: Communication on ICT R&D and Innovation and Recommendation on mobilising these to allow transition to low-carbon economy

A strategy will be announced which will enable Europe to lead ICT developments, to support the growth of new businesses and to make better use of ICT innovations to address key socio-economic challenges currently facing us.

13 March: EU-Pakistan Ministerial Meeting (Troika)

The EU-Pakistan Troika meeting, to be held at Ministerial level, will take place tomorrow (Friday), 13 March 2009 in Prague.

16 – 17 March: General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), Brussels

18 March: Commission to publish Progress report on "A simplified CAP for Europe - a success for all"

19 – 20 March: Spring European Council Meeting, Brussels

The Heads of the 27 Member States will gather in Brussels for the Spring European Council Meeting.

23 March: Séamus Heaney Lecture Series 2008-2009

St Patrick’s College Drumcondra is currently hosting the fifth Seamus Heaney Lecture Series. The theme for the series is “All changed? Culture and identity in contemporary Ireland”.

The last lecture on Monday, 23 March is entitled: Theatre of the Oppressed (Chrissie Poulter)

The EU Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hübner, this week announced that €105 billion will be invested in the "green economy" through the EU Cohesion Policy. The funding, which represents more than 30% of the regional policy budget for 2007-2013, offers a solid platform for job creation and will maintain Europe's position as a leader in green technologies.

At the announcement, Commissioner Hübner commented: "Support for the green economy and the environment goes hand-in-hand with the Cohesion Policy's objective to deliver sustainable growth, jobs and competitiveness. In a difficult financial climate, this investment will be instrumental in creating long-term employment and reviving local economies, as well as underpinning the EU's commitment to the fight against climate change."

Listen here [4 MB] to Commissioner Hübner explain further.

The €105 billion dedicated to green projects and jobs is almost three times greater than the sum allocated in the 2000-2006 budgetary period. A large part of the package (€54 billion) is designed to help Member States to comply with EU environmental legislation. Improvement of water and waste management alone accounts for €28 billion of the total.

Fight against climate change

The EU has embraced ambitious objectives in the fight against climate change – a 20% reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions with a 20% share of renewable energies in EU energy consumption by 2020. With €48 billion targeted at measures aimed at achieving EU climate objectives and creating a low carbon economy, the Cohesion Policy is making a considerable contribution to these goals. This includes €23 billion for railways, €6 billion for clean urban transport, €4.8 billion for renewable energies and €4.2 billion for energy efficiency.

Investment in Ireland 2007-2013

Ireland will benefit from over €153 million in funding which will cover transport, environment, energy management and regeneration schemes.

Categories of funding for Ireland	Community amount €
Railways	6,400,000
Energy efficiency, co-generation, energy management	38,000,000
Water management	8,000,000
Promotion of clean urban transport	16,400,000
Integrated projects for urban and rural regeneration	85,000,000
Total:	153,800,000

"Green-proofed" programmes

The 455 operational programmes at the heart of the Cohesion Policy are "green-proofed": prior to approval by the European Commission, Member States have to submit a strategic environmental assessment to ensure their programmes respect EU environmental rules. An environmental impact assessment must also be carried out for certain Community-financed schemes – e.g. major transport projects.

Promoting eco-innovation (case study)

Promoting eco-innovation and new “green-collar” jobs, especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), ranks high in the priorities for support for the regions. The Cohesion Policy is contributing €3 billion to the promotion of environmentally-friendly products and production processes in SMEs.

One of the clear aims of funding for research and innovation is to boost overall investment in green technologies. The Lahti Cleantech cluster in Finland is a good example of this type of support. The Community's investment in (€1.5 million) in this project encouraged innovation and development of environmental technologies by bringing together small and large enterprises, educational organisations and regional authorities.

The results speak for themselves: 170 new jobs have been created, 20 new clean-tech companies have set up in the Lahti region and the project has attracted more than €30 million in total investment.

For more information:

EU Regional Policy - Success Stories

European Sustainable Development Strategy

Regional Development Operation Programmes- Ireland