After almost two-decades of floundering negotiations, talks on an EU-India Free Trade Agreement have begun to gather momentum. Both sides seek alliances that cover not only trade relations but greater security cooperation and a shared technology agenda. In a signal of its strategic priorities, the College of Commissioners paid a first-of-its-kind visit to India in February 2025, where Prime Minister Modi and European Commission President von der Leyen pledged to conclude a Free Trade Agreement by the end of this year. In this IIEA panel discussion, Dr Sonali Chowdhry and Dr Amitendu Palit will address the prospects of a potential EU-India Free Trade Agreement and consider what an EU-India partnership should or should not prioritise. At a time when the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy has promised to create links, not dependencies, the panelists will reflect on whether – in the words of President von der Leyen – EU-India ties have the potential to be one of the defining partnerships of this century.

Provisional agenda is available at the link below.

European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis visited Cork on 22 and 23 May where he participated in European Maritime Day 2025, an annual event during which Europe’s maritime community meet to network, discuss and outline joint action on maritime affairs and sustainable blue economy. Commissioner Kadis also met with a group of environmental NGOs, and visited Castletownbere harbour with Minister of State for Fisheries and the Marine, Timmy Dooley where he met with fishing stakeholders. In addition, he formally opened a new fish processing facility at the Good Fish Company, with European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath.

Ten years after the historic climate agreement reached at COP21 in Paris, considerable progress has been made in areas ranging from energy efficiency and renewables deployment to electric vehicles and heat pumps. However, this progress is well below that required to deliver on the goals in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, and investment in clean energy remains uneven. As political headwinds increase, Brian Motherway will consider what the past decade has taught us in terms of global engagement on climate and clean energy, and what we have learned in terms of engaging citizens and societies in the vital project of clean energy transitions.

In this talk, Professor Stephen Millard will discuss the outlook for the UK economy in light of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and accompanying Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast. He will compare the current NIESR view as to the outlook for GDP, inflation and the labour market with the OBR’s forecast and the forecast from the Bank of England’s February Monetary Policy Report. In his remarks, Professor Millard will also draw out the implications for monetary and fiscal policy moving forward.

U radni posjet Hrvatskoj dolazi Magnus Brunner, europski povjerenik za unutarnje poslove i migracije. Kao povjerenik za unutarnje poslove i migracije Magnus Brunner odgovoran je za jačanje unutarnje sigurnosti Europe, izradu i nadogradnju zakonodavstva, politika i operativnih odgovora EU-a kako bi se odgovorilo na brojne prijetnje s kojima se suočavamo i osiguralo ostvarivanje temeljnog prava svakog europskog građanina da se osjeća sigurno. Tijekom posjete predviđen je susret sa predsjednikom Vlade Republike Hrvatske i ministrima te posjet nacionalnom koordinacijskom centru za nadzor granice sa potpredsjednikom Vlade i ministrom unutarnjih poslova Davorom Božinovićem.

The aim of the public consultation is to gather the views and concerns of all interested citizens, organisations and businesses on (a) improving the security of EU citizens’ ID cards and residence documents and those of their family members and (b) facilitating the exercise of EU citizens’ free movement rights and the rights of their family members to accompany them. The consultation is open until 5 December 2017.

Today, the European Commission has launched the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, ‘Choose Europe to Start and Scale’, to make Europe a great place to start and grow global technology-driven companies.

The European Commission adopted two decisions under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) specifying the measures that Apple has to take to comply with certain aspects of its interoperability obligation. The Commission is assisting Apple in its compliance by detailing the measures needed for enabling interoperability with iOS for third-party connected devices and by streamlining the process put in place by Apple to handle future requests for interoperability with iPhone and iPad devices.

Le prochain budget à long terme, qui débutera en 2028, doit résoudre la quadrature du cercle : les attentes à l'égard de l'UE ne cessent d'augmenter. Pour que le budget de l'UE soit à la hauteur de nos ambitions, nous devons introduire de nouvelles ressources propres.

Nova #EUAquaculture kampanja Europske komisije. Saznajte više o proizvođačima u EU-u i vrstama koje uzgajaju.

Sofia Alves, 🇪🇺 #EUinMyRegion u posjetu Zagrebu, Paromlinu i obnovljenom Prirodoslovnom muzeju

Aujourd’hui nous célébrons les 70 ans de la signature du Traité de Paris. It created the European Coal and Steel Community, the bedrock of economic cooperation between former enemies. Auferstanden aus den Trümmern des Krieges begann Europa den Weg hin zur heutigen Union. Voir la vidéo Voir la vidéo Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) le 18 avril 2021