News

Information on this meeting will be available at the link below.

The Council of the EU this week adopted three pieces of legislation that will reform the EU’s economic and fiscal governance framework. The reform’s overall objective is to reduce debt ratios and deficits in a gradual, realistic, sustained and growth-friendly manner, while protecting reforms and investments in strategic areas such as digital, green or defence. At the same time, the new framework will provide appropriate room for counter-cyclical policies and help address existing macroeconomic imbalances.

The Council of the EU this week formally adopted updated rules on the composition, labelling and naming of honey, fruit juices, fruit jams and dehydrated milk. In the case of honey blends, the new rules will make the labelling of the countries of origin clearer. For fruit juices, three categories will be introduced:'reduced-sugar fruit juice', 'reduced-sugar fruit juice from concentrate' and 'concentrated reduced-sugar fruit juice'. For jams, the minimum fruit content will be increased from 350 to 450 g per kilo in jams and from 450 to 500 g per kilo in extra jams.

On Wednesday morning 15 May Anders Adlercreutz, Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering of Finland, will address an online IIEA event. In Minister Adlercreutz’s view, the long-term success of Europe is being decided now, and Europe must act now. As part of the Future-Proofing Europe project, Minister Adlercreutz’s address will outline how Finland seeks to meet these challenges as well as the country’s key priorities: strategic competitiveness, comprehensive security, and promoting a clean ecological transition.

EU businesses, producers and farmers are now able to take advantage of a host of new export opportunities with the entry into force of the EU-New Zealand trade agreement this week. The deal is expected to cut €140 million a year in duties for EU companies. Thanks to this deal, EU-New Zealand trade is expected to grow by up to 30% within a decade, with EU exports potentially growing by up to €4.5 billion annually. EU investment into New Zealand has the potential to grow by up to 80%. This landmark agreement also includes unprecedented sustainability commitments, including respect of the Paris Climate Agreement and core labour rights.

The European Commission and Belgium have finalised an agreement whereby the ‘Belgian Sovereign Wealth Fund', is buying 23 buildings from the Commission for an amount of €900 million. This sale will play a significant part in the Commission's efforts to reduce its office surface by 25% by 2030. It will also create economies of scale by regrouping staff in fewer, larger and more energy efficient buildings. Moreover, replacing older buildings by modern and flexible offices also increases the attractiveness of the Commission as an employer and align its office needs with the new hybrid way of working.

The European Commission has launched the first-stage consultation of European social partners to gather their views on the possible direction of EU action on ensuring fair telework and the right to disconnect. Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said: "Workers appreciate the flexibility and autonomy of telework, while companies gain from higher productivity and staff retention. We are now consulting social partners on the opportunities and risks linked to telework. We want to make sure that EU rules promote their autonomy and do not stand in the way of companies and workers who agree to teleworking. We are also seeking their views on whether specific risks require EU action. This includes the risks to workers’ health from an ‘always on call’ culture and the related call from the European Parliament to ensure the right to disconnect".

The European Commission this week opened formal proceedings to assess whether Meta, the provider of Facebook and Instagram, may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA). The suspected infringements cover Meta’s policies and practices relating to deceptive advertising and political content on its services. They also concern the non-availability of an effective third-party real-time civic discourse and election-monitoring tool ahead of the elections to the European Parliament, against the background of Meta’s deprecation of its real-time public insights tool CrowdTangle without an adequate replacement.

On Saturday night, 27 April, two new Galileo satellites were successfully placed in orbit, as part of the completion of the deployment of the Galileo constellation. Galileo is Europe's own global navigation satellite system. It is the world’s most precise satellite navigation system, serving over four billion smartphone users around the globe since 2016. All smartphones sold in the European Single Market are now guaranteed Galileo-enabled.

The European Commission this week designated Apple with respect to iPadOS, its operating system for tablets, as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”). Apple now has six months to ensure full compliance of iPadOS with the DMA obligations. Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said: "Our market investigation showed that despite not meeting the thresholds, iPadOS constitutes an important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers. Today’s decision will ensure that fairness and contestability are preserved also on this platform".

For 70 years, the law has been the driving force behind the growing integration of Europe, which has moved from an economic union to a union for its citizens. In 1963, in a historic judgment, the Court of Justice ruled that every citizen could claim the rights conferred on him by Union law directly before any national judge. Accordingly, EU law protects every citizen of the Union equally, in all Member States. The book “70 years of EU law – A Union for its citizens” celebrates 70 years of EU law. It is a collaborative project of the Legal Service of the European Commission and can be downloaded from the link below.

The European Commission has formally designated Shein as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Shein is a fashion online retailer with an average of more than 45 million monthly users in the European Union putting it above the DSA threshold for designation as a VLOP. Shein will now have to comply with the most stringent rules under the DSA within four months of its notification (i.e. by the end of August 2024), such as the obligation to adopt specific measures to empower and protect users online, including minors.

On Thursday evening 30 May, European Movement Ireland and the European Parliament Liaison Office are hosting an in-person event, ‘EU Election Town Hall – Ireland Dublin Constituency.’ Moderated by Journalist, Author and Broadcaster Flor MacCarthy, this event will see journalists and academics discuss topics such as the role of the European Elections, the impact of the European Parliament in our daily lives, and the role of voters in shaping our future. The format of the event will be a panel discussion followed by a Q&A session with audience members, including MEP candidates. Speakers will include: Prof Gavin Barrett, Professor in UCD Sutherland School of Law and Jean Monnet Professor of European Constitutional and Economic Law, UCD; John Lee, Execuitve Editor, Daily Mail Group Ireland; Prof Gary Murphy, School of Law and Government, DCU; and, Alison O’Connor, Columnist, Sunday Times. The event takes place from 7-8 pm at Odyssey Room, The Alex Hotel, 41-47 Fenian St, Dublin, D02 H678.

In recent years, Europe and much of the world have suffered the largest inflation shock in decades. Central banks have responded with large and rapid increases in interest rates. In his presentation to the IIEA, Philip Lane, Chief Economist of the European Central Bank, will discuss the inflation outlook in the Eurozone at a time when hopes of a return to price stability are rising. This online event takes place at 1pm.

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Eurofound, will open its doors to its neighbours and the local community on Friday 17 May when they will showcase their work on living and working in Europe, show visitors around their premises, and provide them with an opportunity to meet and talk to the team. Eurofound is located on the Wyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18.

On Thursday evening 16 May, the European Movement Ireland and the European Parliament Liaison Office are hosting an in-person event, ‘EU Election Town Hall – Ireland Midlands-North-West Constituency’. Moderated by Journalist, Author, Broadcaster Flor MacCarthy, this event will see journalists and academics discuss topics such as the role of the European Elections, the impact of the European Parliament in our daily lives, and the role of voters in shaping our future. The format of the event will be a panel discussion followed by a Q and A session with audience members, including MEP candidates. Speakers will include: Dr. Brendan Flynn, Head of Discipline Political Science, School of Political Science & Sociology, University of Galway; Karen Coleman, Editor, Europarl Radio; and, Máirín Ní Ghráda, Presenter RTÉ RnaG and TG4. This event takes place from 7-8pm at the Veranda Lounge, The Galmont Hotel, Lough Atalia Road, Galway, H91 CYN3.

Léargas will celebrate Europe Day this year with a virtual cross-sectoral event, The Gathering 2024. The event will provide participants with insights into Erasmus+, ESC and other EU initiatives They will also hear about inspiring projects and partake in a Q and A about funding opportunities. This event is of interest to organisations or individuals working in education, training, sport, community and youth sectors.

To mark Europe Day on Thursday 9 May, the EUNIC Ireland Network (European Union National Institutes for Culture) is organising a free online screening of its 2023 Short Shorts from Europe programme showcasing the diversity of contemporary European cinema. Action, comedy, animation, drama – expect this and more from Short Shorts from Europe – a selection of European short films from eleven member countries of EUNIC Ireland. The programme also features shorts from Cork International Film Festival and TUS Limerick School of Art and Design (Clonmel). The full programme is available at the link below.

A special Europe Day concert will be broadcast live on RTE Lyric FM on Thursday 9 May from 7 to 8.15 pm. The concert is being organised by the European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland, the Belgian Embassy to Ireland and the European Commission Representation in Ireland. The music will be provided by the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Le Conservatoire royal de Liège and the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp.

In this address to the IIEA, Lutz Güllner, Head of Division for Strategic Communications and Information Analysis at the European External Action Service, will discuss the issue of disinformation and foreign information manipulation and their implications for the EU’s democratic resilience. Mr Güllner will also focus on the ways in which the EU is responding to foreign disinformation and will provide his expert opinion on the further steps the EU could take in this domain. This event takes place online at 1pm on Wednesday 8 May.