Agenda highlights: the situation in Ukraine and in particular on the Ukraine Plan; Palestine; EU engagement in fragile contexts; and current affairs.
Agenda highlights: women in public life; economic empowerment and financial independence of women; and the equal treatment directive.
Eurofound is organising its Annual Lecture Living, working and voting in Europe 2024 on 7 May in Dublin with guest speaker, political analyst Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM). Opened by Minister of State with responsibility for EU Affairs and Defence Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, with an introduction by Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director at Eurofound, the lecture event will also provide an opportunity for the audience to participate in a short question and answer session with Mr Krastev, moderated by Mary McCaughey, Head of Information and Communication at Eurofound. Please register at the link below. For more information about this event, please contact Cristina Arigho at car@eurofound.europa.eu.
On Friday afternoon 3 May, The Wheel is organising an online event about Ireland's 2024 MEP candidates and how they will support the community and voluntary sector if elected. The Wheel will present their EU Elections manifesto outlining members’ priorities for the sector so the candidates can respond to these asks. There will also be a Q&A session giving audience members the opportunity to raise their communities’ priorities.
On Thursday evening 2 May, European Movement Ireland and the European Parliament Liaison Office will host an in-person event, ‘EU Elections Town Hall – Ireland South 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 and A session with audience members, including MEP candidates. Speakers include: Dr. Theresa Reidy, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork; Gerard Arthurs, Lecturer in International Relations & Politics, South East Technological University – Waterford; and, Karen Coleman, Editor, EuroParlRadio. This event will take place from 7 to 8 pm at the Banking Hall, UCC Centre for Executive Education, 1 Lapp’s Quay, Centre, Cork, T12 VF82.
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.
The European Parliament this week adopted a package of laws strengthening the EU’s toolkit to fight money-laundering and terrorist financing. The new laws ensure that people with a legitimate interest will have immediate, unfiltered, direct and free access to beneficial ownership information held in national registries and interconnected at EU level. In addition to current information, the registries will also include data going back at least five years. The laws also give Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) more powers to analyse and detect money laundering and terrorist financing cases as well as to suspend suspicious transactions.
The European Parliament this week adopted the first ever EU rules on combating violence against women and domestic violence. The directive calls for stronger laws against cyberviolence, better assistance for victims, and steps to prevent rape. The new rules prohibit female genital mutilation and forced marriage and outline particular guidelines for offenses committed online, such as the disclosure of private information and cyberflashing.
At this week's final plenary session of the current European Parliament, MEPs gave their final green light to the EU Disability Card and the European Parking Card for persons with disabilities. The new rules will establish an EU-wide disability card to make sure that persons with disabilities have equal access to preferential conditions, such as reduced or zero entry fees, priority access and access to reserved parking. The new rules will only apply for short stays, with an exception for disability card holders that move to another member state for a mobility programme, such as Erasmus+.
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.
According to Eurostat, 79.1% of Ireland's 20-64 year olds were in employment in 2023, up from 66.5% in 2013 and from 75% in 2019. This is above the EU average employment rate of 75.3%, which is also up from 66.8% in 2013. Among the EU countries, the highest employment rates in 2023 were recorded in the Netherlands (84%), Sweden (83%) and Estonia (82%). The lowest rates were recorded in Italy (66%), Greece (67%) and Romania (69%). The Eurostat figures also show that the over-qualification rate in Ireland was 28% in 2023, 4th highest overall in the EU where the average is 22%. Women (28.4%) in Ireland were a little more likely to be over-qualified than men (27.5%)
EU Member States this week endorsed a proposal from the European Commission to not renew the authorisation of 8 smoke flavourings for food, which was requested by the manufacturers. After a phase-out period, these flavourings will no longer be permitted for use in the EU. The relevant decisions are based on scientific assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which concluded that for all eight smoke flavourings assessed, genotoxicity concerns are either confirmed or can't be ruled out.
The EU and China have agreed on a joint roadmap for cooperation on circular economy. This roadmap defines the actions that both the EU and China will take to implement in 2024 under the EU-China Memorandum of Understanding on the circular economy. Actions outlined in the roadmap focus on plastics, including the ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty, but also battery value chains and remanufacturing. Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius said: “Closer and continuous engagement with China is key to achieving not only our circular economy but also other shared environmental ambitions.”
The European Commission has welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament this week of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and new rules to increase the safety and quality of substances of human origin (SoHO). This groundbreaking initiative, put forward by the Commission in May 2022, has two main aims: to place citizens at the centre of their healthcare, granting them full control over their data, with the goal of achieving better healthcare across the EU; and to allow the use of health data for research and public health purposes, under strict conditions.
The European Commission welcomed the adoption by the European Parliament this week of measures, proposed by the Commission in January 2024, to improve the availability of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) for patients and healthcare providers. These measures include granting more time to companies to transition to the new EU rules on IVDs, introducing a new obligation on manufacturers to inform national authorities and the health sector in case of disruption of supply of certain medical devices and allowing for the gradual roll-out of the European Database on Medical Devices - Eudamed.
The European Commission has called on Ireland to transpose into national law the Directive streamlining measures for advancing the realisation of the trans-European transport network. The Directive aims at smoother completion of key TEN-T core network projects by making permit-granting and public procurement procedures clearer. It covers cross-border and missing links on the core TEN-T corridors, and corridor projects exceeding €300 million. The deadline to transpose the Directive into national law was 10 August 2023.
The European Commission has sent a reasoned opinion to Ireland for failure to address shortcomings in the transposition of the Industrial Emissions Directive. The Industrial Emissions Directive lays down rules designed to prevent and reduce harmful industrial emissions into air, water, and land, as well as prevent the generation of waste. The Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Ireland in February 2022. However, Ireland's legislation still does not correctly transpose certain permitting requirements.
The European Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to Ireland (and two other EU Member States) for having incorrectly transposed the 4th and 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directives (4th AML Directive as amended by the 5th AML Directive). Although Ireland had notified a complete transposition of the amended Directive, the Commission has identified instances of incorrect transposition (non-conformity) of the Directive into national law. Ireland now has two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission.
The European Commission this week initiated for the first time an investigation under the International Procurement Instrument (IPI). This investigation has been launched in response to measures and practices in the Chinese procurement market for medical devices which discriminate unfairly against European companies and products. Evidence gathered by the Commission indicates that China's procurement market for medical devices has gradually become more closed for European and foreign firms, as well as for products made in the EU.
Interested in a career as an Irish-language translator or proofreader with the European institutions? Applications are now open for 9-month Irish Government internships with the institutions in Brussels or Luxembourg, starting in October 2024, funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Applicants must have excellent Irish and have received an NFQ level 8 qualification by the start date of the internship. Experience in translation or proofreading, a good knowledge of computer-aided translation software, and a postgraduate qualification in translation are all desirable but not required. Interns will receive a €2,000 monthly allowance. The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Friday 31 May. Online interviews and tests will take place on 19 and 20 June. Full details and online application form on the link below.
