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In her address to the IIEA, Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), will outline her priorities for her term as EIB President. President Calviño will discuss how the EIB and Ireland have been working together to invest in a sustainable future for all and will outline her vision for how Ireland and the EIB can develop closer cooperation in the coming decade. This hybrid event starts at 3.15 pm.

The European Commission is inviting comments on commitments offered by Vifor to address competition concerns over the alleged disparagement of its closest - and potentially only – competing treatment in Europe for intravenous iron treatment, Pharmacosmos' Monofer. Following the opening of a formal investigation in June 2022, the Commission preliminarily found that Vifor is dominant in several national markets for the provision of intravenous iron medicines, including Ireland. It is concerned that Vifor may have restricted competition in the market for intravenous iron treatment by illegally disparaging Monofer, an iron deficiency treatment by its closest competitor in Europe, Pharmacosmos.

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&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.

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.

In collaboration with the European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland, DiasporaVote will host an event in Dublin where different speakers, different parties, and people from all over Ireland will be educated on the importance of voting in the upcoming European elections. This event will have an informational element to it as well as a Q and A element so that people are equipped with everything they need to vote in this year's European elections and other elections to come. The event will take place on Tuesday afternoon 30 April at Europe House, 12-14 Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2. DiasporaVote is a global organisation dedicated to empowering people of color and marginalised communities to exercise their voting rights and amplify their voices in democratic processes.

EU agriculture ministers meeting in Luxembourg will discuss the responses to the current situation in the agricultural sector. The Council will focus on the measures that have been proposed or taken so far that are aimed at simplifying the common agricultural policy (CAP) and strengthening the position of farmers in the food supply chain. Also on the agenda: trade-related agricultural issues and the annual performance reports submitted by member states to give an overview of the implementation of the CAP in their countries.

ESB and the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) are holding a joint full-day international conference, ACCELERATE: The Transition to a Net Zero Future on Friday 26 April at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre, 1 Ship Street Great, D08 E6PD Dublin 8. The conference will explore Ireland’s progress towards a clean energy future, looking at developments and innovations that will be key to accelerating the transition to net zero while addressing the challenges facing Ireland, Europe and beyond.

Daily agendas for this session of the European Parliament can be found at the link below.

This week, law enforcement from 19 countries, including Ireland's An Garda Síochána, severely disrupted one of the world’s largest phishing-as-a-service platforms, known as LabHost. The year-long operation, coordinated at the international level by Europol, resulted in the shutting down of the LabHost platform. LabHost had become a significant tool for cybercriminals around the world. For a monthly subscription, it provided phishing kits, infrastructure for hosting pages, interactive functionality for directly engaging with victims, and campaign overview services thereby making cybercrime more easily accessible for unskilled hackers.

At this week's EU summit, leaders adopted conclusions on Ukraine, the Middle East and Türkiye. On Iran/Israel, EU leaders strongly and unequivocally condemned Iran’s attack on Israel and reiterated their full solidarity with the people of Israel and commitment to Israel’s security and regional stability. On Gaza, they reiterated the EU’s commitment to working with partners to end the crisis there without delay and to implement UN Security Council resolution 2728, which includes: reaching an immediate ceasefire; releasing all hostages unconditionally; and, providing full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian aid to Palestinians in need. The EU remains firmly committed to a lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution.

The European Commission has just released a toolkit for policymakers at national, regional and local levels to make the best use of EU funding to invest in social housing and accompanying services. The toolkit showcases how EU funds, such as the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) can contribute to improving access to adequate housing in Europe. It gives concrete examples of how different Member States are using EU funds for this purpose, and includes guidance on how EU funds can support effective investment for building capacities and implementing reforms as regards the provision of social housing and of associated services.

The EU has just set up the Ukraine Investment Framework, the financial arm and an integral component of the €50 billion Ukraine Facility to incentivise public and private investments for the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. The Ukraine Investment Framework is equipped with a financial package totalling €9.3 billion, with €7.8 billion for loan guarantees and €1.51 billion for blended finance. It is expected to mobilise up to €40 billion in public and private investments over the next years.

The European Commission has launched a call for proposals worth €23 million to help EU Member States develop new ways of tackling long-term unemployment and support people to find their way back into the labour market. This was announced in the recent action plan to tackle labour and skills shortages in the EU. Through this call for proposals, funded under the “Social Innovation +” initiative of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Commission aims to build on previous promising initiatives and to strengthen the role of social economy organisations.

The European Commission this week proposed to the Council of the EU to open negotiations with the United Kingdom on an agreement to facilitate youth mobility. Such an agreement would make it easier for young EU and UK citizens to study, work and live in the UK and the EU respectively. The proposal seeks to address in an innovative way the main barriers to mobility for young people and create a right for them to travel from the EU to the UK and vice-versa more easily and for a longer period of time. Executive Vice President Maroš Šefčovič said: "Our aim is to rebuild human bridges between young Europeans on both sides of the Channel".

The 2024 LIFE Calls for Proposals have just been announced. In total, €571 million will be available for projects conserving nature, protecting the environment, taking climate action and transitioning Europe to clean energy. A series of virtual EULife24 Info Days will take place on 23-26 April 2024 to guide potential applicants through the process (click on the link below for details). The LIFE Programme is the EU's funding instrument for the environment and climate action. It has been bringing green ideas to life since 1992 and, to date, has co-financed over 5,500 projects across the EU and in third countries.

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.

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). This lunchtime event is hosted by Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, Minister of State with responsibility for EU Affairs and Defence (TBC) and Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director of Eurofound, to mark Europe Day 2024. As Europeans prepare to go to the polls in June, Mr Krastev will reflect on the challenges and opportunities the EU is currently facing against the background of today’s complex geopolitical environment. He will also consider what the upcoming election results may mean for citizens living and working in Europe. Opened by 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.

A new EU survey shows that 90% of Irish people think Ireland has on balance benefited from being a member of the EU, 3rd highest in the EU and well above the average of 71%, and that 67% of Irish people have a positive image of the EU, joint 2nd highest. The European Parliament survey also shows that 76% of Irish people are likely to vote in the upcoming European Parliament elections, above the EU average of 71%. When asked which topics should be discussed as a matter of priority during the electoral campaign, Irish people were most likely to select public health (46%), migration and asylum (42%) and the fight against poverty and social exclusion (36%).

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