On 9 May 2025, the European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland, the European Commission Representation in Ireland and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Ireland hosted a series of events for Europe Day on the theme ‘Democracy in Action’ in Europa Experience. Tánaiste Simon Harris, Head of European Commission Representation in Ireland Peter Power, Head of European Parliament Liaison Office Fearghas O Béara, Chargé d'affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dublin Arthur Michalski and Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain spoke at the reception at Europe House.

The Commission is investing €910 million under the 2024 edition of the European Defence Fund (EDF) to create a strong and innovative defence industry in Europe. These investments aim to close key capability gaps through innovation and collaboration across European science and industry. For the first time, Ukrainian defence industries can be associated to EDF projects. The strengthened cooperation between the Ukrainian and European defence industries, builds on outreach efforts by the EU Defence Innovation Office in Kyiv to foster closer ties and to further integrate Ukraine into the European defence industrial base, reinforcing shared security and innovation objectives. These EDF investments will boost Europe's defence industry, in line with the Commission's ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 to strengthen pan-European defence capabilities, and the Joint White Paper on European Defence Readiness 2030, framing a new approach to defence and identifying investment needs.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a landmark European regulation which seeks to protect Europe’s values and democratic principles in the online space, and to help counter the dissemination of illegal and harmful online content. The DSA entered into force in November 2022 and began to fully apply across the EU from February 2024. At this hybrid event, a panel of experts will discuss the implementation of the DSA to date and will assess the ongoing debates relating to various features of the DSA. The panel will also discuss the opportunities and challenges that may lie ahead for the future of DSA enforcement. The panel for this event will include: John Evans, the Digital Services Commissioner, Coimisiún na Meán Dr Eileen Culloty, Deputy Director of the DCU Institute for Future Media, Democracy, and Society (FUJO); Coordinator of the Ireland Hub of the European Digital Media Observatory Professor Natali Helberger, Distinguished University Professor of Law and Digital Technology, University of Amsterdam; Member of the project team at the Digital Services Act Observatory.

The European Union has announced €301,485,000 in EU funding to support actions in ocean conservation efforts during 'Our Ocean' Conference in Busan, in the Republic of Korea. This year's conference, celebrating its 10th anniversary, showcased the accomplishments, and best practices stemming from the voluntary commitments made by the global ocean community over the past decade. Under the umbrella of 'Digital Oceans', the conference convened to explore the intersection of technology and ocean conservation, with a focus on six critical areas - sustainable blue economy, marine pollution, marine protected areas, digital oceans, sustainable fisheries, and ocean and climate change.

L'édito de Jessica Larsson, cheffe de la Représentation faisant fonction

La Commission européenne lance un nouvel appel à propositions, dans le cadre du Fonds Asile, Migration et Intégration. Les collectivités locales sont invitées à soumettre des projets portant sur la protection des enfants, l’accès aux soins de santé, l’accompagnement des femmes vers l’emploi... Une opportunité unique pour renforcer l’inclusion au niveau local.

The Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union (Brussels PR), and the Embassy of Ireland in Brussels, is seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hardworking person to fill an Events Manager position. The position is an initial fixed term until 31 January 2027, which will be renewed on an indefinite basis, subject to satisfactory performance. The Events Manager is responsible for planning and overseeing a variety of meetings and events hosted by Brussels PR and the Embasssy of Ireland in Brussels, including events at the official residences. Applications must be received before 16:30 hrs. (Local time) on Friday 25th April, 2025. Find out more information at the link below.

Eu-LISA has recently published a vacancy for an IT Officer - Infrastructure/Network/Platform (FGIV) in Strasbourg, France. The ideal candidate will be responsible for contributing to the engineering, operation and maintenance of the core infrastructure or network or platform services supporting critical IT systems (see more details in the vacancy notice). Deadline for Applications: 22 April 2025, 11:59:00 AM CET / 12:59:00 PM EET.

Agenda is available at the link below.

The European Green Deal was launched in 2019 to make Europe the world’s first climate neutral and resilient economy, and to decouple economic growth from resource use. Six years later, the ambition has become even more important for Europe, and for the world, but the global context has considerably changed. In his address to the IIEA, Director General Vandenberghe will explain the relevance of the Green Deal and how it will be taken forward, in Europe and internationally, amid rapidly changing and increasingly volatile global circumstances.

Government attention to the security and resilience of subsea telecommunications cables has intensified in recent years. While largely owned and operated by private companies, a growing number of states now qualify or designate the systems as critical, if not strategic infrastructure, the security and resilience of which are vital to economic and societal well-being, national security and much else. In her address to the IIEA, Dr Camino Kavanagh will discuss government efforts to protect the infrastructure in the current geopolitical context, examining how such efforts - and the different challenges that emerge - contribute to the global telecommunications systems’ core resilience capacities.

The latest European State of the Climate report illustrates clearly the impact of climate change in Europe and the Arctic. In 2024, Europe was the fastest-warming continent, with a clear climate divide – eastern parts suffered from extreme heat and drought, while western parts were extremely hot and humid. At the same time, it experienced the most widespread flooding since 2013. The report also records a few positive developments: European cities are becoming more resilient to climate change and in 2024 a record proportion of electricity was generated by renewables, at 45%. Reducing the impact of climate change in Europe is a priority of the EU over the next five years. It is working on developing a European civil defence mechanism, building community resilience and setting out a European climate adaptation plan to support EU countries in coping with climate change.

The Commission proposed to accelerate the implementation of certain aspects of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted last year and due to enter into application in June 2026. The Commission is proposing to frontload two key elements of the Asylum Procedure Regulation with the aim of supporting Member States to process asylum claims faster and more efficiently for applicants whose claims are likely to be unfounded. The Commission also proposed to establish a first EU list of safe countries of origin. An EU list will allow Member States to process asylum claims of nationals from countries on the list in an accelerated procedure, on the basis that their claims are unlikely to be successful. The proposed EU list covers Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia.

The European Commission adopted the 2025-2030 working plan for the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and Energy Labelling Regulation. The plan provides a list of products that should be prioritised to introduce ecodesign requirements and energy labelling over the next five years. This will foster sustainable, repairable, circular and energy efficient products across Europe, in line with the Clean Industrial Deal and the Competitiveness Compass. The priority products for ecodesign and energy labelling requirements are steel and aluminium, textiles (with a focus on apparel), furniture, tyres and mattresses. These were selected based on their potential to deliver on the circular economy. Ecodesign and energy labelling requirements will be set via delegated acts on a product-by-product basis or for groups of similar products. This will be based on thorough preparatory studies and impact assessments. It will involve stakeholders and interested parties throughout the process, including in the recently established Ecodesign Forum. Regarding some energy-related products, ongoing work under the Ecodesign Directive should continue, and relevant requirements will be adopted not later than 31 December 2026.

The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation to gather feedback on obstacles to capital markets integration across the EU. This effort is a key part of rolling out the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) strategy, adopted in March.  The SIU strategy aims to boost the EU economy's competitiveness by improving the way the EU financial system mobilises savings towards productive investments, offering more and better financial opportunities for both citizens and businesses.  This consultation is a crucial step in gathering information for the implementation of the SIU. The insights collected will help shape measures to be presented in a comprehensive package in the fourth quarter of 2025.  The Commission calls on stakeholders to provide their views, facts, and evidence on barriers to cross-border trading and post-trading, scaling up investment funds, and harmonising supervisory practices, as well as on simplification. The Commission invites all stakeholders, including civil society, consumers, social partners, businesses, and Member States authorities to share their views by 10 June 2025.

Today, the Commission invests €86 million in new Strategic Integrated Projects focusing on improving water quality and availability, cleaning up polluted rivers, improving fire and flood protection, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This funding will support projects awarded as part of the 2023 calls for proposals to help Europe become a climate-neutral continent by 2050. The selected projects are located in Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Slovenia and Iceland and will help national, regional and local authorities implement national and European environmental and climate legislation. They are expected to mobilise significant additional investment from other EU funding sources. This includes agricultural, structural, regional and research funds, in addition to national funds and private sector investment.

The Commission has opened four new calls worth €140 million under the Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) to advance the roll out of Artificial Intelligence (AI), promote advanced digital skills, expand the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) and fight disinformation. Of these €140 million, €55 million is being made available to introduce generative AI in public administration and in the agri-food sector, as well as to ensure regulatory compliance alongside support to the Alliance on Processors and Semiconductor Technologies and data spaces. To hone advanced digital skills in the EU, an additional €27 million will help establish four new digital skills academies on quantum, AI and virtual worlds. Calls worth €11 million will focus on completing and expanding the EDIH network in associated countries, as well as supporting a reinforced AI focus. The Commission will also channel €47 million towards the roll-out and best use of new digital technologies, while also supporting the network of Safer Internet Centres, including the creation of a European Network of Fact-Checkers.

Cosmetics (36%) were the most frequently reported consumer products posing health risks in 2024, followed by toys (15%), electrical appliances (10%), motor vehicles (9%) and chemical products (6%), according to the European Commission's annual report on Safety Gate, the European Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products. The report published today presents an overview of dangerous products notified in the Safety Gate in 2024. 4,137 alerts were notified last year - the highest ever recorded amount of alerts since the launch of the system in 2003. This increase in alerts demonstrates the growing effectiveness and trust in the Safety Gate system, as authorities are using the platform more often to report and address potential threats to consumer safety. The report also outlines the follow-up actions taken by national authorities of the EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein to prevent harm to consumers and stop the sale of hazardous products.

The Commission is providing further simplifications and reducing the administrative burden to facilitate the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). In this context, it has published new guidance documents in view of the Regulation’s entry into application at the end of this year for Member States, operators and traders. With these clarifications and simplifications, the Commission is also replying to feedback from its international partners. With the simplifications, the Commission is delivering on its commitment to the European Parliament and the Council, while guaranteeing regulatory certainty within the boundaries of the Regulation. The updated guidance and Frequently Asked Questions will provide companies, EU Member States’ authorities and partner countries with additional simplified measures and clarifications on how to demonstrate that their products are deforestation-free. Both documents reflect the input from Member States, partner countries, businesses, and industry. This will also guarantee harmonised implementation of the law across the EU.

In 2024, 75.8% of EU citizens aged 20 to 64 were employed, representing 197.6 million people, according to Eurostat data. This marks the highest employment rate since 2009. The rate increased by 0.5% compared to 2023. Among EU Member States, the highest employment rates were recorded in the Netherlands (83.5%), Malta (83.0%), and Czechia (82.3%). At the other end of the scale, the lowest rates were observed in Italy (67.1%), Greece (69.3%), and Romania (69.5%). Looking at the share of employed people aged 20–64 with a high level of education (tertiary education), Ireland stood out with one of the highest proportions in the EU: 58.9% of employed people in this age group held a tertiary degree. Ireland was just behind Luxembourg (59.5%) and ahead of Cyprus (53.1%), Lithuania (51.3%), Belgium (50.9%), and Sweden (50.8%).