News

The Agenda highlights for the Autumn European Council include: Migration, Trade issues and External Relations (Russia).

EU leaders meet on 20 and 21 October to discuss migration, trade and Russia, including its role in Syria. They will focus on cooperation with African countries of source and transit for migrants. They will hear a presentation by the EU High Representative and the Commission President about the state of play of so-called 'migration compacts' between the EU and African states. They will also discuss trade, including the future of CETA, the EU-Canada trade agreement. Leaders will also discuss long-term relations with Russia, not least in the context of recent dramatic developments in Syria.

Eurofound has just published a new report "The gender employment gap: Challenges and solutions". The report explores the main characteristics and consequences of gender gaps in labour market participation. It also examines policies and measures aimed at fostering female labour market participation, which could be central to closing gender gaps.

The report outlines the Commission's efforts in the fight against terrorism, organised crime and cybercrime and the work undertaken to strengthen the EU's resilience against these threats. It highlights the priority areas where more work is needed and sets out concrete operational measures for the months to come. The report underlines the need to implement existing EU legislation and to accelerate the work on security related proposals presented by the Commission. Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "The fragmentation of our security framework makes us all vulnerable. The dots have to be connected within and between Member States, but also between Member States and EU Agencies, and between the different security and border management systems. The internal security of one Member State is the internal security of all."

The European Commission has just launched the third round of calls for proposals under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Overall, the calls make €840 million available to all 28 Member States ('General envelope') for cross-border infrastructure projects and for projects covering innovation and new technologies and traffic management systems such as the European Railway Traffic Management System (ERTMS), Intelligent Transport Systems for roads (ITS) or the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) Programme. The deadline for submission of proposals is 7 February 2017.

The European Commission is inviting comments on its proposal to revise the criteria for exempting certain investment aid for ports and airports from prior Commission scrutiny under EU state aid rules. It aims to facilitate public investments that can create jobs and growth whilst preserving competition. The public and stakeholders are invited to submit comments on the consultation by 8 December 2016. The Commission aims to adopt the final Regulation in the first quarter 2017.

The European Court of Auditors has given the EU annual accounts a clean bill of health for the 9th year in a row. The Court found that, in particular in cohesion policy and agriculture, the overall estimated level of error for payments has further declined from 4.4% in 2014 to 3.8% in 2015. Kristalina Georgieva, Commission Vice-President in charge of Budget, said: ‘The EU budget is all about delivering for people and I am pleased by the progress we are making in this regard and which can be clearly seen in the ECA's latest report. Money is being better directed to where it is needed but it is also being managed more effectively. We need to do more of this. EU money belongs to our citizens and we owe it to them that every euro is well spent, in accordance with the rules.'

A call for tender has been launched for the provision of media consultancy services: online communication consultancy services to the European Commission Representation in Ireland. The deadline for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 24 November 2016.

A call for tender has been launched for the provision of media consultancy services: online communication consultancy services to the European Commission Representation in Ireland. The deadline for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is 24 November 2016.

Over 40 events are taking place around Ireland to mark this year's EU Code Week, which runs from 15 to 23 October. EU Code Week is a grassroots initiative which aims to bring coding and digital literacy to everybody in a fun and engaging way.

A major new report on public spending and health was this week published by the European Commission. It includes detailed country-specific analysis and figures. For Ireland, some of the key challenges it identifies are: Increasing the reach of primary care; Reducing the unnecessary use of specialists and hospital care; Improving the integration of private and public provision and reconsidering the current system of payment incentives; Enhancing managerial accountability and completing activity-based costing; and improving data collection.

The Commission this week launched a new web portal for cities. The new "One-stop shop" portal provides up-to-date information on EU policies such as climate change adaptation, mobility or circular economy that directly impact cities and urban areas. It also provides clear information on financing opportunities under the different EU funding instruments and on events related to urban development. In addition, a new Urban Data Platform provides a single access point to common indicators on the status and trends in over 800 European urban areas – on demography, economic development or access to services, for example. Vice-President for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič said: "Over 70% of the EU's population lives in urban areas; it is here where the transition to a green economy is being decided."

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the fitness of EU legislation for maritime transport safety and efficiency. The consultation is open until 8 January 2016.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation for the mid-term evaluation of the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). The consultation is open until 11 January 2017.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the evaluation of procedural and jurisdictional aspects of EU merger control. The consultation is open until 13 January 2017.

Ireland recorded an annual house price rise of 5.3% in the second quarter of 2016 compared to the second quarter of 2015. While this is above the Euro Area (+2.9%) and EU (+4.0%) averages, it is well below countries like Hungary and Latvia which recorded the highest rises in the EU (both +10.3%). Only two countries recorded an annual fall in house prices - Cyprus (-8.9%) and Italy (-1.4%). When compared to the first quarter of 2016, Irish house prices rose by only 0.6% compared to an EU average of 1.6% and a Euro Area average of 1.4% for the same period. The highest quarterly rises were recorded in Latvia (+6.6%), Estonia, Lithuania and Portugal (all +3.1%) as well as the United Kingdom (+3.0%). Four countries recorded falls - Croatia and Cyprus (both -0.9%), Italy (-0.4%) and Hungary (-0.2%).

Industrial production fell by 13.4% in Ireland in August 2016 compared with July 2016, the largest fall in the EU. On average industrial production rose by 1.4% in the EU and by 1.6% in the Euro Area in August 2016 with the largest rises recorded in the Czech Republic (+12.1%), the Netherlands (+4.4%) and Germany (+3.1%). When compared to August 2015, industrial production in Ireland in August 2016 was down by 8.5%, the largest fall in the EU. On average industrial production was up by 1.8% in the EU and the Euro Area over the same time period. The highest rises were recorded in the Czech Republic (+7.7%), Slovenia (+5.9%) and Poland (+5.1%).

To celebrate the European Day of Languages, the European Commission and the Alliance Francaise are organising a screening of the French movie "Le Dîner de Cons", subtitled in Irish, on Thursday 20 October. The movie is based on an adaptation of the play by Francis Veber. Pierre Brochant, a Parisian publisher, attends a weekly "idiots' dinner", where guests, who are prominent Parisian businessmen, must bring along an "idiot" who the other guests can ridicule.

To celebrate the European Day of Languages, the European Commission and the Alliance Francaise are organising a screening of the French movie "Le Dîner de Cons", subtitled in Irish, on Thursday 20 October. The movie is based on an adaptation of the play by Francis Veber. Pierre Brochant, a Parisian publisher, attends a weekly "idiots' dinner", where guests, who are prominent Parisian businessmen, must bring along an "idiot" who the other guests can ridicule.

According to new Eurostat figures, Dublin Airport saw a rise of 14.9% in passenger numbers between 2014 and 2015. This was the third largest rise in the EU after Athens (+19.1%) and Luton Airport (+17%). Dublin Airport is now the 12th busiest airport in the EU with almost 25 million passengers handled in 2015. The busiest airports were London/Heathrow with 75.0 million passengers, Paris/Charles de Gaulle (65.7 million), Frankfurt/Main (60.9 million) and Amsterdam/Schiphol (58.2 million). Overall, Irish airports (+12.3%) recorded the fifth largest rise in passenger numbers in the EU in 2015. On average passenger numbers rose by 4.7% across the EU.