EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Phil Hogan met MEPs in Brussels today (26 May) to discuss the dairy crisis. With a Russian ban on EU imports, the end of milk quotas last year and a drop in global demand, dairy farmers are in crisis. A Commission aid package is in place to help stabilise their incomes but only 56% of the €280 million for the dairy sector has been drawn down. "Member States have only until the end of next month to spend all of the money," said Commissioner Hogan. On other measures, he added: "While this is not a crisis exclusively of our making in the EU, continuing to increase production in current market conditions is simply not sustainable." The Commissioner encouraged the sector to use the reformed CAP rules to get a voluntary agreement to plan milk production up to April 2017. If this happens, it will be the first time the new provisions have been activated.
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14 new Primary Care Centres are to be built across Ireland following agreement of a new €70 million, 25 year loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). Backing for the care centres comes from the new European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Juncker Investment Plan. EFSI supports lending to crucial infrastructure projects by the European Investment Bank in strategic sectors as well as financing for SMEs by giving a Commission-backed guarantee on the loans to investors, which increases the amount they are willing to lend.
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Seven new generation EUROPE DIRECT centres started their work in Ireland earlier this month in: Ballinasloe, Blanchardstown, Clones, Letterkenny, Portlaoise, Sligo and Waterford. They are part of a community of 424 Europe Direct centres around Europe whose purpose is to reinforce the important connection between EU institutions and citizens, helping to explain how Europe is combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, boosting recovery through NextGenerationEU, and tackling the green and digital transitions.
The winners of the 'Aistritheoirí Óga 2021' (Young Translators) contest were announced at a virtual award ceremony on Friday, 30 April. Five secondary school students made the list - one from each of the four provinces in Ireland (translations from English to Irish) and one who was selected for her excellent translation from Spanish to Irish. This year's winners come from Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Tyrone and Wicklow. The winner of the Connacht prize, Maitilde Warsop from Galway, was also selected as the winner of the overall prize for the best translation in the country.
The European Commission Representation in Ireland has launched a new short film about the EU, created with young people, for young people. ‘Me, You and the EU’ is a fast-paced twenty five minute educational film which tells the story of Ireland and the European Union in a fun and accessible way. Over the course of five chapters, Irish teenagers from across the country ask key questions about the EU to find out what Ireland’s EU membership means for them.