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On the agenda: the state of play of a legislative proposal to combat child sexual abuse; the extension of the temporary protection for persons having fled from Ukraine after the start of the war; the Schengen area; the pact on asylum and migration; progress achieved in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime; internal security; a proposed regulation to facilitate the recognition in a member state of the parenthood of a child which has been established in another member state; and the update of the directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography.

The URC2024 is a continuation of the annual series of high-level political events dedicated to the swift recovery and long-term reconstruction of Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. It is also the first Ukraine Recovery Conference hosted in an EU member state and comes at a critical time for Ukraine. The key goal of the URC2024 is to mobilise continued international support for recovery, reconstruction, reform, and modernization of Ukraine. This includes providing emergency assistance for immediate needs, implementing rapid recovery projects and creating attractive conditions for businesses to unlock the private sector investments in Ukraine, and civil society to actively engage in the reconstruction process.

The EU institutions are playing their part to defend the European elections on 6-9 June against disinformation and information manipulation targeting European democracy. Institutions, authorities, civil society actors and fact-checkers such as the European Digital Media Observatory, the European Fact-Checking Standards Network and EUvsDisinfo have detected and exposed numerous attempts to mislead voters with manipulated information in recent months.

The competition for Administrators in the fields of Crisis management and Migration and internal security has been re-opened and is now open to both existing and new candidates. Applicants must be EU nationals, have a thorough knowledge of one EU official language and a satisfactory knowledge of a different EU official language, and have a university degree of at least 4 years, followed by at least 6 years of relevant professional experience - or a university degree of at least 3 years, followed by at least 7 years of relevant professional experience. Please note that candidates who have already submitted applications must review and revalidate them to continue participating in this competition.

The suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the European Union have been extended for another year, following this week's entry into force of the regulation adopted by the Council on 13 May. These so-called Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) are a pillar of the EU's support to Ukraine's economy, providing access to the EU market in the face of Russia's relentless aggression. The measures are also mindful of EU stakeholders' concerns and contain a reinforced safeguard mechanism and an emergency brake applies to eggs, poultry, sugar, oats, maize, groats, and honey. The new ATMs will be in effect until 5 June 2025.

The European civil protection community is meeting in Brussels today and tomorrow to discuss lessons learned and ways forward in civil protection during the 8th edition of the European Civil Protection Forum. The European Commission is organising this conference under the theme of shaping a disaster-resilient Union: charting a path for the future of European civil protection. The event will be a timely opportunity to look back at what has been achieved by the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, and to generate ideas for development, innovation and collaboration in the field of disaster risk management going forward.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our colleagues from Eurofound, DG Health in Grange (Co Meath) and European Movement Ireland for their invaluable support at our gold medal-winning ‘In Perspective’ show garden at Bloom last weekend. Our partnership with Bord Bia and the very talented garden designers, Oliver and Liat Schurmann, was a great success and allowed us to meet and engage with almost 80,000 people over the festival. This outreach project was new territory for the Representation and we could not have done it without the many volunteers who gave up their time over the bank holiday weekend to support us. Well done everyone!

The Court of Justice of the EU this week published its ruling in the case of Supermac's v. EUIPO - McDonald’s International Property (BIG MAC). Supermac’s and McDonald’s, an Irish and American fast-food chain respectively, are involved in a dispute regarding the EU trade mark Big Mac. That trade mark had been registered for McDonald’s in 1996. In 2017, Supermac’s filed an application for revocation of that mark in relation to certain goods and services. It submitted that the mark had not been put to genuine use in the European Union in connection with those goods and services within a continuous period of five years. The Court held that McDonald’s has not proved genuine use within a continuous period of five years in the European Union in connection with poultry products.

A new Eurobarometer survey on Perceptions of EU Crisis Management shows that over 9 in 10 Irish people are aware of the EU’s efforts in responding to cross-border crises (health emergencies, natural disasters and conflicts). In fact, 21% of Irish respondents (the highest share in the EU) say that they (or people around them) have directly benefitted from EU support in response to a major crisis. A large majority of Irish people also think that the EU's response to potential crisis scenarios affecting Ireland and neighbouring countries would be effective. And more than 7 in 10 Irish people agree that the EU should be provided with the necessary resources to anticipate, prepare for and respond to major crises, even if this means slightly reducing EU funding in other areas.

The EU's gross domestic product (GDP) represented 15.2% of world GDP when expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) in 2021 according to Eurostat putting it in third place behind China with about 18.9% of world GDP and the United States with 15.5%. India was in 4th place with 7.2%. Five EU countries had a share larger than 1% of world GDP: Germany (3.4%), France (2.4%), Italy (1.9%), Spain (1.4%) and Poland (1.0%). They collectively contributed about 10.1% to world GDP.

The Irish Centre for European Law (ICEL) is hosting its annual Privacy and Data Protection Conference in the Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson St, Dublin 2, on Wednesday 19 June. This hybrid event will feature leading practitioners and experts providing updates on important and topical issues including: Professor Christopher Kuner (remote), on the international data transfers; Professor Eleni Kosta on how the CJEU is shaping developments in data retention; and Dr David Fennelly BL on damage compensation for data protection claims.

The European Climate Pact photo competition aims to showcase climate action taking place all around us: at home; in your community; and in your city. Ten winners (3 per category + 1 selected in a public vote) will receive an invite to the Climate Pact annual event in Brussels in 2025, with travel and accommodation covered as well as have their climate action photo showcased at a physical exhibition during the event and a digital certificate. Applications are open until 11pm (Irish time) on Friday 28 June 2024.

The European Commission this week launched work on a hydrogen pilot mechanism to collect, process and give access to information on demand and supply for renewable, low-carbon hydrogen and derivatives, allowing European off-takers to match with both European and foreign suppliers. EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said: "This mechanism will help us better understand and identify where hydrogen demand and supply are emerging. The information that will be available will help us create bridges between European off-takers and hydrogen suppliers both within and outside the EU, preparing the ground for future auctions under the European Hydrogen Bank".

A new report from Eurofound shows that 61% of young people in Ireland are either planning (35%) or wishing (26%) to move to a different country within three years, the highest overall share in the EU. When it comes to actually planning to move, the highest shares were in Cyprus (50%) while the lowest were in Finland (8%). The Eurofound report "Becoming adults: Young people in a post-pandemic world" also shows that 40% of young Irish people aged 25-34 and in employment are still living with their parents. This compares to just 2% in Sweden and Finland. The highest shares of employed 25-34 year olds living with their parents were in Croatia (65%) and Greece (57%),

Information on this meeting will be available at the link below.

Information on this meeting will be available at the link below.

Thursday's meeting will be devoted to Social Policy while Friday's will discuss Health. Further information on this meeting will be available at the link below.

Ministers will exchange views on the relationship between cohesion policy and the EU strategic agenda for 2024-2029, set to be adopted by the European Council at its meeting on 27 and 28 June 2024. The Council is also expected to approve conclusions on the Commission’s communication on the 9th Cohesion Report, published on 27 March 2024.

Information on this meeting will be available at the link below.

Information on this meeting will be available at the link below.