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European Commission in Ireland

In this issue - 21 July
Top News Other news Agenda		Public consultations Job opportunities

Irish farmers get €11 m aid package

The European Commission has agreed a new support package worth €500 million for European farmers. Ireland gets €11,086,327 financial grant for milk and other sectors. This comprehensive support package is further evidence of the Commission's continued commitment to the agricultural sector across the EU. The measures were presented to the Council of EU Agriculture Ministers by Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan: "Coming at a time of significant budgetary pressures, this package provides a further robust response, and means that the Commission has mobilised more than €1 billion in new money to support hard-pressed farmers. Our ultimate goal is to see the much needed recovery of prices paid to farmers, so that they may make a living from their work and continue to provide safe, high quality food for citizens, as well as their contribution to rural areas and rural jobs and the provision of public goods."

Galway European 2020 Culture Capital

Galway is to be the European Capital of Culture in Ireland in 2020 Limerick and the Three Sisters (Waterford, Wexford and Kilkenny) are runners-up. The selection panel of independent experts responsible for assessing the Irish cities competing to be European Capital of Culture in 2020 has recommended that Galway should be awarded the title. Three cities had been short-listed after the initial pre-selection round in November 2015: Galway, Limerick and Waterford for the Three Sisters (Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford). The formal designation of Galway by the relevant Irish authorities is expected to take place in the coming months.

GDP growth could slow down post-Brexit

The European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs says that GDP growth in the euro area could slow from an expected 1.7% in 2016 to between 1.5% and 1.6% and from 1.7% in 2017 to between 1.3% and 1.5%. With regard to the UK, the analysis suggests that the UK's GDP growth rate is likely to be negatively affected by between 1% and 2.75% by 2017. Note that this is a study, not an economic forecast. The Commission is due to release its next economic forecast in November 2016.

Irish R&D dominated by foreign multi-nationals

The business R&D landscape in Ireland is dominated by foreign multinationals, which account for over two-thirds of the total Business Expenditure on R&D (BERD). So says the latest report from the European Commission's Research and Innovation Observatory (RIO), published this week. The report goes on to say that Irish R&D intensity (i.e. expenditure on R&D divided by sales) for 2014 is 1.52%, below the Europe2020 target of 2.0%. Business expenditure (BERD), at €2.107m in 2014, accounts for the lion's share, exceeding the threshold of 70% of GERD (Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D).

Other news

2020 targets - Ireland performs well on employment, education and energy consumption

Eurostat this week published a new report showing EU progress towards its 2020 targets. It shows Ireland (68.8%) came very close to reaching its employment target of 69% in 2015. Ireland also met its target on primary energy consumption in 2011 and has remained within the limit of 13.9 Mtoe up until 2014 (latest figures available). The country also surpassed its 8% target of early school leavers achieving a rate of 6.9% in 2015. Although the share of tertiary graduates has increased steadily, Ireland (52.3% in 2015) remained at a distance from its 60% target. Ireland’s R&D expenditure as a share of GDP has been more or less stable since 2009 (1.52% in 2015), half a percentage point behind the national target of about 2%. The situation with regard to renewable energy is less positive. Ireland (8.6% in 2014) needs to double its share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption to meet its 16% 2020 target. Ireland is also behind on its greenhouse gas emissions target.

EU takes legal action against export restrictions on Chinese raw materials

The European Union has launched a third case against China's restrictions on export of raw materials essential for European industries. Following the successful legal actions in 2012 and 2014 on similar measures, this time the EU is focusing on restrictions concerning graphite, cobalt, copper, lead, chromium, magnesia, talcum, tantalum, tin, antimony and indium.

Antitrust: Commission fines truck producers € 2.93 billion for participating in a cartel

The European Commission has found that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco, and DAF broke EU antitrust rules. These truck makers colluded for 14 years on truck pricing and on passing on the costs of compliance with stricter emission rules. The Commission has imposed a record fine of € 2,926,499,000. MAN was not fined as it revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission. All companies acknowledged their involvement and agreed to settle the case.

Annual Report on Monitoring the application of EU law

The 2015 Annual Report on Monitoring the Application of EU Law, which reviews EU Member States’ performance in key areas of the application of EU law, shows that new complaints against Ireland fell sharply in 2015. The number of new EU Pilot files held around the same level as the year before but open infringement cases dropped to a five-year low. In 2015, 35 infringement cases were opened against Ireland, 8th lowest in the EU. Fourteen of these were for late transposition of EU directives into Irish law while 21 were for incorrect transposition and/or bad application of EU laws.

Agenda

Monday 1 August to Friday 26 August: ECO-UNESCO Exhibition

From Monday 1 to Friday 26 August, the European Commission Representation in Ireland will host an ECO-UNESCO exhibition of environmental action projects carried out by young people across Ireland. The 80 projects on display were short-listed from over 270 entries to ECO-UNESCO’s Young Environmentalist Awards programme, for which the Final and Awards ceremony took place in May.

Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 September: EU Stand at the National Ploughing Championships

The EU will host a stand at the 2016 National Ploughing Championships which will take place in Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly from 20 to 22 September 2016. This year, the theme of the EU stand will be "What is the EU doing for Agriculture?"

Public consultations

Consultation on the preparation of legislation on monitoring / reporting of Heavy-Duty Vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions

The European Commission is launching this consultation to collect the views of stakeholders and citizens with regard to the preparation of legislation on monitoring and reporting of Heavy-Duty Vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The Commission is open until 28 October 2016.

Public consultation on the Revision of Regulation (EU) No 443/2009 and Regulation (EU) No 510/2011 setting CO2 emission performance standards for light duty vehicles

The European Commission is launching this consultation to collect the views of stakeholders and citizens with regard to the revision of the EU regulations setting CO2 emission performance standards for new cars and vans (together referred to as light duty vehicles (LDVs)). The consultation is open until 28 October 2016.

Public consultation on the Evaluation of Youth Policy Cooperation in the EU

This consultation is about how EU countries work together on policy for young people. We want to find out how useful and effective you think EU youth policy is. We want to know if you know about the EU Youth Strategy (2010-2018) and the EU Council Recommendation on the mobility of young volunteers in the EU. We would also like to hear what you think about these initiatives, and how you think we can improve cooperation on youth policy. The consultation is open until 16 October 2016.

Job opportunities

Applications now open for traineeships at the EU Commission

The European Commission offers paid traineeships of 5 months duration starting on either 1st March or 1st October. Registration is now open for the period starting 1st March 2017. Successful applicants receive a monthly grant of approx. €1,120 and reimbursement of travel expenses. Accident and health insurance may also be provided. They also get hands-on experience of working in an international and multicultural environment.

This is the Newsletter of the Representation of the European Commission in Ireland.
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