EU NEWS YOU CAN USE

In a special address to this week's World Economic Forum in Davos, President von der Leyen presented the new Green Deal Industrial Plan: "We have a plan, a Green Deal Industrial Plan, our plan to make Europe the home of clean tech and industrial innovation on the road to net zero. Our Green Deal Industrial Plan will be covering four key pillars: the regulatory environment, financing, skills and trade." The President closed her address saying: "Europe already has everything it takes – talent, researchers, industrial capacity. And Europe has a plan for the future. And this is why I believe the story of the clean-tech economy will be written in Europe."

The European Commission this week disbursed a first instalment of €3 billion of the up to €18 billion Macro-financial Assistance+ (MFA+) package for Ukraine for 2023. The funding will help Ukraine address its pressing short-term funding needs and is accompanied by reforms as well as reporting requirements to ensure the transparent and efficient use of the funds. Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said: "This disbursement reconfirms Europe’s unity and commitment to supporting Ukraine in the face of Russia’s relentless aggression, to help the country cover its most pressing daily needs and survive freezing winter temperatures. It is the first in a series of regular payments that the EU will make to Ukraine throughout 2023, subject to conditions relating to reforms in areas such as Ukraine’s fight against fraud and corruption, and in strengthening the rule of law."

The EU has been providing humanitarian aid in over 110 countries, reaching millions of people across the globe each year since 1992. This week, it adopted an initial annual humanitarian budget of €1.7 billion for 2023. Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič said: "Humanitarian needs are rising steeply. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has made a bad situation dramatically worse. Today, the number of people in need of life-saving assistance worldwide is higher than the population of the US. The key drivers remain conflicts, increasingly joined also by severe implications of climate change."

According to a new study from the Clean Energy for EU islands secretariat, a number of regulatory barriers are impeding the clean energy transition on the Irish islands taking part in the scheme: Aran Islands, Cape Clear, Rathlin, Valentia and Bere Island. The study, which praises the Irish islands for their achievements to date on the road to clean energy, also identifies ways to overcome these barriers.

Vice-President Dubravka Šuica and Art O'Leary, CEO of Ireland's Electoral Commission and Citizens' Assemblies, this week launched the Deliberative Democracy Cohort of the Summit for Democracy. The Summit for Democracy is a global gathering of 112 governments as well as representatives from civil society, international organisations and the business community, hosted by US President Joe Biden to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing democracies in the 21st century. The Deliberative Democracy Cohort, one of the multi-stakeholder groups forming part of the Summit, will be co-led by the European Commission and the government of Ireland, with the support of the New Democracy Foundation. The Cohort aims at promoting deliberative democracy, through concrete commitments to be taken by stakeholders at national and international level.

Two key directives on critical and digital infrastructure entered into force this week. The Directive on measures for a high common level of cybersecurity across the Union (NIS 2 Directive) will ensure a safer and stronger Europe by significantly expanding the sectors and type of critical entities falling under its scope. The Directive on the resilience of critical entities (CER Directive) will strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure to a range of threats, including natural hazards, terrorist attacks, insider threats, or sabotage. EU Member States now have 21 months to transpose both Directives into national law.

The European Commission, EU Member States, and 26 partners countries this week launched “The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate”, the first Ministerial-level global forum dedicated to trade and climate and sustainable development issues. The Coalition aims to build partnerships between trade and climate communities to identify the ways in which trade policy can contribute to addressing climate change. Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said: "Trade can help in finding solutions to achieve mitigation and adaptation to climate change, for instance by spreading access to the right technologies and investments. Through this Coalition, we will be able to provide high-level leadership and guidance to boost international cooperation and promote trade policies, initiatives and actions towards climate-resilient economies."

According to a new Commission report on the impact of demographic change, the EU's share of the global population is predicted to fall below 4% by 2070. Despite a population increase of 92.3 million in the EU 27 countries since 1960, the EU's share of the global population has fallen from 12% in 1960 to 6% today. The report also looks at the impacts of other issues such as the ageing of the EU population, Covid-19, Brexit and the war in Ukraine on demography.

The European Commission this week launched the ‘Talent Booster Mechanism'. The Mechanism will provide support to EU regions affected by the accelerated decline of their working age population to train, retain and attract the people, the skills and the competences needed to address the impact of the demographic transition. New figures show that 82 regions in 16 Member States (accounting for almost 30% of the EU population) are severely affected by a decline of the working age population, a low share of university and higher-education graduates, or a negative mobility of their population aged 15-39.

The European Commission has signed a Cooperation Arrangement with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan to facilitate data sharing of Earth Observation data on the basis of reciprocity. Under the Agreement, the EU will provide access to data and services from Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the EU Space Programme while Japan will provide the Commission, for the purposes of Copernicus, with free and open access to data from its non-commercial Earth observation satellites.

The European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) has just reinforced its fleet with three new offshore patrol vessels. The three vessels, the Ocean Guardian, the Ocean Protector and the Ocean Sentinel, will all fly the Portuguese flag and will be deployed primarily as fisheries patrol vessels to support EU countries in the different EFCA joint deployment plans, from the Mediterranean and Black Sea to the Western Waters, North Sea, Baltic Sea, NAFO (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organisation) and NEAFC (North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission).

New Eurostat figures show that 21.8% of the EU's gross final energy consumption came from renewable sources in 2021, down very slightly (0.3%) on 2020 and well below the current EU target of 32% for 2030. Sweden (62.6%) had by far the highest share of renewables in gross energy consumption among EU Member States in 2021 while Luxembourg (11.7%) had the lowest. In Ireland, 12.5% of gross energy consumed in 2021 came from renewable sources, up from 7% in 2012 but down from 16.2% in 2020. This is the fourth lowest share in the EU.

This online lunchtime event will focus on developing relationships between Irish Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and MEPs. It will also provide an opportunity for capacity building guidance for CSOs and to further their understanding of how to engage with the European Parliament and other EU institutions. Speakers will include: Maria Walsh MEP, Midlands Northwest; Colm Markey MEP, Midlands Northwest and Thomas Kramer, Community Manager, European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland. It will be moderated by Stephen O Shea, Deputy CEO, EM Ireland.

On Wednesday afternoon, 1 February, the European Commission will bring together Climate Pact Ambassadors, experts and activists to take stock of the journey so far and discuss ways to build a more sustainable Europe for the future. This event, which will be live-streamed, provides an opportunity to network with the people and organisations involved in the Pact, hear about their achievements, and learn how to get involved.

A virtual visit to the European Commission’s translation service for Irish university students will take place on Tuesday evening, 7 February. Organised especially for Irish university students, this virtual visit to the European Commission’s translation services will give you the opportunity to hear from staff translators at the European Commission about their career paths and what their jobs entail (see programme below). The event will be opened by Stella Clarke, Head of the English language department at the European Commission.

On Thursday, 9 February, the European Commission, together with Dublin City University (DCU) and the University of Limerick (UL), will hold an online workshop for fifth-year students entitled ‘Translation as a career’. European Commission translators will participate in the event – to explain what they do and to speak about the skills necessary to work as a translator. They will also provide an opportunity for students to try it for themselves by working on a short text. In addition, lecturers from DCU and UL will provide an overview of the relevant courses they have on offer. This event is now full but a waiting list has been established.

Twice a year, the European Commission offers 5-month paid traineeships for university graduates with a good knowledge of a foreign language. Applications are now open for the 5-month period October 2023 to February 2024. Trainees at the European Commission receive a living allowance of ca. €1,300 per month. For full details, click on the link below.

Applications are now open for the 2023 European Charlemagne Youth Prize. Young people aged 16 to 30 and working on a project with an EU dimension are invited to apply. Three winning projects will be chosen from 27 projects nominated by national juries in each EU country. The first prize is €7,500, second prize €5,000 and third prize €2,500. The Charlemagne Youth Prize is awarded by the European Parliament and the International Charlemagne Prize Foundation in Aachen. The deadline to apply is 2 February 2023.