Archive for February, 2008
Alarm grows for Irish beef industry at World Trade Organisation talks (28/2/08)
The President of the Irish Farmers’ Association Padraig Walshe said Ireland stands to lose at least €2 billion euro from any deal negotiated by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson at the World Trade Organisation talks currently taking place in Geneva. (more…)
Wallstrom rejects fears that Lisbon Treaty will create EU super-state (28/2/08)
The Vice-President of the European Commission has dismissed concerns that the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty would pave the way for the creation of an EU super-state. (more…)
Toys with magnets to carry warning label (28/2/08)
Children’s toys containing magnets will have to be marked with a warning under a new proposal put forward by the European Commission. (more…)
EU urged to tackle abuse of power by major supermarket retailers (20/2/08)
MEPs across the political spectrum have signed up to an initiative urging the European Commission to clamp down on over-dominant supermarkets. (more…)
Cork students win debate on alcohol ads in sport at mock EU council (20/2/08)
Three Cork teenagers have won a trip to the European Parliament in Strasbourg for their class next October after they took part in a mock European Council in Dublin Castle on Wednesday (20th February). (more…)
Exhibition on homelessness to travel around Europe (20/2/08)
A powerful collection of photographs of homeless people has opened in France as part of a Sinn Féin-led campaign to end homelessness in Europe by 2015. (more…)
EU debates Ireland’s opposition to laws protecting agency workers (20/2/08)
As pressure grows within Ireland for the government to enact legislation protecting agency employees, the European Parliament has also been roped in to try and speed up the introduction of the long-awaited Directive on Temporary Workers. Opposition from a number of member states including Ireland and the UK has so far blocked the passage of this draft law, which would set down basic rights for temporary employees, including the right to the same pay and conditions, in-house health and safety training and childcare accessed by equivalent permanent staff. There are an estimated 100,000 temps working through about 500 employment agencies in Ireland, many of them in the construction sector, and many of them migrants. Speaking in Strasbourg earlier this week, Labour MEP Proinsias de Rossa urged the Slovenian presidency of the EU to seek agreement between member states on the directive by the end of March. ‘If Ireland and the UK do not accept a reasonable compromise’, Mr De Rossa added, ‘the EU should press the matter to a vote in the Employment Council in April.’
He warned that the government’s continued opposition to the directive ‘not only puts Ireland’s social partnership at risk, but undermines workers’ support for the European project.’ He expressed confidence that Irish and British opposition to the directive would be overcome under the EU’s qualified majority voting system.
€45 million euro – is it enough to make the internet safe for kids? (20/2/08)
A four-year programme which concludes this year has invested €45 million promoting safer use of the internet throughout the EU, particularly for children. The Safer Internet plus scheme aims to fight against illegal or harmful content on website and raise awareness of online dangers. But statistics from the European Parliament show while some progress has been made, many children are still vulnerable to exploitation or abuse via the internet. An EU survey dating from 2003 showed that 40% of children questioned said people they had only met online asked to meet them in person. Another study carried out three years later showed that 22% of children actually met the person who they had previously only met online, but more than half of these children never told their parents or teachers about it. A separate Eurobarometer survey carried out in 2005 revealed that nearly two out of three parents set rules for their children’s internet use, and the same figure think their child knows what to do if a situation on the internet makes them uncomfortable. Dublin Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell has called on the European Parliament to give a detailed assessment of how the EU programme is progressing, and whether a bigger budget is needed to further the scheme. Mr Mitchell also stressed the need for ‘greater technical filtering of social networking sites like Bebo and Facebook, to stop spam that might draw children towards harmful or pornographic sites’.
Meanwhile in Ireland, the government-established Office of Internet Safety is due to begin operating in March. Director John Laffan will work with the gardaí, internet providers and computer firms to develop programmes designed to protect young people against online dangers.
Chicken protestors fail to disrupt European Parliament vote on Lisbon (20/2/08)
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Lisbon Treaty, despite a silent but colourful protest by Eurosceptics at the parliament session in Strasbourg last week. (Wed. 20th Feb) Around sixty MEPs wore yellow jumpers in the chamber emblazoned with the message ‘Too chicken for a referendum?’ in protest at the fact that no member state apart from Ireland is holding a vote on the treaty. Three members of the UK Independence Party are to face disciplinary proceedings for dressing up in full chicken costumes during the demonstration.
MEPs gave a rare standing ovation when the report supporting the treaty was voted through by more than five votes to one in favour, following a series of emotionally-charged speeches both for and against. Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald led the charge for the anti-treaty campaign, speaking of a ‘fear of referendums’ across the EU. She claimed that although the European Parliament ‘speaks the language of peace (…) the Lisbon Treaty commits us to more military spending and increased support of armaments.’ But Fine Gael MEPs were scathing of Sinn Féin’s concerns over greater militarization, which MEP Avril Doyle described as ‘ironic, given that party’s particular history.’ Her colleague Mairead McGuinness MEP accused Sinn Féin of ‘peddling fear where there should be none’. Ms Doyle also warned the European Commission against ‘picking rows’ with Ireland on administrative issues such as the REPS payments, claiming this could be ‘misrepresented by the treaty naysayers’. Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil MEP Liam Aylward urged a ‘Yes’ vote on economic grounds, saying a ‘Yes’ vote was a vote for ‘jobs, growth and investment’ in Ireland.
Ireland is the only EU country to hold a referendum on the treaty, which must be ratified by all 27 member states it if it is to come into effect next year.
EU court ruling good for VHI customers, but is it bad for competition? (14/2/08)
VHI customers have good reason to celebrate this week following the decision by an EU court to reject a claim of unfair competition by BUPA Ireland. BUPA had taken the case to challenge Ireland’s risk equalisation scheme, whereby private insurers are obliged to pay into a fund to compensate the State-owned VHI for covering a higher proportion of older, more costly customers. The European Commission supported the government’s scheme, and now that stance has been vindicated by the European Court of First Instance, which described risk equalisation as a necessary system to ‘harmonise the level of risk encountered by operators in the Irish health insurance market’. The judgement means that BUPA now owes an estimated €33 million to the VHI in risk equalisation payments, and will have also have to foot the legal bill for the VHI and the European Commission. VHI Chief Executive Vincent Sheridan says the ruling is good for consumers as it ensures the continuation of community rating, which forces health insurers not to discriminate against existing customers on health or age status. But rival insurers claim the judgement highlights the dominant role of the VHI in the market. Dublin MEP Gay Mitchell pointed out that ‘The VHI had 75% of the market, and now that’s gone up to 76%. The government need to look at introducing more competition – maybe it’s time to rethink the laws on health insurance in Ireland.’
