Brussels briefing

HATS OFF TO THE CAP ON BANKER BONUSES

All the EU institutions finally agreed a deal on capping bankers bonuses, with the Irish presidency bringing it to a conclusion late on Wednesday night.

The winning headline following this deal goes to Labour MEP Phil Prendergast when she “took her hat off to the cap”. She also pointed out that bankers believed they should be paid what the markets deemed they were worth.

The only thing is that, having capped the bonus, we can expect to see salaries increasing, while for really saucy bonuses of up to double their pay, bankers will need a big percentage of their shareholders to agree.

TACKLING EU’S FOOD WASTE A MAJOR ISSUE

Close to a third of food in the EU is wasted, thrown out and dumped even as the number of citizens depending on food aid grows, and is now as many as 16m.

The waste does not include the growing number of people who are obese simply from eating too much and too much of the wrong food.

But how to prevent the waste and ensure it benefits the hungry was tackled by the European Economic and Social Council — the EU body comprised of national politicians and interest groups.

They said the current crisis has increased the numbers depending on social assistance, but reduced the number of food banks, just as the need for them has risen sharply.

Up to 30% of food gets wasted in EU households, supermarkets, restaurants, and along the food supply chain each year. Some countries are managing to do this better than others. It’s time they got together and shared best practices, the EESC said.

GERMANS ACCUSED OVER CHEAP LABOUR

Two Belgian ministers have accused Germany of unfair competition, bringing in cheap workers from eastern Europe to work in their meat plants.

Germany has no minimum wage in a number of sectors, including meat processing, and according to the two Socialist ministers, the cost of butchering a pig is less than a third as they pay workers as little as €300 a month.

The commission added its own voice to the complaint, pointing out that Germany operates a work scheme that sees big numbers paid as little as €400 a month, and pay no contributions towards welfare and pensions.

LITTLE BONUS

Holding the EU presidency held another little bonus for Ireland as Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly (pictured) discovered when the two-days-and-a-night long meeting ended with all but two countries agreeing on what they wanted in a new Common Agriculture Policy.

One of the many, many issues was what year they took as the reference year on which to base the all-important single farm payment.

It didn’t matter a lot to most countries, but it was crucial for Ireland.

Because Ireland had a property boom, that also inflated agriculture land prices, and when that bubble burst, down the prices came. It is bad enough in 2013, but could be even worse in 2014.

So being given the choice of which year to choose was a big feather in Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney’s hat.

Otherwise, he said, it could see the rise again of land speculation.

PROTECTING THOSE WHO PROTECT LOVED ONES

Home helpers are all too often an exploited sector of the workforce, getting by in the black or grey economy despite the fact that they are often entrusted with looking after our nearest and dearest — the elderly and young children.

The European Commission wants to ensure that home helpers are properly protected and has asked all member states to sign up to the International Labour Organisation’s convention on domestic workers.

Labour MEP Emer Costello not only wants the Irish Government to adopt the basic decencies that are laid down in the convention, but to go further to ensure that precarious domestic jobs are decent and sustainable ones.

NEW RULES TO SORT OUT BUYERS RIGHTS

Buying online and then having to stand in line in a court to get your money back is a mug’s game, and an impossibility in most cases.

Even through most countries have cheap and easy ways to settle small disputes over purchases, consumers trying to deal with traders in another country remains a nightmare.

New rules designed to streamline all this were agreed in the European Parliament last week, which Fianna Fáil MEP Liam Aylward says will be a big help, especially since 43% of shoppers are now doing in online.

Getting your rights will be either free of charge for the shopper or cost just a nominal fee, while any dispute should be solved within 90 days, said Mr Aylward.

IRISH RECYCLING IMPROVEMENT MERITS BADGE

Ireland was one of the few countries to get a badge of merit from the European Environment Agency during the week, in the report on recycling.

It seems that the country is gradually leaving its dumping-in-landfills solution behind and, in just nine years, went from recycling 11% of its waste to recycling more than two thirds of the total.

The target, however, is to recycle half of all waste by 2020 and Austria is the leader at 63%.

And before anyone starts handing out rosettes, the majority of municipal waste still end up in landfill, the report warns.

And like everything else in the country, even recycling has been hit by the crisis, with the global demand for recyclables being affected. More regulation and better collection should help the country meet the target, though, the report says.