Antwerp: Workers set to lose jobs when General Motors shuts its Opel plant in Antwerp, Belgium, are likely to be eligible for EU retraining and job placement funding, the European Commission said.

AFTER almost 40 years of attempts, there has been a breakthrough in establishing a Europe-wide single patent system that will help slash the cost of creating and protecting patents.

IRELAND’S new EU commissioner is being pressed to take the agriculture portfolio with over 40% of the budget.

COD stocks were brought closer to extinction over the past year, warns the European Commission, which recommends that catches be cut by a quarter next year.

COUNTING in the Lisbon Treaty referendum gets under way this morning with the official result expected to be declared in the late afternoon.

EIRCOM is being forced to reduce its charges to competitors for broadband lines in a move that is expected to help improve the country’s poor internet coverage.

THE Yes to Lisbon campaign enjoys a 15-point lead in the polls with less than a week left to polling day.

IRISH universities and businesses are getting €1 million a week in research grants from the EU, but government R&D spending will have to be cut this year, Junior Minister Conor Lenihan has declared.

THE seven university presidents have given their approval to Ireland’s continued engagement at the heart of the EU and have highlighted the positive part Europe has played in third-level education.

THE country’s largest fishermen’s organisation is calling for a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum and says claims that the country has been robbed of its fish by other EU countries are wrong.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen said it is “crystal clear” that the issue of abortion does not arise in the Lisbon Treaty, as No campaigners vowed to make it a central issue between now and the October 2 vote.

MONEY is usually the weapon of choice when winning people over to your point of view in matters of public concern. And while the slogans and media space that money buys may not dictate the result, it certainly helps.

A €15 MILLION fund to help 2,400 redundant Dell and Banta Turnkey employees get back to work will be announced by the President of the European Commission when he visits Limerick today.

THE Yes side continues to hold a clear lead in the Lisbon Treaty campaign, according to a new poll.

PASSING the Lisbon Treaty is crucial to continued peace, security, and progress in the EU, former Polish president and solidarity trade union leader Lech Walesa has said.

EUROPEAN Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso weighed into the middle of the Lisbon Treaty debate last night when he described many of the No campaigners as dishonest.

THE Green Party will spend only a “meagre” amount on its yes to Lisbon campaign because its resources are low, leader and Environment Minister John Gormley has admitted.

FURTHER steps have been taken by the European Commission to help stabilise the difficult dairy markets.

THERE is a leadership crisis in the world and the EU and the United States must take the lead, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said yesterday, describing Europe as her country’s “essential partner”.