Ireland will have the fourth highest rate of growth in the EU next year but the recovery continues to be job-poor with sanctions on Russia now a major threat, according to employers.

THINK industry” is the predominant message in Brussels as every sector of EU legislation is being overhauled to eliminate any elements that could be seen as detrimental to commerce.

Emily O’Reilly has taken on the EU banking sector in her first ruling as EU ombudsman, telling the banks they have failed to stick to the rules.

The proposed EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership free trade agreement could boost the economy by €800m per annum in increased GDP, and help create 4,000 jobs.

The financial crisis offers Europe an opportunity to ensure a prosperous future with a competitive industry and services sector that is fit to face the future, according to the director general of BusinessEurope, Markus Beyrer.

European governments should co-ordinate their efforts to root out tax avoidance, which costs them around €1 trillion every year, the EU’s executive body said yesterday.

The EU jobless rate is at an all-time high, the European Commission warned today.

A case involving an Irish company where Polish workers at a €5bn nuclear plant construction site were exploited has inspired a change in EU legislation.

THE cost of cutting greenhouse gas emissions has dropped dramatically and Europe is in danger of losing its lead in taking advantage of the green economy, according to an analysis from the European Commission.

IT is common nowadays to hear remarks such as “Irish workers are lazy — they don’t want to do menial jobs like cleaning or stacking shelves in supermarkets”.

ONLY Sweden and Britain sided with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson last week when he repeated that agreeing a world trade deal ahead of the US presidential election in November is crucial.

FARMERS have called on the Government to veto an emerging World Trade Organisation deal on the basis it would wipe out Irish agriculture while business leaders have also decried the latest compromises on industrial goods.

EU targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions will add costs to the European economy in the short-term but these will be outweighed by the greater cost of doing nothing, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today.