MEPs move to shut down Strasbourg seat

The EU will be seeking to recoup about €5bn from member states after the European Court of Auditors says the rules were not followed in schemes worth about 4% of money spent last year.

Government is a law unto itself

Ireland came last in a report on what EU countries are doing to match their fishing fleet to the amount of fish that can be safely taken out of the sea.

French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has slashed his country’s official growth forecasts, paving the way for a slew of cuts next year that are bound to anger many after the new Socialist government promised to avoid austerity.

Merkollande partnership forges ahead

President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to achieve a budget surplus for the first time since 1974 and cut France’s swelling debt if re-elected on May 6, warning that his Socialist rival would lead the country towards the fate of Greece or Spain.

Genetic advances a political football

There is a raft of helicopters at the ready to transport EU leaders to their summit today if the road from the airport is blocked due to a general strike by Belgian unions.

THE secretary general of the Department of Finance, Kevin Cardiff was cleared to become a member of the EU Court of Auditors by the European Parliament amid claims of political abuse and intimidation by some MEPs.

The European Parliament in Strasbourg today voted to support the nomination of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has said the €3.6 billion accounting error which tripped up Kevin Cardiff’s bid to sit on the European Court of Auditors should not be enough to prevent him taking the job.

THE nomination of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors looks certain to be decided by a full sitting of the European Parliament in three weeks’ time.

Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton has reiterated the Government's support for Kevin Cardiff to be appointed to the European Court of Auditors.

A DESPERATE scramble to salvage the Government’s bid to plant Kevin Cardiff in a plum EU post saw the release of an explosive email that threw his nomination into fresh controversy.

TÁNAISTE Eamon Gilmore has denied that Labour “hijacked” the outgoing Irish member of the European Court of Auditors, Eoin O’Shea.

THE debacle of Kevin Cardiff’s rejection for the Court of Auditors leaves the Government with a series of options, each one more messy than the other and in danger of re-opening the debate in Europe on the country’s handling of the financial crisis.

A reminder of just how brutal politics can be, says Political Editor, Paul O’Brien

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have expressed their disappointment at comments contained in an email from the out-going Irish representative on the European Court of Auditors about the man in line for the job, Kevin Cardiff.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny has refused to say if the Government will proceed with Kevin Cardiff’s nomination to a lucrative EU post after he was rejected at a key stage of the process.

The European Parliament's Budgetary Control Committee has rejected by one vote the appointment of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors.

MEPs have received an unprecedented amount of emails lobbying over the Government’s controversial nominee to a top auditing body in Europe, it was revealed today.

The grilling Kevin Cardiff got over the ‘missing €3.6bn’ was probably unique for a civil servant, but it is not clear yet if this represents a new era of accountability, writes Michael Clifford

THE Government faces growing opposition to its nomination of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors, with Fine Gael’s political grouping in Brussels questioning its choice of candidate.

The Finance Minister Michael Noonan is reiterating that he fully supports the nomination of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors.

THE Government’s nomination of Kevin Cardiff to the European Court of Auditors is expected to meet vociferous objections from the European Parliament after the €3.6 billion accounting error at the Department of Finance.

IRELAND can restore the EU’s sugar self-sufficiency and reduce costly imports, promoters of Irish sugar interests have told the European Commission.

IF the EU’s financial situation deteriorates even further, pro-CAP member states will need to have very convincing arguments ready to justify continuing the €58 billion expenditure on agricultural and fisheries policies — 47.4% of the EU budget.

SPECULATORS are making very attractive guaranteed incomes of up to €1 million a year from the European Union’s farm fund, often without owning as much as a garden, and without doing a day’s work on the land.

IFA president John Bryan has said a European Court of Auditors Report raises extremely serious issues regarding shortcomings in the control of meat imports and risks to EU consumers and producers.

THE Department of Agriculture will assist with a study to assess the possibility of redeveloping the sugar beet industry, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

OLD wounds caused by the loss of Ireland’s sugar industry have been re-opened by a European Court of Auditors investigation into how well the reform of the sugar market worked.

THE closure of Ireland’s last sugar factory in Mallow, Co Cork, with the loss of 240 jobs may not have been necessary, according to a report from the EU Court of Auditors.

EU sugar reform hit Ireland hard and whether we can recover depends on how cheaply we can produce it, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

FORMER Green senator Deirdre de Búrca said party leader John Gormley had assured her the Taoiseach promised a Green choice in the inner circle of Ireland’s new EU commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn in return for the party supporting the appointment.

THE outgoing European Union commissioner for agriculture and rural development bid farewell to farm policy yesterday.

IRELAND’S next EU commissioner promised to stop the talking and turn scientific research into jobs and help Europe find its way out of the economic crisis.

It has been reported that three of Ireland's most high-profile EU leaders are refusing to give up their Irish pension entitlements.

IRELAND’S nominee for European Commissioner, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, will be the country’s first woman in the job and is tipped to get the prestigious budget portfolio.

EU leaders have been unable to reach agreement on who should fill the posts of the new president and foreign minister.

EUROPEAN Commission sources denied they had requested the Government to send Tánaiste Mary Coughlan as the next Irish Commissioner to Brussels.

EUROPEAN Union milk quotas have been too high for a long time, according to the European Court of Auditors.

ABOUT 10 days ago, a rumour started about the EU Commissionership.