FORMER president Mary Robinson is among a number of high-profile names being tipped to become the first president of the European Union, a position created by the resounding Yes vote in favour of the Lisbon Treaty.

Ireland’s decisive vote for the Lisbon Treaty will bring about a stronger and fairer Ireland and Europe, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said today

“IT’S over to you” was the message from Brussels as Ireland prepared to go to the polls in a second attempt to ratify the Lisbon Treaty.

The re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum is due to dominate the agenda on the second day of the Labour Party's Waterford think-in today.

COULD the EU vice-president Margot Wallstrom who expressed confidence in the legal guarantees for Ireland in Lisbon II in Cork recently be the same Margot Wallstrom who, as environment commissioner, failed to enforce the legal guarantees contained in the drinking water directive (98/83/EC) in Ireland in 2001, despite our direct appeal to her?

A group of Cork businesswomen had a chance to get up close and personal with one of the European Union’s most senior politicians recently when they met Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission, for coffee and a chat during the Commissioner’s visit to the city.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin is due to meet his EU counterparts today for talks aimed at paving the way for a second Lisbon Treaty referendum in Ireland.

THE good news is that Europe’s leaders have made the issue of jobs their top priority as they gather in Brussels tomorrow.

EU MEMBER states will not agree to renegotiate the Lisbon treaty to ease Irish concerns over the document, the vice-president of the European Commission has said.

An average of 74 political aficionados are logging onto their computers to watch each meeting of the Oireachtas Committee discussing the Lisbon Treaty, new figures show.

Donal Hickey on how windfarms affect nature.

WHEN the French, voting in large numbers, rejected the European constitution (the Lisbon Treaty in readable form), the then president of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, along with José Manuel Barroso, called for the ratification process to continue.

TELEVISION stations give EU news less than a tenth of the airtime they give national news, undermining citizens’ right to information and preventing them having a democratic input, according to the European Commission.

PROMINENT members of the European Parliament were warned not to raise “politically sensitive issues” until the Lisbon treaty is passed here.

ANTI-TREATY campaigners are distorting the truth and telling lies, claims vice-president of the European Commission Margot Wallstrom.

THE provision in the Lisbon Treaty to have commissioners from just two-thirds of member states could affect the democratic legitimacy of the European Union, according to commission vice-president Margot Wallstrom.

EFFORTS to pass the Lisbon Treaty could fail because voters don’t know or care what it’s about, one of the longest-serving government members has warned.

The vice-president of the European Commission has rejected claims that the Lisbon Treaty is another step towards an EU super-state.

The European Commission is out to improve the EU’s profile by joining the YouTube revolution.

AN internet campaign to swing support behind withdrawing the European Parliament from Strasbourg and relocating it permanently in Brussels has attracted more than one million signatures.

TO VAT or not to VAT nappies is exercising the minds of the European Commission.

A BATTLE to ensure female asylum seekers are not sent back to countries that practice female genital mutilation has blown up at the European Commission.

THE launch of a debate on how the EU could best communicate with citizens turned into a debacle yesterday with a row over what the commissioner meant to say.

THE German leader of the Socialist MEPs has urged Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to reprimand Charlie McCreevy, but said Ireland’s commissioner was impressive — when he could understand his accent.

THE vice-president of the European Commission yesterday gave an undertaking to follow up with the Competition Commission on its stand that forced the Government to withdraw an estimated €100m grant to Intel.

European Commission vice-president Margot Wallstrom is due to give an address in Dublin today outlining how she plans to sell the proposed EU constitution to the public.

GETTING a yes vote to the European Constitution will be very difficult with even the outcome of the Irish vote uncertain, the vice-president of the European Commission admitted yesterday.

MANY believe it is only a matter of time before the European Union expands to the borders of Russia itself by admitting Ukraine as a member.

The new European Commission will be sworn into office today at a ceremony in Luxembourg where the EU’s top 25 officials pledge to further the cause of European integration and not be swayed by political pressure from home.

Highlighting the need to curb the everyday use of chemicals, blood tests carried out on 14 ministers in European Union nations found a cocktail of several toxic chemicals, including DDT pesticide residues, according to a WWF survey released today.

THE Government has been criticised by the European Commission over its failure to enact legislation to tackle the growing problem of electronic waste.

Ireland was condemned by the European Commission today for breaches of nine major EU environment laws.

AIR pollution in Dublin, especially from cancer-causing chemicals from increased traffic, is getting worse but the Government has failed to produce a plan to reduce the pollution.

IRELAND was among the first EU countries to have its emissions trading plan under the Kyoto climate control accepted by the European Commission yesterday.

The EU head office said today Ireland is one of only five EU states ready to implement a 1997 United Nations accord next year limiting carbon-dioxide emissions and chided other members for dragging their heels.

FACTORIES, farms and dumps which contribute towards Irish pollution have been listed on-line for the first time as part of a European-wide register.

EU governments were today given 90 days to decide on lifting their five-year-old moratorium on GM foods.

The Green Party is planning to take its campaign against the Ringaskiddy Incinerator to Europe.

RESIDENTS of Derrybrien village in Co Galway hope to enlist EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom’s support for compensation for the disastrous landslide which struck their community last month.

Brussels

The European Investment Bank is meeting in Dublin to discuss environmental sustainability.

Environment Minister Martin Cullen is due to meet EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom later today.