Brussels briefing
Toys have just got safer for our kids — at least, if the makers comply with the latest EU regulations on chemicals in the products.
A huge number of substances once commonplace in toys that can cause cancer, interfere with hormones or poison people are banned as are 55 fragrances that cause allergic reactions. And 19 heavy metals such as lead are strictly limited.
There are around 80 million children under 14 in the EU, 2,000 EU companies employing more than 100,000 people manufacturing toys and games and, of course, multiples more in countries like China. The trick, the EU says, is to look out for the CE mark that means it complies with all EU safety rules — but don’t forgot your common sense when it comes to small detachable pieces or suspect goods on the internet.
Any pay increases in the EU over the past year have been eaten up by increased prices, according to an ongoing survey of wages by the Dublin- based EU agency, Eurofound.
They found the efforts of the troika to insist on no central pay bargaining in struggling economies like Ireland’s makes no difference.
The idea that pay should be decided per company and based on productivity, and the presence in a country of a statutory minimum wage showed different outcomes in different countries.
CAR CLASH: It takes just one member state to approve a car, for its approval in all EU countries. So when Germany approved its smaller Mercedes models using an older coolant than that approved by the EU, it should have been good to go.
But France said ‘non’ and the Italian Commissioner for industry, Antonio Tajani agreed. Now national auto experts are recommending an EU- wide ban on the sale of A, B and CLA class models manufactured since mid-June.
It means the compact cars made by other companies, such as France’s Renault and Citroen and Italy’s Fiat should have the market to themselves for a time.
Mercedes argues that the new coolant is more prone to catching fire in a crash, which Tajani says they have failed to prove.
The Germans, who have so far benefited from the euro crisis, if you ignore the huge sums of money used to shore up their banks, didn’t like losing the deutschmark more than a decade ago.
And when the crisis bit, threatening the very existence of the euro, 83% understandably said they had little confidence in the new currency.
But good times must be on the horizon as the German public is regaining confidence, with 28% saying they have great confidence in the euro and only a third expressing a wish to return to the D- mark, according to Allensbach Institute research.
The days of a lion threatening his trainer in the big top are over in Belgium as it joined Austria and Britain in banning wild animals from circuses.
The suffering of the elephants, the giraffes, the tigers and the monkeys were all illustrated by GAIA, an animal rights body campaigning for the ban after investigating 18 circuses.
Restricted living quarters and constant movement led to psychological stress and discomfort for the animals that often exhibited abnormal behaviour, the group said.
The parliament passed the bill banning them from circuses during the week following on 130 Belgian cities and towns banning performances of circuses with wild animals.
Cypriots got themselves into trouble when they bought great-value shares in Greek debt, as their banks offered massive returns, and they were slow to give up the gamble even when the troika decided they needed a haircut. As we now know, it was a gamble that didn’t pay off and they were too slow to fold and run.
Now, the wonderful all-round weather island is to resort to a new kind of gambling to get itself out of recession — a real-life casino.
Long banned on the traditionally conservative island, though allowed in the Turkish northern part, the government decided last week to lift the ban in favour of a super-casino resort in an effort to lure big spenders.
So what makes a nation a nation? It means different things in different countries, but for Ireland nation — translated as social cohesion by the German Bertlesmann Foundation — means solidarity and helpfulness, and social networks.
Despite having among the lowest levels of trust in our institutions, the country is in the world’s second ranking when it comes to social cohesiveness.
Wealth helps, the research over the past 25 years finds, and one thing holding back Ireland and Britain is the inequality gap. See www.social-cohesion.net.
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