Brussels Briefing
The next G7 meeting takes place in Brussels on June 4 and 5 instead of Sochi â and it has been agreed that Russia will not be invited.
Having long struggled for entry to the global rich club, President Vladimir Putin, right, has now been sidelined, cutting back membership by one from what was the G8.
And there is no way that will change, at least as long as US president Barak Obama is in office, sources say. However, they concede that Putin looks like having a long reign ahead of him as his grip on power strengthens.
The bigger G20 seems to be a fading entity too as the attempt to bring the up-and-coming nations into a big boys club has been all but abandoned by the adults who find it easier to do business among the tested and tried old-world powers.
All those massive fines against companies for creating cartels to charge customers more, or cheating competition laws were worth around âŹ1bn to the EU last year.
The money will go back to the member states, reducing their contributions to Brussels this year, the European Commission has announced.
The EU handed out more than âŹ46m to countries to promote their food in the past few weeks, but Ireland was not among them.
More than âŹ10m went to Greece and âŹ11m to Italy, but the fact that none was allocated to Ireland mystified Marian Harkin.
The fund will be increased gradually up to âŹ200m and she is pushing Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, above, to make the case for Ireland receiving some of it.
With grass-fed beef, milk, and cheese aplenty, guaranteed traceability systems and low carbon foot print compared to foods imported from other continents, they have unique selling points, she says.
Despite being the countryâs first official language, Irish is still not a full working language at EU level because the Government sought a derogation due to expire next year.
The question is: Will they extend this or insist that translation and interpretation of all documents, speeches and briefings are also available in Irish?
Advocates point to a possible 200 new jobs for qualified Irish speakers all paid for by the EU.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan said it was the first constitutional language and âwe should continue to defend its statusâ. But with a handful of MEPs and very few ministers using Irish, others, like the bilingual Catalans, might create a fuss.
Dublin City Councilâs eight âquiet areasâ are a model that other cities should follow according to the European Environment Agency in a guide for governments.
Long-term exposure to noise such as traffic is bad for your health and a contributor to heart disease and other ailments according to research.
Around one in five EU citizens suffer unacceptable noise levels while it disturbs the sleep of up to a third of the EUâs population and with up to three quarters of the population living in cities, change is needed.
This, the Agency says, should be provided by âquiet areasâ such as in the Dublin parks.
There is nothing like a crisis to force the slow-coaches in the EU into action. And so itâs all hands to the pump to conjure up alternative sources of energy for next winter in case Russia decides to cut supplies.
With six countries almost totally dependent on its gas, and Ukraine in a similar position, the job is huge and will take years to achieve, and includes vast amounts of promised shale gas from the US.
Russia is now technically in its second quarter of recession and more individuals â and entities such as companies â will be added to the EUâs sanctions list by foreign ministers today. But nobody knows how much pain Putin, his friends, and his country will take.
Deaths from cardiovascular disease â strokes and heart attacks â have dropped by almost three quarters in Denmark over the past three decades.
Experts are not sure why but the decrease that is much larger than in neighbouring Norway and Sweden â where other factors, such as smoking and treatment, are similar. The key difference is in trans fats used in foods which Denmark banned 10 years ago â the first country in the world to do so, and at the time defying EU threats that it was breaching competition rules.
Brussels capitulated quickly amid research that shows five grams daily of trans fat increases the risk of heart disease by about 20%. In Ireland, cardiovascular disease is responsible for killing around 10,000 a day more than all cancers combined.
Officially itâs united in diversity â vive la difference â but often it seems the EU is united in adversity.
Thinktank Notre Europe has put together a fact sheet on the significance and history of each of the 28 EU countriesâ flags and anthems and that of the EUâs circle of stars and âOde to Joyâ.
They make the point that such symbols are a contribution to a feeling of belonging and ownership, and itâs good to know why certain colours, words, and tunes make hearts beat that little bit faster.
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