Brussels Briefing: A weekly round-up of the most interesting news from Europe

Get a taste of some of the interesting and quirky happenings in Europe from our Europe correspondent, Ann Cahill.

Lynch elected to trade union group

Esther Lynch, the legal affairs officer in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, has been elected to the senior team of ETUC, the European umbrella trade union organisation.

She got a rousing reception at its conference in Paris when she pledged to campaign for the right to strike and for collective bargaining.

She also identified the need to get over differences between trade unions and workers to have them work together.

No stranger to Brussels, Ms Lynch is on the EU Commission’s High Level Advisory Group on the Free Movement of Workers.

She lectures in law in Maynooth and before moving to ICTU in 1993 advised the now Tánaiste Joan Burton.

Food that may be good for you

Once upon a time food producers could make all and any kind of claim for their products — good for you, will make you beautiful, young, thin, intelligent.

Then nine years ago the EU introduced rules that said claims had to be scientifically proven — but with some loopholes.

Such as if just one of the three big no-nos — salt, sugar or fat exceed the quantity judged to be good for you they could still claim the food was good for you.

Now the laws are to be revised under the Commission’s plan to reduce rules — consumers have until November 5 to submit their opinions http://ec.europa.eu/smart-regulation/roadmaps/index_en.htm on how the current rules are working.

Health warnings

Smokers throughout the 28 EU countries will not be able to get away from the ugly effects of smoking on their bodies with the introduction of full-colour photographs on packs.

The pictures and the health warning will have to cover two thirds of the the front and back of packages from next May.

However, it does not go as far as the Irish law introducing plain packaging from 2017 — and this, the big tobacco companies say, makes it illegal in the EU.

The European Court of Justice is to decide if Ireland and Britain can go further than the EU rules on this one.

Smoking kills around 5,200 people in Ireland and costs the health services over €1bn annually.

Claiming money back for purchases

Holiday purchases or goods bought online can prove to be more than disappointing but hard to get your money back on.

The European Small Claims Procedure was devised six years ago to help European citizens recover their money from other EU countries.

It drastically cut costs by 40% and the time to get your money back from over two years to five months. Now the limit of €2,000 is increasing to €5,000 and the process made easier, said Dublin Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes.

“Submit a form, the supplier must reply in 30 days, the small claims court decides in 30 days and all countries must enforce — extremely easy” he said. https://e-justice.europa.eu/content_small_claims-42-en.do