Tag Archives: EU

New EU energy labels for light bulbs will apply from September 1

Confused?

Helen O’Dwyer, of Solus, writes:

A brand-new version of the widely-recognised EU energy label for light bulbs and light sources will be applicable in all shops and online retailers from September 1st  with an 18-month transition period for products already on the market.

The most important change is a return to a simple A-G scale on energy labels because more and more products are now achieving ratings as A, A+ or A++ according to the current scale causing confusion for consumers.  [Solus webinar on the changes here]

The new energy label will leave empty energy efficiency classes at the top of the scale for advancing technologies and to encourage manufacturers to develop more energy efficient products…

Solus

This evening.

River Liffey at Dublin city centre.

Trawlers leave Dublin following a protest today by fisherman against against the EU Common Fisheries Policy, quotas cuts and the impact of Brexit

A flotilla of 55 trawlers from all around the coast gathered at the entrance to Dublin Port before dawn, berthing at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay were a rally was held to highlight the ‘lack of support from the Irish government.

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Channel 4’s Great British Bake-Off

This afternoon

in an internal EU document seen by the Guardian, British television and film’s dominance in Europe has been described as a threat to the bloc’s  “cultural diversity”.

Via The Guardian:

…Under the EU’s audiovisual media services directive, a majority of airtime must be given to such European content on terrestrial television and it must make up at least 30% of the number of titles on video on demand (VOD) platforms such as Netflix and Amazon.

According to an EU document tabled with diplomats on 8 June, in the “aftermath of Brexit” it is believed the inclusion of UK content in such quotas has led to what has been described as a “disproportionate” amount of British programming on European television.

“The high availability of UK content in video on demand services, as well as the privileges granted by the qualification as European works, can result in a disproportionate presence of UK content with the European video on demand quota and hinder a larger variety of European works (including from smaller countries or less spoken languages),” a paper distributed among the member states reads.

EU prepares to cut amount of British TV and film shown post-Brexit (The Guardian)

DD writes:

Oh no! All those great programmes about baking and snobs between the Wars. This is Fair City’s big chance.

Fight!

This afternoon.

Good times.

EU to propose law on COVID-19 certificates in March (EuroNews)

Getty

Taoiseach Michael Martin with Fergal Keane on BBC News today

This afternoon.

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC News, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said:

“I worry a bit about the post-Brexit noise from EU member states towards Britain and vice versa.

“I would tell one or two of them that they need to cool it, dial it down.

“This isn’t an ongoing battle between the UK and some of the bigger beasts of Europe. Let’s move away from that. They need to cool it. We’ll be collateral damage in all of that.

“Everybody needs to cool it a bit.”

Meanwhile…

He also indicated that any extension to the grace period for the NI protocol would be for a matter of months – “It can’t be a year,” he said.

The taoiseach also spoke about tensions in loyalist areas over the NI protocol and Irish Sea border in recent weeks.

Mr Martin said: “I don’t think the threats were as real perhaps, as might have been suggested, but you can see how it can tip over very quickly. And therefore we have to be very, very vigilant that it doesn’t,” he said.

He also talked about fears that such tensions could lead to a return to sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

“If we handle this the wrong way, and if things are handled wrongly, you could provoke that response” he said.

Meanwhile…

Asked about the possibility of a border poll to decide the political future of the island of Ireland, the taoiseach said:

“If we just see this as a simple numerical majoritarianism, we’re going backwards, not forward. And I don’t believe the future of the island of Ireland is about majoritarianism.”

He said it would be a mistake to have a border poll in the next five years.

Brexit: Micheál Martin calls on ‘big beasts’ of EU to ‘cool it’ (BBC)

Pic: BBC

This morning.

“(I was) strongly critical of the whole approach down through the years, down through the decades in international trade, particularly around the dispute resolution where the environmental community among others like social justice organisations said that the power of the corporations within that was too strong, so that was our primary concern regarding CETA and other trade deals that were being done.

“But, there are three developments in the last three years that give me reassurance, some of those concerns are starting to be addressed in a way that is progressive.”

Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland.

Eamon Ryan says he will urge Green TDs to change their mind on CETA (Independent.ie)

Meanwhile…

FIGHT!

Awkward, in fairness.

CETA?

Update:

Meanwhile…

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore TD, who is the party’s spokesperson for Climate Action and Biodiversity, said:

“With this trade deal comes a very controversial mechanism which allows companies to sue an EU member state for potential profits lost if a Government decides to change their policies or regulations.

“This will be devastating for many reasons, including in the area of health and housing, but also in in relation to the Government drafting legislation and policies to tackle climate change and biodiversity. If a company feels a Bill or policy drafted to mitigate climate change might negatively impact on their profit margin, it could technically sue the Irish Government under CETA.

“Furthermore, all of this would be settled in special tribunals held outside our own justice system in a non-transparent manner. This is hardly appropriate in an age where transparency and due diligence is a basic requirement in a democracy.

“The chilling effect of this deal could be enormous as the Government is already wary of legislating strongly for climate action for fear of being held up in court. CETA will reduce the Government’s capacity for stronger decision-making, which is what we need in our fight against climate change.

“If companies can sue the Irish Government for compensation, not only will the taxpayer be out of pocket, but our ability to mitigate climate change and protect our biodiversity will be diminished. We cannot afford for that to happen.”

Previously: The Set Menu

The U.K. was expecting the letter and the European Commission sends dozens of such notices to member states each month over various instances of alleged breaches of EU law. An exchange of letters and explanations follow, before some of these cases reach the EU’s courts.

It’s not unusual for the EU to take legal action against countries and as soon as the U.K. acknowledged that its plan was in breach of the Withdrawal Agreement, such a move became inevitable.

But officials on both sides say privately that they don’t want it to overshadow negotiations on a future trade deal. They hope that if they get an agreement on that, fuss over the legal action will quietly fade into the background.

EU to Start Legal Action Against U.K. on Internal Market (Bloomberg)

RollingNews

From top: Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Eamon Ryan; Minister for Foreign Affairs Trade Simon Coveney; Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Taoiseach Micheal Martin.

This afternoon.

Government Buildings, Dublin 2.

A media briefing on the publication of the government’s 2020 Brexit Readiness Action Plan ahead of the end of the ‘Transition Period’ on December  31 and building on earlier Action Plans of December 2018 and July 2019.

Action plan here.

Rollingnews