Peoples News No. 122 Out Now

Contents 

P1. Greeks do the decent thing – Irish EU officials helpful; as usual! The Greek parliament has overwhelmingly adopted a “humanitarian crisis” bill to help its poorest people, ignoring pressure from the EU to halt the legislation.

P1.  TTIP and education. Proposals to make education a ‘traded’ commodity could cost the Irish taxpayer millions, by allowing investors in ‘for-profit’ colleges to sue the government for loss of profit as a result of state investment in public education.

P2. Draghi calls for quicker and deeper Eurozone integration. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has called for a “quantum leap” in institutional convergence of the eurozone.

P3. The IFA pronounces on TTIP. EU negotiators must ensure the interests of Irish and European farmers are not sacrificed in pursuit of an overall trade deal with the US, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has warned.

P4. Blockupy!! This week some 17,000 people gathered in Frankfurt to protest against the European Central Bank (ECB). The protest culminated in acts of violence which of course attracted a great deal of publicity.

P5.  Irish data commissioner happy with EU/US data transfer agreement! A lawyer for the European Commission told an EU judge on Tuesday last that he should close his Facebook page if he wants to stop the US snooping on him.

P6. Next, an Energy Union – as EU integration deepens! EU leaders agreed on 19 March to construct an Energy Union with what the EU Commission has spoken of as a ?dynamic governance process.

P7. How to Measure Impacts of Trade – The Copenhagen Report for the Irish Government on the impact of TTIP. The Copenhagen Economics Report (CER) released today Friday 27^th is sure to cause controversy on the basis of its underlying rationale for the initiative.

P9. To know the truth and call it a lie. The reaction among German political parties to EU President Juncker’s call for a full blown EU army provides a cautionary tale for us all.

P11. Why the agri-food community should oppose TTIP. Here are some reasons the agri-food community need to oppose TTIP and fight for something far better as agri-food policy in the EU in general!

P14. TTIP 2015 deadline likely to be missed. EU trade officials have conceded that the 2015 deadline to agree the TTIP trade deal with the United States is likely to be missed.

Read Post →

P1. Juncker: The EU needs an army. The European Union needs its own army “to face up to Russia“, as well as to restore the bloc’s standing around the world, according to EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

P2. Is “Another Europe” Possible? There are over 100,000 EU rules, international agreements and legal acts binding on or affecting Irish and other citizens across the EU.

P3. Save the Date:  Friday, 27 March 2015: Protest – Scrap TTIP! 10.00 – 11.00.  Venue:  Dublin Castle, (Dame St Entrance). EU Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmström, will be in town.

P4. A Dilemma for 2016? Dominic Hannigan, Labour TD, the chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs seems to believe that were Britain the leave the EU many of the financial institutions currently based in London would move to Dublin!

P4. An obstacle to real and sustained growth: Despite a fairly shameless campaign to persuade us that the worst is behind us most people are aware of the fact that we are still burdened with huge government, corporate and private debts.

Read Post →

Issue PN 120 of the People’s News Out Now (PDF)

Page1. Report reveals escalating poverty across EU – the mirage of Social Europe Caritas Europa, has just published a report: Poverty and Inequalities on the Rise –Just social systems needed as the solution!

P1. Ukraine, the EU and Russia

P3. The poor Germans! An unbelievable total of twelve million people in Germany are classed as poor, according to a study by a German welfare association.

P4. Greece baiting seems to have become the favorite sport of the political and media elite

P6. TTIP points to the demise of the public health service. A key part of the TTIP is ‘harmonisation’ between EU and US regulation, especially for regulation in the process of being formulated.

P8. Government prepared for the collapse of euro zone

P8. A lackluster defence of public services

P9. Plain packaging. There’s a big difference between the threatened tobacco plain packaging legal case and what a similar case might look like under TTIP!

P10. Another EU con job

P12. Giscard: ‘Greece should leave the euro.’ Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, author of the EU Constitution/Lisbon Treaty, has said that abandoning the single currency would be the best way for Greece to solve its debt crisis.

P12. Ireland continues to suffer from Common Fisheries Policy

P13. TTIP; education and for-profit colleges. Proposals to make education a ‘traded’ commodity could cost the Irish taxpayer millions, by allowing investors in ‘for-profit’ colleges to sue the government for loss of profit as a result of state investment in public education.

Read Post →