European Union

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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Mr Kenny does some last-minute campaigning in Dublin ahead of today's general election

Elections are held in a onetime bailout country, and the incumbent party wins – but without enough support to cobble together a governing coalition. It happened in Portugal back in October, in Spain in December, and it seems the most likely scenario to play out today in Ireland, where voters go to the polls for the first time since Dublin emerged from its eurozone rescue two years ago. The Irish Polling Indicator, a daily tally of opinion surveys, has the Fine Gael party of prime minister Enda Kenny at just 28.5 per cent, with coalition partner Labour at 6.5 per cent. “Hung Dáil looms,” declares the Irish Times.

Given Ireland’s unusual political history, finding parties for Fine Gael to partner with (other than Labour) is no easy task. Unlike most Western European democracies, Ireland’s modern party system didn’t really develop on a traditional left-right spectrum. Instead, it’s more of what political scientists term a “centre-periphery” model, originally defined on Ireland’s relationship with its former masters in London. During the Irish Civil War, those who backed the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, which gave Dublin independence, went on to become Fine Gael; those who thought the treaty didn’t go far enough (mainly because the new Irish Free State didn’t include Northern Ireland) eventually became Fianna Fáil.

For those historical reasons, a “grand coalition” of the country’s two main political parties would be an anomaly – despite narrow policy differences (indeed, the Irish Times recently posted a video entitled “What’s the difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael?”). To this day, Fine Gael is seen as the party of Dublin’s professional elites, and that division has been exacerbated in the post-bailout environment, where Dublin has thrived but the countryside has failed to rebound. The FT’s Ireland correspondent Vincent Boland has a look at those divisions in his pre-election report from Limerick.

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Political group and committee meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Ukrainian MPs will join MEPs in Brussels for a 3-day “Ukraine week” high-level conference on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation on 29 February – 2 March. The 40-strong delegation from Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will include its leadership.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Ukrainian MPs will join MEPs in Brussels for a 3-day “Ukraine week” high-level conference on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation on 29 February – 2 March. The 40-strong delegation from Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will include its leadership.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Ukrainian MPs will join MEPs in Brussels for a 3-day “Ukraine week” high-level conference on good parliamentary practice, law-making and representation on 29 February – 2 March. The 40-strong delegation from Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, will include its leadership.
Committee on Foreign Affairs

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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South Africa and the EU have developed a comprehensive partnership, of which one important pillar is the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA).

Download this video here.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

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The EU-Mozambique Country Strategy Paper for 2008-2013 signed in December 2007 has a total budget of € 622 M. Funding from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) is allocated to several priority areas.

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Plenary sessions : To help strengthen Tunisia’s economy, hit not least by 2015 terrorist attacks, MEPs backed emergency plans to allow an additional 70,000 tonnes of its virgin olive oil to be imported duty free in the EU, in 2016/17. However, MEPs also inserted requirements for the EU Commission to do a mid-term assessment of the effects of the measures, update them if it turns out that they harm EU olive oil producers, and ensure that the imports are tracked from start to finish.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : To help strengthen Tunisia’s economy, hit not least by 2015 terrorist attacks, MEPs backed emergency plans to allow an additional 70,000 tonnes of its virgin olive oil to be imported duty free in the EU, in 2016/17. However, MEPs also inserted requirements for the EU Commission to do a mid-term assessment of the effects of the measures, update them if it turns out that they harm EU olive oil producers, and ensure that the imports are tracked from start to finish.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

Plenary sessions : Parliament gave its green light on Thursday to grant €1,095,544 in EU aid to Belgium to help 412 workers made redundant by two glass manufacturers to find new jobs. A further 100 young unemployed people should also benefit from the plan. The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) aid still needs to be endorsed by the EU Council of Ministers.

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP