TOMORROW (Saturday April 27) is 40 days until the European Elections.
Nearly 450 million citizens across Europe will go to the polls from June 6 to 9 - in Ireland we’ll cast our ballot on Friday, June 7.
European Movement Ireland, in co-operation with the European Parliament Liaison Office, is urging people across the Ireland South Constituency, from Cork to Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Carlow, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford to Wicklow, to join us at our Town Hall, as part of our Can Vote, Will Vote Campaign, on Thursday, May 2, in the UCC Centre for Executive Education.
Moderated by Flor MacCarthy of Oireachtas TV, the Ireland South Town Hall presents an opportunity for the general public to hear from experts such as Dr Theresa Reidy, Senior lecturer in the Department of Government and Politics, University College Cork; Gerard Arthurs, Lecturer in International Relations & Politics, Southeast, Technological University in Waterford; and Karen Coleman, Editor at EuroParl Radio.
General audience members will also have the opportunity to ask MEP candidates and our expert panel questions. It is an opportunity to see democracy in action and prepare for casting your ballot this summer.
EM Ireland’s Can Vote, Will Vote campaign aims to increase voter participation. Turn-out in the 2019 EU elections in Ireland was 49.7%, a drop compared to the 2014 turnout of 52.44%, and lower than the European average of 50.66%.
This year, we aim to incentivise voters, like you, as the stakes are high for the upcoming European elections.
The EU faces significant geopolitical challenges, with ongoing war on the periphery of the continent in Ukraine as well as the Israel-Palestine conflict, which has given rise to division among member states.
Migration continues to dominate as a contentious issue, with EU leaders hailing the Migration and Asylum Pact as a “common sense” approach to migration, despite the fact many human rights and refugee organisations strongly criticised it, highlighting that it could set back asylum law for years and undermine the rights of refugees.
Ongoing discussion continues at EU level about the bloc’s future security and defence, with mixed views about the EU’s traditional ally the US, and its willingness to intervene or assist the EU should it come under a military attack into the future.
On the global economic stage, Europe lags behind both Asian and US economies. Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Enletta has commissioned a report on EU competitiveness called Much More Than A Market, which examines how we can strengthen Europe’s greatest economic driver, the Single Market. It outlines an overhaul, intended to make doing business easier across the EU, and provides solutions about how the EU can scale companies to compete on the global stage. It sets out a vision for a fair, green, and digital transition, but also highlights how a financing model of both private and public investment could make these ambitions a reality.
We’ve heard much from the European farming community, with large scale and arguably impactful protests.
The agricultural sector is a significant stakeholder at EU level, with 30% of the EU budget allocated to this. With increased anger regarding climate measures and regulation introduced over the last number of years, the future of EU agricultural policy hangs in the balance, with the Nature Restoration Law a case in point.
The planned final vote of national environmental ministers was postponed, as Hungary withdrew its support for the law, following Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy, while Belgium, Austria, Finland and Poland all signalled their intention to abstain. This means the law did not achieve a qualified majority needed to pass, and now questions remain about the future of the legislation, given this fatal blow, not normally seen once legislation has passed through parliament.
Farming is of vital importance to the Irish economy and is at the heart rural communities. What happens in Brussels over the course of the next mandate will be indicative of whether agricultural policy will continue to adapt to environmental measures and conserve biodiversity.
Furthermore, in Ireland we are fortunate to have a thriving multinational sector with significant investment from the world’s leading tech and social media giants, the introduction of regulation such as the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts, which recently enacted are designed to make the online world a fairer and more open and safe space. A breach of these acts or infringements will incur significant fines. The EU also adopted the first Artificial Intelligence Act, which aims to provide clear requirements and obligations regarding specific uses of AI, including measures to develop trustworthy AI.
Returning to the theme of EU competitiveness, and closer to home, questions remain about Ireland’s corporate tax regime, a cornerstone of our foreign direct investment policy, and whether the EU will pursue the Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) policy. This is intended to build on the current OECD International Tax Agreement. It is important we have the right people at an EU level advocating for Ireland should these questions arise in the next term.
As outlined above, things are predicted to change for the composition of the European Parliament, according to data from the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, anti-European Populist parties or far-right parties are predicted to top the polls in at least nine member states. This prediction is concerning for European Movement Ireland as if it bears fruit, key policy areas, such as, the European Green Deal, ongoing support for EU enlargement, a lifeline for Ukraine in unprecedented times, and more broadly rule of law and human rights issues are likely to be under threat.
The EU elections give us a once in a five-year chance to use our vote and have our say on the issues that matter to us at an EU level. The EU is often criticised for appearing to be distant far-off institutions, “away in Brussels”, however at European Movement Ireland we are passionate about bringing Europe to Irish people and its citizens.
Attending the upcoming Ireland South Town Hall presents an opportunity to “engage with Europe” to listen to the debates and make an informed decision, with MEP candidates present who are seeking your vote.
If you’d like to learn more about the European elections, I’d also encourage you to check out European Movement Ireland’s EU Elections Information Hub, the go-to webpage for non-partisan information on the EU elections.
To register to and attend European Movement Ireland’s Ireland South Town Hall we’d be delighted to welcome you.
https://www.europeanmovement.ie/european-elections-town-hall-south/
More in this section
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Rami G Khouri
Mort Laitner
Donald Low
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
Nikkei Editorial
visit website
