Podcasts about European Commission

Dr. Mandeep Rai is an international best-selling author, speaker, and broadcast journalist. She is the author of The Values Compass: What 101 Countries Teach Us About Purpose, Life and Leadership, which details how to incorporate values from other nations into your own life. She began her career working for JPMorgan, the United Nations, the European Commission, and grassroots NGOs before setting up the UAE's first media venture capital fund. Dr. Rai studied philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) at the University of Melbourne, has an MSc in development from the London School of Economics, an MBA at London Business School, with a year at Harvard Business School and MIT, and she holds a PhD in global values.Through her extensive travels (185 countries, and counting!), Dr. Rai came to the conclusion that each country has a core value. For example, the United States is characterized by entrepreneurship, Canada by openness, South Africa by forgiveness, and Mexico by celebration. The book is equal parts travel guide, foreign language class, and history lesson all told through the lens of vivid, vibrant stories. In our conversation, Dr. Rai explains how she came up with the five primary values and shares a preview of a tool she's developing to help readers narrow down their own values. We also touch on daily practices for heart-centering and tapping into your own energy. Dr. Rai is a deeply spiritual person and connected with her community, and she shares a charity that is near and dear to her. The Jaskomal Foundation is about bringing awareness and education in regards to stem cell transplants and increasing the donor registration list. Listen to today's episode to hear our conversation about The Values Compass and more.Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Simplecast, or on your favorite podcast platform. Topics Covered:Notable leaders who have endorsed Dr. Rai's work, including His Holiness the Dalai LamaHow Dr. Rai makes every morning a ‘miracle morning' Looking at countries through their relationship to change, continuity, connection, community, and core values Dr. Rai's go-to practices for finding and discovering values so that you're always operating as your authentic self How Dr. Rai is working to build more awareness about the importance of understanding national valuesAbout our guest: Dr. Rai's WebsiteDr. Rai's LinkedInDr. Rai's InstagramThe Values Compass: What 101 Countries Teach Us About Purpose, Life and LeadershipThe Jaskomal FoundationSpecial Offers: If there's a topic or charity you want me to highlight on the podcast, DM it to me on Instagram @getbusylivin_podFollow Us:Get Busy Livin' Podcast WebsiteGet Busy Livin' Podcast Instagram Get Busy Livin' Podcast TwitterAnne's Website Anne's LinkedInAnne's InstagramAnne's Twitter

ABOUT: Robert Overweg is the founder of the Adaptable Mindset program. He and his team empower people to develop their own Adaptable Mindset, to develop mental flexibility. Learn how to create mental space and to find new possibilities. In our rapidly changing world we keep feeling the impact of unpredictable events to which we have to adapt. Robert teaches how adaptability is about empowerment and finding new perspectives. The Adaptable Mindset program has been applied at several Fortune 500 companies (Chanel, Heineken), multiple SMEs and innovative schools. They have also supported over a thousand students and solopreneurs with their online program. Robert has over a decade of experience in innovation and digital transformation with clients like Vodafone, Liberty global, eBay, Heineken, a variety of startups, and innovative schools. He is also an artist and exhibited at the Centre Pompidou and the media biennial in Seoul. As a frequent speaker at institutes like MIT, SXSW, and the European Commission. Robert speaks about ways to use tech to work smarter and add value to the world. It's Robert's goal to empower people to live a life full of possibilities. STAY CONNECTED: Website: http://www.adaptablemindset.com Instagram: @theadaptablemindset LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertoverweg Twitter: @robertoverweg __________________ Thank you again for joining us today! If you know anybody that would benefit from this episode please share it with them and help spread the knowledge and motivation. Don't forget to show your support for the Rise Up For You Podcast by writing a review on iTunes. Your feedback helps the success of our show and pushes us to continuously be better! Check out www.riseupforyou.com for more podcast episodes, webinars, events, and more to help you get to the next level in your personal and professional life! You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Youtube @riseupforyou Looking for more support? Grab your free coaching call with our team completely FREE! Bring your questions about Confidence, Leadership or Business and we will assign you the best coach to provide customizable support. SCHEDULE YOUR FREE CALL HERE calendly.com/riseupforyou/coaching

NATO members emerged from their summit in Madrid this week having reached consensus on a new Strategic Concept, Sweden's and Finland's accession, and increased readiness capabilities on the eastern flank. This week, Mark Leonard is joined by Nick Witney, senior policy fellow at ECFR and former chief executive of the European Defence Agency; Jana Puglierin, head of ECFR's Berlin office; and Tara Varma, head of ECFR's Paris office, to evaluate the summit's outcomes, especially regarding European defence. How can Europeans coordinate increased military expenditure? What is the European Defence Union? And was Nick Witney right to describe the summit as “the most promising conjunction of planets”? This podcast was recorded on 1 July 2022. Further reading: - NATO's new Strategic Concept - The EU's Strategic Compass Bookshelf: - The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope - Au café de la ville perdue by Anaïs Llobet - The NATO summit is chance to wean Europe off US military might - Machtwechsel by Anna Sauerbrey Cover image: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, takes part in the NATO summit last Wednesday in Spain · Image by European Union, 2022

This episode is sponsored by Amber Group Marion is a senior economist at Deutsche Bank in London and a lecturer at Harvard University. She has extensive private sector, public policy, and monetary policy experience, including at the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the Luxembourg Central Bank, and Barclays. She received first prize from the American Society of Actuaries, Revue Banque nominated her as a rising star in finance, and Business Insider named her a cryptocurrency mastermind. Laboure holds a bachelor's degree from Université Paris Dauphine, a master's degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Doctorate of Philosophy from the Ecole normale supérieure in Paris. On this podcast we discussed: 1) Experience of working for the European Commission. 2) How fintech is impacting developing countries. 3) The financial challenges of millennials. 4) The problem of financial literacy amongst retail investors. 5) Why are crypto markets so volatile. 6) The impact of central bank liquidity on crypto. 7) Crypto: payment vs digital gold. 8) The rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). 9) Will CBDC displace banks? 10) Can crypto displace the fiat financial system? 11) Books that influenced Marion: The Curse of Cash (Rogoff), The End of Alchemy (King).

The EU has contributed to creating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established in 2015, as part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and takes action to implement them through its internal and external policies, as outlined in the 'Towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030' reflection paper, the European Green Deal, the European Commission's political priorities and its work programme. The Sustainable Development Goals also have a regional dimension, sometimes called 'localisation'. Achieving around 65 % of the targets is estimated to require local and regional authority participation. Numerous regions and cities, including in the EU, have expressed support for the SDGs and many have integrated them in their policy frameworks. - Original publication on the EP Think Tank website - Subscription to our RSS feed in case your have your own RSS reader - Podcast available on Deezer, iTunes, TuneIn, Stitcher, YouTubeSource: © European Union - EP

30/06/2022. The latest news from Australia, Ukraine and from rest of the world. Australia - NATO. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has met with the leader of the European Commission to fast track negotiations for a new trade deal, during his visit to Madrid to observe the NATO summit. Public and Catholic school teachers in New South Wales and the ACT have taken strike action demanding better pay and conditions. Russia has responded to being identified as a direct threat to the security of Europe by NATO as Sweden and Finland are invited to join the alliance, saying it will be monitoring the situation very closely. More: SBS Ukrainian - 30/06/2022. Бюлетень SBS новин українською. Австралія - НАТО: Прем'єр-міністр Австралії у Мадриді.  ЄС - Австралія. Нова стратегічна концепція НАТО та від нього дещо про Росію і Китай. Війна в Україні. Протести учителів у Новій Південній Валії. Про це і більше на веб-сторінці SBS Ukrainian... 

Hello and welcome to the Alcohol Alert, brought to you by The Institute of Alcohol Studies.In this edition:International experts call for ban on all alcohol promotion 🎵 Podcast feature 🎵‘No clear evidence’ MUP reduces harmful drinkingVast difference in alcohol-related deaths remains between richest and poorest in ScotlandContents Unknown: How alcohol labelling still fails consumers‘No place for cheap alcohol: The potential value of minimum pricing for protecting lives’Sobriety tags rolled-out further despite no evidence of efficacyIrish Government makes moves to improve product labellingBrexit Freedoms Bill could deliver pint-sized wine bottlesNo and low alcohol sales double in the UKAlcohol Toolkit Study: updateWe hope you enjoy our roundup of stories below: please feel free to share. Thank you.IAS BlogsTo read blogs click here.International experts call for ban on all alcohol promotion 🎵 Podcast feature 🎵Realising Our Rights, a new report launched on 28 June by Alcohol Focus Scotland (AFS) and a group of subject experts, calls on governments across the world to introduce comprehensive restrictions on alcohol marketing in order to improve health.The publication explains how increasingly sophisticated marketing means that people are being constantly bombarded with positive messages about how alcohol enhances their lives. The alcohol marketing experts who helped develop the report point out that this seeks to build long-term relationships between people and alcohol brands, which reinforce alcohol as a social norm and ultimately contribute to high levels of consumption and harm across the world.They particularly draw attention to at-risk population groups, with children and young people, and people at risk of an alcohol problem, more affected than others.A number of additional pieces of research were commissioned to help develop the report, including research examining the impact of alcohol marketing on people with an alcohol problem. The complementary research found that this demographic has an increased susceptibility to alcohol marketing, which fosters positive alcohol-related emotions and increases their likelihood of drinking.The group’s recommendations include:Additional research for the report included analysing case studies from seven countries with marketing restrictions, to understand the processes, successes and challenges to introducing these restrictions. These case studies can be used by countries looking to introduce similar restrictions, to better understand issues around:Utilising a window of opportunityOpposition from the alcohol industryHow to frame regulationsUse of evidence and argumentsThe AFS report includes a human rights-based approach to marketing restrictions, highlighting that states have a legal obligation to protect citizens’ rights – such as the right to health – and that commodities that infringe on these rights need further restriction.AFS’ Chief Executive, Alison Douglas, said:“The current self-regulatory approach to alcohol marketing is failing to protect people and has led to our communities being wallpapered with promotions for a product that harms our health.“People don’t just have a need to be protected from alcohol marketing they have a right to be protected.  A number of other countries have already imposed bans on alcohol marketing, if we want to create a more positive culture where everyone can realise their right to health, the UK and Scottish governments must act to restrict alcohol marketing.”The Scottish Government is consulting this year on marketing restrictions, and the Minister for Public Health, Maree Todd said:“I welcome this report and will study carefully its detailed findings and recommendations. I am determined to tackle the harmful impacts that alcohol marketing can have on children and young people, as well as the triggering effect it can have on heavy drinkers and those in recovery.”Tom Bennett, one of the report experts who is in long-term, abstinent recovery from an alcohol problem, said:“Alcohol marketing can be massively triggering; it’s designed to be. Seeing an image of a cold beer on a warm sunny day or a midwinter glass of whisky in front of an open fire can be highly appealing. Yet the message these images convey, that alcohol is life enhancing, is at odds with the health risks.”‘No clear evidence’ MUP reduces harmful drinkingPublic Health Scotland and the University of Sheffield released the final report on the impact of minimum unit pricing in Scotland, which suggests that among those drinking at harmful levels or those with alcohol dependence, there is “no clear evidence of a change in consumption or severity of dependence”.It also found that some economically vulnerable groups saw increased financial strain as they ended up spending more on alcohol. Some of those surveyed reduced spending on other things such as food and utilities.Public Health Scotland’s theory of change for MUP (reproduced from Beeston et al, 2019)However, there was little evidence of other negative consequences, such as increased crime or a shift to illicit substances. As this was an argument frequently used against the introduction of MUP, it is an important consideration.Further, the proportion of people who had drunk at hazardous levels in the last week fell significantly by 3.5% in the market research data. Other analyses of Scotland’s MUP have also found reductions in consumption among some population groups.Professor John Holmes, the lead researcher on the project, highlighted in a recent IAS blog that MUP isn’t designed to reduce drinking for those who are dependent:“Alcohol dependence is a more complex problem than harmful drinking and is best-tackled by early identification of alcohol problems and the provision of an accessible and effective treatment system.“MUP may therefore only contribute to a reduction in alcohol dependence by preventing future cases rather than addressing current ones.“Overall, our report offers a nuanced and mixed picture of the impact of MUP on a key population of concern, with both positive and negative findings for those on both sides of the policy debate.”During a meeting of the health committee in Holyrood, Dr Sandesh Gulhane (Conservative MSP for Glasgow) claimed that MUP was failing, and that the most vulnerable were cutting back on food to afford the high prices. Professor Petra Meier responded that pricing policies alone would not be enough to alter the consumption for some very heavy drinkers, and investment in health services is also necessary: “addiction services have had major cutbacks during Covid, they have been virtually inaccessible unless you were able to join online groups and make do with things like alcoholics anonymous online and so on.”Vast difference in alcohol-related deaths remains between richest and poorest in ScotlandIn related news, Public Health Scotland (PHS) also released its MESAS report 2022 (Monitoring and Evaluating Scotland's Alcohol Strategy) on 21 June , which shows huge inequality between the poorest and most affluent adults who consume alcohol, in terms of hospital stays and deaths.Rates of alcohol-specific deaths were five times higher in the poorest communities and hospital stays were nearly eight times higher.Vicki Ponce Hardy of PHS said the report showed that significant inequalities were resulting in "preventable" deaths:“The most recent survey data shows that almost a quarter (24%) of adults in Scotland still drink more than the recommended, low risk, weekly, drinking guideline. Among those exceeding the guideline, it's those in the lowest income group who are likely to consume the most."Contents Unknown: How alcohol labelling still fails consumersA new study by the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) looked at alcohol product labelling information on 369 products and found that:The AHA recommends that the UK Government sets up an independent body to monitor and enforce mandatory labelling, based on the WHO’s best practice for labelling.Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, AHA’s chair, said:“Those who profit from the sale of alcohol cannot be trusted to willingly provide product information. Legislation on alcohol labelling must ensure that consumers have the full picture of the contents and risk to health of the products they buy through Government making clear labelling on all alcohol products a legal requirement.“Given the choice, most alcohol producers are leaving this vital information off the labels, keeping consumers in the dark about what’s in the products they are drinking.”Product discrepancies were also foundMatt Lambert, the chief executive of the industry body the Portman Group, responded:“This report doesn’t correspond to the findings of Portman Group’s much larger and more comprehensive recent survey where we looked at 400 products including the biggest brands by market share – the ones which accurately represents what most customers are buying. That research found near universal coverage of industry best practice showing pregnancy warnings, alcohol unit information, signposts to responsibility messages, and four in five products carrying the Chief Medical Officer’s low risk guidelines.“Industry self-regulation has been responsible for voluntarily delivering greater information and awareness for consumers and the AHA’s own report shows that significant progress has been made. The sector is firmly on track to provide more information to consumers without recourse to valuable Parliamentary time, public funding or mandatory measures.”The UK Government is set to consult on alcohol product labels “in due course”.‘No place for cheap alcohol: The potential value of minimum pricing for protecting lives’The World Health Organization has published a comprehensive review of minimum pricing policies, in order for states and policymakers to understand the best available evidence and implementation practicalities on these policies.The report looks at evidence from simulation modelling studies and real-world studies in Scotland and Canada, which show encouraging results regarding reducing overall alcohol consumption.It goes on to look at objections and concerns around minimum pricing policies, such as any adverse economic impact and increases in illicit alcohol, and finds little to support these.As Scotland struggled to introduce minimum unit pricing due to legal battles with the whiskey industry, the report discusses requirements for the policies to be consistent with international trade law.International comparisons of minimum pricing rateAs Dr Aveek Bhattacharya, one of the report’s lead authors, explained in an IAS blog this week:“Here in one place, WHO Europe has collected a fact base on how and how well the measure works in different countries.“It is, to our knowledge, a unique resource, and we hope it will be useful to policymakers as other governments consider taking the leap in future.”Sobriety tags rolled-out further despite no evidence of efficacyFrom the 15 June, the Government rolled-out so-called ‘sobriety tags’ further. The tags monitor alcohol through sweat and are being used for prison leavers if their probation officer thinks they could reoffend when drinking.Alcohol is believed to play a part in 39% of violent crime in the UK and roughly 20% of offenders supervised by the Probation Service are identified as having drinking issues.Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said:“We’ve seen that alcohol tags work - with tagged offenders complying 97% of the time. That’s why we’re going to double the number wearing them from 900 to 1,900 over the next two years, focusing on those leaving prison on license.”This focus on compliance while wearing the device says little about whether the scheme works in the long-term in reducing reoffending. As Dr Carly Lightowlers wrote in an IAS blog last year:“A focus on compliance – in terms of alcohol-free days – is somewhat of a smokescreen as what is needed is evidence of whether drinking and related offending are reduced in the long term after tag removal, which is yet to be provided.”Additionally, a report from the National Audit Office released on 8 June said a failed plan to transform the electronic tagging system has wasted £98 million.The report says that the Government does not know if tagging offenders is helping to cut reoffending because of failings in the system, and that efforts to change the system were abandoned in March after 11 years and £153 million.Irish Government makes moves to improve product labellingLast week, the Irish Examiner reported that the Irish Government has made an application to the European Commission to enact regulations that would require health warnings on all alcohol products. These would include warnings regarding liver disease, fatal cancers, and consuming alcohol while pregnant.The regulations also provide for those selling alcohol in licensed premises to be required to display a notice containing the same health warnings, a link to the public health website and an indication that the alcohol and calorie content of products is available on request.The measures are contained in the Public Health Alcohol Bill, which has introduced a range of interventions including minimum unit pricing and restrictions on advertising at sporting events.Brexit Freedoms Bill could deliver pint-sized wine bottlesIn a Telegraph article on the first day of June, Brexit Opportunities Minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, was said to be “spearheading the drive to ditch unnecessary regulations” around the sale of alcohol.One of the mentioned regulations was that sparkling wine “can only be sold in traditional champagne-style glass bottles, complete with mushroom cork and foil”. The article states that regulations about bottle sizes could be scrapped, meaning wine producers could offer pint-sized bottles for the first time in half a century.Another rule that says drinks cannot be called wine if they are under 8% could be got rid of, meaning no and low-alcohol wines can be referred to as wine, instead of synonyms such as “wine-based drink”.The article states that:“The plans, set to be outlined in the upcoming Brexit Freedoms Bill, could be enacted swiftly because legislation giving ministers the power to make the changes has already passed Parliament.”Patrice Noyelle, President of Pol Roger Champagne, presents a pint bottle of champagne to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms in 2008. CREDIT: Daniel JonesNo and low alcohol sales double in the UKAccording to alcohol market research group IWSR, sales of no and low alcohol products in the UK have doubled from 2016 to 2021, from $240m to $454m. Alcohol-free sales tripled from $52m to $184m.Emily Neill, head of research at IWSR, said promoting low-alcohol drinks was partly a commercial decision by companies:“What you’ve seen in markets such as the UK and US is consumers becoming much more conscious of their health…there’s a higher proportion of younger consumers who don’t drink at all or would like to moderate their consumption.”AB InBev said six years ago that it would aim for low-alcohol and no-alcohol beers to make up a fifth of sales by 2025, a target it admits it is unlikely to meet, with about 6% of sales currently from the products.Despite this, sales of no and low alcohol products are still very low in the UK. A study summarised in an IAS blog last year showed that of UK households that bought alcohol, only “0.92% also bought zero alcohol beer between 2015 and 2020” and only “2.17% bought low alcohol beer”.Alcohol Toolkit Study: updateThe monthly data collected is from English households and began in March 2014. Each month involves a new representative sample of approximately 1,700 adults aged 16 and over.See more data on the project website here.Prevalence of increasing and higher risk drinking (AUDIT)Increasing and higher risk drinking defined as those scoring >7 AUDIT. A-C1: Professional to clerical occupation C2-E: Manual occupationCurrently trying to restrict consumptionA-C1: Professional to clerical occupation C2-E: Manual occupation; Question: Are you currently trying to restrict your alcohol consumption e.g. by drinking less, choosing lower strength alcohol or using smaller glasses? Are you currently trying to restrict your alcohol consumption e.g. by drinking less, choosing lower strength alcohol or using smaller glasses?All past-year attempts to cut down or stopQuestion: How many attempts to restrict your alcohol consumption have you made in the last 12 months (e.g. by drinking less, choosing lower strength alcohol or using smaller glasses)? Please include all attempts you have made in the last 12 months, whether or not they were successful, AND any attempt that you are currently making.The UK Alcohol Alert (incorporating Alliance News) is designed and produced by The Institute of Alcohol Studies. Please click the image below to visit our website and find out more about us and what we do, or the ‘Contact us’ button. Thank you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

He is the creator of the Cynefin Framework, and originated the design of SenseMaker®, the world's first distributed ethnography tool. He is the lead author of Managing complexity (and chaos) in times of crisis: A field guide for decision makers, a shared effort between the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission's science and knowledge service, and the Cynefin Centre.He divides his time between two roles: founder Chief Scientific Officer of The Cynefin Company and the founder and Director of the Cynefin Centre.  His work is international in nature and covers government and industry looking at complex issues relating to strategy and organisational decision-making.  He has pioneered a science-based approach to organisations drawing on anthropology, neuroscience, and complex adaptive systems theory. By using natural science as a constraint on the understanding of social systems this avoids many of the issues associated with inductive or case-based approaches to research. This episode ranges widely across the path of his life and his ideas, aiming always at the core question of our time: how do we create the best conditions for a generative future we'd be proud to leave to future generations?  Dave is engaged in large-scale projects with, for instance, the NHS, and world governments to work out how to gather real information from people in ways that work and that can lead to generative outcomes. We explore ways to change the substrate of our culture, not by jamming new technology into the toxic niches of Facebook and Twitter, but by evolving new ways of engaging with each other that allow us to find the 'adjacent possible'  - the next best thing that we can do in any situation. If you want to connect more with the work that the Cynefin Company does, or to listen to aspects of Dave's work in more detail, please follow the links below. Dave's TED talkDave Snowden blogThe Cynefin Company

Recently, the agrifood sector has faced unprecedented challenges due to global warming, the Covid-19 crisis, and the war in Ukraine. Since the start of the war, calls to strengthen food security have dramatically increased across Europe.The conflict has exacerbated surges in agricultural prices, jeopardising the ability of more vulnerable countries to import the required quantity of food. At a European level, EU officials declared that despite the consequences of the war on the agrifood sector, food security is not at risk in the bloc.However, as we cannot predict how the situation will evolve in the near future, EU Member States are encouraged to increase their food production in order to address food security concerns. To cope with this crisis, the European Commission has asked Member States to adjust their CAP national strategic plans in consideration of the evolving geopolitical context.In parallel, many argue that it's necessary to keep in mind the EU Green Deal and F2F objectives, and to build a stable and sustainable food system. It will therefore be a big challenge for the new CAP to ensure food security whilst also achieving the ambitions outlined in the EU Green Deal.Relisten to this EURACTIV Virtual Conference to find out about the challenges faced by the new CAP in achieving food security and Green Deal ambitions. Discussed questions included:- How can the EU help its Member States to ensure food security in a sustainable manner?- Which concrete measures should be taken in their CAP national strategic plans?- How to encourage Member States to achieve EU Green Deal objectives in the current geopolitical context?The content of this publication represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

The European Commission has released evaluation results showing that four Enterprise Ireland-backed companies have been recommended for €23m funding from the March 2022 call of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Programme. The EIC Accelerator Programme provides transformational funding to high-potential, high-risk start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs led by a strong, well-balanced leadership team which are already making good progress in commercialising highly differentiated, deep tech products capable of creating new markets or disrupting existing ones. Part of the EU's Horizon Europe 2021-2027 Research and Innovation Programme, the EIC Accelerator Programme provides grant funding of up to €2.5 million combined with an equity investment ranging from €0.5 to €15 million in a blended finance offer. There are usually a number of all sector calls and parallel challenge or thematic-based calls per year. This was the most competitive EIC Accelerator call to date with 74 companies from 18 European countries selected by panels of experienced investors and entrepreneurs to receive €382 million in funding. There was a total of 1,093 applicants, 266 of which were shortlisted for the interview phase. The call had a 7% success rate. In this funding round, Ireland ranked fifth with only start-ups and SMEs from Germany, France, Finland, and the Netherlands ranked above Ireland based on the value of funding recommended in this EIC round. The four successful Irish companies are InVera Medical and Loci Orthopaedics, both based in Galway, Selio Medical based in Dublin and Ovagen, based in Mayo. All are High Potential Start-Ups (HPSU) or sector clients of Enterprise Ireland. InVera Medical, Loci Orthopaedics and Selio Medical are 3rd level spin-outs that were previously supported by Enterprise Ireland's Commercialisation Fund and the BioInnovate Ireland Programme, which Enterprise Ireland also supports and works closely with. Welcoming the success of these four Irish companies, Enterprise Ireland CEO, Leo Clancy, said, “This is a great achievement by the four companies involved. Our EIC Accelerator activities align very well with the ambitions we've laid out in our new three-year strategy “Leading in a Changing world” is that Ireland is a world-leading location to start and scale a business and that we support our clients to access scaling finance at critical points in their company development journey. Their success is a reflection of the hands-on support they receive at different stages of their journey from our research commercialisation, EIC, HPSU and sector teams.” Following the announcement, Dr Catherine Caulfield, CEO at Ovagen said: “This grant (our second from the EIC) and equity funding will be instrumental in demonstrating the increased viral yield and other key benefits of our world's first germ-free eggs and will allow scale-up of production for our Pharmaceutical and Biotech customers. Ovagen's germ-free technology will transform the way vaccines and other Biopharmaceuticals are developed and produced. It will also ensure the security of supply and could save millions of lives each year by improving global immunisation coverage. Enterprise Ireland played a critical role in guiding our management team through the EIC process resulting in this very successful outcome.” Dr Brendan Boland, CEO at Loci Orthopaedics said: “Being awarded a combination of grant funding from the European Commission, and equity funding supported by the European Investment Bank, is a major endorsement of the huge unmet clinical need in thumb base joint arthritis that we are tackling, the product we've developed, and the company that we have founded to get that product to the patients that are most affected. The EIC Accelerator Funding will enable the company to finish clinical trials and gain regulatory clearance so we can get our new technology, literally, into the hands of those that need it most.” Stephen Cox, CEO, CEO of InVera Medical said: “T...

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team discusses the much-awaited unveiling of the EU's new pesticide framework and what we expect to be discussed on food security by the G7 leaders gathered in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria. For the flavour of the week, we tasted the diversity of mangoes grown in India and spoke to the Indian agriculture attaché to India's permanent representation to the EU about the importance of this fruit for the country's agriculture production and how geographical indications bring value to it.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD and the Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy TD have welcomed the announcement by the European Commission that CeADAR based in UCD, Dublin and the FactoryxChange consortium in the Midlands are one step closer to being fully approved as European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs). The European Union is investing over €700m to co-fund an EU-wide network of hubs. Each Irish hub is set to receive annual funding of €1.9m from both the EU and the Irish Government under the National Recovery and Resilience Facility. These new hubs will work with local SMEs and public sector bodies to help them ‘go digital', incorporating the benefits of digital technology in their operations, no matter what stage they are currently at. The hubs will provide help with training, research and testing and advice on funding. They will be up and running by the end of this year. Subject to the outcome of the next phase of national due diligence and evaluation, the successful Irish candidate hubs which are eligible to be co-funded under the Digital Europe Programme are: CeADAR led by Ireland's EI/IDA Technology Centre in Applied Data Analytics and Machine Intelligence (based in UCD) which will focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) transformation in SMEs and public-service organisations. FactoryxChange (FxC), a consortium led by the EI/IDA Technology Centre Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) in Mullingar, which will accelerate factories to become ‘Factories of the Future' integrating ecological, digital, and societal solutions into their core business models. Two digital innovation hubs from Ireland awarded ‘Seal of Excellence' Through the evaluation process conducted by the European Commission a further two candidate hubs from Ireland have been deemed eligible to join the EU-wide network of Digital Innovation Hubs having been awarded the Commission's ‘Seal of Excellence' for the quality of their proposals as follows: DATA2SUSTAIN, a consortium led by Atlantic Technological University, Sligo which will develop a comprehensive service programme to increase the transformation capacity and transformation speed of SMEs with a focus on circular economy, operations and sustainability areas. ENTIRE, a consortium led by Tyndall National Institute, Cork which will help SMEs in the Agriculture, Energy and Transport sectors to become more competitive in their business or production processes using digital technologies such as sensors. The Seal of Excellence is a quality label awarded by the Commission to projects which have been assessed in a call for proposals and are deemed to comply with the quality requirements of the call but could not be funded due to European Commission budgetary constraints. These projects may receive support from national sources of funding, subject to additional due diligence and evaluation at member state level. It is intended that all of the above EDIHs, which will be either co-funded or fully funded by the Government under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, will now go through the remaining evaluation, approval and contract negotiation process before their formal establishment. Welcoming the Commission's announcement, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD, said on June 17 in his announcement: “How businesses interact with their customers, how citizens access public services and how we communicate and work with one another is all being transformed by digital technology. We need to make sure we are prepared for what will surely be an acceleration of this trend and that our SMEs especially, are assisted to make the most of new technology and stay ahead of the curve. We are doing this in many ways, including through direct grant funding, but these European Digital Innovation Hubs, EDIHs, will certainly be a welcome boost to the areas they are placed in and I hope all o...

Focusing on merger control in the EU and UK, Marcel Nuys (Partner, Dusseldorf), Francesca Morra (Partner, Milan), Peter Rowland (Of Counsel, Brussels) and Natalia Rodriguez (Of Counsel, London) explore key developments of interest to businesses engaged in M&A activity. They discuss updates to the European Commission's substantive and procedural guidance in respect of mergers, including the controversial ability to accept referrals from individual Member States of transactions that do not meet jurisdictional thresholds for review, and parallel national developments; the extent to which UK merger control practice has diverged from that of the European Commission post-Brexit; and developments on merger control in the digital sector.

The European Commission in May proposed its ‘REPowerEU' plan to wean the EU off supplies of Russian fossil fuels and accelerate its transition to a low-carbon economy. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we talk with experts about the plan and what it means for investment in renewables. We speak with Elisabetta Cornago, senior research fellow at think tank the Centre for European Reform. We talk to Hans Stegeman, chief investment strategist at asset manager Triodos Investment Management. And we hear from Dries Acke, policy director of SolarPower Europe, which represents the solar power industry. We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Photo credit: Getty Images

Darrell Castle talks about the end of the unipolar world that has existed since 1991. American Foreign Policy seems to have brought about the rebirth of the cold war as the world is dividing into different camps or choosing sides in the old game of world domination politics. Transcription / Notes DANGEROUS DAYS Hello this is Darrell Castle with today's Castle Report. This is Friday June 24th in the year of our Lord 2022, and I will be talking about the end of the unipolar world that has existed since 1991. American Foreign Policy seems to have brought about the rebirth of the cold war as the world is dividing into different camps or choosing sides in this old game of world domination politics. The weapon the U.S. uses in this cold war is economic sanctions which tend to weaken the U.S. and strengthen its adversaries. A second title to this Report could be bad governance but I'm trying to be kind, so I gave it the title of the results of bad governance. The Biden Administration just announced that it is sending $1 billion more in weapons to Ukraine for 18 more Howitzers, more long-range missiles for long range rocket systems as well as Harpoon anti-ship missiles. These are weapons whose only purpose can be to strike at Russia's Black Sea fleet. The Russians seem to be intercepting and destroying much of the shipments as they cross the borders into Ukraine so less and less are effective. The weapons shipments need no further Congressional approval since congress has already signed off on $40 billion which leaves the choice of weapons with the President or those of his choosing. This brings the total to something like $56 billion and climbing so the question becomes how much is enough, $60-$70 billion perhaps. It is apparently very expensive to weaken Russia as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told us was the real purpose. So, we play this cold war game as we fight a losing proxy war against Russia in Ukraine while conditions here in America are deteriorating rapidly. I call that bad governance. People are suffering but this American President seems incapable of caring or even noticing. Gas prices above $5 per gallon on average nationwide. The cost of basic food necessities soaring all of which destroys real wages of the American people. Crime rates including murder are also soaring out of control, and all taken together looks very bad. The people see the 10's of billions being poured down the ratholes in Ukraine and they must be wondering what about us. Almost daily the administration seems to find new ways of provoking a nuclear confrontation with Russia. The latest is a blockade of materials through Lithuania to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad which is a small sliver of land and people between EU and NATO members Poland and Lithuania. Supplies from Russia come through rail lines and gas pipelines. Lithuania announced that it was banning rail transport of goods subject to EU sanctions which includes coal, metals, construction materials and technology, or about 50% of all goods, but not food according to the Lithuanians. The Russians demanded an immediate lift of the ban or else. Or else what? The Russian statement reads like this, “If in the near future cargo transit between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of the territory of the Russian Federation through Lithuania is not restored in full, then Russia reserves the right to take actions to protect its national interests.” The usual diplomatic protests were delivered as well as a statement that the ban was a violation of Lithuania's international legal obligations. Russia also stated that it considers the action to be “openly hostile.” The action by Lithuania to provoke a nuclear armed country with which it shares a border is a serious matter with potentially dire consequences. The Foreign Minister of Lithuania said they were simply complying with sanctions imposed by the EU, and that they were taken after consultation with the European Commission and under its guidel...

Episode 191 Michaela Hempen Part 2: Animal Welfare: Behavior Analysts Wanted! In part 1 Dr Michaela Hempen introduced us to her day job. Michaela works for the European Food Safety Agency. This is a scientific agency provides risk assessments to give the European Commission or European member states the scientific basis for legislation. The EFSA looks at anything related to food safety, that includes animal health. The European Parliament has requested a scientific assessment of what the risks are for farm animals. These assessments will be the basis for legislation. The European Commission will be revising all farm animal welfare legislation, and part of this will be based on scientific assessments of their welfare. Michaela has become involved in this project which means she has been on a steep learning curve to familiarize herself with the field of animal welfare. In part 1 we talked about preference tests. How do you measure what animals want? Part 2 begins with a discussion of stress and then Michaela talks about an important call for tender which her agency has put out. They want welfare scientists to design the road map for future risk assessments of animal welfare. They are looking for new ways of assessing welfare. The teams must include a behavior analyst, so we're hoping this podcast will help get this information out to people in that field. The links to all the references Michaela cited as well as the link to information about the call to tender are in the show notes at equiosity.com

The data breach that affected US bank-holding company Capital One was one of the largest in US history. Now, the woman behind that breach, Paige Thompson, has been found guilty of wire fraud and hacking by a court in Seattle, and is awaiting sentencing. But Thompson's trial revealed a complicated backstory that veered from the usual hacker-for-profit narrative. Also on today's podcast: Is trash-talk directed at your competitors an antitrust issue? A probe by the European Commission into disparaging remarks made by a pharmaceutical company appears set to answer that question

This week is a 'fateful' one for Ukraine as the European Commission is set to decide on whether it will become a European Union member.  It comes as Hollywood actor Ben Stiller met with Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv while civilians flee intense fighting. - Tämä on merkittävä viikko jolloin Ukraina aloittaa EU-jäsenyyteen suuntautuvansa pitkän matkansa mikä todennäköisest vie vuosia.  Hollywoodnäyttelijä Ben Stiller kävi Kiovassa tapaamassa presidentti Volodomyr Zelenskiä. Taistelut ovat kiihtyneet Kiovassa siviiliväestön joutuessa jälleen pakenemaan kaupungista.

Moe begins today's show with his 'Moe-ment of Truth," where he condemns today's decision by the Supreme Court striking down a New York gun law that had restricted 'conceal carry.' He is then joined by Jacopo Bencini, who since 2019 works closely with Rondine - Cittadella della Pace, in the role of Campaign and Advocacy Advisor under the wider Leaders for Peace campaign project. The two discuss Rondine and its incredible work. Rondine - Cittadella della Pace, is a non-profit organization based in Tuscany, Italy. Through its restored medieval hamlet 15 minutes by car from Arezzo, it hosts university students coming from conflict and post-conflict areas from all over the world, especially the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, West Africa, and South America, together with students from all over the Mediterranean and Italy. Rondine's approach is based on a methodology developed over more than twenty years of activity, called the Rondine Method for creative conflict resolution. At the core of the Methodology lies the residential experience, living and sharing rooms with the “enemy”, and the deconstruction of the “enemy” itself as a poisonous concept. Rondine's programs last for one or two years, and – as far as we know – are the longest, globally, in the field of creative peacebuilding. Once back home, all Rondine alumni receive support to implement local impact projects, especially if involving communities from the other side of the border. Rondine's students understood that this very experience could not remain a small, yet successful experiment in the Tuscan countryside and, in December 2018, went to the United Nations in NYC to launch a global campaign, called 'Leaders for Peace.' Through the campaign, Rondine's students asked all 193 UN Governments to invest more in peace education and the teaching of human rights in national school systems. So far, the campaign has been endorsed by Italy, Costa Rica, the European Economic and Social Committee, and Pope Francis. In 2021, Rondine gained the status of special observer at the U.N. Economic and Social Council. In April 2022, a delegation of Rondine was received in NYC by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, right before his trip to Russia and Ukraine. Rondine is currently opening its horizons overseas and it is looking forward to hosting students from the United States for short residential experiences, building on successful experiences with Canadian universities over past years. Their website is www.rondine.org/en and their Twitter handle is @RondineNobel. Jacopo's handle is @JacopoBencini. Jacopo is an international relations, campaign and advocacy consultant based in Florence, Italy. He has a background in International Relations and several work and research experiences around the world with the European Commission, the African Union Commission, Chatham House, the European Economic and Social Committee, the German Development Institute, and others. He has co-authored studies for the UNFCCC and other intergovernmental institutions. Moreover, he has been Youth Ambassador for the ONE Campaign for three years. You can watch this episode in the following places: Twitter - https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YpKkZNmrBYxj YouTube - https://youtu.be/A1Nq9fJEXms Facebook - https://fb.watch/dQU6LDt_y8/

This week on The Download: a YouTube channel dives into podcasting on the video platform, the absence of podcasting's middle class, and what do IAB's measurement standards in video games mean for podcasting. Last Thursday, Creator Insider, a YouTube channel operated by a creator-focused wing of YouTube, uploaded a four minute FAQ video about podcasting on YouTube.  While the video doesn't necessarily contain new groundbreaking information for someone who is deep in the podcasting industry, it's a wonderful sign for the future of small-to-midsize podcasts unsure about perceiving YouTube as a viable podcast platform. Strategic Partner Manager Erica even backs up the size of YouTube's reach with a citation of Edison Research data.  Having good, concise resources to facilitate an easier move towards the mentality that YouTube should be treated like any other podcast aggregator is a promising step. It's also interesting to note how much importance is placed on properly arranging podcast episodes in playlists. The video takes great care to establish best practices for naming and arranging playlists. While “RSS” is never spoken aloud, it feels like YouTube's approach is to use the existing functionality of easily saving video playlists to treat playlists like an RSS feed.  Who knows, in a few months we could be hearing about updates to the platform that bridge the gap between how YouTube is consumed and audio podcasts are consumed.  Speaking of YouTube… Last Monday an exclusive from Reuters reporter Foo Yun Chee shared details on Google's newest bid to negotiate an EU antitrust probe without a substantial fine. Luckily for podcasting, this could have beneficial knock-on effects.  Google parent Alphabet has proposed to open their digital doors for the first time to allow third-party programmatic partners to place ads on YouTube videos.  “The European Commission opened a probe last year to examine whether the world's largest provider of search and video was giving itself an unfair advantage in digital advertising by restricting rivals' and advertisers' access to user data.”  If Google does end up waiving the requirement to use Ad Manager to place YouTube ads, this could both please the European Commission and open up a considerable amount of valuable inventory to podcast ad buyers. Inventory through platforms they're already familiar with and - since YouTube is pushing for more podcasts on their platform - that inventory will still be going to benefit the podcasting industry.  Last Friday, a prominent podcaster under the Spotify umbrella said the quiet part out loud. As detailed in last week's Hot Pod, sports analyst and host of The Ringer Bill Simmons revealed Spotify parts the metric curtain for creatives that sign with them. The following is in reference to a recent episode of Peter Kafka's podcast Recode, in which Simmons appeared.  “One thing he mentioned in the podcast that stood out to me was how he uses data. Although he said that he does not pay too much attention to his own show's performance metrics, he indicated that he takes advantage of Spotify's other data resources to scope out the competition and better position his shows.”  The newsletter goes on to quote Simmons' interview in Recode in which Simmons describes having the ability to see the metrics of competitor's podcasts on Spotify as having access to “an incredible war chest of intelligence on the habits of people who listen to podcasts.” This is one of those rare moments where a known fact being stated out loud makes it sound like new information. It's not particularly breaking news that a content aggregator would have excellent data. Everyone in the business can use access to the data of a podcaster's competitors, it's just not often talked about. The fear behind what Simmons says here is that Spotify owns more than just the aggregator. Big Green owns hosting platforms and one of the largest ad businesses in Megaphone.  There's nothing new under the sun. Retail giants like Walmart and Amazon have done this for retail purchasing competition in the past, but now podcasting is growing up and one-stop-shops like Spotify are becoming more common. Last Thursday Eric Nuzum published an installment of his Substack The Audio Insurgent in which he floats the question “Does Podcasting Lack a Middle Class?” The piece begins with Nuzum speaking at a conference heavily attended by GMs and CEOs of public radio stations. During a talk Nuzum hosted he asked the group of over 200 public radio heads, a demographic famous for embracing podcasting, who had at least one podcast that made 50,000 downloads a month. Fewer than ten attendees met that metric.  “Why are those numbers important? The average CPM ad rate in podcasting is about $23.16 per thousand downloads. To qualify for buys at even that average rate, you generally need to have a podcast that's downloaded 50,000 times per month. Public radio sees podcasting as a critical part of its future, yet today only eight stations in the country are capable of hitting that rate on their own.” Nuzum's piece proposes the predominant narrative for smaller podcasters has created a class divide where the majority are told the only real strategy is to create content without fair compensation long enough that a magic larger company will buy the podcast for a massive windfall. Independent podcasters are expecting to either make it huge or fail out. There is no middle ground.   “Podcasting has been around for more than 18 years, and public radio has been considered leaders in its development and growth. Yet of the 200+ stations in the room, exactly one of them had figured out in all that time how to produce a show that was self-sustaining for a staff of one.”  The gulf between blockbusters and small indie projects is wide. There must be a place in the middle for creators and providers alike to make a good wage producing podcasts. There's adequate amounts of gold in them there hills, if the industry will stake claim to it.  This one's for the gamers in the audience, though as per usual we're looping back around to podcasting by the end. Marketing Brew's Ryan Barwick covered some interesting new updates from the IAB regarding measurement standards in video games.  The standards, which hadn't been updated since 2009, used to consider an impression to have happened once a player had been exposed to an ad for at least ten seconds. Barwick says: "That's been cut down drastically to one continuous second for in-game display ads and two continuous seconds for video ad units, so long as at least half of the advertisement's pixels are in focus. Those are more or less the same guidelines for online display ads.” These are more or less the same metrics applied to online display ads, but with the added consideration of ads existing in 3D space. The IAB's guidelines take into account viewing angle and pixel clarity in an acknowledgment that modern gaming is capable of placing ads inside game worlds. It's about time, too. The Download script writer Gavin Gaddis remembers when the Obama election campaign purchased billboard space from open-world racing game Burnout Paradise in 2008. Fashion brand Diesel bravely bought ad space on the side of vans that drove around the city. Vans that could be destroyed by players ad nauseam.  Quoting Barwick again: “The IAB's new standards should be finalized by the fall. To Francesco Petruzzelli, chief technology officer at the in-game advertising firm Bidstack, the standards feel a bit like a minimum. One second isn't enough time for an impression, he argued, and that it could lead to an oversupply of inventory.” How does this relate to podcasting? In a world where seeing a Pepsi logo on a street sign while playing a multiplayer match of Halo: Infinite counts as an impression, there's no room for arguments about the validity of considering podcast downloads “real” engagement.   This last full story is a Ryan Reynolds tweet, of all things. On Tuesday the actor posted a video in which he professes his love of shooting ads, describing them as mini-movies with the same creative process and crew requirements. And, like movies, ads are shot in places other than Hollywood without many initiatives to ensure diversity and inclusivity in many of the necessary career paths.  “Almost two years ago we started the Group Effort Initiative to increase inclusion in the entertainment industry amongst BIPOC and underrepresented communities and it's just been hugely rewarding. That's why I'm proud to be co-founding the Creative Ladder.”  The new nonprofit will, like Group Effort Initiative, work to make careers in the advertising creative space accessible to everyone. We love to see more diversity in every corner of the industry.  Finally, it's time for our semi-regular roundup of articles that didn't make it into today's episode, but are still worth working into your weekend reading.  A must-read issue of Stratechery: Spotify's Investor Day, Spotify's Music Aggregation, Podcast Anecdata.  My Lifetime Ban from the Podcasting Cool Kids Club by Neil Hedley  And a reminder that the 2022 edition of the Infinite Dial Canada is June 30th and you can register right now at the link provided in the show notes.  The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis. Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable. Evo Terra edited today's episode. Special thanks to our media host, Omny Studio. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moe begins today's show with his 'Moe-ment of Truth," where he condemns today's decision by the Supreme Court striking down a New York gun law that had restricted 'conceal carry.'He is then joined by Jacopo Bencini, who since 2019 works closely with Rondine - Cittadella della Pace, in the role of Campaign and Advocacy Advisor under the wider Leaders for Peace campaign project. The two discuss Rondine and its incredible work. Rondine - Cittadella della Pace, is a non-profit organization based in Tuscany, Italy. Through its restored medieval hamlet 15 minutes by car from Arezzo, it hosts university students coming from conflict and post-conflict areas from all over the world, especially the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Middle East, West Africa, and South America, together with students from all over the Mediterranean and Italy. Rondine's approach is based on a methodology developed over more than twenty years of activity, called the Rondine Method for creative conflict resolution. At the core of the Methodology lies the residential experience, living and sharing rooms with the “enemy”, and the deconstruction of the “enemy” itself as a poisonous concept. Rondine's programs last for one or two years, and – as far as we know – are the longest, globally, in the field of creative peacebuilding. Once back home, all Rondine alumni receive support to implement local impact projects, especially if involving communities from the other side of the border. Rondine's students understood that this very experience could not remain a small, yet successful experiment in the Tuscan countryside and, in December 2018, went to the United Nations in NYC to launch a global campaign, called 'Leaders for Peace.' Through the campaign, Rondine's students asked all 193 UN Governments to invest more in peace education and the teaching of human rights in national school systems. So far, the campaign has been endorsed by Italy, Costa Rica, the European Economic and Social Committee, and Pope Francis. In 2021, Rondine gained the status of special observer at the U.N. Economic and Social Council.In April 2022, a delegation of Rondine was received in NYC by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, right before his trip to Russia and Ukraine.Rondine is currently opening its horizons overseas and it is looking forward to hosting students from the United States for short residential experiences, building on successful experiences with Canadian universities over past years.Their website is www.rondine.org/en and their Twitter handle is @RondineNobel. Jacopo's handle is @JacopoBencini.Jacopo is an international relations, campaign and advocacy consultant based in Florence, Italy. He has a background in International Relations and several work and research experiences around the world with the European Commission, the African Union Commission, Chatham House, the European Economic and Social Committee, the German Development Institute, and others. He has co-authored studies for the UNFCCC and other intergovernmental institutions. Moreover, he has been Youth Ambassador for the ONE Campaign for three years.You can watch this episode in the following places:Twitter - https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1YpKkZNmrBYxjYouTube - https://youtu.be/A1Nq9fJEXmsFacebook - https://fb.watch/dQU6LDt_y8/

The European Commission is set to vote on Ukraine's bid to join the European Union with success appearing likely.

Once a minor player in global energy markets, Israel is set to take on a bigger role as a gas supplier. And it comes at a crucial time. EU countries are seeking new sources, as they move away from Russia over its attack on Ukraine. And Israel won't be alone in getting energy supplies to Europe. It will be working with Egypt. Last week, the EU, Israel and Egypt singed a tripartite gas export deal that will provide the bloc with a new source of energy. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hailed the agreement as a special moment. But analysts warn that Israel will fall short of replacing Russia. Last year, Moscow supplied nearly 40% of the EU's needs, or about 155 billion cubic meters of natural gas. During the same period, Israel only produced about 12 billion cubic meters. So will Europe's new, 'fragmented strategy' of having multiple, smaller sources of energy help end its dependence on Russia? Guests: Sohbet Karbuz Energy Analyst Tom Marzec-Manser Head of Gas Analytics at ICIS

In this episode of FRT, Jessica Renier, Managing Director of Digital Finance at the Institute of International Finance discusses the IIF's responses to the Federal Reserve Bank and European Commission consultations on a central bank digital currency. The IIF commends the Fed and EC for taking this step forward in considering this momentous issue.

The €800bn Next Generation EU fund – set up to help finance Europe's recovery from the economic damage of the Covid-19 pandemic – has been operating since last June. How is its lending schedule and debt management office-like funding programme going? How has its market-changing green bond programme progressed? Who is buying its bonds? How will it operate after 2026, when its initial mandate is complete? How does it compare to other European agency and sovereign borrowers? Might it help finance the eventual reconstruction of Ukraine? Siegfried Ruhl, Hors Classe Advisor at the European Commission's budget department, speaks to OMFIF CEO John Orchard ahead of the conference on the NGEU in Singapore.

Irish homes are among the least crowded in the EU. That's according to Data from the European Commission's data analysis wing Eurostat. Are Irish people living in buildings that are too large for their needs? For more on this Newstalk Breakfast spoke to Tom Philips Managing Director of Tom Philips associates, and Adjunct Associate professor of architecture and planning at UCD.

This week is a 'fateful' one for Ukraine as the European Commission is set to decide on whether it will become a European Union member.

*) Zelenskyy warns of Russian 'hostile activity' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia is likely to intensify its offensive this week. "Obviously, this week we should expect from Russia an intensification of its hostile activities," Zelenskyy said. Ukraine applied to join the EU four days after Russian troops poured across its border in February. The European Commission recommended last Friday that Ukraine receive candidate status. Leaders of the 27-nation union will consider the question at a summit this week. *) China's oil imports from Russia soar to a record China's crude oil imports from Russia have soared 55 percent from a year earlier to a record level in May, displacing Saudi Arabia as the top supplier. Imports of Russian oil totalled nearly 8.42 million tonnes, data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs showed. Russia took back the top ranking after a gap of 19 months as refiners of the world's biggest crude oil importer cashed in on discounted supplies amid sanctions on Moscow. *) Macron's alliance loses majority French President Emmanuel Macron's Together alliance has lost its majority in the French parliament, winning 245 seats in the 577-member chamber in elections. The outcome, well short of the 289 seats needed for an overall majority, severely tarnished Macron's April presidential election victory. The setback for the French president could throw the country into political paralysis unless Macron is able to negotiate alliances with other parties. *) Colombia elects Petro as new president Ex-guerrilla Gustavo Petro has been elected the first ever left-wing president of Colombia, after beating millionaire businessman Rodolfo Hernandez. With all votes counted, Petro beat Hernandez with an unexpectedly wide margin of more than 700,000 votes. Petro has pledged to fight inequality with free university education, pension reforms and high taxes on unproductive land. And finally… *) Russian journalist sells Nobel Prize for Ukrainian children Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov is set to auction off his Nobel Peace Prize medal to help children displaced by the Ukraine conflict. Muratov said the idea of the donation “is to give the children refugees a chance for a future.” As of early Monday morning, the highest bid was $550,000. The purchase price is expected to spiral upward, possibly into the millions. Muratov will donate proceeds directly to UNICEF.

The European Commission has recommended Ukraine be granted EU candidate status. an important step towards EU membership. The final decision will depend on the 27 EU member countries. This announcement by the Commission comes after a very significant visit to Ukraine by the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania where they reinforced their support to Kyiv. Thomas Sparrow is a political correspondent for Deutsche Welle, based in Berlin

Ukraine is officially a step closer to joining the European Union. The European Commission  - the EU's governing body - has recommended Ukraine be given official candidate status in its application to join.   - Україна офіційно стала на крок ближче до вступу до Європейського Союзу.Європейська комісія – керівний орган ЄС – рекомендувала надати Україні статус офіційного кандидата у заяві на вступ.

We are joined again by Dr. Michaela Hempen, but this time, Michaela is not talking about Blondie and the cribbing project, but about her day job. Michaela works for the European Food Safety Agency. The EFSA looks at anything related to food safety, including animal health. It provides risk assessments which give the European Commission or European member states the scientific basis for legislation. The European Commission will be revising all farm animal welfare legislation, and part of this will be based on scientific assessments of their welfare. Michaela has become involved in this project which means she has been on a steep learning curve to familiarize herself with the field of animal welfare. In this podcast we talk about preference tests. Whether it's a laying hen or a horse how do you measure what animals want? For a list of the references Michaela refers to in the podcast go to the show notes at equiosity.com.

The European Commission recommends Ukraine for EU membership, a milestone in its path from a former Soviet republic. A top U.N. official says information about what transpired in Mariupol strongly suggests Russian armed forces committed serious crimes.

The European Commission has recommended to give Ukraine and Moldova candidate status, moving their application forward in a process that will still take many years to complete. European leaders will meet next week to vote and the approval of all 27-nations is needed for both countries to be officially declared candidates to join the EU. Oleg Chernyak, CEO of CHI Software, tells us about the hopes this brings to a war-torn country. India is seeing violent protests against a new military recruitment scheme. One person was killed in the southern city of Secunderabad after police opened fire to disperse a mob attacking a railway station. Sushant Kumar Singh from the Centre for Policy Research in India explains why the scheme is controversial while the BBC's Surekha Abburi brings us the latest from the protests. The director of the World Trade Organisation Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala says marathon talks in Geneva have produced a series of trade deals that will make a difference to the lives of people around the world. We talk to Alan Wolff, former deputy director-general of the WTO, and BBC Africa's Charles Gitonga. President Vladimir Putin says sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine are an 'economic blitzkrieg' that backfired on the West. We hear from Shanti Keleman, chief investment officer at M&G Wealth, about this and other developments taking place in the markets. The Netherlands has invested 100 million euros to start flying hydrogen planes to London by 2028. We talk to Michel Van Ierland, an entrepreneur who participates in the project.