
Darragh McCullough: Weekend warriors and armchair farmers are not what the CAP was designed for, yet I don't expect meaningful change
Today at 00:30
Welcome back to the EU farm subsidy circus – same script, new costumes.
Every seven years, like clockwork, Brussels dusts off its drama kit and stages the farce that is the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Billions on the table, lobbyists in a frenzy and politicians pretending to understand the fine print. Cue the outrage, spin and soundbites.

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Irish Times
38 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Lobby other EU countries to allow Irish Central Bank to drop Israeli war bonds, TDs recommend
An Oireachtas committee has recommended the Government lobby other EU states to change rules that stop the Irish Central Bank from refusing to act as a competent authority in Europe for Israeli war bonds. Third-country issuers, such as Israel, can choose any EU state as their home member state and competent authority. That authority reviews its bond prospectus and, in this case, authorises Israel to sell bonds in the EU market. Before 2021, the UK was the EU home member state under the regulation for the state of Israel. Ireland was chosen as the new home member state following the UK's departure from the EU after Brexit in 2016. Politicians from all parties have expressed concern that Ireland is the competent authority that gives authority to Israel to sell bonds in the EU market, including what Israel markets as 'war bonds'. However, the committee has been told by the Central Bank that it is powerless to refuse to act as the competent authority under current rules. The rules and criteria that determine approval of the prospectus do not cover Israel's continuing military activities in Gaza , but rather include risk rules based on financial and fiscal criteria. The governor of the Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, told the Oireachtas Committee on Finance in June that Ireland had no power to unilaterally remove itself from being the competent authority. Any decision to change that situation, he said, would be made by the third country, in this case Israel, and by that third country alone. The committee, chaired by Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell , published a report on Tuesday, the main recommendation of which was that the Government engage at EU level with a 'view to amending the EU Prospectus regulations to permit each individual European Central Bank to refuse to act as a Competent Authority'. It has also recommended that the Central Bank conduct an immediate internal review in advance of any renewal in September of the Israeli bond prospectus. It said that review should determine whether it is in compliance with the levels of disclosure, accuracy and transparency required by the EU Prospectus. At the meeting in June, committee members expressed concern that the continuing destruction and deaths in Gaza were not being taken into consideration in determining the right of Israel to sell bonds, which several committee members pointed out were being openly marketed as 'war bonds'. The report states: 'In response to questions around whether enhanced scrutiny is applied to sovereign bond issuers involved in armed conflict or under international investigation, representatives of the Central Bank told the Committee that a judgement is made as to whether a prospectus is particularly complex and if there are issues that are challenging to articulate. 'Ultimately, however, the judgement rests on whether the disclosure is appropriate to the financial risk.' At the meeting, members expressed concern with regard to both the exposure of the EU financially to Israel and the current situation in Israel. 'Members further described the prospectus regulatory regime as 'narrow and arguably amoral ... Jesuitical in the way that it is interpreted and applied, which is mindful of only its basic, legalistic obligations in satisfying the regulatory framework in place', the report stated. Amid cross-party opposition to the Central Bank continuing in that role, the committee has also recommended that any future review of its role as the competent authority by the regulator should take into account the nature of the case taken by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention and the interim findings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in that regard. It also said the illegal situation created by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories should also be taken into account.


Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Trump flags new pharma tariff to come next week, and says EU deal gave him $600bn ‘to invest in anything I want'
Today at 10:28 US president Donald Trump said US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports and on semiconductors would be announced 'within the next week or so', as the administration prepares to target key economic sectors in its effort to remake global trade. The EU says its 15pc tariff deal with the US means drugs are already covered. 'We'll be putting an initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year, one and a half years maximum, it's going to go to 150pc and then it's going to go to 250pc because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country,' Mr Trump said yesterday in an interview on CNBC. He name-checked China and Ireland as countries where drugs are currently made for the US market. In an on-air interview by phone, President Trump outlined details of the framework trade deal with the EU that was struck just over a week ago, but has yet to produce a final joint-statement signed off by both the EU and United States setting out the practicalities. Mr Trump said a commitment by the EU side to invest $600bn in the US was 'not a loan'. 'They gave me $600bn and that's a gift, that is not a loan,' he said. 'They gave us the $600bn that we can invest in anything we want. I can do anything I want with it.' If the EU does not pay then it will face tariffs of 30pc, he said. Mr Trump has threatened debilitating tariffs on the drug industry in an effort to force manufacturing back to the US. He recently demanded major suppliers of medicines drastically cut costs or face additional, unspecified penalties. The sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals, metals and other industries stem from trade investigations that can last about nine months and are imposed on national security grounds under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. ADVERTISEMENT It is seen as stronger legal footing than the emergency powers Trump used for his country-specific levies, which face court challenges. Those so-called reciprocal tariffs are slated to go into effect tomorrow. The European Commission insists any new global tariff on pharma will not be added to the 15pc it has agreed as an across-the-board tariff The commission says the 15pc ceiling will also apply to any potential future tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, including those based on Section 232. 'We're going to be announcing on semiconductors and chips, which is a separate category,' Mr Trump added.


Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Ryanair carried record 20.7m passengers in July
Ryanair carried 20.7m passengers last month, a record number for July, despite French air traffic control (ATC) strikes. The Irish carrier said on Tuesday that passenger numbers were up 3% from 20.2m for the equivalent period in 2024. Its load factor - which represents the average proportion of seat filled on its aircraft - was unchanged, at 96%. Ryanair operated over 113,000 flights in July. Some 680 flights were cancelled mainly due to French air traffic controller (ATC) strikes. French ATC staff took industrial action on July 3 and 4 in a dispute over working conditions. The strikes distrupted Irish and European flights to and from French airports, while the walkouts also affected flights scheduled which travelled over French airspace, which meant many more disruptions. European air traffic management body Eurocontrol estimated the strikes affected more than 1m passengers. Ryanair has urged European Commission president Ursula on der Leyen to take urgent action to reform EU ATC services. Earlier this week, Ryanair published its data of Europe's worst-performing ATCs, namechecking France, Spain, Germany, the UK, and Greece and accusing them of inflicting avoidable delays "due to mismanagement and inexcusable under staffing". "Neither the EU Commission nor national transport ministers responsible for these failing ATC services have taken any action to fix Europe's broken ATC services. In stark contrast, Countries like Ireland, Slovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium are delivering Europe's most efficient ATC services, which proves that well-managed, properly staffed ATC is not just possible but is already being delivered by many EU states," said Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary.