European Union leaders started two days of talks yesterday on a joint seven-year budget for 2021. They are tasked this year with filling a 75 billion-euro ($81bn) deficit left by the United Kingdom’s departure. The joint budget will represent the key topics EU members want to focus on over the next seven years, While the bloc wants to spend more on climate, migration, digitalisation and security measures, the rich net contributors refuse to pay more while poorer net beneficiaries are determined to keep in place the support they get for farming and development. The starting proposal for national contributions is 1.074 percent of the bloc’s gross national income, or a combined 1.09 trillion euros ($1.2 trillion). While that is only a fraction of the 27 member states’ national budgets, there is little expectation that the leaders will agree on it this week according to a report on the Al Jazeera website.

Source – Al Jazeera

EU Forces Unpopular Trucking Rules

The EU has agreed to tighten rules on road transport, despite protests that the move will hit Polish businesses. The decision was made in Brussels at a meeting of the bloc’s education ministers on Thursday. The package had already been agreed in December. It gives truck drivers working abroad the right to return home every three to four weeks. The new rules also require trucks to return to their company’s headquarters every eight weeks. That move aims to stop firms registering businesses in so-called tax haven countries without actually operating there. Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Malta, and Cyprus were against the new rules, which are now expected to be discussed by the European Parliament. Poland’s Deputy Science and Higher Education Minister said the new package is harmful to Polish transport companies because it will increase costs and red tape. She also added that the new rules will also be harmful to the environment, because so-called “empty runs” back to company headquarters every eight weeks will cause more greenhouse gas emissions. The regulations are expected to come into force in the middle of this year.

Source – PolskieRadio.pl

Clamp down on Polluting Cars

Polish police have launched the latest in a series of checks designed to clamp down on old bangers belching out polluting fumes. The drive, called Operation Smog, saw officers testing cars suspected of breaching emissions standards. Drivers breaking the rules faced having their car registration documents confiscated. According to a report by the World Health Organisation, out of the 50 European cities most affected by smog, 33 are in Poland. The WHO has estimated that around 50,000 Poles die every year due to illness caused by air pollution. Scientists estimate that between 60 and 80 percent of air pollution in big Polish cities comes from road transport, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported last year.

Source – PolskieRadio.pl

Ex-LOT Building to be Demolished?

Most inhabitants of Gdańsk will surely know of the iconic LOT building next to Gdańsk Old Town and the phrase „Let’s meet at LOT” … has been the call for many meetings with family and friends, a romantic date or an evening out to a club or pub over the years. However, the building a source of controversy as some consider the old and damaged building to be unsightly whereas others, defend LOT as a symbol important for Gdańsk residents. The current owner Elfeko wants to knock down the building however they received notification that the municipal conservation department does not want to give the go-ahead and they are still waiting for the formal notification from the city authorities according to the Dziennik Bałtycki newspaper. In the meantime, whatever the decision, the saga is set to continue for the foreseeable future.

Source: SE.pl (Super Express)

The Weather

Today is going to cloudy with light rain and gusty winds. The rain should clear up in the afternoon leading to sunny spells. Temperatures will reach 8 degrees centigrade (46 degrees Fahrenheit) during the day, dropping to a 2 degrees centigrade overnight. Saturday will remain cloudy and rainy and the gusty winds will remain during the day. Temperatures will reach 8 degrees centigrade during the day.

What’s On – Friday

There’s plenty going on in the Tricity this weekend.

First up this weekend, as Poland celebrates Carnival season this weekend there are a host of balls (as in dance parties) taking place in the Three Cities. One of them is happening on Saturday at the Shakespeare Theatre in Gdansk at 7pm and is for a very worthy cause. The 2nd BALL OF EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES is possibly the best place to party for a noble cause on the last Saturday of the 2020 carnival. The star of the evening will be Ania Karwan, finalist of the 2016 “Voice of Poland” and an accomplished pop star who will perform a special acoustic set. The ball will be hosted by our very own Radio Gdańsk journalists – Beata Szewczyk and Włodzimierz Raszkiewicz. Tickets are priced at 300zl per person. Income from the ball will be allocated to equipping and maintaining a new educational and rehabilitation centre in Gdansk which will give adults with Down syndrome jobs, and at the same time will be a place of therapy for children and the cradle of integration within the kindergarten, ultimately a vocational school and culinary workshop. All in all a fantastic event!

Details: https://www.trojmiasto.pl/bal-rownych-szans?imp=492041

This Sunday at 4pm in Gdansk’s Parlament night club there is a music festival in aid of animals that have been affected by the devastating fires in Australia. The concert, in aid of the Wires organization – wires standing for wildlife rescue – will feature a number of musical acts and will run until 11pm. The festival is a charity and the proceeds from the tickets will be donated to direct assistance to animals that suffered in Australian fires. Tickets will cost 40 zloty per person.

Details: https://imprezy.trojmiasto.pl/Hope-Fest-wiecejnizlike-zmiana-daty-imp493756.html

And finally, Parkrun events are taking place in a few places in Gdansk on Saturday at 9am. Thousands of people across the world take part every Saturday morning running a 5K run at over 1,400 locations in twenty-two countries across five continents. This weekend in Gdansk there are runs in Ronald Reagan Park in Gdańsk Raymore, the promenade in Gdynia and South Gdańsk near Kowale. Entrance is free.

https://aktywne.trojmiasto.pl/Parkrun-Gdansk-Poludnie-imp430436.html

https://aktywne.trojmiasto.pl/Parkrun-Gdansk-cykliczne-biegi-na-5-km-z-pomiarem-czasu-imp385957.html

https://aktywne.trojmiasto.pl/Parkrun-Gdynia-cykliczne-biegi-na-5-km-z-pomiarem-czasu-imp385962.html

RG News/MC