New EU Ambassador in Ottawa

Ambassador Matthias Brinkmann officially took up his duties as Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Canada on October 2, 2009, when he presented his credentials to the Governor-General, Her Excellency Michaëlle Jean, at Government House in Ottawa.

Ambassador Brinkmann comes to Ottawa from Brussels, where he was Head of Unit in the Directorate General for External Relations (DG RELEX), responsible for relations with non-EU countries in Western Europe.

Matthias Brinkmann joined the European Commission in 1983, where he has held several positions in DG XII (Science, Research and Development), and since 1990 in DG I (External Relations – now DG RELEX). From 1987 to 1990 he was seconded to the Danish Ministry of Research. From 1992 to 1996 he served in the European Commission's Office in Stockholm as Head of the Press and Information Section, and later as Chargé d'affaires.

Before joining the European Commission in Brussels, Matthias Brinkmann worked for a law firm in Hamburg, then for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, before becoming a judge at the Administrative Court in Hamburg. Ambassador Brinkmann has studied law and political science at universities in Göttingen, Freiburg and Strasbourg. His doctorate is in international law. Mr. Brinkmann speaks German, French, English and Swedish. He is married to Madeleine Daumerie and has four children.

For further information please contact Roy Christensen, Press Officer, Delegation of the European Commission to Canada, 150 Metcalfe Street, Suite 1900, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2P 1P1 Tel: 613-238-6464    

Internet: www.delcan.ec.europa.eu

IRELAND SAYS YES !!!!!

Irish voters backed the European Union's Lisbon Treaty on Oct 3rd, after rejecting it 16 months ago. The results were 67.1% FOR and 32.9% AGAINST. The turnout was 58%.It is believe that the state of the Irish economy affected the vote, as GDP has shrunk by 7.4% in the past year and unemployment is at 12.8%

Czech President demands an opt-out on the EU Treaty.

Chech President, Vaclav Klaus demanded an opt-out from the charter of rights and freedoms before ratification. He explained that this was needed to prevent heirs of the millions of Sudeten Germans expelled after the Second World War filing land claims to retain their confiscated property.

Portugal's Socialist's retain power

The centre-left Socialist party of Prime Minister Jose Socrates won with 36.5% of the votes, with the centre-right Social Democratic party gaining only 29%

Jobless Rise in OECD Countries

The OECD has stated that unemployment in its member countries has grown, slightly, from 8.6% in August, which is up from 8.5% in July. They expect it to rise near 10% next year.

Russian economy will shrink

According to President Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian economy will shrink by 7.5% in 2009, which while being "very serious" was saved from being worse by the Kremlins intervention. This was as a result of the sharp decline in energy prices, on which Russia is heavily reliant.

Tony Blair could become Europe's First President

Mr. Blair is said to already have received the public endorsements from President Sarkozy, Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Berlusconi, and Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen but this has caused a major controversy in Britain. The new president will serve a 2 1/2 year term that is renewable once.