Economy

2023-06-21 09:28:09

What can be read in the budget plan of the European Union for the year 2024 that has just been blown will make many Austrians and Germans really angry: While the employees in these countries are making up for the enormous burden on their families with salary increases of four to 8.5 percent still have to cope with brutal devaluation, the 50,000 EU employees want to treat themselves to a 15 percent increase in their monthly salary.

As the Swiss Weltwoche currently reports, the salaries of EU politicians are constantly increasing anyway – the eXXpress last reported in January of this year on a seven percent salary increase in Brussels. Die Weltwoche: “The number of parliamentarians fell from 751 to 705 on January 1, 2022 following the Brexit-related departure of the British. Nevertheless, the remuneration of the EU Parliament rose from 181 to 207 million euros between 2021 and 2022. The departure of the 46 British MPs was more than offset by wage increases for the remaining members. The increase per capita was even a whopping 22 percent. The recent massive increases cannot be justified by a pent-up inflation adjustment.”

If the monthly salary of the 705 MEPs increases, then each MEP – including the 19 MEPs from Austria – will in future receive EUR 12,069 instead of the previous EUR 10,495. That is an increase of 1574 euros.

The planned fee increase for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (64) is even more severe: After the seven percent salary increase that has just been implemented, Von der Leyen collects EUR 31,250 gross per month. From the coming year, that should be 35,957.50 euros – so she gets 4687.50 euros more per month!

According to the budget plans that have now been revealed, the vice-presidents of the EU Parliament are also to receive a 15% increase in salary: Othmar Karas (ÖVP) will benefit from this. It remains to be seen whether the Greek social democrat Eva Kaili, who is still massively suspected of corruption, can also be happy regarding the fee increase planned from January 1, 2024: At any rate, she will be able to attend the upcoming session of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg once more – and also collect the attendance fee.

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#percent #Von #der #Leyen #increase #monthly #salary #euros

2023-06-21 09:05:24

The entry of the iron ore giant strengthens the negotiating position of Newfoundland and Labrador, which recently entered into formal discussions with Quebec on the future of the controversial Churchill Falls contract, as well as the possible construction of the Gull Island project.

Hydro-Quebec, whose energy surpluses might have melted by 2027, has long been the only customer considered for this latest dam project, downstream of the Churchill River.

IOC is the number one industrial polluter in Newfoundland and Labrador, producing 1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases per year. It wants to electrify its facilities using wind turbines, but above all by increasing its purchases of hydroelectricity. Up to 800 megawatts of clean electricity will be needed, according to current forecasts.

“There is hydro power available in Labrador, so that’s probably the easiest solution for us. »

— A quote from Chantal Lavoie, Chief Operating Officer, IOC

Chantal Lavoie says talks with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro on a new transmission line began three years ago.

He explains that IOC is following very closely the progress of the discussions on Gull Island, a 2250 megawatt project mentioned several times by the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, as a possible solution to meet the growing electricity demand of its province.

The potential competition between the mining company and Hydro-Quebec is a slightly delicate question, admitted Chantal Lavoie in an interview with Radio-Canada last week. I think people realize the needs of each stakeholder and it’s up to the Government of Newfoundland to make the decision that’s best for the province.

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NL has never been in a better bargaining position

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey is pleased with the situation. His province has never been in a better negotiating position, he said.

Previously, we might not use the energy ourselves. This was one of the problems with the Upper Churchill project. We [Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador] Had all that energy, but we didn’t need it […] These days, I’ll tell you we’ve got clients in this room, he told IOC CEO Mike McCann as the new Rio office opened. Tinto, IOC’s parent company, in Saint-Jean on May 30.

It is entirely to the advantage of Newfoundland to have a new potential buyer, argues the full professor at HEC Montreal, Pierre-Olivier Pineau.

Pierre-Olivier Pineau is an expert in energy policies and a professor at HEC Montréal.

Photo : Radio-Canada

Suddenly, Hydro-Quebec and Quebec are no longer the only buyers for this electricity, so it increases the value of electricity both from Churchill Falls, therefore from Haut-Churchill, and from the Gull Island project.

Éloïse Edom, research professional at the Institut de l’énergie Trottier at Polytechnique Montréal, reminds us that Hydro-Québec remains a much bigger client than IOC. The mining company aims to purchase a few hundred megawatts of electricity, while Hydro-Québec already buys almost all of the 5,428 megawatts produced at the Churchill Falls power station.

Éloïse Edom is a research associate at the Trottier Energy Institute of Polytechnique Montréal.

Photo : Radio-Canada / Jessica Rubinger

The order of magnitude is different, she summarizes, while adding however that IOC is a local client and that its presence at the negotiating table is a great lever to promote the construction of Gull Island.

A new dynamic at the bargaining table?

According to Normand Mousseau, Scientific Director of the Trottier Energy Institute, if the modernization of IOC’s facilities strengthens Newfoundland and Labrador’s negotiating position, the situation might also allow for a more mature relationship that will not It’s not such a tense relationship between Saint-Jean and Quebec.

Last February, the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Andrew Furey, received his Quebec counterpart, François Legault, to discuss the renewal of the Churchill Falls hydroelectric contract.

Photo: The Canadian Press/Paul Daly

Andrew Furey and Francois Legault are seeking to bury the hatchet following decades of friction over the existing Churchill Falls power contract, which expires in 2041. Spanning 65 years, with no possibility of negotiation, the contract allows Quebec to make billions of dollars by reselling the electricity purchased from its neighboring province at a derisory price: 0.2 cents per kilowatt hour.

If we have an economic partner like IOC, well, on both sides, we have to say, “OK, our negotiation, it must be real so that we can deliver the goods. We can’t just fight,” says Normand Mousseau .

Economic engine

IOC, which employs 2,400 people, says it brought in $1.3 billion to the local economy and paid $530 million in taxes in 2022. It has operated an iron ore mine, concentrator and pellet plant since 1962 near Labrador City, as well as a 418 km railway line to transport the pellets to Sept-Îles, on the North Shore of Quebec.

The company promises to reduce its emissions by 50% by 2030 and to be carbon neutral by 2050. It is seeking to electrify its facilities, especially its pellet plant, where it burns coke, a form of metallurgical coal capable of reach very high temperatures.

The Rio-Tinto-IOC mine in Labrador-City.

Photo : Rio-Tinto-IOC

Almost all pellets are sent to steel mills. Steel production accounts for 2% of Canada’s annual emissions and 7% of global emissions, according to a report (New window) of the Public Policy Forum published in April. This same document anticipates that the demand for steel will increase by 10 to 40% by 2050 to allow the construction of solar panels, wind turbines and electricity pylons.

According to IOC, demand for iron ore from the Labrador Trough – which is relatively purer, takes less energy to process and might soon be fully electrified – is expected to surge in the coming years.

Other possible industrial customers?

Pierre-Olivier Pineau recalls that Rio Tinto is very present in Quebec and will want to maintain good relations with the CAQ government. According to him, Hydro-Quebec remains very well placed to negotiate and, in fact, it is certain that part of this electricity will be in Quebec.

However, he believes that IOC may not be the only local industrial buyer of Churchill River hydroelectricity.

ArcelorMittal’s Mont-Wright mine in Fermont might be interested in hydroelectricity from the potential Gull Island dam project on the Churchill River, according to Pierre-Olivier Pineau.

Photo : MRC de Caniapiscau

He points out that ArcelorMittal’s Mont-Wright mine is located a few kilometers from the Labrador border, near Fermont. ArcelorMittal did not respond to an interview request.

According to the professor, other companies aiming to produce hydrogen might also be interested in the clean electricity power of Labrador.

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#HydroQuébec #longer #coveting #Gull #Islands #energy

2023-06-05 22:00:00
Page 3 to 13: Maïlys Quilhot, Clément Gambier, Claire Njoo, Alexandra Étienne and Jean Cointault – Mechanisms of coopetition between NGOs: the case of plastic pollution in the oceans | Page 14 to 29: Fabien Canolle, Nathalie Bernard and Didier Vinot – When art therapy treats carers: The effects of patients’ artistic productions on the quality of life at work of carers in oncology | Page 30 to 38: Léna Masson and Anne Dietrich – History of a gradual degradation of the maintenance skills of a risky company (1980-2020) | Page 39 to 44: Pierre Messulam and Michel Villette – Maintenance problems in industry: a symptom, but of what? | Page 45 to 47: Christophe Deshayes – The sick maintenance of “distant” management? | Page 48 to 58: Jean Pralong and Marie Peretti-Ndiaye – What NEETs do with digital recruitment: conventions and magical thinking | Page 59 to 71: Alice Valiergue – Is carbon offsetting by large companies greenwashing? | Page 72 to 74: Michel Berry – About the work of Claude HENRY, To avoid a mass ecological crime, Paris, Éditions Odile Jacob, 2023, 240 p. | Page 75 to 76: Hervé Dumez – About Mathieu ARNOUX’s book, A world without resources. Need and society in Europe (11th-14th centuries), Paris, Albin Michel, 2023, 358 p..
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#Annales #des #Mines #Managing #understanding #Issue #Varia