My weekly update - Main contents

Another week over and an interesting and somewhat historic one it was.

This week saw my first trip to European Parliament in Strasbourg since taking office, where all Commissioners attended plenary and finalised the €315 billion Invest EU Plan, before it was presented to MEPs. While there I also met with a number of MEPs and had some interesting and useful exchanges.

On Tuesday morning, Pope Francis I spoke to the Parliament and I had the honour of being present for an historic speech. It was only the second visit of its kind and it had been 26 years since the last (by Pope John Paul II in 1988). There was much food for thought in the pontiff's speech and I was particularly pleased that he reminded us of the importance of the agricultural sector "which provides sustenance and nourishment to our human family".

Another topic that he touched upon was the place of labour in our lives. Indeed the importance of jobs is something in which our Commission very strongly believes. With this purpose in mind, President Juncker, alongside Vice President Katainen on Wednesday announced the €315Bn EU Investment package

The ambitious Investment Plan for Europe is about ramping up investment in the EU economy to the tune of €315bn over the next 3 years. . The Commission meeting this week had involved lengthy discussions and a great deal of work in preparation for the announcement, made on Wednesday. It is designed to unlock private investment stimulate competitiveness through a better use of private and public money and by increasing the lending capacity of the EIB. The hashtag #investEU will appear more and more in your social media feeds as this plan is fleshed out in coming months.

On Wednesday, on my way back from Strasbourg, I stopped off in Luxembourg to meet with Members of European Court of Auditors regarding the Court's Annual Report.

When I arrived back in Brussels, I met with senior officials from DG Agriculture to plan some of the bigger items on the agenda in the coming weeks. Constant contact and liaison with my Directorate General is of utmost importance, so I also took the opportunity to visit DG Agriculture on Thursday to touch base with the hard working officials who diligently prepare background notes for my various meetings.

During the week I also took various phonecalls from Ministers and in so doing kept up to speed on political matters related to agriculture and rural development across the EU.

Next week looks to be yet another active week. On Monday I will appear before the Budgetary Control Committee to discuss the discharge for 2014. On Wednesday I visit the Parliament once again to given a presentation to the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on my plans for the coming period.. I have been preparing for both of these meetings throughout the week, with the help of my team.

There was good news for farmers across Europe this week with the announcement of €868m which will be reimbursed to farmers in their direct payments in 2015.

So all in all, with the investment plan and news of this reimbursement I hope that spirits have been somewhat lifted in this pre-Christmas period.

One final bit of news related to the "country I know best." It was good to see the Waterford Blaa, recognised for its unique qualities under the Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) system, is now available in Dubai - it just goes to show that opening up new markets across the globe is possible for even the humble bread roll!