Mark Rutte (top) leaving the Dutch royal palace, hoist on his own petard of fiscal rigour. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP link http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/23/europe-elite-democratic-backlash Ian Traynor, Europe editor guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 April 2012 19.02 BST Article history For over two years, the mainstream political elites of Europe have been battling to save the single currency, seeking its salvation in a German-scripted programme of [...]
Polls show Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande far ahead of Nicolas Sarkozy [GALLO/GETTY] It would be at least interesting to see Emperor Sarkozy and Fourth Reich Disciplinarian together with Lagarde depart for other pastures. All three see the European solution as one of strangling the working person, raiding their general fund and then the final [...]
European commission criticised for ‘racist’ ad Video showing white European woman facing down Chinese, Indian and Brazilian fighters is withdrawn after outcry If you thought Europe had problems with finances this Disneyland version of their own sense of self importance does not help. George Ikners ikners.com European commission advert shows white [...]
Viviane Reding says women are running out of patience at being kept out of Europe’s boardrooms. Photograph: KPA/Zuma/Rex Features The European Union‘s justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, is expected to set aggressive quotas and timetables on Monday to increase the number of women on the boards of public companies. Speaking to the Guardian before the announcement, Reding [...]
Mario Draghi, the ECB president, said the last such offering averted a ‘major, major credit crunch’ [GALLO/GETTY] Banks have bought $713bn in funds from the European Central Bank at the lender‘s second offering of cheap three-year funds, raising hopes that more credit will flow into European lending markets and government borrowing costs will begin to ease [...]
Germany at odds with Dutch and IMF boss over eurozone bailout fund You could be excused for thinking that there is a very short story to the Greek bailout. Apparently Greece is less than 2% of the Eurozone capability. Letting it sink, if that is the correct term, may very well mean nothing [...]
. Greek PM Lucas Papademos has been holding talks with private investors to clinch debt-swap deal [Reuters] European leaders are set to meet in Brussels, the Belgian capital and de facto capital of the European Union, for a fresh round of talks aimed at tackling the eurozone debt crisis, with Greece‘s precarious financial future at the top of [...]
EU agrees Iranian oil embargo Foreign ministers‘ deal in Brussels could lead to soaring fuel prices and Iran closing the strait of Hormuz Ian Traynor in Brussels guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 January 2012 10.35 GMT Article history European Union foreign minsters meeting in Brussels have given preliminary approval to ban Iranian crude oil [...]
Tony Blair was determined to have a referendum on joining the euro during his second term, Peter Hain (right) says. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty Images Tony Blair and his aides sanctioned a secret group inside Labour, including the-then Europe minister, Peter Hain, to prepare the ground for a euro referendum during his second term in office. The group was secret partly [...]
In a touching few moments in the economic lunacy charade why not as, isn’t this the same credit agency that rated subprime and get rich quick tricks AAA? Seems all is forgiven and apparently now their assessment has somehow come good. This is a real tribute to the power of propaganda as so many swallow [...]
A child from Bilin village looks over the settlement of Modiin Illit which is being built on the village’s lands. (MaanImages/Charlotte de Bellabre, File) JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israeli and PLO envoys will hold their third round of face-to-face meetings this year on Saturday in what diplomats hope might lead to the resumption of full peace [...]
Countries in Europe have suffered at the hands of the European Central Bank‘s gross mismanagement [EPA] Washington, DC - The people who gave us the eurozone crisis are working around the clock to redefine it in order to profit politically. Their editorials – run as news stories in media outlets everywhere – claim that the euro [...]
The Toll of Austerity: Eurozone Unemployment Hits New Record Youth joblessness at 3.3 million in the eurozone As the U.S. Labor Department announces today that the unemployment rate has fallen to a low of 8.5%, new statistics released today from the Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, show the soaring rates of unemployment in the eurozone. [...]
Spanish people demonstrate against unemployment and austerity measures in Madrid, 2011. The jobless rate hit 22.9%. Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images Public spending cuts and collapsing business confidence have sent unemployment in the eurozone to a record 16 million people, up 587,000 on the same month in 2010. Official figures compiled by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, show [...]
No EU Deal on Iran Oil Embargo Yet Diplomats Deny French FM’s Claims of Agreement by Jason Ditz, January 05, 2012 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Yesterday’s claims that the European Union was on the cusp of announcing a full banon the [...]
Oil Nears 8-Month High as EU Nears Ban on Iran Trade EU Move Forces Mediterranean Nations to Seek Alternative Supplies by Jason Ditz, January 04, 2012 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Crude oil prices are approaching an 8-month high tonight following the announcement that the European Union has issued a [...]
DPA Merkel the Mistress and Sarkozy the Butler A screenshot from the German parody of the famous ‘Dinner for One‘ The link to the video is at Der Spiegel site at http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,806784,00.html Remember it is in German Gikners ikners.com gikners@gmail.com Angela Merkel is the lady of the manor and Nicolas Sarkozy her fawning butler. A German [...]
dapd A Greece official said on Tuesday that his country doesn’t have much time left to secure a bailout deal with the European Union. The holiday break was welcome, but on Tuesday, a Greek government spokesman said that the next three months were crucial if his country was to remain part of the euro zone. [...]
REUTERS A ceremony to mark the launch of the euro coins in Frankfurt in December 2001: The euro was always built on delusions. Since its inception, the euro zone has been built on lies, the most grievous of which is the idea that the common currency could work without political union. [...]
Worshipers are seen through an Iranian national flag as they attend Friday prayers in Tehran, Dec. 30. (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl) BRUSSELS (Reuters) — The European Union is open to meaningful talks with Tehran provided there are no preconditions on the Iranian side, an EU foreign policy spokesman said on Saturday. Earlier, Iran‘s semi-official Mehr news [...]
Serbian President Boris Tadic is committed to maintaining current policies to avoid upsetting public opinion [EPA] Cambridge, United Kingdom - The world held its breath in expectation of the decision of the European Council regarding the eurozone crisis at the Council’s meeting in Brussels two weeks ago. The choice of the 26 EU member states to form a closer [...]
dapd The European Central Bank in Frankfurt has given euro-zone banks a massive liquidity injection. The European Central Bank has launched the biggest lending operation in its history, and banks pounced on the offer on Wednesday, borrowing almost a half-billion euros for three years at a low interest rate. Governments hope the banks will use the [...]
The European Central Bank has announced details of the European banks taking advantage of its long-term refinancing operation. Photograph: Daniel Roland/Getty ECB loans highlight funding pressure on eurozone banks Financial strain of debt crisis laid bare as 500 banks borrow around €500bn in three-year loans from European Central Bank reddit this Comments (158) Larry [...]
EU treaty reform has seen French president Nicolas Sarkozy and David Cameron come to blows. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Tensions between Britain and France over the future of the EU intensified after Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly accused David Cameron of behaving like “an obstinate kid” when he wielded the British veto at the European summit last week. As Angela Merkel held out an [...]
AP David Cameron addressing the House of Commons on Monday: “We are in the EU and we want to be.” British Prime Minister David Cameron, under fire in Europe for blocking a key EU treaty change, defended his move on Monday and said EU membership remained ‘vital’ to the UK. He faces pressure from euroskeptics [...]
Nick Clegg said on the Andrew Marr Show that Tories welcoming the outcome of the European summit were ‘spectacularly misguided’ Photograph: Handout/Getty Images Staff and agencies guardian.co.uk, Sunday 11 December 2011 16.01 GMT Article history A deep and seemingly irreconcilable rift between the Liberal Democratsand Conservative coalition partners has been revealed after the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, [...]
REUTERS British Prime Minister David Cameron pulled back from the EU on Thursday night. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,802728,00.html The European Union on Thursday night dropped the hypocrisy. No longer is harmony the overriding goal. That, though, means that Great Britain may no longer have a place at the table. London must decide whether it wants to remain part [...]
REUTERS French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Brussels: Merkel and Sarkozy can’t be pleased with the outcome either. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,802703,00.html At their Brussels summit, European leaders were able to agree on a fiscal union surprisingly quickly. But the new pact, which Chancellor Merkel had strongly advocated, has a crucial flaw — Britain [...]
Eurozone countries go it alone with new treaty that excludes Britain David Cameron: ‘Britain better off outside treaty’ Link to this video Britain is facing isolation in Europe after David Cameron vetoed a revision of the Lisbon treaty, prompting a majority of EU members to agree to draw up their own deal outside the architecture of the union. In one [...]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Conservative European People’s Party congress, Marseille, ahead of the Brussels summit. Photograph: Ian Hanning-Pool/SIPA/Rex Features European leaders have embarked on a mammoth effort to forestall the ruin of the single currency at what was seen as the most important Brussels summit in years, with France, Germany and the leaders [...]
Wrecking the World Economy by DEAN BAKER The world is eagerly waiting to see if the European Central Bank (ECB) will take the steps needed to save the euro. Specifically, is the ECB prepared to act as a central bank and guarantee the sovereign debt of the countries in the eurozone as the [...]
AFP German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy have agreed a fiscal union plan. But will it be enough? The pressure on the euro zone is so great that the German-French plan for treaty changes to punish budget rule-breakers is likely to be approved at a make-or-break EU summit starting Thursday. But it could still be thwarted [...]
Dennis Skley (CC-BY-ND) By William Pfaff The American rating firm Standard & Poor’s warned 15 European nations on Monday, including Germany and France, that unless they solve their currency problems this week, to the satisfaction of S&P, a business corporation, this company will “downgrade” them, with the effect of increasing the interest they must pay on their [...]
DPA Europe Shudders at Germany‘s New-Found Power Many across Europe resent Germany’s influence in the current euro crisis. Germany, admired and envied for its economic success, has become a model for Europe in the debt crisis. The Continent is becoming more German as countries get serious about fiscal discipline. But the nation’s new dominance is [...]
France and Germany agreed on a series of reforms to address the eurozone sovereign debt crisis [Reuters] The British prime minister has threatened to block a new European Union treaty designed to save the euro from the debt crisis if London’s demands are not met. David Cameron said on Tuesday that the UK’s huge financial [...]
Herman Van Rompuy is circulating the eurozone plan ahead of a crucial EU summit on Thursday and Friday. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters Radical eurozone shakeup could see countries stripped of voting rights Confidential paper from European Council president Herman Van Rompuy proposes empowering Brussels to impose austerity The European commission could be empowered to impose austerity [...]
A euro sculpture in front of the European Central Bank building in Frankfurt. Photograph: Michael Probst/AP Eurozone ministers hit back at S&P downgrade threat: live • S&P threatens mass downgrade of eurozone states • Greek parliament to vote on 2012 budget • British Retail Consortium reports biggest sales fall for six months 2.41pm: If you’ve been [...]
Jacques Delors singled out Germany as the biggest stumbling block in finding a swift solution to the crisis [EPA] One of the main architects of the euro has said the eurozone was “flawed from the very beginning”. Jacques Delors, who headed the European Commission from 1985 to 1995 in an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph, said ”over-optimism shown [...]
