Feed Briefs

Serbia
Dinar caught in Greek maelstrom

The debt crisis in the eurozone also affects countries that have not adopted the euro. Le Monde explains that Serbia has been struck by sudden […]

25 May 2012

Presseurop
Le Monde
Debate
Europe must choose

“What will become of the European Union?” wonders The Economist. For the influential business weekly, the choice is simple, either a break-up of […]

25 May 2012

16

Presseurop
The Economist
Minorities
Roma still on the margins

“The discrimination persists”, writes România Liberă, summarising the findings of a recent study by the Agency for Fundamental Rights of the European Union (FRA). Based […]

24 May 2012

3

Presseurop
România libera
Finance
MEPs approve the Tobin tax

While the leaders of member countries were meeting in Brussels at an extraordinary summit on growth, the European Parliament approved the tax on financial transactions, […]

24 May 2012

11

Presseurop
La Tribune, The Daily Telegraph
Debate
Sarrazin launches crusade against euro

Once again, Thilo Sarrazin, the author of a bestselling and highly controversial book on immigration in Germany, has shocked readers with the “ugly nationalist” tone […]

23 May 2012

10

Presseurop
Frankfurter Rundschau
EU-Libya
Ashton’s service suspected of favoritism

According to Rue89, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is about to investigate the “conditions under which the EU signed a major services contract […]

23 May 2012

2

Presseurop
EUobserver.com, Rue89
Greek crisis
“Geuros” to save Athens

The chief economist of Deutsche Bank, Thomas Mayer, speaking at a symposium organised by the German daily Die Welt, has proposed introducing a "Geuro" for […]

22 May 2012

3

Presseurop
EUobserver.com
EU-China
Can Beijing-Berlin axis haul Europe out of crisis?

“The emergence of a special relationship between Germany and China is both an opportunity and a danger for Europe”, finds a recent study published by […]

22 May 2012

13

Presseurop
Le Monde, Le Temps
France
Nay-sayers take French diplomacy dossier

France’s new ministers for foreign and European affairs, Laurent Fabius and Bernard Cazeneuve, have a curious fact in common: they both voted […]

18 May 2012

11

Presseurop
Le Monde, Libération
Greece
Fresh elections, fresh dangers

Following 9 days of discussions, Greek parties have not reached an agreement to form a government. Therefore, new elections will be held on 17 June, […]

16 May 2012

5

Presseurop
To Vima, To Ethnos, Ta Nea
Spain
ECB steps into banking sector reform

"The ECB will carry out an audit of the Spanish banking sector," Cinco Dias reports. The European Central Bank decided to "cooperate with the […]

16 May 2012

5

Presseurop
Cinco Días
Germany-France
Hollande-Merkel: forced to succeed

"Merkel-Hollande: Reinventing Europe" says political scientist Anne-Marie Le Gloannec in Le Figaro, summarising the challenge facing the new French president and German […]

15 May 2012

3

Presseurop
Le Figaro, La Croix, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Eurozone
Euro firewall could melt with Greek fall-out

The eurozone seems not to be sufficiently equipped to face the consequences of a Greek default. According to the Financial Times, “Fears that the […]

15 May 2012

1

Presseurop
Financial Times
Germany-France
Merkel’s election debacle is good news for Hollande

With the headline “SPD triumph in North Rhine-Westphalia as CDU is routed”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports on the results of the 13 May election […]

14 May 2012

23

Presseurop
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Monde
Greece
Athens “must leave the euro now”

Given the persistence of the political stalemate in Greece and the risk that the debt crisis facing the country could bring down the […]

14 May 2012

14

Presseurop
Der Spiegel
European parliament
Three European agencies brought into line

On May 10 the European Parliament, voted to “postpone approval of the budgetary expenditure of three EU agencies", reports European Voice. This […]

11 May 2012

4

Presseurop
European Voice, România libera
Italie
Beppe Grillo, the anti-politics showman

"The system is disintegrating" warns l’Espresso, after the first round of partial municipal elections held on May 6 and 7. Support for the […]

11 May 2012

4

Presseurop
L'Espresso, Corriere della Sera
Germany
Will Angela Merkel know when to go?

“How much longer?” wonders the Die Zeit headline over a picture of Angela Merkel, who no longer has many friends in Europe at […]

10 May 2012

4

Presseurop
Die Zeit
Debate
A petition of naivety

"Ask not what Europe can do for you, but what you can do for Europe" – this is the theme of a manifesto […]

10 May 2012

11

Presseurop
Aftonbladet
European Commission
Growth must still be funded...somehow

"Growth: Brussels is trying to regain control" says Les Echos, which believes that the Summit of heads of state and European governments on […]

9 May 2012

12

Presseurop
Les Echos
Espagne
Banks confront the property bubble

The rescue of Spain's second largest savings bank Bankia, announced by Mariano Rajoy’s government on May 6, has sounded an alarm about the […]

9 May 2012

29

Presseurop
El País, ABC
Ukraine
Euro 2012 boycott still in the balance

“Poland speaks up for Tymoshenko”, Gazeta Wyborcza headlines as Kiev has postponed a central European regional summit that was to be held on […]

9 May 2012

1

Presseurop
Gazeta Wyborcza
Germany-France
The Merkel-Hollande duo still in search of a nickname

It is still unclear what the Franco-German duo will look like now that French President-elect François Hollande is set to replace Nicolas Sarkozy in talks […]

8 May 2012

17

Presseurop
Le Figaro, Die Tageszeitung
Romania
Victor Ponta, the transition Prime Minister

On 7 May, a new majority in the Romanian parliament gave its backing to the government of newly designated Prime Minister, Victor Ponta. […]

8 May 2012

3

Presseurop
Germany
New election blow for Angela Merkel

"A party wavering in the North", began Die Welt in its summary of the power struggle played out through the ballot box […]

7 May 2012

Presseurop
Die Welt
Debt crisis
Mario Draghi unveils plan for growth

At the biannual summit of the European Central Bank (ECB), which took place May 3 in Barcelona, its chairman Mario Draghi “asked EU leaders to […]

4 May 2012

23

Presseurop
Media
A petition for a “Europe of citizens”

The crisis hammering Europe is hurting primarily young people, often graduates. It is to this generation that MEP Daniel Cohn-Bendit and the […]

3 May 2012

8

Presseurop
Finance
London and Paris clash over banks

"Europe is about to set in stone a first set of standards designed to strengthen banks" reports Le Figaro. Finance ministers from the 27 […]

2 May 2012

1

Presseurop
Le Figaro, Le Monde
Romania
“Indignados” win victory

"What have Romanians gained since the fall of Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu’s government?" wonders Vox Publica. On April 27, the centre-right cabinet was toppled after […]

30 April 2012

3

Presseurop
VoxPublica.ro
Economy
China wants to invest €7.5 billion euros in central Europe

China wants to invest $10 billion (€7.5 billion) in new technologies and the green economy in Central Europe, according to declarations made by […]

27 April 2012

14

Presseurop
Gazeta Wyborcza
Germany-Italy
Isolated Merkel embraces Monti and growth

Angela Merkel doesn’t want to be left alone in the turmoil of the crisis. With her long time partner Nicolas Sarkozy on the […]

26 April 2012

7

Presseurop
La Stampa
Schen
EU prepares tighter border controls

“EU to mobilise against illegal immigration”, headlines Berlingske. The daily reveals that Denmark, the current holder of the rotating presidency of the European […]

25 April 2012

2

Presseurop
Berlingske Tidende
From Germany
Fear of isolation

“Is Europe failing?” wonders Handelsblatt, which voices its concern over the increasing power of the far right, at a time when the Front […]

24 April 2012

7

Presseurop
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Handelsblatt
Netherlands
Wilders plunges country into uncertainty

"Who will resolve this?" questions Dutch daily De Volkskrant, following the April 21 refusal by Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), to […]

23 April 2012

18

Presseurop
De Volkskrant, Trouw
Schengen
France and Germany push to suspend free movement

France and Germany want to limit the free movement of people in Europe. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has published a joint letter from the […]

20 April 2012

24

Presseurop
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Switzerland
Berne closes the door on East Europeans

Starting on 1st May, workers from eight EU countries (Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic) will be once again subject […]

19 April 2012

Presseurop
Tribune de Genève, Le Temps
Food
GM soy beans gain ground

According to information obtained by German daily Frankfurter Rundschau, the European Commission is opening the door to the use of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in food […]

18 April 2012

1

Presseurop
Frankfurter Rundschau
European Commission
New rules to prevent creative stats

Soon, "EU governments [will be] obliged to commit to providing statistics that are correct," reports Romanian daily Adevărul. The European Commission, the Bucharest daily explains, […]

18 April 2012

3

Presseurop
Adevărul
Spain
King Juan Carlos under fire

His fractured hip is doing better but the accident suffered on April 12 by King Juan Carlos during an elephant hunt is still causing ripple […]

17 April 2012

8

Presseurop
El Periódico de Catalunya
Belarus
Freed activist warns EU against concessions

Andrei Sannikov, one of Belarus's most prominent political prisoners was released on April 14 from what The Independent describes as one of his […]

17 April 2012

Presseurop
The Independent
Economy
Portugal first to ratify Fiscal Pact

"Is the treaty needed?" asks the Expresso editorial of April 14, one day after the Portuguese Parliament ratified the European Fiscal Pact. With […]

16 April 2012

13

Presseurop
Expresso
Czech Republic
Corruption rife despite party leader sentence

“Bárta is finished, the system continues,” headlines Hospodářské Noviny, after a Prague court found Vít Bárta, founder and de facto leader of the […]

16 April 2012

Presseurop
Hospodářské noviny
European Commission
Target: 17 million jobs

Responding to a record 10% unemployment in the EU, the union “is launching a programme for more employment,” leads Süddeutsche Zeitung. Faced with harsh criticism for […]

16 April 2012

11

Presseurop
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Switzerland
Anti-Roma front page provokes controversy

The picture made the front page of the Swiss weekly Weltwoche. A boy is pointing a gun at the reader. He is a Roma, and […]

13 April 2012

2

Presseurop
Hungary
Orbán annoys IMF and EU

“Europe has had enough of Orbán’s lies”, announces Népszava. The Budapest daily explains that the Hungarian government has shied away from conditions imposed […]

13 April 2012

1

Presseurop
Népszava
Spain
Growing marijuana to escape the crisis

All solutions are worth considering in times of crisis. That is the conclusion reached by the administration of Rasquera, a Catalan village that voted to […]

12 April 2012

1

Presseurop
El Periódico de Catalunya
Greece
Most crucial elections in Greek history

The countdown has begun. In 25 days, on May 6th, the Greeks will be called to the ballot box for decisive legislative elections. The date […]

12 April 2012

5

Presseurop
To Ethnos, Ta Nea
Italy
Monti’s mission hanging on a thread

“Markets slump, spread skyrockets”: La Stampa resumes Tuesday’s financial scare which saw stocks plunge all across Europe. Italy was at the crest of […]

11 April 2012

3

Presseurop
La Stampa
Libya
Inquiry threatens European oil firms

Libya’s National Transitional Council has launched an inquiry into oil contracts signed with foreign companies during the last years of the Gaddafi […]

10 April 2012

1

Presseurop
Corriere della Sera, The Wall Street Journal Europe
Bosnia-Herzegovina
“The day Europe died in Sarajevo”

Twenty years ago today, on 6 April 1992, “paramilitary units of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) commenced the bombardment of Sarajevo, which had […]

6 April 2012

1

Presseurop
Dnevni Avaz, Delo, Die Presse, El País

Poll

Are you in favour of eurobonds in order to pool eurozone states' public debt?

You say...

I have not seen any growth proposals which talk about lightening regulation, liberalising the labour market, opening up the service sector, reducing state subsidies. What haven't I understood?

lexx on A way out of the crisis begins here

To imagine that we need economists debating is a failure see that they have been useless in foreseeing the crisis, and will be useless in helping us get out of it. What we need is political courage. And political responsibility.

leon on Growth — the new magic word

For anyone following Presseurop's forum, he will notice that the one thing Europeans agree on is their total disagreement on what Europe should be and what it should do.

littledirtyitalian on Hour of truth has come for Europe