Euro
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France-Italy: Latin “growth axis” vs. German “discipline axis”
15 June 20125620PresseuropLe Monde, La Repubblica, La Stampa -
Debt crisis: The great flight of capital
14 June 2012589PresseuropCorriere della Sera -
Eurozone crisis: “Europe, not Greece, is the problem”
14 June 201211417PresseuropLe Soir -
Cyprus: A bailout, quick!
13 June 2012838 Cyprus Mail Nicosia -
Debt Crisis: Italian press gets behind Monti amid bailout rumours
13 June 201251125PresseuropLa Stampa, Il Sole-24 Ore -
Banking crisis: Everyone has been lying
12 June 201241928 Jornal de Negócios Lisbon -
Debt crisis: Do something, Mrs Merkel!
12 June 20124935PresseuropIl Sole-24 Ore, Financial Times -
Spain: Relief and concern in Europe
11 June 2012771PresseuropDe Volkskrant, Les Echos, Die Welt & 2 others -
Spain: Rajoy wins first hand in euro-poker
11 June 201210668 El País Madrid -
Spain: Our time is nearly up
6 June 2012162166 La Vanguardia Barcelona -
Debt crisis: The price of the euro: German money, France’s independence
6 June 20127941PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
Eurozone crisis: Here comes the United States of Europe
5 June 201279891 The Guardian London -
Spain: Watch out for the Men in Black
5 June 20121208PresseuropABC -
Eurozone crisis: “Maastricht 2” to save Spain and Cyprus?
4 June 20129215PresseuropDiário económico -
Eurozone: Barroso for banking union
31 May 20124221PresseuropDer Standard -
GREECE: All guilty
31 May 201216337 Coulisses de Bruxelles Brussels -
Eurozone crisis: Berlin to save Europe like it saved GDR
28 May 201217644PresseuropDer Spiegel -
EU summit: A way out of the crisis begins here
24 May 2012162120 France Inter Paris -
Debate: Sarrazin launches crusade against euro
23 May 20122911PresseuropFrankfurter Rundschau -
Greek crisis: “Geuros” to save Athens
22 May 2012863PresseuropEUobserver.com -
G8: Spurring growth will be a huge task
21 May 201216344 El País Madrid -
Spain: ECB steps into banking sector reform
16 May 2012505PresseuropCinco Días -
Greek crisis: The euro exit is a bluff
15 May 201229684 La Stampa Turin -
Eurozone: Euro firewall could melt with Greek fall-out
15 May 2012651PresseuropFinancial Times -
Greece: Athens “must leave the euro now”
14 May 20128614PresseuropDer Spiegel -
Eurozone: The growth imperative
10 May 2012303107 Il Sole-24 Ore Milan -
Debt crisis: Mario Draghi unveils plan for growth
4 May 20128323Presseurop -
Eurozone: But austerity is necessary
26 April 20128935 Die Zeit Hamburg -
Economy: IMF is a troublesome ally
18 April 2012199122 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam -
euro zone: The trillion-euro illusion
2 April 20122958 De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Italy: A glut of fake euros
23 March 20123514 La Repubblica Rome -
Eurogroup: A German president?
19 March 2012521PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung, Financial Times Deutschland, Financial Times Deutschland -
Eurozone crisis: Time for politics after the storm
14 March 201210557 La Stampa Turin -
Eurozone crisis: Spain disappointed by Eurogroup deficit demand
13 March 2012528PresseuropEl País -
Greece: Shipwreck has been avoided
9 March 201294146 To Ethnos Athens -
Eurozone crisis: Greek aid will go to the banks
9 March 20127058PresseuropDie Gazette -
Netherlands: Wilders’ arguments for leaving the euro
6 March 20124517PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
Czech Republic: Has Prague strayed too far from the herd?
5 March 2012481PresseuropHospodářské Noviny -
News in brief: Bundesbank lectures ECB
1 March 2012557PresseuropFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung -
Eurozone crisis: Try the Greek yoke on, Herr Hansen
29 February 201242819 Cicero Berlin -
Debt crisis: Two currencies for the most indebted states
29 February 201212945 Eesti Päevaleht Tallinn -
Germany: Court overturns Merkel’s private euro-group
29 February 2012461PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
Eurozone crisis: Expel Greece - a cure worse than the disease
22 February 201219798 La Repubblica Rome -
Greek Crisis: “A good deal for the banks, and a very bad one for Europe”
22 February 201223924PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
Eurozone: EU strengthens control over national budgets
22 February 2012604PresseuropFinancial Times -
Greece: No room for error
21 February 20125510 To Ethnos Athens -
Greek crisis: Troika admits bailout can’t work
21 February 201233911PresseuropFinancial Times -
Greek crisis: Brussels’ fatal therapy
15 February 201247796 Die Zeit Hamburg -
Greek crisis: Europe is just as guilty as Greece
10 February 201241256 La Stampa Turin -
Debt crisis: Time - Fate of world on Monti’s shoulders
10 February 2012953PresseuropTime
It's been in the air for weeks — Nicosia is preparing to apply for €3bn to €4bn in emergency funding from the EU in order to recapitalise its struggling banks, highly exposed to Greek debt. But time is running out, writes the English-language Cyprus Mail. 
Banks and politicians are complicit in the banking disaster bank in Spain – and citizens will have to pay for the consequences. It’s a disgrace, angrily writes the director of Portugal’s Jornal de Negócios. 
For weeks the European press has been speculating, not about the possibility of a bailout for Spanish banks, but about the date when such an initiative would be announced. On 9 June, the government in Madrid finally submitted a request to the EU for assistance in recapitalising Spain’s financial sector, which is struggling to cope with bad property loans. 
After denying for weeks that the Spanish banking sector needed help, the Madrid government has gone to the EU with cap in hand. And to convince the Germans to go along, it played a clever bluff. 
Until this week, Madrid thought it would have to wait for the Greek elections before getting any help to solve its national bank crisis. But panic is now growing with no easy solution in sight. 
If Germany is to pay for the eurozone crisis, then fiscal and political union is the likely price. And plans for this are already being drawn up ahead of what could be a momentous EU summit on 28-29 June. 
A majority of the Greek population considers that the eurozone and the IMF are too demanding, and is likely to vote in favour of anti-austerity parties to cast in the upcoming June 17 elections. But, if the Greeks do not want to fail yet again, they will not be able to avoid reforms that have been put off for too long. 
In their discussion on common investment and eurobonds at an extraordinary summit on 23 May, the EU27 set aside the opposition between “virtuous” and “spendthrift” states and took a further step towards economic integration. 
At the G8 in Camp David, the richest countries have agreed to boost growth, particularly in Europe. This requires a radical change in tack from the austerity policies pushed so far. Are the leaders ready? 
As speculation rages about a Greek exit from the eurozone, we must grasp that the country cannot survive without the single currency and that Europe cannot afford to let it leave. That's why everyone should put their cards openly on the table. 
The elections of May 6 have revealed the dramatic split between politicians and citizens. To prevent it from degenerating, we must abandon the obsession with austerity and discussions in small committees and restart the engine through the solidarity and integration that are the hallmarks of Europe, according to one columnist. 
The Netherlands, France, and the ECB: Europe's growing opposition to Germany's strict austerity measures is threatening the survival of the fiscal pact. Nonetheless, Berlin should continue to insist on discipline both for itself and for Europe, argues a German business journalist. 
The International Monetary Fund, which recently warned Europe of the possibility of another crisis, forms part of the troika charged with rescuing countries in financial difficulty. However, over the last year under the presidency of France’s Christine Lagarde, the organisation which is often presented as a saviour has adopted a less conciliatory tone. 
On 29 March, EU finance ministers claimed to have come up with the right numbers with which to shield the eurozone from a new crisis. But it is a sleight-of-hand accounting that could crumble at the first sign of trouble. 
The region around the city of Giugliano, a strong-hold of the Neapolitan mafia, provides nearly half of the counterfeit euros in circulation. The network, whose international ramifications could destabilise the single currency, has distributed over a billion euros worth of notes since 2002. 
The European economy appears to have survived the worst of the crisis and to be on the road to recovery. However, progress towards this goal is is hampered by political hesitations and politicians doubts about their performance in future elections. 
Having succeeded in convincing between 85% and 95% of its creditors to write down part of its debt, the Greek government has finally accomplished one of the tasks expected of it. But now it will have to convince the people that the sacrifices it has demanded will not be vain. 
What would the life of an average German official be like if the Federal Republic were forced to follow the same draconian austerity measures it is currently imposing on Greece? With the help of some experts, Cicero tries to imagine it. 
Rather than leaving the eurozone, the most indebted countries would do better to adopt a second, national currency. It would be circulated alongside the single currency, on the model of what was practiced in the former Soviet-bloc countries at the time of independence, suggests Viljar Veebel, an Estonian political scientist. 
Drive Greece out of the euro, and build a federal Europe behind a protective firewall? Italian columnist Barbara Spinelli warns that this idea, which appears to be gaining ground with a number of European leaders, would not only fail to resolve the crisis but would also put an end to Europe’s common culture. 
In a meeting that lasted into the small hours of Tuesday, February 21, the Eurogroup finally adopted a second bailout plan for Greece of €130 billion with an additional €107 billion in cancelled debt. But failing a genuine economic development plan, this sum will not be sufficient to put the country back on its feet, warns Greek daily To Ethnos. 
The Euro Group has postponed its decision on whether or not to grant a new aid package to Greece, fearing that the austerity plan adopted by Athens will not be implemented. But rather than the brutal slashing imposed by Brussels, the country needs to be restructured. And rather than being stigmatised, it is in need of solidarity. 
The new Eurogroup meeting on February 9 is not enough to banish the spectre of a Greek bankruptcy. While Athens may largely be responsible for the crisis, the EU and its partners are not blameless themselves. La Stampa argues that their confused messages and the absence of any strategy have transformed a resolvable problem into an explosive chaos.