Economy
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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 -
Eurozone: Greece retires...
9 February 20129342 To Vima Athens -
Trade: German exports soar, but not for long
9 February 201233PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
Eurozone crisis: The “Grexit” taboo has been broken
8 February 201216113 De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Debt crisis: Why we’ve had enough of Greece
7 February 2012156175 El Mundo Madrid -
Air travel: China strikes first blow against EU tax
6 February 20125010PresseuropFinancial Times -
Greece: Athens hopes bankruptcy avoidable
6 February 2012272PresseuropTo Ethnos -
Eurozone crisis: Save the ECB from the danger of Greece
2 February 2012939 De Tijd Antwerp -
Davos summit: UK leaders hit out at Germany and France
27 January 2012877PresseuropFinancial Times -
European Commission: Santer returns to the fold
25 January 2012384PresseuropThe Daily Telegraph -
Eurozone crisis: The Greek trap
24 January 201210814 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Food: Europe’s mountain of leftovers
20 January 20122084PresseuropEl País -
Eurozone crisis: European rating agency in the pipeline
19 January 2012846PresseuropDiário de Notícias -
Eurozone crisis: Draghi sounds the alarm
17 January 20124PresseuropIl Sole-24 Ore -
Eurozone crisis: After the downgrades comes the downward spiral
16 January 201222263 Financial Times London -
Eurozone crisis: For S&P, the Emperor has no clothes
16 January 20126515PresseuropCorriere della Sera, Hospodárske Noviny, Die Presse & 3 others -
Eurozone crisis: France relegated to 2nd division
16 January 20125211 Le Monde Paris -
Romania: Forgotten miners in the Valley of Tears
13 January 201210716 Die Tageszeitung Berlin -
Stability pact: “Golden Rule” doesn’t glitter anymore
13 January 2012429PresseuropPúblico -
Eurozone crisis: Monti takes on Merkozy
12 January 20128155PresseuropDer Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, La Repubblica & 2 others -
Drugs: Netherlands bans khat
11 January 2012681PresseuropPresseurop -
Finance: Tobin tax: Sarkozy rides alone
9 January 20125PresseuropLa Tribune -
Spain: Paying with pesetas in Salvaterra de Miño
6 January 20121945 Le Monde Paris -
Employment: A two-speed Europe
5 January 20123PresseuropLa Tribune -
Economic crisis: Portuguese companies flee to Netherlands
4 January 2012PresseuropJornal de Negócios -
Greece: Leaving the euro, a risky business?
4 January 20128PresseuropPresseurop -
Anniversary: 10 years of the euro. What’s to celebrate?
2 January 201282114 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Hungary: The fragile ambitions of Magyar capitalism
22 December 2011111 Magyar Narancs Budapest -
Debt crisis: ECB brings some relief to the banks
22 December 20113619PresseuropPresseurop -
Ideas: Explaining the eurozone crisis to children
21 December 201155720 Il Sole-24 Ore Milan -
Lithuania: Nurses go Norway
20 December 20111061 Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius -
Air travel: Threats fly between Washington and Brussels
20 December 2011263PresseuropFinancial Times Deutschland, Financial Times Deutschland -
Eurozone crisis: IMF euro rescue fund misses target
20 December 2011414PresseuropPresseurop -
Hungary: IMF and EU slam door on Hungary
19 December 201147PresseuropNépszabadság -
Eurozone crisis: UK prepares to rescue Eurogeddon refugees
19 December 201163PresseuropThe Times -
Fishing: Western Sahara sinks EU-Morocco accord
15 December 201160PresseuropEl País -
Fiscal Union: New treaty - a legal and economic headache
14 December 2011553PresseuropFinancial Times -
European Council: Unity dearly bought
9 December 201135121 Die Zeit Hamburg -
European Union: The economic order that inspires Merkel
8 December 20112006 Libération Paris -
Eurozone crisis: Rating agencies - don’t shoot the messenger
7 December 201110811 The Daily Telegraph London -
Eurozone crisis: The destructive rise of the rating agencies
7 December 201120313 Libération Paris -
Eurozone crisis: Van Rompuy and Barroso to the rescue
7 December 2011223PresseuropEl País -
United Kingdom: PM puts price on support for treaty change
7 December 20113PresseuropThe Times -
Press review: Who will follow Merkel and Sarkozy?
6 December 201111521PresseuropAdevărul, Rzeczpospolita, Postimees & 4 others -
Italy: Monti presents the bill
5 December 20111PresseuropLa Repubblica -
Eurozone crisis: Do what the lady says
2 December 201120864 La Repubblica Rome -
Eurozone crisis: How business is preparing for Eurogeddon
1 December 20112853PresseuropPresseurop -
Eurozone crisis: Polish minister begs Germany to act
30 November 20119PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza
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.
Agree to new austerity measures or risk being kicked out of the eurozone: that’s the alternative presented to Athens on the day the euro group is meeting. It’s a situation Greek politicians have failed to avoid, regrets To Vima.
At a time when Athens is still involved in debt restructuring negotiations with its private creditors, Neelie Kroes’ recent allusions to a Greek exit from the euro are a sign that European leaders are intent on preparing the terrain for such an eventuality.
The game has gone on for nearly two years: Athens pretends to comply with the demands of its creditors and partners, and they pretend to believe in Greece’s commitments. As the spectre of default comes nearer, however, the Greek bluff cannot go on much longer, writes an El Mundo editorialist.
A Greek default can still not be ruled out, and it would place the European Central Bank in considerable danger. To avoid this, states should pay up and provide guarantees, believes economist Melvyn Krauss.
In Athens, the war of nerves over the debt haircut is nearing a finale. The negotiations between private creditors and the government, however, are taking some dangerous stumbles. Before Greece gets €130 billion in aid, it must show some success with its reforms. And that, with all the good will in the world, cannot be achieved.
In the wake of the collective downgrading of 9 eurozone countries, including France, it’s become clear that the EU’s policy of rescue funds coupled with fiscal austerity has exhausted itself. It’s time for Angela Merkel and her partners to find a credible outcome, writes Wolfgang Münchau.
For the European press, the ratings downgrade for nine eurozone countries by Standard & Poor's merely confirms what markets and leaders have known for a long time: that the difficulties of the eurozone are primarily due to rifts between the member countries.
Standard & Poor's 13 January downgrade of France’s credit rating is a double blow: Nicolas Sarkozy and his presidential election rivals will come under even greater pressure from the markets while the North-South divide in Europe has grown significantly wider.
In Ceausescu's times thousands of Romanians, drawn by high wages, flocked to the coalfields of the Jiu Valley. Today many of the mines in the valley are closed and the miners have been left to fend for themselves. Many are sliding into criminality.
Two days after French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit, Mario Monti traveled to Berlin on 11 January for discussions on saving the Eurozone with Angela Merkel. The Italian PM, who advocates a more flexible approach to the crisis, succeeded in obtaining the support of the German Chancellor.
In response to the crisis, shopkeepers in Salvaterra de Miño have decided to once again accept the former national currency. And the customers, attracted by prices at the same exchange rate that applied at the launch of the euro in 2002, are flocking to the Galician village.
On 1st January 2002, the euro began to be circulated. But given the current crisis, no one is planning to celebrate a decade of the single currency.
The suspension of negotiations with the IMF and the EU over the issue of the independence of the central bank has demonstrated that Viktor Orbán’s government also intends to apply its “national revolution” to the economy. However, economist Miklós Sebők argues that the basis for this policy is erroneous.
"Hey Dad, what's the euro crisis?" Rather than explaining interest rates and public debt, the best way to answer is to trot out the well-known tale of The Three Little Pigs and the big bad wolf, suggests Giovanni Majnoni.
Faced with the economic crisis, Lithuanian medical staff are increasingly leaving to work in Norway, where salaries are much higher. Although they do not become exiles, they do have to contend with a permanent schedule of return journeys between Oslo and Vilnius.
Without doubt, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have taken a big step nearer their goal of a fiscal union. But at what price? Britain remains outside it. The salvation or the disintegration of the Union is now approaching.
Angela Merkel’s drive to impose discipline and sanctions in the Eurozone is not a bid to establish German hegemony, but simply an extension of the economic doctrine that provided the basis for Germany’s economic miracle: “ordoliberalism”.
Standard & Poor's threat to downgrade the eurozone as a bloc has aroused the ire of European leaders and opinion makers. But according to a British columnist, the rating agency is only telling the unpalatable truth.
By placing the eurozone under negative watch on the eve of the European Council meeting, Standard & Poor's has confirmed the emergence of a limitless economic power that is overwhelming the structures and rules of democracy, writes a worried Libération.
At a 5 December meeting in Paris, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy agreed on a plan to save the euro from catastrophe, which they will be asking the EU’s 27 member states to approve at a summit on 8-9 December. The European press, however, thinks they’re not out of the woods yet.
Europe must learn to co-operate with Germany, argues veteran Italian columnist Barbara Spinelli. Despite a reputation for being excessively stern and power-hungry, German rigour is nevertheless the only viable alternative to the Chinese model.