To be young… and doomed
"Europe fears for its lost generation," the Czech daily Hospodářské noviny declares, leading with the claim that the level of youth unemployment is now the highest since the second world war. A report by the confirms that five million young Europeans were without work in 2009, with Spain the worst hit, with 40% of young people jobless, followed by the Baltic states. The Prague daily blames the economic crisis, the rigidity of the labour market and the lengthening of the retirement age for forcing 18 to 25 year olds out of the labour market. 
Even if it is not yet among the worst hit, the generation who grew up in the UK during the boom years are now confronted with the worst period of austerity since the Thatcher years of the early 1980s, The Independent reports. With unemployment spiralling, and universities forced to make brutal cuts, tens of thousands of student are likely to be left without a place when the new term starts in September. "Who would want to be 18 today?" it asks, when even those who get into college are likely to emerge into a depressed job market weighed down with debt.
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. 
Asserting national values is central to the political project of the Hungarian PM. Since the start of the year, fifteen paintings, specially commissioned for an exhibition in the Castle of Buda, have been putting this ambition on show. 
Since Portugal has been subjected to an austerity regimen by the EU/ECB/IMF troika, Portuguese consumers have adapted their habits. The crisis is pushing consumers to save but also to be more creative.