Last Monday, the Greek government scheduled an early Presidential election before the end of the year, which according to the constitution is to be held in the Parliament. If the Parliament proves unable to elect a new President of the Republic (180 votes are needed in a house of 300) a new legislative election must […]Greece did it again
December 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Last Monday, the Greek government scheduled an early Presidential election before the end of the year, which according to the constitution is to be held in the Parliament. If the Parliament proves unable to elect a new President of the Republic (180 votes are needed in a house of 300) a new legislative election must […]“C’est la vie”? French recession and unemployment to linger in Eurozone
December 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It was last Wednesday when the financial information services company Markit published the Markit Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the month of November. This indicator revealed a weak growth outlook for the 18-country Eurozone while the disappointment of investors was apparent. November’s Eurozone economic growth The downslope of Eurozone’s growth continued in November […]Presentation of Juncker’s Investment Plan: Can 315 billion euros save the EU?
November 28, 2014 by 1 Comment
Jean Claude Junker, the president of the European Commission (EC), announced details of his 315 billion euros promising investment plan two days ago in Strasbourg. This three year project will use money from EU institutions in order to create a fund that will motivate investors to bring back their money in Europe and increase growth […]France pushes UK to stay and Germany to pay
November 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Emmanuel Macron, France’s minister of Economy, visited London this week in an attempt to step up for his country’s future policy reforms. Among others, Macron announced that Britain must remain an EU member state and that Germany should invest in the EU. However, it was not mentioned anything about the fines that the European Commission […]The banks first to benefit from the new euro trillion ECB plans to print
November 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Last week, all the major media reported a deep division in the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, over a Mario Draghi policy proposal to pump more freshly printed money into the struggling Eurozone economy. Nevertheless, the European Sting very early in the morning of Thursday 6 November, before the meeting of the Council, […]EU growth in 2015 to be again sluggish; Can the Juncker Commission fight this out?
November 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It was last Tuesday when the European Commission (EC) met in Brussels to talk about the 2014 autumn economic forecast. Among others, the discussion was mainly about the sluggish growth and inflation, the impact of geopolitical crises in the EU economy as well as the significant economic performance of Ireland. Wrong growth forecasts The EC stated […]Is the ECB ready to flood Eurozone with freshly printed money?
November 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The insatiable appetite of the global financial system for more free cash from central banks has now reached the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. After the American central bank, the Fed, announced last month that it discontinues its quantitative easing policy, under which it has supplied the US banks with around $ 4 […]ECB to play down IMF’s alarms for deflation danger in the EU
October 31, 2014 by 1 Comment
It was last Tuesday when Peter Praet, Member of the Executive Board and chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB), reported to two Belgian newspapers that there is limited risk of price deflation in the euro area. The Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in the euro area and in the EU gained momentum after four […]EU to finance new investment projects with extra borrowing; French and Italian deficits to be tolerated
October 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The EU Commission has correctly translated the ideas emanated from the Brussels’ European Council of 23-24 October and accordingly adjourned confrontation with France and Italy over budgetary deficits and extra investment spending for 2015. European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen responsible for financial affairs and the euro seems to have read very carefully the Conclusions […]France asks help from Germany but it will not be for free
October 24, 2014 by
France and Germany had a ‘meeting’ last Monday to discuss about the latter’s support on the problematic budget of France regarding the high deficit levels. This comes after the submission of France’s 2015 budget upon approval by the European Commission (E.C.). The Hexagone claims that slow growth must be fought at all costs. However, Germany is […]ECB to buy corporate bonds: Will government financing be the next step?
October 23, 2014 by 1 Comment
Last Monday, the European Central Bank initiated its covered bank bonds buying programme. But it wasn’t until the major international news agencies started reporting information early on Tuesday from ECB unidentified sources about its plans for corporate bond purchases too, and only then the central bank policies had an immediate and conspicuous effect on real […]Five-year low inflation for Eurozone and now Mario has to finally wake up the Germans
October 2, 2014 by
The European Central Bank’s (ECB) governing council is gathering today in Naples to discuss the monetary policy just two days after the publication of the flash estimate of the annual inflation of the Euro area by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The inflation is expected to be 0.3% in September, a 0.1% […]ECB: Reaching the limits of its mandate to revive the Eurozone economy
September 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Everybody agreed that what the European Central Bank decided last week (to lower its basic interest rate to 0.05% and purchase asset backed securities and covered bonds) came as a surprise. As a result, stock and bond markets throughout Europe celebrated this additional almost zero cost liquidity, which Mario Draghi, ECB’s President, is ready to […]It’s not summer holidays what lead to the bad August of the German economy
September 5, 2014 by
The second quarter was very disappointing in terms of GDP figures for Germany. The biggest European economy is facing tough times at the moment Russia imposes economic sanctions against the EU. It is now more than necessary for Germany to find a way to climb up to growth but its fiscal policy comes as an obstacle […]Eurozone: GDP development heads to naught; the expensive euro serves only Germany
August 17, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A new Eurostat wave of data statistically confirmed that Eurozone is utterly moored in economic stagnation, with disturbing signs that this might even turn to recession. Most significantly, last week the EU statistical service issued an estimate that the euro area GDP idled with a zero growth rate during the second quarter. The same source […]Eurozone: Inflation plunge to 0.4% in July may trigger cataclysmic developments
August 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
With inflation in Eurozone falling last month to crisis level nadir and a new business investments retreat, it is easily understandable why unemployment is still exploding at double-digit highs. As a matter of fact, at the end of last month Eurostat, the EU statistical service published its estimates for the above mentioned crucial variables, which […]Europe can easily exit from stagnation if Germany changes perspective
July 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
If things continue on their present course, there is no indication that in the foreseeable future the Eurozone inflation rate could start performing its desirable role again and could signify, or probably even trigger a new period of economic expansion. If the European Central Bank continues resisting the pressures for substantial monetary quantitative easing, the […]ECB again to subsidize euro area banks with more than one trillion euro
July 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The Governing Council of European Central Bank decided last week to hand out to Eurozone banks additional liquidity of up to €1 trillion at almost zero cost, under its new targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs). At the same time it also decided to “intensify preparatory work related to outright purchases in the Asset Backed Securities […]When will Eurozone’s unemployment rate stop being Europe’s worst nightmare?
July 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union estimated on Tuesday that the euro area unemployment rate was 11.6% in May; stable compared to April but reduced by 0.4% to last year’s measurements. The agency mentions that 18,552 million men and women were unemployed in May 2014; a decrease of 636.000 compared to May 2013. […]Will ECB win against low inflation by not following Quantitave Easing?
June 27, 2014 by Leave a Comment
On the 5th of June, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided not to fully deploy all the tools of Quantitative Easing (QE) programme, which showed that the ECB is not yet ready to risk everything in order to deal with low growth and inflation rates. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) […]“Is Europe innovative? Oh, Yes we are very innovative!”, Director General of the European Commission Mr Robert-Jan Smits on another Sting Exclusive
June 9, 2014 by Leave a Comment
This revealing exclusive interview with Mr Robert-Jan Smits, Director General of the European Commission for Research and Innovation, was conducted by Carlo Motta at the European Sting’s pavilion during European Business Summit 2014. In the following interview Carlo Motta will be signalled as C.M and Mr Smits as R.J.S. C.M. : It is a big honour and pleasure to welcome in […]Quantitative easing: how Mario can tackle low inflation in Eurozone
May 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
One of the major issues that the European Central Bank (ECB) struggles to solve is low inflation. It seems that it is not even close to the target that has been set; a rate of below but close to 2% over the medium term. April’s inflation data indicated a 0.7% inflation rate, a percentage not far away […]Hollande protects the euro from the attacks of extremists
May 14, 2014 by Leave a Comment
On 8 May, on the anniversary of the Allied Forces victory against Nazi Germany marking the end of World War II, François Hollande, the French president, used the occasion to defend the European project. He wished that all the French citizens could listen to what he had to say. To this effect the French president […]Assembly of European Regions @ European Business Summit 2014: The European regions on the path to recovery
May 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Written by Marian-Constantin Vasile, President of AER Committee on ‘Economy and Regional development’ The European Union is emerging from a lasting crisis. This longest-ever recession seems to end, while the EU28 GDP grew by 0,2 in the third quarter of 2013. The upturn in business sentiment and confidence indicators suggests that structural reforms, macroeconomic governance […]The ECB will do whatever it takes to set the Eurozone economy again in motion
April 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, speaking at the high-level conference on “Monetary Policy in the New Normal” organised by the IMF in Washington D.C., on 13 April 2014, described in detail the unconventional monetary policy tools the Eurozone’s central bank is about to use, in order to affect (reduce) interest […]The ECB proposes a swift solution for SMEs’ financing
April 8, 2014 by 1 Comment
The European Central Bank is deeply worried about the ability of Eurozone’s SMEs to access bank financing at a reasonable cost and under competitive terms. The present business loan stalemate has already bitten into the growth prospects of the euro area, mirrored in the dangerous fall of inflation rate towards the deflation zone and the […]EU Commission: The banks are not obliged to finance the real economy
March 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
At a time when the Eurozone banks have received for free €4.5 trillion of taxpayers’ money and at least another €3 trillion from the ECB at close to zero interest rates, the Commission dares to ask the pension funds and the Internet to replace the banks in financing economic growth in the crisis stricken and […]European Banking Union: no one is perfect
March 27, 2014 by 1 Comment
Europe came to an agreement last Thursday 20 March to complete the second pillar of the European Banking Union with the establishment of the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). After months and months of negotiations between the European Parliament and the member states, Europe will have as of now the relevant legislation and the mechanisms to function a banking […]168 hours left for MEPs – ECOFIN Council to deliver a Banking Union
March 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Contradicting messages are emitted from a statement issued yesterday by the lead MEPs currently negotiating the details of the legislation on the Single Resolution Mechanism and Fund for Eurozone banks with the ECOFIN council. This legislation is set to complete the legal and structural background of the European Banking Union. The other pillar of the […]Parliament: Last compromise on bank single resolution mechanism
March 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Undeniably, the European Banking Union’s prime target is to definitely cut the umbilical cord between banks and sovereigns, through the creation of a uniform supervision and insolvency dealing environment for all Eurozone lenders. Yet, Germany and France insist that the final decision for the resolution of a failing bank must be taken by member state […]Eurozone stagnates after exporting its recession to trading partners
March 5, 2014 by 1 Comment
Today Eurostat, the EU statistical service, published its second and more accurate estimate for the euro area and the EU28 Gross National Product during the last quarter of 2013, and confirmed its flash estimate of 14 February when it had reported GDP increases of 0.3% and 0.4% respectively, in relation to the previous quarter. On […]Poor Greeks, Irish and Spaniards still pay for the faults of German and French banks
February 3, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Government deficit decreased substantially in the third quarter of last year and reached -3.1% of the GDP in Eurozone. This is just one decimal point away from the 3% benchmark, set by the Treaty of Maastricht and the strict EU economic governance Regulations (the famous ‘two’ and ‘six’ packs). The gap between government income and […]Eurozone: Sovereign debt decreases for the first time since 2007
January 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment
During the third quarter of 2013 euro area government debt decreased in absolute terms for the first time since the end of 2007. According to Eurostat, the EU statistical service, at the of the third quarter of 2013, the government debt to GDP ratio in the euro area also decreased to 92.7%, compared with 93.4% […]
