The last deal to reform the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) this week between the Parliament, the Commission and the Council is a final recognition, concluded that European agriculture is not considered any more as the basic supplier of food for the Union’s 500 million inhabitants. It also recognises that farmers should receive aid […]
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Parliament cuts own spending to facilitate agreement on EU budget
The Budgets Committee of the European Parliament made yesterday a new proposal on the 2014 EU Budget, that the European Council cannot deny. Law makers cut down the legislative’s own expenses, but reversed the Council’s proposed cuts in investments to stimulate growth and jobs. In detail Budgets Committee MEPs voted yesterday in favour of cutting […]
The Ecofin deceives the SMEs with the EIB €10bn capital increase
Shakespeare’s comedy play title “Much Ado About Nothing” best describes the 28 Ecofin ministers for Finance discussion on the EU Commission and European Investment Bank initiative, wishfully aimed at facilitating the access to finance for SMEs. The programme extends over the next few years and foresees an increase of EIB’s capital by €10 billion. This […]
Eurozone economy desperately needs internally driven growth
With economic growth in Eurozone proving to be weak, uncertain and widely varying between member states, government spending has become the only possible source of a much hoped for resumption of economic activities. On the other hand, stock exchanges have gained a lot since the beginning of the year, in a way that is not […]
Job vacancy data reveal better prospects for Britain, stagnation in Eurozone
Job vacancy statistics is not a widely used analytical tool despite the fact that is follows more accurately a number of vital social and economic variables, like the robustness of growth or the steepness of fall of economic activity. They are also indicative of the structural effectiveness of labour market workings, of the efficacy of […]
Europe turns out more jobs this summer
In July 2013, for a second month in a row, unemployment rates remained unchanged in both Eurozone and the EU28 at 12.1% and 11% respectively, according to a Eurostat Press release issued today. Eurostat is the EU statistical service. The same source notes that, “26.654 million men and women in the EU28, of whom 19.231 […]
Who may profit from the rise of the extreme right in the West?
The European Parliament seemed abruptly awoken yesterday to an ugly reality, by recognising the rise of right-wing extremism in Europe, while discussing the murder of Pavlos Fissas, the Greek social activist slaughtered by the gangs of Golden Dawn. Of course the EU Parliament is not the only western top decision making body to suddenly discover, […]
Why European manufacturing SMEs in the South face fatal dangers
During this week in Brussels there was a lot of talk about Europe’s industrial competitiveness. The Competitiveness Council, part of the Council of the European Union, is currently meeting in Brussels, on September 26-27, for the first time formally under the Lithuanian Presidency. This Council brings together the EU ministers responsible for the single market, […]
EU fight against tax-evasion and money laundering blocked by Britain
The informal Ecofin and Eurogroup councils that took place in the Dublin Castle this weekend had only one victim; the bank depositors. Tax evaders got away, with Algirdas Šemeta the EU Commissioner responsible for Taxation and Anti-Fraud, running after them brandishing only his “appetite for progress and action”. In reality no real progress or action […]
EU economy: Between recession and indiscernible growth
Triumphant announcements, that the European economy has entered in a new growth path just because unemployment in June has decreased in the EU27 by one decimal point and the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in July increased by 1.2 points in the euro area cannot stand a rigorous critic. Incidentally unemployment in the euro area was […]
What are the real targets of EU’s efforts to fight tax evasion?
Algirdas Šemeta, the European Commissioner responsible for Taxation Audit and Anti-fraud announced yesterday in very low tones the creation of a new consultative committee in Brussels, under the name of “tax good governance platform”. This was a very disproportionate outcome, after the widely advertised Commission’s initiative to crack down on tax evasion in the European […]
Eurozone: There is a remedy for regional convergence
Regional unemployment statistics in the European Union as published today by Eurostat, the EU statistical service, show clearly that the wide differentiation of this crucial variable calls for an appropriate modulation of policies designed to counter different growth/recession records. The European Central Bank is currently supplying ample and almost zero cost liquidity to Eurozone’s core […]
Eurozone dignitaries play with people’s life savings
The informal Eurogroup and Ecofin meetings in Dublin today and tomorrow will discuss but are not expected to come up with decisions on two burning and closely interrelated financial issues. It is about the relaxation of bank secrecy legislation in certain EU member states like Austria and Luxembourg and the procedures to be followed from […]
Eurozone cannot endure any longer youth marginalisation
The 3239th EU Council meeting was devoted to Education, Youth, Culture and Sport and as usually the Presidency, this semester held by Ireland, very happily presided over it. The Irish Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. said “I am particularly pleased that we have adopted these Conclusions today. There are still too many […]
Bugged Europe accepts US demands and blocks Morales plane
If the plane of a European Union head of state or government, while passing over a Latin American country, had been forced to land by the country’s military and civil authorities, and then searched for 15 hours, say by the Bolivian police and secret agencies, the entire EU political establishment would have climbed at the […]
Three countries losing ground and one new prime minister
Three countries losing more economic grounds and one new prime minister was last week’s stock taking in Eurozone. Meanwhile the real economy and more so the Small and Medium Enterprises in the south of Eurozone were found in a much worse position during the last six months ( Oct 2012- Mar 2013), in relation to […]
Lies and reality about incomes and wealth in the EU
The European Central Bank in April this year produced a statistical paper on the distribution of real household wealth in Eurozone countries. The study argued that in terms of net wealth the average German household appears much poorer than their counterparts in the crisis hit countries of south Europe, that is Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy […]
Europe rethinking its severe austerity policies
During the past few weeks there is a noticeable change of climate in Brussels towards a more relaxed attitude over economic policies. On Monday the President of Eurogroup and minister for Finance of Holland, Jeroen Dijsselbloem asked in a letter his 16 colleagues in view of their Luxembourg meeting, to reduce the sovereign debt […]
Eurozone has definitely overcome its structural uncertainties
Reading the latest statistics on EU member states government deficit and debt, issued by Eurostat, the EU statistical service was a revelation. For the first time the Service noted that, “Eurostat has no reservations, nor did it make amendments on the data reported by Member States”. It was a relieve knowing this after all those […]
Facts and prejudices about work
The European Union and more so the Eurozone countries change fast into service sector economies, increasingly favouring the transfer of the heavy production burden of industry and agriculture to the developing economies. This is not necessarily a negative development given that labour in services is generally less demanding, at least physically, and it is rather […]
‘Two pack’ austerity package in force but with less vigor
The ‘Two-Pack‘, an EU regulation package for Eurozone’s austere fiscal reform enters into force on 30th May 2013 in all euro area Member States. The new strict fiscal rules for euro area countries proved necessary, after the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), failed to refrain budget deficits and public debt below 3% and 60% of […]
Commission goes less than mid-way on expensive euro
Olli Rehn, the EU Commissioner for the Economy took the floor yesterday, over the euro exchange rate market developments. As he usually does, Rehn wanted on this issue too, to be seen as going mid-way between Berlin and Paris. The question to be answered is of course, if the euro is expensive or not? However […]