Bugging EU institutions’ premises and members states’ offices in the US by American secret agencies may seriously affect the progress of negotiations for the conclusion of a Free Trade and Investments Agreement between the two largest trading partners of the world. While the first reactions by EU dignitaries, after the revealing publications by Der Spiegel […]EU-US trade agreement talks to be affected by American bugs
July 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Bugging EU institutions’ premises and members states’ offices in the US by American secret agencies may seriously affect the progress of negotiations for the conclusion of a Free Trade and Investments Agreement between the two largest trading partners of the world. While the first reactions by EU dignitaries, after the revealing publications by Der Spiegel […]Commission presents far-reaching anti-tax evasion measures
June 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As from January 2015 dividends, capital gains and all other financial incomes and bank account balances will be added to the currently existing restricted list of categories subject to the automatic exchange of information between the EU tax authorities, according to a proposal by the EU Commissioner Algirdas Šemeta. Practically today only interest on bank […]Paris agreed with Berlin over a loose and ineffective banking union
May 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Safeguarding the basics of the Franco-German unity, which functions as the powerhouse of the European Union, had another victim. The French President Francois Hollande and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed yesterday in Paris to undermine the effectiveness of the European Banking Union. Instead of a strong central and financially independent bank resolution authority in […]Early signs of growth in Eurozone?
May 31, 2013 by Leave a Comment
All business and consumer indicators for the euro area showed betterment in May according to the Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), which conducts those regular and harmonised surveys. Business climate indicator (BCI), consumer confidence and economic sentiment indicator (ESI) all improved during this month of May. It’s the first time […]Why the West supports the yen’s devaluation and Japanese over-indebtedness
May 13, 2013 by 1 Comment
While the ministers of Finance of seven major industrialised countries making up the G7 council agreed pompously last weekend that monetary devaluations should not be used as a home economy revitalisation tool, Japan doing exactly that got a pat on the back and was given the green light to continue on the same path. The […]European Union: Retail sales show deep recession
May 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Retail trade sales are to be found in the core of effective demand in every advanced economy. Being the driving force behind consumer spending they are considered as the main indicator for the general course of the economy, that is if it grows or recedes. Unfortunately for Eurozone and for the European Union in general […]The European Parliament floating over the South China Sea
February 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A group of European Parliament members, representing the House Delegation for South East Asia and the ASEAN countries (DASE), while visiting the Philippines last week said, they support the country’s move to refer territorial differences over the South China Sea to United Nations. Those differences involve six countries of the region the Philippines, China, Vietnam, […]EU, Brazil to hold high level Summit in Brasilia
January 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Union and Brazil are holding a bilateral Summit in Brasilia on 24 January. Already from 2007 the EU and the largest South American country have established a strategic partnership in recognition of both sides’ political and economic importance. According to a Commission Press release, bilateral Summits are held annually and focus on key […]China repels EU allegations of export subsidies
January 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
A statement by the head of the EU Mission in Beijing, Markus Ederer, that the EU is not looking to start a trade war with China over dumping pricing or illegal subsidies, does not make good sense. His comments are contradictory to the fact that the Commission has launched aggressive investigations on two very important […]€5 billion of EU energy efficiency project money spent on “comfort”
January 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The European Commission does not spare big words and photographic opportunities for Commissioners, whenever launching a new initiative or securing political agreement for a regulation. And they are doing this all the time. It seems like they spent all their energy and resources in conceiving new rules on everything. And of course they always need […]Eurozone: Austerity brings new political tremors
January 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The new political stalemate in Portugal – after the President of the country send the 2013 government budget to the high court questioning its constitutionality – casts again doubts over Eurozone’s ability to manage the austerity policies needed, to secure a viable politico-economic path. In more detail, yesterday Wednesday 2 January, the Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva, […]The new EU “fiscal compact” an intimidation for all people
January 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment
All the major media of the world announced that as from yesterday 1 January 2013 the European Union has a new Treaty on Stability Coordination and Governance, known as “the fiscal compact”, which aims at imposing fiscal discipline in the Eurozone area, plus any other EU country wishing to join.Theoretically, the ultimate goal of the […]The Chinese solar panels suddenly became too cheap for Europe
December 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
On 6 September 2012 the European Commission introduced an anti-dumping investigation on imports of solar panels and components originating from China. Understandably the present market conditions, including selling prices of solar panels in the European Union, have been there for many years. More than ten. That is, from the moment that a number of EU […]Where is heading Putin’s Russia?
December 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Russia is the third trading partner of the EU and the EU is the first trading partner of Russia. This simple fact tells the whole story, about the relations between the two largest economic volumes of the Old Continent. Not much of Europe is left outside the two heavyweights. Energy, food, machinery and equipment, raw […]Brazil: A strategic partner for the EU
November 18, 2012 by 1 Comment
Brazil is one of the largest democracies of the world, and the offshore oil findings of the past few years, have helped the country become not only self-sufficient in hydrocarbons but also draw millions of its people out of poverty. The country is grouped by OECD to the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China), constituting the […]
