This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. EP President David Sassoli and President of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, paid tribute to courageous European citizens “who peacefully, without any violence, but through […]Wolfgang Schäuble: “Without European unification, there would be no German unity”
November 14, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. EP President David Sassoli and President of the German Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, paid tribute to courageous European citizens “who peacefully, without any violence, but through […]Germany readies to pay for the Brexit gap in EU finance
February 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
As expected, last Friday’s informal European Council of the 27 EU leaders didn’t produce any tangible result regarding its main agenda item; the future of Europe. The EU leaders just quarreled on who is to cover the hole in the budget, after Britain’s contribution ends with Brexit. In relation to this perennial question of money […]Germany may have a stable and more cooperative government
February 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The center right and center left German mainstream political parties agreed yesterday evening to form a new grand coalition government. It will be the third time since 2005 the two Christian parties and the socialists jointly govern their country. The socialists will control the Finance, Foreign and Labor ministries, with Martin Schulz, the Social Democratic […]Minority governments ‘à la mode’ in Europe but can they last long?
January 4, 2018 by Leave a Comment
With the Italian elections set for 4 March and anticipated to produce a hang parliament, four out of the five bigger European countries will be in political limbo for a good part, if not for the entire new year 2018. France is the only exception in this Euro-plague of political uncertainty. In some cases the […]German political spillovers: ECB’s Draghi resists first attacks by AfD
September 28, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Last Monday, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, speaking at the Economic Committee of the European Parliament had the opportunity to test the grounds and familiarize himself with the nature of political climate he may come across after the German elections. He had a heated exchange with the head of the AfD group […]Elections results: Austerity’s black to prevail in the new multicolored German government
September 25, 2017 by Leave a Comment
During the past ten years, Germany has become a politically boring country and yesterday’s election is not going to change that, despite the loss of around one million votes for the Chancellor’s party. Angela Merkel’s win came to none’s surprise and the results permit her to embark on a fourth term in the top job. […]ECB intervenes to clean May’s and Schäuble’s mess
June 12, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday 8 June, on the day the Britons were punishing Theresa May for her mistakes and arrogance, the European Central Bank under Mario Draghi was preparing for a less favorable politico-economic environment and a much longer disinflationary period. Indirectly, Mario Draghi blamed the dying out inflation on the avowed neoliberals, of the kind of […]Germany caught with selfish double standards in euro area policy
June 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Over the past three years the European Central Bank, guided by its President Mario Draghi, has been folowing a super relaxed monetary policy. It has been aiming at reviving uncertain economic growth and dying inflation, by handing out to banks, and through them to the economy, hundreds of billions of euro and at the same […]The London City-EU connection holds despite of Brexit and the ban of LSE-Deutsche Börse merger
April 3, 2017 by Leave a Comment
European Commission’s decision to ban the Deutsche Börse – London Stock Exchange merger, on the one hand solved a long list of problems it could have triggered, in view of and after the Brexit. On the other hand though, this decision has created probably as many issues, because London is the long established low cost […]Trump asked Merkel to pay NATO arrears and cut down exports ignoring the EU
March 20, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The German Chancellor Angela Merkel returns to Berlin with a bill her country must pay to the US. The check was handed over to her personally by the American President Donald Trump last Friday at the White House. In a very clear manner he estimated what Germany owes to NATO, and indirectly to the US. […]Why is Grexit again in the news? Who is to pay for Eurozone’s banking problems?
February 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Grexit, Greece’s exit from the euro area, is back in the news – for the wrong reasons. During this past week, the country’s creditors, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism and the International Monetary Fund, finally agreed amongst themselves to set even tougher conditions in order to continue refinancing the […]Draghi repels Trump’s threats, rejects Schauble’s dictums
January 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, is under mounting pressures both at home and abroad. From the other side of the Atlantic US President Donald Trump is overtly targeting a much cheaper dollar compared to euro, while at his inaugural speech he clearly praised trade protectionism by saying, “Protection will lead to […]Germany and Europe prepare for Trump’s America
January 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Germany, and more generally the EU, is now preparing in earnest to confront the groundbreaking changes in their relations with Trump’s America. Last week, both the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Federal minister for Finance Wolfgang Schauble, made direct and indirect statements about the policies now needed for Germany and the European Union. On […]Italian banks: It’s Rome’s turn to confront Berlin’s aggressiveness
January 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Italy, after Greece, is now the next target of the archetypical Teutonic aggressiveness, aimed this time at making the life difficult for Paolo Gentiloni the new Prime Minister. The problems Rome has with the country’s banking system are being exaggerated and used by Berlin to either pave the road leading outside the euro area or […]Deutsche Bank chased away from US, threatened with more fines
December 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The US Department of Justice settled its claims against Deutsche Bank, the biggest German lender, for packaging and selling toxic mortgage securities to uninformed customers prior to the 2008-2010 financial crisis. Initially, the Justice Department had asked for $14 billion, but it seems it settled for a fine of $7.2bn. However, this is not the […]After the Italian ‘no’ and the Brexit, Germans must decide which Europe they want
December 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
There is no doubt that Europe is in disarray. The long standing malaise of high unemployment and economic stagnation has already mutated into critical political problems. The mutations of the European political ecosystem take various, unseen before forms. In the northern EU countries they invariably appear as extreme right or even semi-fascist political parties, inflated […]Solitary Britain sides with US aggressing Russia and chooses hard Brexit
October 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Sunday Britain surprised Europe by surpassing even the Americans in condemning and threatening Russia over the fight of Aleppo, imminent to be lost for the West. British Foreign minister Boris Johnson went past the US Secretary of State John Kerry, in pointing a finger at Russia. While Kerry threatened Moscow with more economic sanctions, […]Trump ostracized by his party and world elites but still remains in course; how can he do it?
October 13, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Four weeks ahead of the American Presidential elections day of 8 November, and the campaign of the Republican Party and its candidate Donald Trump is in unseen before havoc. Most prominent Republicans in one way or another have undermined the prospects of their own contester to win. It’s pretty clear by now that the establishment […]IMF – World Bank meetings: US – Germany clash instituted, anti-globalization prospects visualized
October 10, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This year’s annual meetings of the IMF – World Bank Group in Washington D.C., which kicked off on Thursday 6 October, turned out to be an all out financial war of words between the United States and Germany. In the middle of it stands the battered Deutsche Bank. For a start, there was a confrontation […]Deutsche Bank: the next financial crisis is here and the lenders need €150 billion from taxpayers
July 14, 2016 by 1 Comment
Last Monday David Folkerts-Landau, the chief economist of Deutsche Bank, the ailing largest lender of Germany, in an interview with the prestigious newspaper ‘Die Welt’ stated that European banks must be subsidized with €150 billion in rescue money to recapitalize. Obviously, it will be the taxpayers to once more provide the capital the euro area […]Greek citizens to pay the price again but Tsipras risks losing next elections
May 11, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It was last Monday when the Eurogroup took place in Brussels to discuss about the Greek programme but no final decisions were made neither on the ESM’s programme first review nor on the debt relief. The Eurozone Finance Ministers decided though to come to an agreement at their next meeting on May 24, after the […]Why the ECB had to clarify it caters for the entire Eurozone not just Germany?
April 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday morning this newspaper concluded that the “only EU institution with true European motives and vision remains the European Central Bank of Mario Draghi”. Just some hours later in that Thursday afternoon the European Sting was confirmed one hundred percent by Mario Draghi, the President of ECB, who said that “We have a mandate […]Draghi drafts a plan to donate more money to bankers, the era of ‘money for nothin’ is flourishing
February 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The European Central Bank announced last week that under its extraordinary Asset Purchase Program (APP), it has injected €712.3 billion into the euro area financial system until January this year. Out of that, €544.2bn are Eurozone government and public entities bonds, bought under the Public Sector Purchase Program (PSPP). This last plan was decided in […]Is there a way out of the next financial crisis? Can more printed money or austerity save us all?
February 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Every time Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank, tries to fight very low inflation and indirectly support growth and job creation in Eurozone with monetary measures, the Germans stand in his way. Last Thursday 28 January, Jens Weidmann, the governor of the German central bank the Bundesbank, did it again. In an […]ECB money bonanza not enough to revive euro area, Germany longs to rule with stagnation
December 7, 2015 by Leave a Comment
During the days ahead of last Thursday’s 3 December meeting of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, financial markets and market oriented media had been pressing for a stronger monetary accommodation (easing), than what President Mario Draghi finally announced in the afternoon of that day. As a result, the euro appreciated markedly with the dollar […]Draghi rehabs ECB into a tool to support growth and employment; a departure from Teutonic orthodoxy
November 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment
On Thursday 22 October Mario Draghi, the President of the European Central Bank delighted the world capital markets with his comment about the “factors that are currently slowing the return of inflation to levels below, but close to, 2% in the medium term” He added that “In this context, the degree of monetary policy accommodation […]A new crop of EU ‘Boards’ override the democratic accountability and undermine the EU project
September 21, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last Wednesday 16 September the European Economic and Social Committee, an authentic representative of the European organized civil society, adopted an opinion aimed at improving the democratic function and the accountability of the EU decision-making bodies. The EESC acted at the request of the European Parliament. Actually, the Lisbon Treaty contains untapped potential to bring […]Germany loves a strong euro; the new Fiscal Councils can deliver despite the Greek chaos and a wider questioning of austerity
September 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Last Saturday, 12 September, Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis made some remarks after the informal meeting of ECOFIN (the EU ministers of Finance Council) in Luxembourg. The main item on the agenda was about completing the European Monetary Union. EMU is the most important EU project after the introduction of the single euro currency. He […]Why France, Italy and the US press Germany to accept a cheaper euro and pay for Greece
August 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Since last March the European Central Bank has being pumping at least €60 billion a month into Eurozone’s financial system, under its ‘expanded asset purchase program’, aimed at reviving the stagnating price level and energizing the sleepy real economy. The objective is to bring inflation close to 2%; the target rate set by ECB’s monetary […]Does the Greek deal strengthen the Eurozone? Markets react cautiously
July 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Is Eurozone strengthened after the Greek deal? At first reading the answer is a straightforward ‘yes’ because the other option, the Grexit, the exit of the country from the euro area, would have reversed the theoretically irreversible participation in the monetary zone. According to the Treaties, on which the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) of […]Tsipras bewildered with Berlin’s humiliating demands; ECB expects political sign to refinance the Greek banks
July 13, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The Greek indecisiveness and procrastination and the deep division of the euro area countries, with Germany upholding an intransigent position have led to the humiliation of Athens, during the Saturday and Sunday late night meetings of the Eurogroup (the council of the 19 ministers of Eurozone) and the Eurosummit (the 19 heads of Eurozone state […]Greece will probably stay in the Eurozone but at what cost?
July 10, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The technical teams of the European institutions are now discussing the Greek proposal which was approved yesterday evening by SYRIZA’s governmental council and submitted to the institutions minutes before the deadline in order to have a final agreement at tomorrow’s Eurogroup. The fact that the Greek government has come up with a more professional and […]The time is up but the game is still not over for Greece: negotiations continue in anticipation of a new deal
July 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
The deadline of the 4-month extension that the Greek government had received on February 20 just expired today. However, the Greek government and particularly the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on a last moment decision to return to the negotiating table sent a letter to the institutions only hours before the expiration of the bailout programme. […]
