87 posts
Of perception gaps and financing traps
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The current public debate on fiscal policy is often portrayed as a political battle between the Austerians and Spendanigans. As a doctrinaire agnostic, I refuse to take an oath to either of these, as there is no silver bullet or single issue mov...
Portugal's Constitutional Court Blocks Bailout Measures
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Portugal's Constitutional Court has struck down austerity measures considered necessary by the government to meet the conditions of its 78-billion-euro (101 billion US dollars) bailout program, opening a billion-euro gap in the country's 2013 budget.
Live Blog: ECB Meeting
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Hello everyone, and welcome to our live blog of the European Central Bank’s first monetary policy decision of 2013 with Brian Blackstone in Frankfurt and David Cottle in London.
What happened at last night’s Ecofin? A lesson for today’s re-publica debate
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I’m at re-publica in Berlin, appearing at 1315 on a panel about the European public sphere online. You can follow the panel here (Stage 5). This morning we started debating these issues with a speech from Euroblogger Ronny Patz, whose ideas are...
Italy sucked into the crisis one way or another
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Italy has quickly been drawn into the euro crisis over the past few days as prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and minister of finance Giulio Tremonti have openly fought over the austerity package put before parliament. Ten year Italian government bond...
Euro Update(17): Eco-Fin Council – From EFSF to EMS and Portugal
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If we are to believe the reports coming out of Monday night’s meeting of eurozone Finance ministers, the metaphorical ball is rolling on the negotiations of the permanent version of the EFSF. According to the FT , the parties agreed … Con...
Ecofin has confidence in the survival of the Euro... Well that's nice
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Peter Spiegel over at the FT has this rather delightful snippet from the Ecofin conference on the Euro,The euro will survive…for at least another year.So proclaimed Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister and head of the euro group of co...
"Everything is at stake"
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Chancellor Angela Merkel has been speaking at her party's congress and, given the events in Ireland, the euro was a key theme of her speech.It's fairly stirring stuff:"Everything is at stake -- if the euro fails, then Europe will fail. The idea of Eu...
Eurozone policy-makers are playing with fire
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By Simon TilfordThere is an awful inevitability about the latest instalment of the eurozone crisis, which looks highly likely to culminate in Ireland being forced to seek a bailout from the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF). As soon as German...
Révision des traités: l’Europe de plus en plus illisible
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Avec la décision de réviser – même de façon extrêmement partielle, prudente et discrète – les traité Européens pour pérenniser le fond de stabilisation financière, le conseil de l’Union a ouvert, sinon la boite de Pandore, au moin...
Bubble Trouble In Finland?
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According to an intriguing article I read in Bloomberg recently an alert signal has been sounded due to the fact that house prices in the Scandinavian countries have been rising very rapidly of late. Judging by what they explain what is now going on...
Interpreting The Stress Tests
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Evidently there is now a considerable debate out there about the famous (or should that be infamous) CEBS stress tests. Methodologically all sorts of weaknesses have been identified, but in many cases these are decidedly beside the point. It is impor...
EU report speaks of critical shortages of 14 raw materials
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It was buried amid the excitement of the European Union’s summit in Brussels, but I’d like to draw your attention to a revealing report published on Thursday on the subject of European access to strategic raw materials. Prepared under...
A challenge more important than the future health of the City?
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Luther Pendragon has learnt that Britain’s new Liberal Conservative Government is likely to fail their first EU test tomorrow (Tuesday) when the AIFM Directive will be adopted by the Ecofin (Tuesday), but they will secure some minor concessio...
ECOFIN’s euro rescue
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The statement by the heads of state or government of the euro area 25 March 2010 evoked the shared responsibility of all euro area members for the economic and financial stability in the eurozone. The leaders were willing to take determined and coord...
A Stupid Question: Will the Eurozone Really Break Up?
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Yes, many will argue that’s a stupid question. Yes, leaving the eurozone will be very costly for any party involved. But I begin to wonder. There’s the rumour that French President Nichlas Sarkozy threatened to pull France out of the euro if...
What A Difference A Day Made!
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According to a once famous statement by the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, a week is often a long time in politics. But when it comes to financial market crises we seem to follow a pattern more reminiscent of a line from the Dinah Washington...
God: four PIGS, but only one fatted calf
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Quizzed on the prospect of further countries needing help with their debt, the supreme being admitted to the Brussels Jungle that He had only ever had plans for one prodigal son, not quadruplets. Eyes rolling, He asked: “What do you expect, a m...
The EU Roadmap Conference continues
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The ‘Roadmap’ conference (see yesterday’s post) continued today, starting with a sober keynote speech from European Commissioner with responsibility for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn. Though, he opined, the Lisbon Strat...
Brussels and London in finance face-off
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Tensions between the UK and the EU over finance rules seem to be coming to a head this week. No sooner had news broke today that British prime minister Gordon Brown is blocking EU efforts to increase financial regulation of hedge funds and private eq...
Turning the tables
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It’s interesting to see how the tables have turned. Until now it was the eurozone putting all the pressure on Greece. Eurozone bigwigs wagged their fingers at the spendthrift state, shocked by its massive budget deficit and fiddling of the statist...
To bail out or not to bail out, that is the question
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As Greece's troubles continue (save yesterday's temporary boost), the debate on whether the EU Treaties legally allow the EU to bail out one of its member states rages on. On his blog, the FT's EU correspondent Tony Barber claims that the "EU possess...
Competitiveness Gaps Could Hurt Euro - No Really!
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Reuters Jan Strupczewski gives more details of the EU Commission report first leaked by Der Spiegel. According to Strupczewski the “new European Commission report has expressed concern about gaps in competitiveness that could undermine confiden...
EU possesses the legal power to rescue Greece if necessary
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There is a need to clear up some misconceptions about how Greece, or some other fiscal miscreant in the 16-nation eurozone, would be rescued by its partners in the event that it was unable to refinance its debts. Quite a few commentators seem to thin...
Not a bang but a whimper: the threat facing the eurozone
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DER Spiegel, the German news magazine, has caused a stir in Brussels by reprinting bits of an unusually gloomy internal report from the European Commission on the euro zone (the 16 countries that use the single currency). In particular, people have f...
The EU Is Reportedly Exploring Making a Loan To Greece
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Pressure on Greek finances continues unabated. According to European Voice this morning the EU Commission and Finance Ministers remain most reluctant to call in the IMF (which I think would be the best solution) but they are themselves actively comte...
Hungary’s Economic Correction Still Fails To Convince
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“Hungary’s potential economic growth should be 2 percentage points over the corresponding EU figure in order to ensure convergence”. Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, speaking in London in October Two contrasting pieces of news about Hunga...
Is modern democracy turning into a circle of revenge?
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In Greece, given the bad shape of the Greek economy, the danger of default, problems with the design of pension schemes and the redesign of educational system, everyone has a reason to be dissatisfied. More and more frequently governments become shor...
EU leaders say exit strategy from fiscal stimuli must wait until recovery is sustainable
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"The bonus bubble burst tonight" - so said Frederick Reinfeldt - the Swedish Premier after announcing the conclusions to a special EU summit yesterday. Reinfeldt said it was time for the talking to stop and time to take action on banker's bonuses. So...
Blogs on ten years of a euro blessing or a euro curse
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Those pastel red bridges and pale blue arches decorating the common currency we carry in our pockets is a constant reminder of the European Union. Ten years after its introduction, people have gotten used to the Monopoly-like notes. But what role do...
Who can join the euro?
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Some interesting discussions at the weekend at a meeting of the UEF, Federal Union’s European parent body. Participants from all over Europe were gathering to talk about some of the current issues facing the EU, including foreign policy and the fi...
They need a second opinion
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Statement from the meeting of EU finance ministers and central bank governors (ECOFIN) in Prague – The Ministers and Governors singled out the excessive focus on the supervision of individual financial market institutions and the related neglec...
No Special Aid for Eastern Europe
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The extraordinary EU summit on 1 March has not backed proposals for a financial bail-out plan for Eastern Europe, and new member states in particular. The only specific decision of the summit was to instruct ECOFIN to work closely with the European C...
Crisis points to closer eurozone integration, not a break-up
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According to Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, the selfish economic nationalism of certain eurozone countries “has deformed the joint project of the euro more than any other imaginable event”. Is Europe’s monetary union at risk...
Mr Steinbrück on his path into history books
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Fourth part of our series on the winners and losers of the current crisis Before the financial crisis struck, the German finance minister Peer Steinbrück had a very ambitious goal. He wanted to enter history books as the finance minister who man...
Action Day: which design for the new Euro notes?
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Since the European Central Bank plans to redesign the Euro notes for next year, cafebabel.com is launching an Action Day to find seven images that have more European spirit than fake monuments. We invite all our bloggers to make a proposition on the...
An interesting exchange!
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Has Richard Corbett, the veteran British Labour MEP taken a brave step by holding a press conference suggesting that it would be a good time to reopen the debate on the country’s membership of the euro, it being the tenth anniversary and all? I thi...
EU: Economic and Financial Committee
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The Council (Ecofin) has at its disposal an Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), based on the current Treaty establishing the European Community and retained by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (Lisbon Treaty).br /br /br /***br...
European Central Banks cut interest rates
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As expected, the European Central Bank has lowered its main interest rate by 0.50%, following...
After Wearing The Hair Shirt For Over Two Years Hungary Is Now Helped Into The Straight Jacket
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Well we now have some of the details of the IMF package for Hungary, and interesting reading it makes. Hungary has in effect secured a 20 billion-euro ($25.5 billion) loan which is going to be sourced by three institutions: the IMF, the EU and the Wo...
The Bank Bailouts Are Very Well Intended, But Where Is All The Money Going To Come From?
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As every woman who has ever had dealings with a man knows only too well, it is a lot easier for people to make promises than it is for them to keep them. And when Europe’s leaders met in Paris on the 12 October, a lot of fine promises (which we...
European Central Bank Ig: Amending ESCB Statute
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Amending the treaties of the European Union is a laborious (some would say impossible) process in a union of 27. All the same, the member states have negotiated voluminous treaties and protocols in fine detail. This leads to recurring needs for amend...
News That Scares Me
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Well, today I have come across three short news stories, each of which, in its own way, sent some kind of a shiver down my spine. Iceland’s Interest Hike First off, we have Iceland, where the central bank has just raised interest rates by a wh...
European Central Bank If: ESCB and ECB Statute
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The legal framework of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank (ECB) is set out at treaty level in the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) and in the Statute of the European System of Central Banks and o...
European Central Bank Ic: ESCB books and publications
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One of the objectives of this blawg is to suggest reading materials for students of history, politics, economics and law on EU law and related subjects, here the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank (ECB), as well as...
Euro banknotes and coins VI: Article 128 TFEU comments
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We look at UK comments on Article 128 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) concerning the issue of euro banknotes and euro coins.br /br /***br /br /European Central Bankbr /br /The Opinion of the European Central Bank of 5 Ju...
Euro banknotes and coins V: Comparison Article 128 TFEU
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Formally, the Treaty of Lisbon amends the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), but historically the Lisbon Treaty is the (interim) end result of a treaty reform process launched when the Treaty of N...
A Eurozone Presidency
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In my opinion more permanent coordination of economic policies in the Eurozone would a good idea and a step into the right direction. However the plan proposed by Sarkozy, an additional rotating presidency, comparable to the Council President but onl...
Radical Plans?
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Besides nationalization of major industries Sarkozy had actually some other rather radical proposal in his speech to the EU Parliament. Sarkozy wants to stay on for another year as president of the Eurozone. Eurointelligence has the goods:One option...
Euro banknotes and coins IIb: Comparison Article III-78 draft Constitution
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We compare the proposal of the European Convention (Article III-78) with the current Article 106 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) concerning the issue of euro banknotes and euro coins.br /br /After that we look at some legal ma...
Euro banknotes and coins Ie: Issuing eurozone cash
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Procuring cash for the 15 member eurozone and its 320 inhabitants is a huge and complex operation, led by the European Central Bank (ECB). At the end of 2007, the 302 branches of national central banks served the citizens’ needs for banknotes throu...
Euro banknotes and coins Ib: Article 106 TEC contents
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Issuing euro banknotes and coins is a main responsibility within the context of the single currency. The European Central Bank ECB) plays a crucial role, without being the only player. We notice that there are some differences in the treatment of eur...
Euro banknotes and coins Ia: Principles
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Monetary policy is an area of deep integration within economic and monetary union (EMU). The single currency, the euro, is a daily reminder for EU citizens in 15 of the member states and one of the leading world currencies.br /br /We start by looking...
EU: Monetary policy X Cross-border financial supervision
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The European Community includes an internal market characterized by the abolition, as between member states, of obstacles to the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital. In addition to Article 3(1)(c) of the Treaty establishing the Euro...
EMU: Eurozone summit declaration
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Today’s post ’EU: Monetary policy If’ said that the European Union lacks a proper political government and even an economic government. Yesteday’s Eurozone summit was a first concerted euro area attempt to bridge the institutional gap, and to...
EU: Monetary policy Id
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At the outset of the chapter on monetary policy, we mention the treaty level provisions relevant to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank (ECB), as set out in protocols. Originally, most of the protocols were annex...
EU: Monetary policy Ic
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The European Central Bank (ECB) offers the interested reader a number of publications on economic and monetary union (EMU). Here is a sample for students of history, politics, economics and law.br /br /***br /br /An introductory brochure, available i...
A new two-speed European Union
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A few days ago, Edward explored the gap between the Eurozone’s monetary and political architecture (and the lack of the latter) as a potential risk to the Eurozone itself. But in what looks likely to be a weekend of rapidly changing events,...
EU: Monetary policy Ia
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Monetary policy is an area of deep integration within the European Union. The single currency, the euro, is a daily reminder for EU citizens in 15 of the member states and one of the leading world currencies.br /br /We start by looking at the introdu...
Financial meltdown: we still know too little
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Yesterday’s decision, announced simultaneously by six important central banks (including the ECB, US Fed and Bank of England), to lower their interest rates by 0.5%, was a welcome and indeed historic exercise in international cooperation. Lon...
How to survive the credit crunch
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div align="left"With the vote by the US congress to kill the fatted calf and bail out the banks on Wall Street, the global financial crisis has finally passed out of the phase of getting uncontrollably worse. (It might still get worse, but the fight...
Eurozone in trouble?
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Ten years after its foundation, the European Central Bank is getting its first big test. Can it - and the Eurozone - survive the coming recession?
Time to reopen the euro debate
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Ten years ago when 11 European countries agreed to freeze their exchange rates in preparation for a single currency, a number of sceptical economic correspondents predicted financial calamity. Then, when the euro was going through a difficult teethin...
