BRUSSELS — Finance ministers from all 16 Eurozone countries (Eurogroup) approved on Monday Estonia’s accession to the single currency in 2011, Eurogroup head and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Junker said. “Estonia will become the 17th member of the Eurozone from January 1, 2011,” Junker told journalists. The Baltic state was given the green light to [...]
Spain approved public spending cuts of over 15 billion euros on Thursday, and in Belgium austerity measures are a major election campaign issue. Meanwhile in Romania and Greece thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against their governments’ austerity programmes. Europe’s press discusses the national measures. Spain economises to save the euro [...]
After the meeting of the ECB and the IMF with the German government on Wednesday new plans have been tabled for the Greek rescue package. While the country’s financial needs are currently estimated at 100 to 150 billion euros, Germany has yet to put a figure on how much it is willing to pay. But [...]
Delegates from 11 European cities met in Stockholm’ s Culture House for the second exchange of experience in the frame of Creative Metropoles project, an EU Interreg IV C project. The conference aimed to raise awareness about the impact and role of creative industries on economic development of cities and show best examples of cooperation [...]
WARSAW (RIA Novosti) — Warsaw could get an additional billion euros ($1.35 billion) from Brussels in 2011-2012 as a reward for the country’s dynamic economic growth in recent years, Polish Radio reported on Thursday. It cited informal sources as saying substantial funds were earmarked for Poland from a special 3 billion-euro fund for countries that [...]
The finance ministers of the EU on Tuesday ordered an ambitious austerity programme and strict budget controls for Greece. Commentators say it’s high time for a common economic policy for all EU members, and analyse reasons for the failure of Southern Europe’s economies. High time for a pan-European economic policy With the EU decision to [...]
The European Parliament on Tuesday elected the new EU Commission with a clear majority. Commentators say the Commission must above all tackle the major economic challenges facing Europe. Commission must restore trust in Eurozone The EU Commission needs to restore confidence in the Eurozone, the Spanish business paper Cinco Días writes: “Its first task is [...]
Agenda: With George Friedman The European Commission has placed Greece’s economic policies under an unprecedented level of oversight within the eurozone. Analyst Peter Zeihan discusses the implications and mounting pressures for France and Belgium.
If only politics could be like the car park at the EU Parliament in Brussels, sighs Annamari Sipilä, Brussels correspondent for the daily Helsingin Sanomat: “The car park at the EU Parliament is clean, warm and well-lit. It is supervised by friendly personnel who make sure everything runs as it should. The atmosphere is calm [...]
While the EU is pressing for progress at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the daily Dagens Nyheter points to disaccord between the EU member states: “The states disagree both over negotiation strategies and political content. How far should the EU go in the negotiations – and who should pay for what the EU promises? [...]
