The outcome of the Brussels summit on December 8th and 9th is a disaster for the UK and also threatens the integrity of the single market. For more than 50 years, a fundamental principle of Britain’s foreign policy has been to be present when EU bodies take decisions, so that it can influence the outcome. [...]
Posted in Europe, Featured, Politics in the World 
Tags: Britain, European Union, the euro zone debt crisis 
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The latest negotiations between Greece and its lenders have ended, at least momentarily. Athens has agreed to endure ever-more painful pension, spending, and wage cuts, with monthly minimum salaries dropping 20 percent. The powerful leaders of ‘the troika’ — the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the European Central Bank — have charted the [...]
In early Monday morning, February 13th, 2012, the Greek parliament passed a new 3.3 billion euro austerity package into law. 199 lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted in favour of the package and 74 against. 43 deputies from the main political parties, the socialists PASOK party and the conservative New Democracy party voted against the [...]
Posted in Economy and Finance, Europe, Politics in the World Tags: European Union, finance, Greece, the euro zone debt crisis No Comments »
On Friday, December 9th, 2011, at the EU summit in Brussels, the British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to sign up to a new treaty, aimed at solving the Euro zone crisis. He did it on the ground that the EU partners failed to offer safeguards for the UK-based financial services. He had a reason [...]
On Thursday, February 9th, 2012, the Greek political leaders supporting the Prime Minister Lucas Papademos’s government of national unity agreed a new 3.3 billion euro programme of spending cuts. On Friday, February 10th, the Greek unions launched a 48-hour strike. Protesters clashed with the police on the streets of central Athens. Scores of youth in [...]
On Monday night, January 23rd, 2012, the Euro zone finance ministers reached an agreement on a contract for a permanent euro bail out fund – the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is worth 500 billion euro. The ESM is about to replace the European Financial Stability Facility on July 1st, 2012, one year earlier than [...]
Posted in Economy and Finance, Europe, Featured, Politics in the World Tags: European Union, Italy, the euro zone debt crisis No Comments »
On Friday, January 13th, 2012, Standard&Poor’s, a credit rating agency, downgraded the credit ratings for nine Euro zone countries. France’s rating was downgraded by a notch, from a top AAA to AA+. However, the country still has AAA rating from the other ratings agencies, Moody’s and Fitch. The S&P’s decision is a bitter blow to [...]
Posted in Economy and Finance, Europe, Featured, Politics in the World Tags: European Union, finance, France, Germany, the euro zone debt crisis No Comments »
