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In Europe 10th September 2014

New EU Commission: Spain gets Energy, Climate, but less power

MADRID | By Julia Pastor/The Corner | Spain is at minimums in terms of EU representation. No seat at the ECB. No relevant post in the new Commission either. Centre-right politician from the ruling Popular Party (PP) Miguel Arias Cañete was appointed Europe’s climate action and energy policy commissioner (those portfolios are merged for the first time). But he will be reporting to vice president Alenka Bratushek. Bottom line, an interesting job without sufficient weight to compensate the loss of Competence. UK’s Jonathan Hill will shape the EU’s Financial policy, a move that aims to tend a bridge between Brussels and the City of London.

 

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In Europe 9th September 2014

Housing prices rising in Spain only the peak of a huge non-sold stock iceberg

MADRID | Ana Fuentes | The first rise in Spain’s property prices since 2008 made big headlines on Monday. The government was proud to feed the press with some positive figures in order to illustrate its new recovery rethoric: 2Q housing prices increased by 0.8% on the year, compared with a 1.6% drop in annual terms in 1Q. But prices are going up… only for the few real estate actually being sold. What about the 600,000 properties in stock that banks are desperate to get rid of?

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In Europe 9th September 2014

UK: Have you heard about the new Scottish financial City?

LONDON | By Víctor Jiménez | The financial services industry in Scotland is more than twice as large as that of the rest of the UK when compared to the gross domestic product. But where the unionism points out an unaffordable risk, some analysts see an opportunity. (Image: The first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond by Robert Perry/EPA)

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In Europe 8th September 2014

Scotland referendum: ‘Yes’ victory would hurt UK risk premium

MADRID | The Corner | The pound fell around 1% against the euro on Monday and the dollar after the results of the first serious poll giving the victory to “yes” in the referendum on separation for Scotland. According to the latest YouGov poll published  a day before, the support of Scottish independents would reach 51% vs 49% who are against if the undecided are excluded. UBS economist Paul Donovan commented about the risk of a narrow result in the polls in favor of remaining in the UK, similar to what happened in Quebec in 1995.

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In Europe 5th September 2014

Dijsselbloem hangs onto the Eurogroup Presidency: “I have a job”

BRUSSELS | By Alexandre Mato | After displaying a substantial diplomacy effort during the summer, Spain may be losing the battle. Jeroem Dijsselbloem wants to keep himself as Eurogroup President with the goodwill of his goverment. At the boxing ring’s opposite corner is Spain’s candidate, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos. In front of the Europarliament Economic Committe on Thursday, Dijsselbloem insisted that his term will end in July next year and he is “determined to fulfill it”. 

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In Europe 5th September 2014

Draghi does the dirty job while Germany attacks

FRANKFURT | By Lidia Conde | What a relief! France is reinventing itself as it is Angela Merkel’s hope. However much Mr Draghi warns that the ECB will do whatever it takes to save the euro, all the fresh money in the bank will be useless unless “some members of the Eurozone” change their economic policy. This is Germany’s analysis of the Eurozone state.

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In Europe 5th September 2014

The ECB failing to convince needs to act

MADRID | By JP Marin Arrese | Ever since Alan Greenspan moved at will financial markets behaviour, simply by talking up or down either expectations or exchange rates, central bankers have tried to follow suit. For all his merits, Mario Draghi lacks Greenspan’s skills. Even if he commands enough fluency in English, his messages sometimes are utterly ill placed. Yesterday’s underperformance in his press conference showed it vividly.

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In Europe 4th September 2014

Europe’s PMIs mixed data confirms the need of new, strong action from ECB

MADRID | The Corner | August PMI figures confirm what investors already know: Europe’s economy continues to expand at a very low rate. Indeed, the final data have been revised downwards in those cases where no changes were expected, and they are worse than July’s. Final services PMI: 53.1 vs. 53.5 preliminary and 54.2 in July (highest level of the last 3 years). Specifically, PMI services index in Spain rose to 58.1 points in August from 56.2 in July, representing the biggest increase since December 2006. The consensus of analysts expected a slightly lower number of 55.5 points.

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In Europe 3rd September 2014

ECB: We need a QE shot (not 17 of them, JPMorgan)

MADRID | The Corner | It’s speculation day before the European Central Bank’s tomorrow meeting. Will a QE plan finally be announced? Experts at Santander bank think that, if announced too early, it could damage TLTROs. JP Morgan economists believe there is a 30% chance we’ll get a QE shot in 2014, 50% next year. And they’ve come with a proposal we find erratic: 17 different bond buying plans, one for each state member. That is exactly the opposite direction the EU needs to be heading to.

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In Europe 3rd September 2014

Air pollution: Time for clean air lobbying

MADRID | The Corner | Around 400,000 people die prematurely in the EU due to air pollution-related problems, costing health systems around €330 billion and €940 billion. Brussels-based non profit EBB (European Biodiesel Board), lobbying for this type of fuel, measured air pollution levels in different areas of the city: they were between 60 and 120 times above considered clean standards. Schadenfreude fans: last year Beijing residents suffered 40 times the recommended maximum exposure limit set by the World Health Organization.