MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Unlike Spain, where the external sector is supporting the economy, Italian exports fell by 1.9% in 1Q13, its worst register from 1Q09. The country’s GDP dropped by 0.6%, and April’s industrial production by 0.3%.
LONDON | By Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform | For more than 60 years, the EU has been built and managed by technocrats, hidden from the public gaze – or so it has seemed. In fact national governments have taken most of the key decisions, but public scrutiny has been insufficient.
MADRID | By Quesada Vargas | Brussels would have taken the Tobin tax a few steps back under pressure coming from the largest financial entities and global investors.
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Since last September, Craig Calhoun (Watseka, Illinois, 1952) is the London School of Economics’ director. He was professor at the New York University and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge before moving to the United Kingdom.
ATHENS | By Giorgios Malouchos at Presseurop | The IMF bailout of Greece has above all allowed its creditors to dodge their responsibilities and guard against contagion. The Greeks should revolt and renegotiate the terms of the loan, writes To Vima.
Ralf Grahn | The panicky fear behind France’s linguistic policies is somewhat baffling for someone from a Nordic country or one of the even smaller member states of the European Union.
MADRID | Jorge Holgado at Capitalmadrid | When premium risks go high in a country not everyone loses: insurance companies did a good business last year with Spanish debt, although investment in fixed income is not a short-term strategy of the sector.
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Most of these third-country workers in the EU find a job in the agriculture and tourism sectors, but the labour market segmentation divides them into first and second class.
BRUSSELS/MADRID | Barroso took advantage of the Spanish president’s presence to push for an agenda Berlin still feels reticent about: the European Banking Union.
MADRID | By Iñigo Villegui at Capitalmadrid | As unrest rattles in Turkey, markets reportedly experienced their worst day in years on Monday, the lira moving into the red and government bonds suffering major losses. Brokers interested in BBVA are fearing this turmoil can harm the Spanish bank, which since 2010 has a 24.9% stake in the first Turkish bank, Garantí.