As you all very well know, Spanish social democracy is in the dolrums. The PSOE, the one-time influential left-wing party, is now in tatters and without any visible head to start rebuilding it. We have the same panorama in the rest of Europe, in France for example, where Manuel Valls failed in the primaries despite being Prime Minister.
The UK Supreme Court dismissed on Tuesday the government’s argument that May could simply alone to invoke Article 50 to begin two years of divorce talks. Considering conservative majority in Parliament that passing a bill should not force PM to reconsider her “hard brexit” plans. Dissenting MPs can successfully amend the bill to increase scrutiny over negotiations.
Jens Bastian via Macropolis | As various countries in the European Union prepare for watershed elections in the course of 2017, analysts at www.macropolis.gr will be discussing the implications of these elections and the issues most likely to impact the electoral agendas. We start off with a look at Germany and its strong bilateral (economic) ties with Russia.
It was expected Draghi to avoid any discussion of early exit from QE and he did so. The ECB’s president stuck to the December line. “Self sustained”, not “transient” inflation is wanted. Still, things may complicate this spring.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | One of the things that makes children laugh at Tom and Jerry cartoons is the ingenious ways that Jerry finds to set Tom up. But the real punchline, and the most laughter, is generated by Tom’s inexplicable ability to fall for Jerry’s stunts all the time.
Ms May’s pledges to maintain a solid alliance with her European partners hardly match her open challenge to the EU. Conscious of the fact that any soft Brexit would entail concessions on open frontiers for people plus a humiliating acceptance of the Community acquis, she has crossed the Rubicon, severing links with the internal market and other EU disciplines.
The 12-month Euribor, which is the reference used for the majority of variable rate mortgages in Spain, has been in an uninterrupted downwards trend since 2012 and is about to complete one year in negative territory. Analysts consensus is that the Euribor has already touched bottom, and that it will begin to rise gradually from the second quarter.
If Theresa May could deliver on the proposals in her speech the UK would not see a ‘ hard Brexit ’. PM May suggested, to our mind, a ‘ cherry picking approac.Furthermore, PM May did not address the divorce bill the EU has said it will see.
As was expected, Teresa May announced that her plan is for the UK to exit the EU and the single market, also taking back control of its frontiers. Analysts believe that she will face problems with her EU partners because she seems to overlook the fact that the Brexit negotiations are not one-sided.
Yiannis Mouzakis via Macropolis | The Cypriot experience makes it abundantly clear that Greece’s only chance of returning to any kind of normality can be found at the end of its bailout programme.