Apple Tax Case and Investment in Europe
John Bruton | The key question is whether Apple was given selective aid and, if so, if this breached European Union (EU) competition rules.
In Europe
The Junker Plan: Much Ado About Nothing
There has been a lot of song and dance about extending the ‘Junker Plan’ to promote investments of up to 630 billion euros over the next six years. But the fact is that, up to now, projects worth 116 billion euros have been approved under the auspices of the Plan, according to the European Commission (EC)’s own estimates.
Refugee Crisis Charade Adds Insult To EU’s Injuries
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | Since the European Union and Turkey agreed on a formula in March to manage refugee flows in a more orderly manner, by removing any incentive for migrants to cross the Aegean on their own, the crisis has faded into the background. Aided by the closure of borders in the Balkans and central Europe, the EU–Turkey agreement triggered a significant enough fall in arrivals to make the flow manageable and give much of Europe peace of mind.
Signs Of Optimism In Greek Banks’ Q2 Results But NPL Challenge Lies Ahead
via Macropolis | The four core Greek banks released their second quarter (Q2) results in the last two days of August, which showed improving trends in core revenues as well as encouraging signs on the loan quality evolution.
Brexit and Populism’s Verbal Judo
Eliot Assoudeh | The core ideological tenets of populist radical-right parties—nativism, authoritarianism and populism—exist in conflict with liberal values. Britain leaving the EU was the most recent achievement of populist far-right parties in Europe.
What Do European Consumers Think?
J.L. M. Campuzano (Spanish Banking Association) | This week the European Commission published its 2016 Consumer Markets Scoreboard which reflects consumers’ ratings of how 42 goods and services markets work. This data shows that markets performance has improved since the last time a similar survey was done in 2014.
No Changes in ECB
The European Central Bank kept monetary policy unchanged: interest rates on hold and made only its previous broad commitment to run bond-buying for as long as needed, stopping short of a formal extension of quantitative easing, as expected on Thursday. Indeed, the institution didn’t make any adjustments to its quantitative easing program of asset purchases. That program includes monthly purchases of 80 billion euros and is set to run at least…
Greece’s Harsh Social Reality
via Macropolis | Since the high of 118,302 births in 2008, there has been a significant drop during the crisis. By 2014 the figure had fallen to 92,148. In fact, Greece has had a negative birth rate since 2011. In the absence of migration, the population of Greece would have fallen by 21,592 in 2014.
Pulling The UK Out Of Europe Is No Easy Task
John Bruton | Disengaging the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) will be like undoing all the stitching of a patchwork quilt, and then re-stitching some parts together while making a new quilt with the rest.
Banks Have Already Paid ECB €2.8 Bn Related To Negative Rates ‘Tax’
Negative interest rates don’t just require an intellectual effort. They also have real consequences. So far the banks have already paid 2.8 billion euros to the European Central Bank (ECB) as a penalty for excess liquidity, BS Markets says.