MADRID | By Francisco López | The Spanish banks performed well in the latest stress tests. All in all, they achieved acceptable results for the third quarter of 2014. The problem, say the experts, could arise in the months ahead: the European Commission has drastically reduced its forecasts for the eurozone’s main economies,and as everybody knows, growth is essential for banking activity.
MADRID | By Francisco López | The latest movements within currency markets function as a gauge of the economic momentum in both Europe and the US. The decline of the Euro against the Dollar has increased in the last few days due to poor macroeconomic data in the eurozone, which is in sharp contrast with the vigour shown by the US (who showed growth of 3.5% in the third quarter of 2014).
BRUSSELS | By Alexandre Mato | The head of the ECB’s financial watchdog, Daniele Nouy, asserted her belief before EU legislators that entities will arise stronger in the near future. Moreover, on the eve of the Single Supervisory Mechanism taking control of financial supervision, the French official expects that most of the capital shortfall will be filled by an influx of fresh private money.
MADRID | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Over the last couple of years, polls have been registering the rise of corruption on the list of the major concerns for Spaniards, and now it is the second largest concern –behind unemployment. At the same time, expectations for the next elections have been plummeting, especially for the major parties, which have been affected most by corruption. Throughout the democratic history of the country, the two biggest Spanish parties usually gathered three quarters of the parliamentary seats. Now, they barely reach half of that amount.
PARIS | Guest post by Francesco Saraceno | Germany has been sitting on the shoulders of the rest of the world economy, and since 2010 it has been followed by the rest of the eurozone that is globally running trade surpluses. I have already said many times that this is a bad (and dangerous) strategy.
MADRID | By Sean Duffy | At this point, many Spaniards just shrug or roll their eyes. Perhaps you will occasionally see a strong shake of the head in cases of extreme exasperation. To universal dismay, this week brought yet more allegations of corruption against the ruling Popular Party.
John Bruton | I recently attended a conference that looked at France’s domestic economic situation, and the impact that has on the country’s global and European role. According to budgets published in October, France and Italy are failing to meet the eurozone’s requirements for reducing government debts and deficits to sustainable levels.
BERLIN | By Alberto Lozano | While European media focus their attention on low inflation across Europe, concerns about the budgets of France and Italy, as well as the need for investment in Germany, more than 50 countries are about to take a crucial step in the fight against tax avoidance: the signing of the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on implementing a new international standard in the automatic exchange of information (AEOI).
MADRID | The Corner | The European Commission said on Tuesday it had found no serious fault with eurozone member states’ 2015 budget plans, clearing France and Italy after they made last-minute changes to meet EU demands. The budget review covered all 18 eurozone countries, with the focus on struggling France and Italy after Brussels told them that their original plans fell well short of what was required to meet European Union norms.
MADRID | By Sean Duffy | Wednesday’s meeting in Berlin, hosted by German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble, will once again throw the issue surrounding the taxation of large corporations into the spotlight. The meeting, to be attended by delegates from over 50 countries, is seen as the next step in a concerted effort by governments worldwide to close exploitative tax loopholes which have been a favoured accounting tool for international firms operating in Europe.