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In Europe 31st July 2014

Greece: Coalition reaches compromise on candidate for European Commission

ATHENS | Via Macropolis | Greece has decided to nominate current Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos as its representative for the new European Commission after he proved to be the most appropriate compromise candidate. Avramopoulos’s nomination was confirmed on Sunday after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras spoke to one of the frontrunners for the job, ex-Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis to inform her that she would not get the nod.

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In Europe 30th July 2014

Less unemployed -as active population ages

MADRID | The Corner | Despite the slow recovery, unemployment in the eurozone has fallen faster than expected. According to the Labor Force Survey, the rate of jobless population has gone from 12.5% in 1Q13 to 12.2% in 1Q14. The reason? The single currency club is ageing. Also, immigration is playing a secondary role, as unemployment rate for non-EU citizens notably higher than for nationals in the EU28.

 

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In Europe 29th July 2014

In Greece, UnLuCky for some: Another painful lesson from the euro crisis

ATHENS | By Yiannis Mouzakis via The Agora | No matter what overall opinion you have of the Greeks, you really ought to hand it to us for tolerance. Over the last year and a half one of the three key players in Greece’s crisis management team has repeatedly and openly admitted that the prescription for addressing the country’s predicament was wrong.

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In Europe 29th July 2014

Spanish Socialists do financial outing to regain public trust

MADRID | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Still digesting their historic-low European election results, the Spanish socialists (PSOE) are trying to recover people’s trust by publishing their accounting in a quarterly report. This is the least that we can ask from parties, trade unions, employers and any others living on the State and the taxpayers. Without passing any law, the PSOE –who lost millions of votes in the last general polls- is taking the lead amid corruption scandals affecting numerous Spanish public figures.

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In Europe 29th July 2014

EU recovery… from data to the real thing

BRUSSELS | By Alexandre Mato | The last Eurobarometer after the european elections showed that the EU’s image is improving among its citizens. 35% of them have a positive image of communitarian institutions. Austerity measures to fight the economic crisis or the unresolved unemployment problem have not erased this ‘popular feeling’. But more than 40% think that in a national or European level the economy will remain “the same” for the coming 12 months. Only 24% see an improvement.

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In Europe 29th July 2014

Growth and inflation outlooks diverging

LONDON | By Antonio Garcia via Barclays | Stronger-than-expected July PMIs suggest that the growth outlook is likely to improve in Q3 and are consistent with our forecast of 0.4% q/q. EA public debt levels have reached a new peak in Q2 14 at 96.4% of GDP, with three of the four largest EA economies above the EA average. We now expect July HICP inflation (next week) to edge down to 0.4% y/y and August inflation to decline further, to 0.3% y/y.

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In Europe 28th July 2014

Catalonia and the Pujol Case: corruption in the heart of the establishment

MADRID | By Fernando G. Ubaneja | Several corruption cases have put Spain under the international spotlight. The latest, which emerged by surprise on Friday and has been the talk of the town since then, is related to one its most controversial and rich regions: Catalonia. The independence campaign suffered a setback after the leading figure of Catalan nationalism Jordi Pujol admitted keeping undeclared funds in fiscal havens.

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In Europe 25th July 2014

PMIs in the EZ: Business activity close to 3-year highs

MADRID | The Corner | Thursday’s Eurozone PMI data for July provide welcome relief after a series of weak short- term indicators, particularly for May, UBS analysts point out. While the PMIs for France remained soft, those for Germany and the broader Eurozone were much stronger again, signalling business activity close to three-year highs, particularly in services.  

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In Europe 24th July 2014

Is Germany’s growth losing momentum?

BERLIN | By Alberto Lozano | After Q1’s strong growth, numbers show that the German economy has slowed down during 2Q’s first two months, as Bundesbank reported this week. Both the industrial sector and the construction have fallen compared with the 1Q.  However, it seems that Europe’s economic powerhouse will recover its strength in the coming months.

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In Europe 24th July 2014

Spain’s jobs report shows a weak, uncertain but real recovery

MADRID | By Fernando G. Urbaneja | Both the evolution of the GDP and employment in 2Q confirm that the Spanish recovery has arrived: it’s a weak, subject to uncertainty one, but undeniable. Official data released on Thursday were above expectations: 400,000 new employed, 310,000 less unemployed and a crucial piece of data: nearly 100,000 more occupied Spaniards. It’s the best data of the past 26 quarters, since mid-2007. But we should not forget the poor-quality contracts nor the 2 million long-duration jobless.