MADRID | By Antonio Sánchez-Gijón (Capital Madrid) | What is on stake for the new Italian government? The country is living in a contradiction: on one hand it has debt and risk premium under control, but on the other it is struggling with a deep economic crisis. Moody’s has corrected its 2013 GDP forecast set so far at -1%, and has placed it at -1.8%.
MADRID | By Luis Martí | AfD is in a destructive mood. They are not interested in salvaging what Europe has managed to build. Their objective is rather to pull down existing structures while looking to the past for inspiration, namely to national currencies.
SOFIA | By Ivan Krastev | Amnesia, recession, the failure of political elites, divided societies… The free and caring Europe that was the dream of oppressed peoples no longer exists, it is just that European leaders lack the courage to admit it, says a Bulgarian political analyst.
LONDON | The lack of credit to small business must really worry Brussels, because its own figures have revealed that new firms (younger than five years) are responsible for an overwhelming majority of these new jobs.
Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque: “I will probably have already retired by the time that is possible. I mean, of course I would like to do these things, but it is not possible.”
MADRID | If Spain’s democracy owes something to someone it would be Germany. During Spain’s democratic transition, Christian democracy and Social Democracy German foundations sustained and alerted incipient political parties when they need it.
MADRID | The prospect France, not to mention Italy or Spain, will flatly fail to meet their targets stands as a more plausible explanation of the realisation that austerity alone will not work.
By Katja Mann | Despite severe financial and economic problems, Slovenia can still avoid a bail-out – if investors stay confident.
ROME | Nadia Urbinati | The stalemate over the election of the President of the Republic, which broke on April 20 with the re-election of Giorgio Napolitano and the resignation of the leadership of the Democratic Party, is the highwater mark of the crisis in the Italian political system. To save that system, we must move ahead immediately with reforms, starting with electoral reform.
STRASBOURG | Over time, EU regions have become more sophisticated in trying to attract businesses. They amend their offers to reflect the wants of businesses, in order to obtain success.