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France's risk premium

European politics 26th April 2022

Thirteen Million French People Are Not The “Far Right”.

Fernando González Urbaneja | Until the French electoral cycle concludes with the June legislative elections, which will define the composition of the new government, it is premature to conclude on the ideological-social-moral map of the French. The right-left axis is of little use when the winning candidate, Enmanuel Macron, flees from this taxonomy, and the losing candidate accumulates 13 million votes (425) that are incompatible with the category of “extreme”….

Emmanuel Macron

European politics 25th April 2022

Macron Stays In The Elysée

After a crisis-plagued mandate, centrist Emmanuel Macron on Sunday became the first president to win re-election in France since 2002. With 58.54% of the vote, the candidate of La République en Marche, once again defeated Marine Le Pen, standard-bearer of Rassemblement Nationale, who would have won 41.46% of the vote in Sunday’s election. “From now on, I am no longer the candidate of one camp, but the president of all,”…

President Macron

European politics 22nd April 2022

Macron Is Lesser of Evils for Mélenchon Voters

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon who are thinking of sitting out the second round of the French presidential election ought to take a lesson from Bernie Sanders’ supporters in the United States. When they abstained from the 2016 presidential election, or voted for Green party candidate Jill Stein, they made it possible for Donald Trump to win. Just 1.5 out of 136 million Americans voted for…

cars to export

European economy 22nd April 2022

Spain (-30%) Leads European Car Sales Decline (-18.8%) Last Month

Car registrations in Europe (EU+EFTA+UK) fell by 18.8% YoY in March to 1.127 million units, according to ACEA data. Most countries in the region recorded double-digit sales declines, including the five key markets: Spain (-30.2%), Italy (-29.7%), France (-19.5%), Germany (-17.5%) and the UK (-14.3%). As a result, first quarter sales declined by 10.6% YoY in the region to 2.75 million units. All manufacturers suffered double-digit declines; Jaguar sales fell…

renewables

European economy 20th April 2022

European PPA Prices Rise 27.5% In The First Quarter Of The Year; Spanish PPAs Remain The Cheapest

Renta 4 | The latest report published by Levelten, a renewable transactions consultant and PPA market operator, states that the prices of PPAs signed in Europe reached €57/MWh (blended solar and wind), which represents an increase of 27.5% vs. the first quarter of 2021 and 8.6% in this quarter alone. Solar PPAs in Spain averaged €38/MWh, 12% higher (€4/MWh) than in 1Q21, being the country with the lowest solar PPA…

Euribor2

European economy 18th April 2022

The Euribor Enters Into Positive Territory

Fernando González Urbaneja | Last week the Euribor started to trade in positive, five thousandths of a point insignificant, but positive. Since February 2016 the Euribor had been negative, down to a minimum of half a point. Several million Spanish mortgages will be more expensive today than yesterday, although less than tomorrow. The European Central Bank opted weeks ago for a progressive and cautious strategy towards the neutrality of its…

Atlantia vs Hochtief for Abertis

European economy 11th April 2022

Italy Has Reinforced Power Until End-Year To Veto ACS And Its Partners In Atlantia.

The management of the Italian airports of Fiumicino and Ciampino, and the control of the toll payment system Telepass, make Atlantia a strategic company for Italy, as the Spanish newspaper 5 Días recalls today. And Mario Draghi’s government, according to various stock market analysts, will not hesitate to use all its influence to prevent the infrastructure operator from ending up in foreign hands. This is one of the barriers threatening…

Euribor2

European economy 6th April 2022

Euribor, Another Tsunami On The Way

Fernando González Urbaneja | Uncontrolled inflation, in Spain and in Europe, leads to an immediate monetary response in the form of a less accommodative central bank monetary policy, i.e. less money available and a higher price for that dwindling money. Implementing such a policy is not easy, it is necessary to mix rigour with gentleness, with temperance. The risk of going too far is as real as the risk of…

CalvinoandKaag

European economy 5th April 2022

Brussels Believes That The Proposal By Spain And The Netherlands To Reform European Fiscal Rules “Goes In The Right Direction”

The proposal to reform fiscal rules presented by Spain and the Netherlands to the Eurogroup on Monday has been warmly welcomed. The European Commission likes what the document says. “It’s going in the right direction”, said the Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, at the end of the Eurogroup meeting on Monday, in which all the finance ministers of the euro area are represented. The Italian also acknowledged that the…

Mind The European VAT Gap

European economy 31st March 2022

Inflation In Europe: From 5.1% In France Or 5.5% In Portugal To 9.8% In Spain… To 13.9% In Lithuania

It is true that there are economies in the eurozone with greater problems than Spain’s and whose prices are much higher, such as the three Baltic republics – Lithuania (13.9%), Estonia (12.4%) and Latvia (8.9%) – as well as Belgium (9.6%) and Slovakia (8.2%). But the rest are on a par… or below. In Germany, year-on-year inflation is already at 7.3% after rising 2.2 points from February. It is the…