Hollande saves the day
MADRID | By J.P. Marín Arrese | Figures for the second quarter announced by the European Commission must have exerted a soothing effect on badly mauled Hollande. Growth is back in France, even if it only amounts to 0.5%.
CRISIS
Francois Hollande must be braver
By Skip Worden | In trying to have it both ways—an economic regime and a political union—Hollande was being political at the expense of his own proposal.
May Day’s long read: Sex, Demography, and the Future of the European Union
The Fair Observer | It is easy to say that Europeans should have more sex. Demography is destiny, after all, or so it has seemed for millennia, and what could be better than sleeping your way to world power? Despite the financial crisis, a diminishing birth rates and seemingly unsustainable welfare states, Glenn Carle believes German leadership might offer a solution for structural reform in Europe.
Italian government says andiamo, Europa!
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%.
“The eurozone must find economic growth without State aid”
MADRID | By Tania Suárez | Director of financial analysis at Profim EAFI, Jose Maria Luna Morales, argues that austerity measures in the euro zone were “necessary” but adds that “some privileges of many public institutions can still be reduced”. He also notes that although “Europe still may suffer months of stagnation”, that does not imply “a long period of stagnation'” for the EZ as a whole.
Prisa, the Spanish economy and Brussels’ impossible deficit targets
MADRID | The European Central Bank must change course, too, so market credit costs drop to a range at which peripheral governments will not suffer as much as they do now. Brussels and Berlin may stubbornly be strangling the eurozone because they cannot see the wood from the trees.
The Beppe Grillo contagion effect
Presseurop.eu | By Ferruccio Sansa and Emiliano Liuzzi | The comedian’s Five star movement was the revelation of last Italian election. Its anti-establishment views and “digital democracy” methods are shared by many political movements across the EU, and they could form a common front at the European elections in 2014.
Europe’s moment of truth
BRUSSELS | By Ann Mettler | The worst response to the Italian elections would be not to speak the truth, to cave in to the idea that somehow “austerity” is to blame for the current woes, that once again breaking the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact would somehow improve the situation.
It’s recession or depression for the UK
LONDON | The choices look grim for a Chancellor who must reduce the state’s debts and wants to be re-elected.
Spain’s crisis tamed, but still biting
Are we witnessing a real improvement in Spain’s performance? Some key data point in the right direction. Relentless efforts to streamline public finances are paying off.