By Carlos Díaz Güell, in Madrid | Portugal has gained the confidence of the Troika (staffers from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank), as one could infer after reading the note published at the end of their visit last week to Lisbon for the third quarterly review of the adjustment programme. The group acknowledged the progress in correcting imbalances and gave the approval for disbursement of the fourth…
LONDON | AXA Real Estate confirmed Monday that transaction volumes across the full risk spectrum of opportunistic to core have substantially increased in Europe. The real estate portfolio and asset fund was during 2011 a net buyer on behalf of its clients, with acquisitions totalling €2.6 billion, which included €900 million of committed development expenditure, compared to sales amounting to €2.1 billion. The financial management firm was active throughout Europe, in the economically stronger euro…
NEW YORK | “It’s the same Google experience that you’re used to, with the same controls,” said the company about its new privacy rules on Thursday. Really? Announced in January 24 and despite warnings from the EU earlier this week, Google’s highly controversial privacy changes took place on March 1st. European justice commissioner insisted they are in breach of European law. France’s regulator CNIL expressed its deep concern about the…
MADRID | While in Spain the formalities for the approval of the European Fiscal Treaty that was agreed last month by 25 countries of the EU are being carried out virtually unnoticed, Ireland announced February 29 that it will submit the matter to referendum. Despite this display of democracy, it is precisely just a display. Under no circumstances would Dublin’s ‘No’ paralyse the entry into force of the pact because it…
MADRID | Spain reached for the first time a surplus in its trade balance with the euro zone in 2011. Exports to the European Economic and Monetary Union grew 9.6%, almost three points more than imports. The weakness of the domestic demand explains the attainment of such a historic achievement, explained the business daily Cinco Días. Four long years of economic crisis have some positive aspects. According to data released…
A working paper by professor José Luis Mechea on possible exit scenarios from the current international economic crisis brings this already known but not fully appreciated picture. Here you are how unit labour costs have evolved since 1999 in a few euro zone countries, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, in comparison to Germany. Obviously, there must be some link with this other graphic… Yes. Unemployment.
By Luis Martí, in Madrid | In an understandable effort to correct serious original defects, the European Union has decided to adopt the fiscal compact promised in the European Council declaration of last November 9. This now is presented to us as none other than the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, open for member countries to sign after the January 30 summit. For the German Chancellor this…
Three quarters of Europeans see corruption as a major problem at all levels of government, and 8pc of respondents to the latest Eurobarometer survey say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in 2011. Not only corruptions remains a major problem in the European Union but levels are thought to have risen over the last three years. The picture of Europeans’ sentiment regarding abuse is compelling, to…
By Jaime Malet | During the meetings that took place at the World Economic Forum summit, headed by the economic leaders of various countries, the main conclusion I reached was that the recipes expounded to attain competitiveness in the short term differed from one country to another, but that in the long term there were formulas which were shared by many. This caused me to reflect on the matter and try…
LONDON | The Investment Management Association sent Friday an unequivocal message to the European Commission: do mess with the risk rating agencies at your peril. In its written submission to the Treasury Select Committee Inquiry into credit rating agencies, the trade body for the UK’s £4 trillion asset management industry IMA defended the independent role of credit rating agencies. The IMA said they must be allowed to act free from political interference….