Germany

In Europe 19th March 2014

Germany feels sure about European rescue fund- not ECB’s OMT

MADRID | By Julia Pastor| German judges are removing uncertainties little by little. The country’s Constitutional Court confirmed on Tuesday that the European Mechanism of Stability is legal and does not damage the Bundestag’s budget. Furthermore, they also approved euro zone’s fiscal pact. The court had brought an appeal against constitutionality of both treaties in June of 2012. The third appeal regarding ECB’s bond purchase program is still pending of a sentence, however, and apparently it would be more difficult to solve: Karlsruhe’s court has required European Court of Justice to decide against the program following the arguments -more economic than legal- that Bundesbank has handed to them.

In Europe 10th March 2014

Europe’s searching of an impossible balance

MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Expressions such as “two-speed Europe”, or “the gap between core and peripheral European countries” have been hitting the headlines for ages. The reality is that state members have never grown at the same pace and they are not likely to ever do so. Expectations about the end of crisis suggest that not all of them will exit at the same time; imbalances will continue one way or another. British economy could reach 2008 pre-recession growth peak next summer, while EU members like Italy, Croatia or Slovenia may see imbalances increase. Germany’s eagerness for saving and also investing out of Europe could postpone the problem.

In Europe 6th March 2014

Spain is no longer Europe’s sick man; it’s Italy’s turn

MADRID | By Francisco López | Investment banks and international funds are betting on buying Spanish Treasury’s stocks. In fact, Spain’s 10 years bond yielded under 3.40% on Wednesday, an unprecedented level since 2006. Interests of Italian debt stands even under that of Spanish, but Brussels’ study on the euro zone imbalances pointed Italy as the new sick man of Europe, basically due to its high public debt and the lack of reforms.

World economy 28th February 2014

Ukraine is not enough to warm up US-German relations

WASHINGTON | By Pablo Pardo | Germany’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, finishes his two-day visit to Washington today with at least some unintended achievement: the U.S. and Germany agree on the importance of a truly independent and democratic Ukraine. The revolution in Kiev and the menacing attitude of Russia have prompted an unexpected rapprochement between Berlin and Washington. However, a real warming up of US-German relations seems improbable.

In Europe 19th February 2014

Could Germany do more?

BERLIN | By Alberto Lozano | While Germany was receiving criticism from all sides for its surplus current account, its industry continued setting records and exporting its products all around the world and Euro zone was still strengthening its pillars for a brighter future.

In Europe 17th February 2014

Germany: Europe does not converge

FRANKFURT | By Lidia Conde | German people continue feeling they have to suffer the consequences of Greeces’s mistakes when figures say that Greek are twice as rich as they are as regards housing ownership. They want to help their southern neighbours with something else than money: economy and finance know-how to ease them of the severe adjustments derived from crisis.

In Europe 11th February 2014

ECB’s OMT: The trick in German Constitutional Court’s sentence

MADRID | By Luis Arroyo | Germany set off a time bomb against the euro by transferring from the country’s constitutional court to European Court of Justice the decision about “legality” of ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions’ program. Some Spanish analysts appear to be pleased with the sentence, contrarily to common sense: it is good that German Court starts to agree the European Union’s. They say that recognising Europe’s jurisprudence assures Community law’s unity. God bless their innocence.

In Europe 28th January 2014

EMU banking : well-behaved vs rogue systems?

MADRID | By Luis Martí | The European banking union project received a remarkable boost last December, even if a major chapter, the bank resolution fund, had to conform to German requirements and stay on a national basis. This part of the agreement is a moot point, and Southern countries should have raised their voices and taken a firm stand against, as Münchau also wrote, no matter the delay inflicted to the working agenda of the eurogroup.

In Europe 14th January 2014

Paid Corruption In Germany: The Pofalla Case

FRANKFURT | By Lidia Conde | What happens when the supervisory board in a company discovers that its president conceals his intentions of improving the relationship with the political power by hiring Angela Merkel’s “man of confidence”? That’s what has happened in Deutsche Bahn, the German railway, whose supervisory board learned from the press that Ronald Pofalla (Merkel’s cabinet chief barely two weeks before) was joining the governing board.

In Europe 30th December 2013

Germany Employment Rate Shows a Brighter EU Face

BERLIN | By Alberto Lozano | While the euro zone jobless rate reached 12.1 percent in October, Germany has promising news for itself: national labor market is expected to create about 180,000 jobs in 2014. Why is this happening?

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