Economy - Page 4 of 5

Time is running out for Greece

The Eurogroup needed just half an hour to deal with the package of measures presented by Greece in Brussels, pressurizing the Athens government to negotiate the technical issues seriously and in detail with experts from the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund; the so-called “men in black” of the former Troika. Meanwhile, the Greek authorities do not rule out fresh elections or a referendum on the euro if negotiations prove fruitless.

Europe takes a new step towards reducing energy dependence

Raluca Raduta
Politics , Economy , Analysis , Environment
1 March, 2015

Three documents issued by the European Commission on 25 February 2015 aim to advance work on the Energy Union, a project figuring prominently on the Juncker Commission’s agenda. It is hoped that the proposed actions will help diversify Europe’s energy sources and turn the EU from the world’s largest energy importer to the world’s leader in renewable energy production.

The Eurogroup approves Greek measures

Greece continues to be financed with the help of the European Union. Eurozone Ministers of Economy and Finance have approved the new package of economic measures presented to Brussels by Athens. This then paves the way to extend Greece’s bail-out. The spokesman for the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, said that the proposals are “sufficiently complete” and are a “good start”. The same expression was used by Mario Draghi in a statement, however the ECB president added several ‘buts’. According to Draghi, what counts is the current memorandum.

Tense negotiations continue on Greece’s bailout terms

An agreement on the Greek bailout programme was initially supposed to be reached at the Eurogroup meeting of 11 February. As the finance ministers gathered it became clear that arriving at decisions would not be a matter that would be resolved in a day. Greece and its creditors could not even agree to a common press release

In Europe, a feeble rise in employment

The European Commission published a report on employment and social developments in Europe, on 15 January, where it is noted that more than nine million more are unemployed compared with 2008. The unemployment rate in the 28 EU member states reached 10.0% in November 2014, down from 10.7% in November 2013. Youth unemployment reached 21.9% in the EU and 23.7% in the euro area, compared with 23.2% and 23.9% respectively in November 2013. Unemployed young people under 25 are now 5.1 million in the EU, compared with 3.4 million in the Eurozone.

The imminent arrival of QE brings euro-dollar parity closer

The euro has depreciated relative to the US dollar to its lowest level in almost a decade. In the meantime, time is running out for the European Central Bank (ECB) to implement a massive purchase of sovereign bonds aimed at quelling the threat of deflation. This much-anticipated operation, called Quantitative Easing (QE), will most likely be officially announced by ECB president Mario Draghi at the upcoming meeting on 22 January. The European currency has plummeted this year under the 1.1747 dollar threshold, the exchange rate at which it was first introduced in 11 European countries on 1 January 1999. The euro continues to weaken after having lost 12% of its value relative to the US dollar in 2014, the sharpest annual fall since 2005.

Lithuania now has the euro

Lithuania has become the 19th member of the euro joining its Baltic neighbours Estonia and Latvia. It is also expected to be the last to enter the monetary union for several years. This is a move with geopolitical and economic implications. The country comes on board the Eurozone with a growing economy.

The financial engineering of Juncker’s plan

How to turn 21 billion euros into 315 billion euros. This is essentially the goal of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the master plan which led Jean Claude Juncker to the presidency of the European Commission. The plan aims to reactivate the ailing economy of the region, and create 3.3 million jobs by 2017.

Draghi takes aim but won’t fire

The silver bullet is loaded but he is not firing it. Mario Draghi takes aim, pledges and gives signs but doesn’t take action. The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) has disappointed markets with an unusually less aggressive speech. It may have been due to the fact that it was his first press conference…

Cameron to restrict benefits for immigrants

David Cameron has alluded to the possibility of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union unless European partners allow him to restrict benefits for immigrants. The figures released yesterday reveal a 43% rise in net immigration into the UK, which has threatened Cameron’s promise to cut it down before the end of his term in office…