Deutsch
English
FrançaisSub menu: Home
Home / Index of Authors
de Hen, Paul
Subscribe to receive the texts of "de Hen, Paul" as RSS feeds
5 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
EU must help Greece
The Greeks only have themselves to blame for the crisis, writes the right-wing liberal news magazine Elsevier. Yet it concludes that European aid for the country is inevitable and is also in the interest of other Eurozone countries: "If the financial markets lose trust in a single country it's not so bad for the rest. But if the loss of trust spreads like an oil stain, it will eventually push up the interest rates for a growing number of - if not all - government bonds issued by Eurozone countries. The growing concern about the euro will become a problem for European companies, even if initially they profit from the euro's low exchange rate. The Greeks, however, won't get off so lightly if help does come from other euro countries, because the financial supervision the European Commission exercises in the name of all the other European countries is drastic."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Financial Markets, » Greece, » Europe
Bonus system will change
The government and bankers in the Netherlands have signed a "gentlemen's agreement" imposing strict regulations on excessive bonuses for managers. But there will be no state sanctions. In the opinion of the conservative-liberal weekly Elsevier the bankers will nonetheless take great pains not to violate the agreement: "The wave of at times careless criticism aimed at bankers in the Netherlands and also abroad is forcing them to moderation. They know now that they are under intense scrutiny. ... A positive aspect for all those who think the incomes of top managers have reached absurd levels is that the anger is also great in the country that started off the excessive bonus system: the United States. For it is the model country for bonus systems in the corporate world. This subject has been under serious debate for some time now over there. The gap between the incomes of top executives - not only at banks - and that of the average American has become more glaring with each passing year. Change there will no doubt lead to change here."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Financial Markets, » Netherlands
No universal remedy for the economic crisis
Europe is facing an economic crisis. The economy is slowing and inflation is rising. Yet there is no universal remedy for this, the political weekly Elsevier writes: "Each problem requires a different solution. The economic downturn [can be countered] by slightly increasing the national debt, inflation by raising the key interest rate at the European Central Bank. But when you have a declining economy and inflation at the same time, these two remedies stand in each other's way. ... The response to the gradual decline in prosperity is simply to put up with it and accept that there is currently little or no growth. So, for example, there should be no compensation for higher oil prices, not even via tax breaks. Unless of course the state is prepared to cut back on expenditure in order to reduce the burden. That way some of the pressure on wages and profits can be relieved."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Financial Markets, » Europe
Can France do a better job during its presidency of the EU?
Paul de Hen, the Brussels correspondent for the Dutch weekly, ponders what the French EU presidency, which begins July 1st, will look like. "The governments of the EU members are judged by their collegues on the quality of their presidency: can they succeed in making a mark all while avoiding defending only their national interests? Do they give the smallest and newest EU members as much value as everyone else during meetings? ... European wisdom dictates that these small countries will often do a better job than the bigger ones. They generally have fewer interests to defend, and they know from experience how important it is to allow everyone a chance to speak. The last time that France took its turn at the presidency of the EU, it was during the second half of 2000. And in collective memory, that presidence left a particulary disastrous image."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » France, » Europe
The EU wants to get closer to the Black Sea
Paul de Hen, the weekly's Brussels correspondent, explains that, on April 11th, the EU launched a new initiative of cooperation with the countries of the Black Sea, a territory that brushes up against the EU since the accession of Romania and Bulgaria. "The region is crawling with suspended conflicts. ... In Moldova, there is the separatist region of Transnistria. In Georgia, two regions want to be separated. Armenian is s keeping its border with Turkey closed and has territorial disagreement with Azerbaijan. In Ukraine, the pro-western party, which wishes to join the EU, has been stuck for years in a struggle for permanent power with the pro-Russian party. ... The EU cannot turn its back on problems that are so close. Black Sea territory is also of economic interest, because they have raw materials and are transit zones for petrol and natural gas."
» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » South East Europe
© 2005-2012