The EU summit in Brussels showed no sign of the sort of radical reorientation in European policy aspired to by French President François Hollande, the liberal business paper Les Echos notes: "The Brussels summit did not fail as it might have, and that in itself is a success. Under pressure from Mario Monti, the 17 member states managed to reach a compromise. The decisions taken will calm the markets and allow the European bailout fund to help banks and repurchase debt. ... So it seems that the goal of lowering the prohibitive interest rates imposed on Rome and Madrid has been reached. However two insights have somewhat dampened enthusiasm. The first is that, yet again, Europe has adopted the tactic of small steps rather than long strides. The second is that taken together the results of this summit and France's budget for 2013 show that the reorientation of the European policy evoked before the presidential elections was just a joke." (02/07/2012)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » France, » Europe
All available articles from » Dominique Seux
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Many European media have expressed doubt over the success of last week's EU summit. But at least it set an important course, writes the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad: "The principle of equality can tempt other member states to look to their own interests. Why, for example, should Belgium encourage its population to buy government bonds when the tax-shy Italians don't dare to make the investment? There is a risk that budget discipline will converge at a level somewhere between the North and the South - in short: at less discipline. However all of these remarks and warnings are obsolete when you bear in mind that the European leaders have fewer - and above all no viable - options. Simply not give in to Monti's and Rajoy's bluff? Sounds daring, but it would have been an enormous risk. It seems that the 'vicious circle' [between the banking sector and the individual states], as the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said, has been broken. Nevertheless a relapse is possible." (01/07/2012)

» more information (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Europe
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

According to media reports German Chancellor Angela Merkel was virtually blackmailed into making concessions by the heads of government of Italy and Spain at the EU crisis summit at the end of last week. In truth Merkel relented only on formal, unimportant points while secretly scoring a major victory, the liberal-conservative business paper Il Sole 24 Ore writes: "The Brussels summit was unanimously hailed as a triumph of European common sense over Germany's arrogant pigheadedness. Yet Merkel only made a couple of concessions and achieved more than generally believed. … Because in exchange for her allowances Merkel has pushed through the principle of a European supervisory authority. In the grips of a storm of Euro enthusiasm evderyone rejoiced. But more Europe means less sovereignty. That looks simple on paper but the problems will emerge in the coming months when it becomes clear that - de facto - it's not about yielding sovereignty to Luxembourg or Cyprus but to Germany."  (01/07/2012)

» more information (external link, Italian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » Italy, » Spain, » Europe
All available articles from » Roberto Perotti
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis, » The row over debt mutualisation

Without the introduction of joint bonds the future of Europe hangs by a thread, writes the liberal business paper Financial Times with an eye to the EU summit: "The most important event last week was probably not the agreement at the summit anyway, but the statement by Ms Merkel that there will be no Eurozone bonds 'for as long as I live'. My belief is that this statement reveals she is not serious about political union, to which she has been paying lip-service over the past few weeks. ... If Ms Merkel is right and there are no Eurozone bonds in her lifetime, the Eurozone will not survive. Without Eurozone bonds or a change in ECB policy, Italy's and Spain's debt - and Eurozone membership - is not sustainable. That was as true on Wednesday as it is today." (01/07/2012)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Wolfgang Münchau
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis, » The row over debt mutualisation

Cyprus assumed the EU Council's presidency on July 1. In the eyes of the conservative daily Magyar Nemzet Cyprus embodies the plight of the EU: "The island with its 800,000 inhabitants is the only member of the EU that has a communist leadership. One of Cyprus's most important tasks will be to prevent the collapse of the Eurozone of which the island state is also a member. ... For Cyprus this is no easy task given that it is itself on the verge of bankruptcy. Cyprus has become the fifth EU member state to apply for assistance from Brussels and the International Monetary Fund. It needs 12.5 billion euros in total to save its struggling banks. So we have a situation in which a member state that is on the brink of bankruptcy is leading the EU. This fact is startlingly illustrative of the general state of the EU." (02/07/2012)

» full article (external link, Hungarian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Cyprus, » Europe
All available articles from » István Lovas

The Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will consider holding a referendum on Britain's relationship with the European Union. Cameron wrote in a piece for the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that he is ready to consider such a referendum when the time is right. The liberal daily Sydsvenskan approves: "Cameron wants the traditionally EU-sceptic British to participate in the EU. But he also points out that such participation requires both political understanding and a discussion that dares to ask what the EU should be and how its relations with the UK should look. If the EU is to have a future - even after the euro crisis - the member countries must rise up against nationalism and protectionism, but also be wary of more supra-nationality. When the core countries speed up the pace, the countries that are more critical of the EU must discuss what steps they should take." (02/07/2012)

» full article (external link, Swedish)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » United Kingdom, » Europe

At its meeting in Geneva on Saturday, the conference of the Action Group on Syria agreed on plans for a potential transition government in Syria which would include the present government and opposition. While the Syrian opposition has rejected the proposal, the liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung sees in it a glimmer of hope: "Whether the final statement of the Geneva conference is practicable won't be clear for weeks, or more likely months. Right now both the regime and the opposition feel secure in the belief that they have won. Russia has the clout to force Assad's regime to relent and enable the most culpable figures to make a discreet exit. And the US, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have the power to make the rebels they armed fulfil their obligations. ... The Geneva conference as a last chance to halt an apparently unstoppable chain of events? Let us hope this is the case." (02/07/2012)

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Crises / War, » Syria
All available articles from » Martin Woker
Who's saying what » Civil war raging in Syria

The EU summit on Friday resolved to initiate accession negotiations with the Balkan country Montenegro. The topics of corruption, organised crime and judicial reform should be focused on right from the start, demands the online portal euinside: "No one in the EU wants a repetition of what happened with Bulgaria and Romania, which are still being massively criticised after five years of EU membership. With its population of just 600,000, Montenegro is notorious for the close ties between business and politics. Already on the first day of the accession negotiations, the prosecutor's office pressed charges on 17 cases of corruption, abuse of office and counterfeiting documents. ... Experience with Croatia has shown that under pressure from the EU an accession candidate can clean itself up and even put a former prime minister on trial for corruption. To that extent the EU 'whip' could also prove helpful for Montenegro." (01/07/2012)

» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » EU Policy, » Montenegro
All available articles from » Dessislava Dimitrova

The Romanian National Commission for the Recognition of Academic Degrees and Titles (CNATCU) on Friday confirmed allegations of plagiarism made against Prime Minister Victor Ponta. Eighty-four pages of his 307-page doctoral thesis were found to contain copied passages. Ponta's party, the PSD, has rejected calls for his resignation saying that half of the members of the Commission are members of the opposition PDL party. In the eyes of the blog portal Voxpublica this "doesn't change the fact that plagiarism is plagiarism. But it highlights one of Romania's biggest problems: the politicisation of state institutions. And it also exposes the huge rift in Romanian society. This is not a rift between Băsescu's supporters and Ponta's but between party liners and independents. From a democratic perspective a party member can't be refused public office, but he should receive it above all on the basis of his competence and experience. Yet precisely this rule leads to aberrations: if you're not a party member you have no chance of taking public office these days. ... The allocation of public office and by extension power depends not on an individual's competence but on his loyalty to the clan." (02/07/2012)

» full article (external link, Romanian)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Science / Research, » Romania
All available articles from » Mihai Gotiu

The vision of a monetary union was supposed to lead to political unity in Europe but in practice has led to the opposite, the blogger Charlemagne laments in the weekly magazine The Economist: "Monetary union was meant to be a blessing. The euro's founders dreamed that it would end chronic and divisive currency crises, promote growth and multiply Europe's economic power. After the creation of the single market, the euro was the next step toward political union. For decades European integration worked. Through trade and regional aid, poorer members joining the club quickly started catching up with rich ones. But the euro has now set the 'convergence machine' in reverse. Parts of Southern Europe are in depression and must pay high interest rates, while Germany enjoys record low borrowing costs. The debtors plead for mercy, but the creditors think they must suffer for their sins." (28/06/2012)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Financial Markets, » Europe

The troika made up of representatives of the EU Commission, the ECB and the IMF will travel to Athens this Monday to find out how the reforms are advancing in the highly indebted country. The conservative business paper Naftemporiki wonders how Athens will deal with its creditors considering its lack of progress: "To what extent can we demand changes to the austerity package? How are we supposed to sit down at the negotiating table and demand that the same conditions that apply for Italy and Spain apply for us, too? We have neither the economic clout nor the influence in EU circles, nor have we addressed the issue of budget consolidation in recent months. In any round of negotiations you have to give before you take. Because at present we can present no proof of our good intentions, we should demand less and hope for the best. Moreover, as the English author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien said, hope is not victory." (02/07/2012)

» full article (external link, Greek)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Kouros Giannis

Estonia has had a massive problem with drunk drivers for years. The Estonian people are in general too tolerant towards alcoholics, writes the director of the Institute for Health Development Maris Jesse in an opinion piece for the weekly Eesti Ekspress: "This year for the first time a court ordered an offender to undergo treatment for alcoholism instead of imposing a fine. The state has realised that people who are caught drunk driving won't be deterred by high fines. They are alcoholics and need therapy. Although the streets are full of posters warning about how harmful alcohol is there is a lack of possibilities for treatment in Estonia: we have no clinics which patients could turn to for help. There is also a lack of doctors and nurses specialised in alcohol treatment. Drug addict treatment should be taken as an example for treating alcoholics." (27/06/2012)

» full article (external link, Estonian)
More from the press review on the subject » Health and Medicine, » Society, » Estonia
All available articles from » Maris Jesse

Spain won the final of the Euro 2012 football championship against Italy 4-0 in Kiev on Sunday. The conservative daily ABC hopes that Spain's political and economic decision-makers will be infected by the footballers' team spirit: "The victory over Italy in the final of the Euro 2012 raises our team to a pinnacle of success that no one else has attained so far because now it has won the European football championship twice and the World Cup once within the space of four years. ... Spain has invented a new form of team play in this sport that has been practised for over a century all over the world. ... The team's players are all idols in their own right but the solidarity, the closeness to the people and the normality they project has united all Spain behind the team. ... It's a pity that the Spanish don't demonstrate the same solidarity and team spirit more often when it comes to facing the challenges of the economic crisis." (02/07/2012)

» more information (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » Economy, » Spain
Who's saying what » Kick-off in Eastern Europe

Apart from Spain and Italy, the controversial Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych also had his moment of glory at the Euro 2012 final in Kiev on Sunday, writes the liberal daily Sme: "At the last match of the biggest sporting event in Eastern Europe since the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, several heads of state and government sat beside the Ukrainian president and co-host. The group photo of the VIP box was the real reason why Yanukovych wanted to play host to the best footballers in Europe. And nothing annoyed him more than the way his biggest rival Yulia Tymoshenko messed things up for him from her prison bed. Members of the EU Commission, heads of state and ministers from Germany, the UK and France boycotted the games in Ukraine, underscoring their conviction that Tymoshenko is a political prisoner. But the final put an end to all that. Now Yanukovych has photos to show he's been accepted. And he cleverly put off Tymoshenko's next trial until after the Championship." (02/07/2012)

» more information (external link, Slovak)
More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » Human rights, » Justice, » Ukraine
All available articles from » Miriam Zsilleová
Who's saying what » Kick-off in Eastern Europe

Taken as a whole the Euro 2012 football championship was a success for Poland, writes journalist Michal Kobosko in the conservative news magazine Wprost, but he also notes: "It's clear that not all that glitters is gold. Since Euro 2012 we have excellent roads but a growing number of firms that built them are filing for bankruptcy. And we have stadiums that we don't quite know what to do with. They are supposed to generate revenue at some point. ... Euro 2012 has also left us with a kind of football hangover because yet again we played badly. ... And we have something that could be called the Polish-Ukrainian complex. Not that I love [the radio presenters] Wojewodzki and Figurski for their nonsense. But they did highlight highlight a problem that has long been swept under the carpet: the contempt for Ukrainians. … We have a lot of homework left to do." (02/07/2012)

» more information (external link, Polish)
More from the press review on the subject » Sport, » Poland, » Europe
All available articles from » Michał Kobosko
Who's saying what » Kick-off in Eastern Europe