People shouldn't expect too much of Russia's WTO membership, the liberal daily Turun Sanomat warns: "This membership integrates Russia into the network of the global economy, its procedures and its culture. The WTO's rules are aimed at promoting the stability of a country that foreign investors and trading partners have so far shunned owing to its corrupt administration, unreliable judiciary and scant economic legislation. But as always, in the case of Russia one has to a relaxed view of the possibilities for development. Change takes time here and is always coupled with risks. Russia may concentrate on protecting its own economy instead of opening it up to competition. Because WTO membership would make this possible if Russia manages to form an alliance with key countries like India and China when it comes to decisions within the Organisation." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade, » Industry, » Economy, » Russia, » Global

Russia's membership in the WTO could be very beneficial for the country, the liberal daily Upsala Nya Tidning believes: "We shouldn't entertain any illusions that a new, free Russia will be born of its WTO membership tomorrow. But in the long run it could have a substantial political impact. … Membership will bring tougher competition, more economic development and probably greater pressure for liberal reforms in Russia - whether it likes it or not. This could soften up Russia's oligopoly economy. And that's no mean feat given the destructive and intimate relationship between the political elite and the oligarchs. In today's Russia the economy and the people's lack of freedom are bound up together. A free and thriving Russian economy will also serve the cause of freedom. So more globalisation could do Russia good." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Human rights, » Russia
All available articles from » Carl Johan von Seth

Russia's accession to the WTO is of key importance especially for Europe, even if trade relations will improve only slowly, the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera predicts: "Not only were these the toughest and most complex membership talks in the history of the WTO, the whole accession is taking place in slow motion. Only a few measures will come into effect immediately. … But it is still good news for both Russia and the EU. In key areas for EU exports (like the automotive industry) there will be an immediate reduction in import duties. … US companies are however quite rightly complaining that the US won't benefit from the accession. Because trade relations between Moscow and Washington will continue to be governed by the restrictions of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment, with which the US penalised the Soviet Union for banning its citizens from leaving the country. … Many Russian businessmen are also complaining since so far they have only survived thanks to state protectionism. But they have no choice now: either they modernise or they will be swept away in the course of the next seven years." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Trade, » Economic Policy, » Russia
All available articles from » Fabrizio Dragosei

Europe is facing what are perhaps the most important weeks in its recent history, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes and calls on all parties to close ranks: "The German Constitutional Court will deliver its ruling, the troika will present its report, then comes the EU summit on October 18. Now, [ahead of his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday] Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is opening what is perhaps the final act in this currency drama, cleverly setting the tone, promoting, promising, showing contrition and understanding - but he has long since ceased to be in a position where he can decide the fate of his country. He can only influence the mood. The choreography of the coming weeks makes it clear that Europe can only overcome the crisis through the combined efforts of all its participants. If someone decides not to play along - the Constitutional Court, the Bundestag, the French president - then Greece's fate is sealed. If any one of these agents is of the opinion that he doesn't have to do his bit to save the single currency (for example cooperating in the urgently needed reform of the European banking union), this would also prevent a solution." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Stefan Kornelius
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis, » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

Ahead of Friday's meeting between Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel the conservative business paper Naftemporiki stresses the importance of Samaras showing his willingness to implement reforms: "Samaras must convince Europe that Greece will do everything it can to get out of the crisis. He must show that the Greeks have made bloody sacrifices. And that perhaps for the first time the country will fulfil its obligations. Only if he does this will we be able to 'win over' our European partners. … There is just one way out of the crisis and that consists in changing the state we knew until yesterday. … Everyone talks about these changes that we should have started introducing 30 years ago and that must now become reality in a matter of a few months. These reforms must finally be implemented so that we can speak with a strong voice in Europe. We can't convince our partners with words, only with deeds." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Germany, » Greece
All available articles from » Kouros Giannis
Who's saying what » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

In the tax dispute between Germany and Switzerland, the Swiss Finance Minister and current President of the Swiss Confederation Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf has compared the purchase by German authorities of CDs listing potential tax offenders with organised crime. The liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung sides with the minister: "No government can afford to go back on a signed treaty because the other side would then hit upon the idea of forcing further concessions. The Swiss Federal Council would discredit itself completely if it were to allow Germany to squeeze the fiscal thumbscrews even tighter. ... Germany should also know that Switzerland takes its democratic rules and regulations very seriously indeed. The Federal Councillors ratified the tax agreement with Germany before the summer break. Now the referendum deadline is approaching. If the necessary 50,000 signatures are gathered in the allotted time, the people will have the last say in November. That's how our country works, and those to the north of the Rhine where different democratic rules apply should respect that. Good neighbourly relations depend on reciprocity." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » Switzerland
All available articles from » René Zeller

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange acts like he is the victim of a conspiracy, fighting a lonely battle against the high and mighty of the world, columnist Ahto Lobjakas writes in the conservative daily Postimees: "Assange has taken on the world's most powerful forces, and now he feels like the victim of a global conspiracy. The Australian puts himself on a par with Pussy Riot and Bradley Manning, who is said to have furnished Wikileaks with its most explosive material. ... The division of the world into oppressors and the oppressed exists only in Assange's mind. For him Wikileaks has become the instrument of his private one-man crusade. ... The founder of the whistle-blowing platform is no hero. That's the sort of myth that does not last long in today's world, one which takes advantage of the gullibility of those who don't understand that the age of global constructions (be it conspiracies or ideologies) is over. Wikileaks has never offered global solutions for the problems of our time." (21/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Human rights, » Crime, » Justice, » United Kingdom, » U.S.
All available articles from » Ahto Lobjakas
Who's saying what » Wikileaks on trial

Financial investor Nicolas Berggruen, Pimco CEO Mohamed A. El-Erian and economist Nouriel Roubini warn in the left-liberal daily El País of the consequences of an uncontrolled collapse of Europe's single currency: "If the Eurozone totally fragments, Europe also fails as the single market and the European Union may also collapse. In the short run, fragmentation would be the economic and financial equivalent of a cardiac arrest for Europe. Cross-border flows of goods, services and capital would be disrupted as currency denomination concerns overwhelm the normal valuation calculus. ... Germany and the core need to decide boldly whether they believe that the Eurozone can survive and in what format. If the answer is yes, then the pursuit of a less imperfect union would need to be accompanied by massive official financing - both fiscal and from the European Central Bank. ... If, instead, they were to decide both that the eurozone is not viable as is and that a smaller union is not achievable, the costs of breaking up disorderly later rather than breaking up now would be much larger." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Financial Markets, » Europe
All available articles from » Nicolas Berggruen, » Mohamed A. El-Erian, » Nouriel Roubini
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis, » Crisis countries pin their hopes on ECB

In a bid to counter rising fuel prices France plans to temporarily cut the tax on oil products, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced on Wednesday. Bulgaria had planned to do the same but can't because the fuel tax there is still below the EU's minimum rate. The daily 24 Chasa says this is unfair: "France is allowed to lower its tax on oil products. Because the country has already exceeded the EU's minimum rate, no one can stop it from doing so. We, on the other hand, are not allowed to lower the tax because we won't reach the minimum rate until next year. Nonetheless Brussels should show understanding for Finance Minister Simeo Djankov's proposal to adjust the fuel tax to the living standards of a given EU member country. It's not fair to make poor countries levy the same tax rate on fuel as in rich countries. The European Union aims to promote the free circulation of goods and people. But now the petrol prices are curtailing this freedom." (22/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Consumers, » Tax Policy, » Economy, » France, » Bulgaria

The bursting of the real estate bubble in 2009 continues to have dramatic repercussions for the Irish economy and there is still no sign of light at the end of the tunnel, writes the conservative daily the Irish Independent: "The collapse in house prices leads to falls in consumer wealth and demand, which in turn, causes incomes to fall. As unemployment rises, the fall in income for those who lose their jobs is direct and immediate. But the collapse in demand also leads to lower general tax revenue and increases in welfare spending. The government budget deficit increases. ... The decision to extend what was originally a temporary guarantee that was designed only to prevent an evident bank run, into an open-ended bondholder bailout of what turned out to be massively insolvent Irish banks, blew up the budget deficit to levels that a nation lacking a sovereign currency could not repay." (22/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economy, » Ireland
All available articles from » David McWilliams
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The number of bankrupt construction companies in Poland rose by two-thirds in the first two quarters of this year compared to 2011. Experts fear the sector's problems will spill over into the rest of the economy. Kuba Kurasz puts part of the blame on the state in the business blog of the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita: "Nowadays most people believe that the construction companies are themselves to blame for their dire state of affairs, because no one forced them to invest in unprofitable, risky projects. However 40 percent of contracts in the construction sector are public. The Traffic Management Department GDDKiA and the railways grant the most contracts, in total 20 percent of them. Hence the problems in the sector cannot only be put down to poor planning and greed on the part of the companies. The firms' financial woes are also caused by the GDDKiA's unsound payment system and the huge rise in prices for primary products and construction materials, which was very difficult to foresee." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economy, » Poland
All available articles from » Kuba Kurasz

In Latvia, proper names in foreign languages are generally transcribed, however the people doing the transcribing often either don't know the rules or don't apply them. Gvido Pētersons, editor of Jāņa Sēta, the country's largest map publisher, laments that attempts to protect the language are often misguided: "The transcription of proper names is important, because this is not just about how to write 'Atlantic' or other geographical names. The name of the American president, for example, if a philologist had taken the time for a proper analysis before he was elected, would be written Barāks Obama [instead of the common Baraks Obama]. If everyone had the rules at hand at all times, no wrong versions would appear in the papers. Some of the institutions responsible for protecting the language suffer from a chronic shortage of funding. Nevertheless the decision must be made once and for all as to what is more important: developing our language or bullying Russian grannies in their stores [into serving customers in Latvian]." (22/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Languages, » Latvia
All available articles from » Gvido Pētersons

The British assisted suicide activist Tony Nicklinson, who was left with locked-in syndrome after suffering a stroke and could only communicate using eye movements, died on Wednesday of pneumonia just a week after a British court denied his request for assisted suicide. Hannah Betts argues in the left-liberal daily The Guardian that people should be granted the right to die under dignified circumstances: "Tony Nicklinson, who died today, last week championed a failed high court attempt to allow doctors to end his life. Without fear of prosecution. It is a bitter irony that the decision not to permit him to quit life in his preferred circumstances may have contributed to his demise, his family describing him as 'heartbroken', the fight having gone out of him. The situation I am proposing is still more fundamental, involving not killing people but letting them die with dignity in conditions of their choosing. Society is rightfully concerned with the neglect of the elderly. However, using medical science to willfully, perversely keep the aged alive not only against all odds but against any regard for quality of life, may be equally torturous." (22/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Ethics, » United Kingdom

The trial over the so-called Facebook murder is currently causing a big stir in the Netherlands. A 15-year-old girl was murdered in January after spreading rumours over the social network. Two youths thought to have contracted the murder and a third accused of carrying it out are now standing trial in Arnheim. But Facebook itself has less to do with the murder than is widely believed, writes the Christian-social daily Trouw: "Every new invention has its dark side, and there will always be the risk of abuse. But as the American journalist Nick Bilton has said: people have always been afraid of new technologies. The phonograph, the cinema, the radio, television - all were once put in the role now being attributed to Facebook: namely as corrupter of the youth. We are rightly shocked to see teenagers committing murder. But if the gossip that incited the crime had been spread over the telephone, no court would have warned of the dangers of telecommunication. When people now point their finger at Facebook they are overstating its importance." (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Online media, » Crime, » Netherlands
All available articles from » Elma Drayer

Nine people have drowned in the sea off Portugal's coast and in its rivers since the beginning of the swimming season on June 1. The liberal-conservative daily Diário de Notícias appeals to swimmers to be more careful because improved lifeguarding measures weren't enough to prevent these accidents: "One of the cases this week involved a little girl and her grandfather who went for a walk along an unsupervised stretch of beach and - unaware of the dangers of this apparently harmless activity - were swept away by the waves. … There are situations in which people deliberately take risks by ignoring safety regulations or insisting on bathing in waters that are unsupervised. … Between June and July only 15 fines were issued on Portugal's 498 beaches, which confirms a lack of attention to ensuring that people obey the rules. However it is impossible for the police to monitor every metre of beach - which is why it is crucial that people act more responsibly."  (23/08/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Tourism, » Society, » Portugal