The prospect of supportive purchases by the ECB stoked up demand for Spanish and Italian short-term bonds, causing a marked drop in the yields. The reaction of the financial markets is proof that ECB boss Mario Draghi would do well to adhere to his bond-buying programme, the Catholic daily Avvenire writes, arguing that the purchases should not be confined to the secondary market: "For both options under discussion [bond buying with and without an upper limit on yields], the financial resources of the ECB could prove to be extremely expensive and exhausting on the secondary market. ... In our opinion the best proposal is to buy Spanish and Italian bonds at a fixed interest rate on the primary market and keep them for a set period of time (perhaps two years?). An obligation that becomes void as soon as either of the two countries fails to fulfil the terms regarding budgetary discipline and economic incentives. This strategy firstly requires fewer resources and secondly considerably reduces the risk of loss of capital for the ECB." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Financial Markets, » Italy, » Spain, » Europe
All available articles from » Leonardo Becchetti
Who's saying what » Crisis countries pin their hopes on ECB

Past experience has already shown that ECB intervention can't provide a lasting solution to the crisis, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung points out, arguing against the financing of government bonds: "Yes, the ECB can put as much money in circulation as it wants to at the touch of a button. But no, so far even the special privilege of printing money has hardly helped at all. So now for the next attempt. … The freshly printed money carries certain risks. For one thing there's the danger of inflation; the many millions drive up prices. Then there's the danger of losses, if for instance Italy left the Eurozone the ECB would be left sitting on a pile of government bonds with a high risk of default. The [German] taxpayer is liable for this to the tune of 27 percent. Has the Bundestag voted in this? No. … If the politicians want to save the Eurozone they should do it themselves, after consulting the people. There are a number of possibilities, from the introduction of euro bonds to a debt settlement pact. The ECB joker is tempting but it's easy to forget that it doesn't pay off in the long term." (05/09/2012)

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All available articles from » Markus Zydra
Who's saying what » The row over debt mutualisation, » Crisis countries pin their hopes on ECB

The ECB is due to state its position on the purchase of government bonds on Thursday while on the same day German Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Madrid. This will be a crucial day for Europe's future, the conservative daily ABC notes, but doubts that any truly important decisions will be made: "Will the future not just of Spain but all Europe be decided this Thursday in Madrid and Frankfurt? It should be, but in Europe things tend to move very slowly - too slowly, one could say, and many dates that were considered crucial have come to nothing. … In Madrid Merkel will doubtless want to help her Spanish counterpart Rajoy, whose efforts she has acknowledged. But there are no friendships in politics, just interests, and Merkel must defend above all her own interests. Even though we will no doubt hear an abundance of amiable phrases from the two, there's no guarantee that any concrete action will be taken. So it could be that we're no closer to a solution on Friday than we are today." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Banks, » Germany, » Spain, » Europe
All available articles from » José María Carrascal
Who's saying what » Spain in the banking crisis, » Crisis countries pin their hopes on ECB

In Greece, the public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation against members of the former socialist Pasok government after a Greek former top official at the International Monetary Fund admitted that the IMF was aware that the country's austerity programme was impracticable. It would be better if the investigation were led by a parliamentary commission of inquiry, the conservative daily Kathimerinin contends: "We need answers from those responsible for the financial mismanagement, and also from former prime minister Giorgos Papandreou, who didn't realise the gravity of the situation and despite clear warnings from his predecessor tragically failed to take the necessary measures. … The questions must be answered within parliament and perhaps with the help of a special commission of experts that can make an objective assessment of what went wrong. It is a mistake for the people to expect answers from public prosecutors and special courts." (04/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Greece
Who's saying what » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

Armenia severed all diplomatic ties with Hungary on Friday. According to Armenian sources, the move was taken in response to Hungary's extradition of Azerbaijani soldier Ramil Safarov, who killed an Armenian colleague during a Nato training course in 2004 and was sentenced to lifelong imprisonment. In his own home country Safarov was immediately pardoned by President Ilham Aliyev and is celebrated as a popular hero. The government-critical leftists daily Népszava expresses a low opinion of the diplomatic approach under Viktor Orbán's government: "The Hungarian government has caused the biggest diplomatic scandal of the past decade by extraditing Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan. ... Hungary has been wooing Azerbaijan via diplomatic channels for some time now. The Orbán government sees in the oil-rich Caucasian state a saviour that purchases Hungarian government bonds. ... As far as it's concerned, billions of dollars weigh more than honour and justice. In the short term the money from Azerbaijan may ease the pressure on our country somewhat, nevertheless our country has tossed to the wind the last remnant of respect it enjoyed in Europe and the world." (03/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Hungary, » Armenia, » Azerbaijan

On September 19 the interior ministers of the EU will meet again to discuss Romania's and Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen Area. It doesn't take magic powers to see that Romania doesn't stand much of a chance in the negations, the daily Gândul writes: "Since March an unprecedented political war has been raging in our country which has rocked the rule of law and elicited reprisals from the EU. The conflict has shown how devoid of substance Romania's institutions are, and the new government has blatantly exposed our weaknesses to our European partners. The EU's judicial report on Romania [in July] was negative and distrust of the government persists - even if the prime minister [Victor Ponta] claims things will approve because he's been left with his back to the wall. We are in a worse position than we were in March. It may even be that the Bulgarians, who have been praised for their progress, will be treated separately from us and our accession will be postponed indefinitely." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Romania, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Rodica Ciobanu
Who's saying what » Power struggle in Romania

In the run-up to the Dutch parliamentary elections on September 12, opinion polls are appearing almost on a daily basis. This distorts the behaviour of both voters and candidates, the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad warns: "The polls exert a huge influence, at least as far as politicians go. Because the latter are clearly rather nervous about their results in the polls, even if they don't admit it in public. ... Of course polls shouldn't be banned, but it would be important to limit their influence on the behaviour of voters and candidates, so people don't just vote for party C because it looks like it's going to win, or vice versa, so they don't vote for party D just out of pity. The same goes for televised debates, which mainly serve to show who is the best talker, who comes across as honest and reliable, or who simply looks good on the screen. The best thing would be for voters to cast their ballots mainly on the basis of a party's goals and principles and its candidate's leadership qualities. And for politicians to admit that it's not the poll results but the results of the last election that they have to top." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Netherlands

After the referendum on granting Russian the status of a second official language in February Latvia is now discussing whether to hold another referendum on the subject of citizenship. In the referendum citizens would be asked whether all immigrants from the Soviet era should automatically be granted Latvian citizenship. Nil Ushakov, the Russian-born mayor of the capital Riga, has spoken out against the idea. The conservative daily Latvijas Avīze is relieved: "Mayor Ushakov is demonstrating that he's a political pragmatist. Another referendum would definitely have no chance of success. … Ushakov's advisors are wiser [than the politicians calling for the referendum]. … They have understood that a new referendum would only fan discontent and anger among the Latvian majority population. Even the most persistent hardliners within Harmony Centre [the party of the Russian minority to which Ushakov belongs] must realise that confrontations in the name of the Russian minority won't serve the cause of stability in Latvia." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Minorities, » Latvia
All available articles from » Voldemārs Krustiņš

Three renowned German thinkers, the philosophers Julian Nida-Rümelin and Jürgen Habermas and economist Peter Bofinger, call in the left-liberal daily Le Monde for the political integration of Europe: "The euro crisis reflects the failure of a dead-end policy. Despite extensive rescue programmes and countless crisis summits, the situation of the eurozone has steadily deteriorated over the last two years. ... There are only two coherent strategies for dealing with the current crisis: a return to national currencies across the EU ... or the institutional underpinning of a collective fiscal, economic and social policy within the eurozone, with the further aim of restoring to policymakers their lost capacity for action in the face of market imperatives at a transnational level. ... For this reason alone - because it leads on to this broader perspective - the second option deserves preference over the first. ... We believe that we should be entirely open about this process. It is simply not possible to retain the common currency without also espousing the idea of collective responsibility and redressing the institutional deficit in the eurozone." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Germany, » France, » Europe
All available articles from » Jürgen Habermas, » Julian Nida-Rümelin, » Peter Bofinger
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis, » The row over debt mutualisation

The Russian energy company Gazprom announced last week that it was putting on hold plans to exploit the Shtokman natural gas field in the Arctic due to high costs. Bad news, above all for the Kola Peninsula in the Russian northwest, the liberal daily Lapin Kansa comments: "For the city of Murmansk, the halting of this mammoth project comes as a terrible blow. The city's population has steadily shrunk since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the end of Shtokman certainly won't encourage more Russians to move back to the country's northwest. In Finland people had hoped work on the gas field would contribute to boosting housing and transport construction among other things. That would have also benefited Finnish businesses, but they showed no interest in the gas project itself. At the same time the Shtokman decision won't have any influence on the rail projects in Lappland. More lines are to be laid there above all to service the new mines, not the Russian gas field." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Energy, » Corporations, » Economy, » Finland, » Russia

The Swiss economy is contracting. In the second quarter of this year the country's gross domestic product sank by 0.1 percent in comparison with the first quarter, the country's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs announced on Tuesday. Europe has infected Switzerland with its crisis, the liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung fears: "Europe's economic slowdown is reducing demand for Swiss exports, the expensive Swiss franc is cutting exporters' profit margins, the oh-so-sensitive financial markets can spread crises via the banking sector and widespread uncertainty over the future of the Eurozone may limit corporate investments and ultimately even private consumption. So the Swiss economy is now in the slow lane. … That in itself is no catastrophe, however. Switzerland continues to be better placed than many euro states. … Nevertheless we have once again been rudely reminded that Switzerland is not an island – and that our economic progress depends to no small extent on political decisions taken abroad, on which Switzerland naturally has little influence." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Trade, » Economy, » Switzerland, » Europe
All available articles from » Hansueli Schöchli

The 22nd Economic Forum began in the southern Polish health resort of Krynica-Zdrój on Tuesday. The event, which has been nicknamed the "Polish Davos" is running under the slogan "New visions for hard times. Europe and the world in crisis." The liberal business paper Puls Bizneu takes an optimistic view of the event: "Given the present mood in Europe it's good that this year the Croatian President Ivo Josipović is a guest at the Forum. … Croatia will become the 28th member of the EU on July 1, 2013. Josipović has made it clear to the participants at the Forum that the causes of the crisis in Europe are not political or economic but that it is a crisis of strategy and leadership. Moreover he has called for the EU not to allow itself to be monopolised by the politicians or the rich, who make up a mere five percent of the EU's citizens, but that the EU must be a safe house for everyone. These words are all very well but putting them into practice is likely to be difficult. But at least the fact that the 22nd Economic Forum has taken on this difficult issue testifies to the high ambitions of its organisers." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Economy, » Poland, » Europe, » Croatia
All available articles from » Jacek Zalewski

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding presented a plan on Monday for the introduction of a 40-percent women's quota for the boards of publicly listed companies. The business paper De Tijd sees the plan as overdue: "Europe is setting the bar high. Too high? Some countries already show that Europe's requirements are not at all impossible. In Norway, 33 percent of board members are women. In the countries where women have been almost systematically excluded from such top positions, the companies will indeed have a lot of work to do. But isn't that their problem? ... Many businesses will compete for a limited number of suitable candidates. The few women who can already present an impressive business career will be in high demand. ... But that can't be a reason for maintaining the impossibility of fulfilling a women's quota. Because difficult does not mean impossible." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Gender equality, » Norway, » Europe
All available articles from » Stefaan Michielsen

EU Justice Commissioner Reding is planning to introduce a guideline this fall according to which 40 percent of the board members of publicly listed companies should be women. Those who occupy such positions should above all be well-qualified regardless of their sex, the liberal business paper the Financial Times comments: "Companies have to do more to identify and encourage at an early stage those with the potential to take up executive positions. Diversity of experience and background, as much as gender, should be the goal. Promoting more women into executive positions will contribute to this, bringing greater success. Not because women directors guarantee better performance. Such claims are based on scant evidence. But because any company that denies itself access to the widest talent pool will limit its own potential." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Gender equality, » Europe

In a bid to relieve the catastrophic housing situation in Sweden's major cities, the ruling conservative coalition wants to make it easier for members of residential co-ops to sublet their apartments and set the rent themselves. The liberal daily Sydsvenskan understands why the opposition rejects the plan: "The plan is well meant, because the housing market must become more flexible. However this proposal stands to do more damage than good precisely where it is most needed . ... If the government wants to increase the number of small players on the housing market, it would do better to support the [still very underdeveloped] system of privately-owned housing in which each individual can do what they please with their own flat. The question is also how helpful it is to allow higher rents while at the same time stripping sub-tenants of the right to claim retrospective compensation for exhorbitant rents. ... The government should withdraw its proposition and present a plan for a housing policy that is worthy of the name." (05/09/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Social affairs, » Society, » Sweden