The Independent writes that Germany is right to wait for a positive sign from the first economic stimulus package: "If anything of significance emerged from the finance ministers' meeting ... it was that Germany and France, and perhaps others, are keener to talk about regulation than about money. The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who met Mr Brown even as the finance ministers were in conclave, said, in typically down-to-earth fashion, that she wanted to see what effect Germany's big stimulus would have before authorising anything more. Ms Merkel may be blamed abroad for lacking esprit de corps. But she is right to insist that good money is not sent after bad." (16/03/2009)

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The finance ministers of the G20 countries have achieved little in the fight against the downward spiral of financial crisis and recession, writes the Financial Times Deutschland: "On the one hand the governments are still pondering how to free banks from toxic securities and restore confidence in financial markets. ... On the other hand in the run-up to the summit of the heads of state and government at the beginning of April the question remains whether the G20 states are doing enough to stimulate the economy. ... In this respect it is a step backward that the US, which had rightly called on Europeans to increase their commitment, now accepts that stimulating the economy is the business of individual states. As necessary as creating a new basis for the financial system is, it would be fatal for regulatory reform to replace the fight against recession." (16/03/2009)

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The daily Delo voices doubt that the G20 summit in London will be able to fulfil the high expectations. "During their consultations the finance ministers convened in Horsham in central England were only able to bring things down to a small common denominator, namely the promise of 'intensified efforts for increasing economic growth' without defining any more precisely what those efforts would be. This indicates a disagreement with the US. Notwithstanding the resolute tone the answers of the G20 sound insubstantial, perhaps also because they want to leave the decision to the leaders at the London summit - provided the latter are at all capable of reaching agreement given the disparate interests involved." (16/03/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Europe, » U.S., » Global
All available articles from » Bozo Masanovic

With an eye to the upcoming G20 summit in London the left-liberal daily La Repubblica predicts there will be disagreement between Europe and the US. "The EU appears to have finally reached an agreement. It wants rules to prevent future disasters. … [But] even if no one in Brussels is saying so out loud, there is the suspicion that Washington's vehement insistence on the need to increase financial aid conceals a lack of will on the part of America to commit to taking the forefront in regulating the markets through collective and coordinated action. It is up to US President Barack Obama during his first visit across the Atlantic as president to dispel the fears and distrust of his European allies, who have been painfully wounded by the financial disaster of the Bush era." (16/03/2009)

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All available articles from » Andrea Bonanni

The Spanish daily El País hopes that the G20 summit in London will mark the turning point in the battle against the crisis: "The upcoming meeting of the G20 in London can in fact do much to ease our approach to the global crisis. But it can also confirm the scepticism of those who fatalistically assume that such concerted international cooperation will achieve nothing. To avoid disappointment the large economices must decide to significantly raise public spending - at least to the extent aimed at by the new US government. Only in this way the spiral of unemployment and deflation can be stopped." (15/03/2009)

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The desire for autonomy in Romania's Székely Land - a majority of whose inhabitants are Hungarian and where the Hungarian national holiday was celebrated on the weekend - are a thorn in the side for many Romanians. The Bucharest-based daily Cotidianul comments: "President Traian Băsescu has also seemingly been motivated by nationalism recently. Two weeks ago he waved the constitution and the Romanian flag in his hand while speaking in Harghita and Covasna about the 'ethnic cleansing' committed by Hungarians on Romanians in the region. ... Such a nationalist topic can divert attention from job losses and decreased buying power, but it is a two-edged sword. In times of economic crisis and poverty, inter-ethnic conflicts come to the fore much more easily. It is no coincidence that we are now once more seeing attacks in Northern Ireland. In each case economic and social frustrations can be tapped and directed at the 'others'. The rekindled nationalism we are seeing among Romanians and Hungarians has thrown us back almost twenty years, to the days when there was street fighting in Târgu-Mureş." (16/03/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Minorities, » Hungary, » Romania
All available articles from » Laura Cernahoschi

The European Union will decide this week whether to extend the current sanctions against Belarus. This prompts the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza to report on a meeting of Poles living in Belarus in the city of Grodno: "The Belarusian Poles have realised that they have accomplished something extraordinary. Despite the government's attempts to intimidate them the majority of delegates travelled to Grodno. … The regime didn't go all the way this time but it still locked up 51 of the delegates. This meant there was no quorum in Grodno, so the meeting was declared invalid. Minsk can't afford to do this kind of thing, especially considering that the European Union must decide today whether to extend the sanctions against Belarus for another six months. Polish diplomats have warned that their stance would depend on the success of the ZPB [Union of Poles in Belarus]." (16/03/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Poland
All available articles from » Wacław Radziwinowicz

At its party conference the social democratic Dutch Labour Party (PvdA) voted in favour of a controversial paper on the integration of immigrants. Initially the party base had criticised the paper for being too conservative. The daily Trouw comments: "Although until now the PvdA had been known as a party that supports immigrants it put paid to this image on the weekend. The party conference gave its approval for the approach which attaches greater importance to the viewpoint of native Dutch in the debate about integration. This is not to say that the PvdA has now become the party of the Dutch, but it has markedly shifted its emphasis. … The emancipation of the individual now takes priority for the party. It could take on a binding character and detract from values such as respect, openness and tolerance which social democracy has always upheld." (16/03/2009)

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

Sweden's liberal conservative Moderate Party (Moderata samlingspartiet) wants to introduce quotas in the Swedish parliamentary elections this year to give half of all candidatures to women, and one in five to a contender with no experience in politics. The daily Svenska Dagbladet criticises the quotas for women and other groups: "If the question of how parliament will be comprised is no longer to be answered with reference to qualifications and competence, but rather with an eye to 'reflecting society' - then why not also establish quotas for the disabled, or homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals according to their percentage of the population? Even now there are female and immigrant parliamentarians who are in office not because they are particularly qualified, but above all just because they happen to belong to their respective groups. ... The quota system is artificial, and that too is inequitable and discriminating." (16/03/2009)

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All available articles from » Merit Wagner

It's either more Europe or no Europe at all, sociologist Ulrich Beck concludes in the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "Where, today, can we find British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's enthusiasm for Europe, his prophetic voice reminding Europeans that the growing national narrow-mindedness - turning one's neighbours into enemies - not only destroys the European miracle but also Europe itself in the end? … In a surprising show of concurrence with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed the expansion of the EU's powers in economic policy. And yet this proposal - no less surprisingly - met with opposition from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. … The economic crisis has caught the peripheral states off guard. … The resulting structural crisis in which Europe finds itself uncompromisingly raises the question of [Europe's] right to exist. What is Europe, and what does it want to be? … There is still no common economic, fiscal, corporate or social policy in Europe to fight the consequences of the financial crisis which are threatening the single market. And the one rejecting the calls for 'more' Europe, which has become a historical necessity, and thus causing damage to all is German Chancellor Angela Merkel." (16/03/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Economic Policy, » Europe
All available articles from » Ulrich Beck

In a commentary for the left-wing German weekly paper Der Freitag, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), writes that the crisis of the century should not take precedence over the UN's goals for the millenium: "What makes things even more precarious - above all for Africa and Asia - is the fact that the financial crisis follows a food and energy crisis which threw more than 100 million people into poverty. When that happened we were in the midst of the most ambitious process ever initiated to fight the roots of poverty and bridge the gaps that exist in public health from region to region and continent to continent. Stopping this process is in no one's best interest. Unfortunately during previous recessions development aid has always been cut when it was most badly needed. Now however we simply cannot afford to abandon the painstaking, hard-fought progress in the health of children and women, in the fight against Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, and in setting up effective health services. The financial crisis must not be allowed to detract from our goals for the millenium." (13/03/2009)

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All available articles from » Margaret Chan

The daily Postimees welcomes the decision of a number of states to ease banking secrecy laws: "The annoyance of many states at tax evasion is understandable and justified, particularly at a time when taxpayers have to foot the huge bills for solving the problems of the financial crisis. Although the oases of the banking system have always been criticised, the attacks have increased in intensity and the concessions have come relatively quickly. Tax evasion is bad; preserving banking secrecy is good in principle. Hopefully the means and methods will be found to preserve the good while at the same time getting rid of the bad." (16/03/2009)

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In its leading article the business newspaper Les Echos criticises Switzerland's decision to devaluate its currency: "Is Switzerland still a good neighbour? Even if it has not seriously renounced its strategically important principle of banking secrecy, it recently broke another taboo. ... The Swiss National Bank intervened last week to lower the exchange rate on the Swiss franc. ... Devaluating your own currency is nothing but an insidious attempt to put the burden of your own crisis onto your neighbours' shoulders. Such vulgar manners are seldom appreciated by neighbours, and for good reason. And they nourish desires for retribution, protection and retreating behind the illusory shelter of national borders. We know only too well where such murderous tactics lead. ... It would be regrettable if by tampering with its currency in this way the Swiss National Bank ... engendered a new currency war." (16/03/2009)

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All available articles from » Nicolas Barré

The economic crisis is like Father Christmas: everyone believes in it but no one has actually seen it in person, the daily Klassa writes and lists a number of economic sectors that have not been affected or are even flourishing: "There are sectors that not only are not experiencing the crisis but have actually accelerated their pace of growth. Let's take the chain stores: at the end of last month the world's second largest retailer Carrefour set up a shop in Bulgaria. And last weekend Bulgaria's first business park opened in Plovdiv despite the crisis. With 21 million euros of invested capital it is among the largest municipal investments. The project has attracted the DIY superstore bauMax and German retailers like Deichmann and dm. And the same goes for the shopping malls - only 15 of a total of 60 projects have been frozen. The financing for the most ambitious of these projects, the Bulgaria Mall, was guaranteed in the midst of the turbulence of the crisis. … A further sector still 'untouched' by the crisis is the market for luxury real estate." (16/03/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Diana Josiphova

With reference to the problem of Finland's aging society the daily Helsingin Sanomat calls for measures aimed at helping young people start their careers at an earlier age. "In Finland the age at which young people complete vocational training is much higher than the EU average. It is widely recognised that this is because with a large number of young people in Finland there is a major gap between leaving school and beginning university education. For some this is voluntary but for most it's because they don't make the leap from school to university the first time round. Only 60 percent begin professional education within three years of leaving school. … Education policy must find a way to strike a balance between promoting employment and improving the quality of education." (15/03/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Demographics, » Finland

The Guardian comments on the implications of Google's market dominance, writing that an international investigation is overdue: "In the past there were two reasons not to worry. The first was that someone might build a better search engine. But 'Google killers' come and go every month. The other was that Google's dominance has been about desktops, whereas the future lies in mobile devices. But figures just released by netmarketshare.com show that Google now has 97.5% of global mobile search. The time has come to ask what the long-term implications of this are. Any investigation would have to be done by an international body whether the OECD, the World Trade Organisation or a coalition of regulators. But it would be in everyone's interest, not least Google's, to have a serious look at the implications of all this before it is too late." (16/03/2009)

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