In the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Agata Nowakowska says the EU's most recent growth forecasts for Poland are wrong: "The European Commission has clobbered us with these new prognoses, mindless of the fact that people's nerves are on edge in the crisis and that bad news must be cautiously dosed. Only in January the Commission announced that with a 2-percent growth in GDP Poland would be in fine shape. Since yesterday Brussels has condemned us to a crisis ... with its forecast decline of 1.4 percent. ... [Polish Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski] has stressed that the Commission got its figures wrong. ... Because as things look, the Polish are behaving differently than the rest of Europe. The alarmed Germans have cancelled their holidays and the French have swapped their cognac for cheap wine, but the Poles continue to shop in droves. And the Polish government, meanwhile, continues to invest full steam ahead. ... Minister Rostowski has repeatedly forecast a reduced budget deficit of 18.2 billion zloty [roughly 4 billion euros] linked to the EURO 2012 football championships, and even a one-percent growth in GDP." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Poland
All available articles from » Agata Nowakowska

With an eye to the recession in Europe, The Times calls for a further reduction of the European prime rate: "The European Central Bank (ECB) made a prompt initial reaction to the credit crunch. Yet it has since been slow and stubborn in easing monetary conditions. Its inaction threatens the livelihoods of millions of people in Europe. ... That approach has not worked. Output is collapsing within the eurozone still more rapidly than in the UK. The German economy is set to contract by more than 5 per cent this year. Ireland is facing a contraction of almost twice that rate. The most direct route to stimulating demand is by monetary measures; yet European policymakers have been reluctant to take it. ... There is justifiable concern about levels of public debt. But tardiness in easing monetary policy will only intensify the pain. A change in pace, if not direction, is overdue." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Financial Markets, » Europe

The Corriere del Ticino dampens any optimism the spring reports of the EU Commission may have instilled: "Since the April G20 summit in London we have known that there is a tacit agreement among the big players that everything possible and impossible should be done to prevent bankruptcies at the major bank groups … and financial crises in individual countries. … This agreement, together with the stimulus packages of the individual states and the extremely expansive monetary policy of the central banks … have encouraged the impression … that a depression has been averted. The financial markets and above all the stock markets have been the first to react, and for weeks share prices have been rising. … Yet a very different reality threatens us now: the global economy continues to shrink … above all as a result of the intervention of states and central banks. The true state of the banks has not improved one bit. … What we are now witnessing is nothing but the rather weak effects of the countless and expensive state interventions of the past few months. … These interventions are a far cry from having created the conditions for a healthy and autonomous upturn." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Financial Markets, » Banks, » Europe
All available articles from » Alfonso Tuor

Despite first signs of economic recovery, the daily Diena writes that the instability of the financial system continues to present the major stumbling block: "In the US the banks have already written off half their losses. In Europe this figure stands at just one fifth, and such a step means the liquidation of capital. However major financial investiments will be needed for banks to be able to resume lending. The US has already taken the first steps to sort out the banks' balance sheets, and this week the government will present the 19 biggest banks with the results of the so-called stress tests, showing how much capital each bank will need to resume functioning normally. It is questionable whether the criteria will be strict enough to restore investor confidence. But far less has been done in Europe to rehabilitate the banking system." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Pauls Raudseps

Le Monde finds the protest strikes by the French prison personnel entirely justified: "To give voice to their anger, the prison guards started a progressive blockade of the country's prisons on Monday. The guards, who are not well loved by the public and often clash with the police, also spend the greater part of their professional lives behind bars. The number of guards is calculated based on the theoretical number of prisoners, and not according to how many inmates there actually are. ... The guards are faced with a growing number of prisoners with mental problems. Their unions want to attract the attention of the authorities and the public to the sufferings of a professional group that is hungry for recognition and demanding dignified working conditions. ... The maintenance of the blockade shows that the guards have lost all confidence in Justice Minister Rachida Dati." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Trade unions, » France

On Monday Israel's new Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman started out on his first state visit to Europe. The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung sees this as a test of the changed policy of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, which it says moves away from a Palestinian state and increases the threat from Iran: "European politicians should now remind Lieberman that this is a dangerous policy for Israel. They must not leave it to [US President Barack] Obama to be the only one to speak bluntly. Even within America's Israel lobby concern is growing that by resisting all peace plans Jerusalem could endanger the existence of the state of Israel rather than secure it in the long term. Pressure from the US has at least prompted Netanyahu to consider giving a piece of land back to Lebanon. But this won't be enough to calm the mood of the neighbours in Beirut ahead of the parliamentary elections - where the chances are looking good for the pro-Iran Hizbollah." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Europe, » U.S., » Iran, » Israel
All available articles from » Christiane Schlötzer

The daily The Irish Times calls the EU's eastward expansion five years ago a complete success: "[The new countries of the EU] have proved to be constructive members - including in foreign policy - despite much talk of uneven development, tensions between old and new Europe and a definite enlargement fatigue among the oldest member states. Such reservations have been reinforced during the present economic crisis; but on balance it is still preferable that they are in the EU rather than still waiting to join. Their membership reinforces the strong argument in favour of adopting the decision-making reforms set out in the Lisbon Treaty; but in the meantime EU business has not ground to a halt. Looking ahead, these changes will help facilitate future enlargements. ... Successive enlargements have brought stability, democratic and economic development to Europe and its continuation promises similar benefits for the Balkan states now anxious to join." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Eastern Europe

The liberal intellectual weekly comments on relations between the conservative opposition party Fidesz and the right-wing extremist Jobbik party: "The relations between Fidesz and Jobbik are of an entirely pragmatic nature - this means that Fidesz by no means sees Jobbik as a political force acting outside the democratic framework. … As far as relations between Fidesz and Jobbik are concerned the hour of truth will come at the parliamentary elections next year. … At the moment it looks like Fidesz will make no effort whatsoever to put Jobbik 'in quarantine' (as other parliamentary parties have done). … When a party like Fidesz is riding a wave of popularity (the conservative opposition party has a clear lead in the opinion polls) it can afford to say: the spread of right-wing extremist views is bad. Yet Fidesz remains silent. Apparently it doesn't find right-wing extremist ideas repellent." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Hungary
All available articles from » Csaba Tóth

Writing in the Spanish daily La Vanguardia Lluís Foix criticises Italian President Silvio Berlusconi's idea of filling the lists of candidates for the European Parliament elections with pretty women: "Silvio Berlusconi's attitude is grotesque. He is 'frivolising' the European elections by proposing to put pretty women on the lists, good-looking women who through their participation in TV competitions and other trivial television shows are familiar to voters. This is a plan that does not serve the cause of supporting the dignity of women who don't need the help of Berlusconi's fantasies to take active part in every segment of society." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Elections, » Gender equality, » Italy
All available articles from » Lluís Foix

The online newspaper Žurnal24 criticises the fact that not one of the Slovenian parties has a female candidate at the top of its list even though the topic of equal rights for women comes up on a daily basis: "Should women stay at home? Everyone talks about equality. On March 8 [International Women's Day] the President of the Republic of Slovenia depicted this as the most important topic. Yet among the leading candidates for the European elections there is not a single woman. Not even any new faces. With their selection of candidates the parties are trying to revive the political careers of familiar figures - people who were ministers or held other important posts in the past. How boring. Voters, take matters into your own hands! Remember June 7, go to the ballot and vote! Vote for women, for young people, for those you like! Otherwise I fear Slovenia could end up with no female representatives in the European Parliament for the next five years." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Elections, » Slovenia
All available articles from » Ksenija Koren

The daily Eleftherotypia writes that the European elections will intensify political conflicts in Greece: "Today two matters dominate public life which did not exist ten years ago. The first is the government's failed economic policy, which together with the economic crisis is leading Greece into bankruptcy. ... Secondly come the many and repeated scandals which have brought the government to a dead end. ... In addition, the European elections are slated for the same month when the limitation period ends for ministers and state secretaries to be punished for a series of scandals. ... The citizens have lost their confidence in the parties and their pessimism has reached a high point, because they now believe their political representatives cannot meet the requirements of today." (04/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Greece, » Europe
All available articles from » Panos Sokos

The Senate, the Czech parliament's upper house, will vote on the Lisbon treaty for the reform of the EU tomorrow, Wednesday. In a commentary for the left-leaning daily Právo Jiří Dienstbier, senator for the Social Democrats and the country's first foreign minister after the fall of communism, expresses the hope that the treaty will win a majority: "This would be a confirmation of our will to participate in the house of Europe. Perhaps then President Václav Klaus will also realise that with his signature he serves the interests of his state within a union that we voluntarily joined. The constitutional court has confirmed that the treaty does not violate our constitution. So our European partners did not see the fall of our government as such a tragedy. They are more interested in the fate of the Treaty of Lisbon. … We must stop perceiving Europe as something alien and begin to see it as our natural environment. Europe is not 'them'. Europe is us." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Constitution, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Jiří Dienstbier

Resistance is growing in the US to the Internet company Google's attacks on intellectual property rights. The US author Michael W. Perry is part of a joint law suit against the company. In a commentary for the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung he encourages Europe to join the fight: "As long as Google continues to win against little-known writers, no major interest group in the United States will bother to take an interest. But if a systematic and organised resistance were to develop in Europe, powerful Americans would start getting worried. American publishers want lasting protection for their European copyrights. Amazon wants Europeans to continue using its online service. But faced with the danger that this controversial settlement could lead to a copyright war between Europe and the US, support for it will disappear. Everything depends on whether Europeans can make their concerns heard in the United States. We may be separated by an ocean, but that doesn't stop Europeans from making waves in America." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Online media, » Media policy, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Michael W. Perry

The plans of Italian car maker Fiat to take over the European operations of General Motors with the Opel and Saab brands do not meet with unanimous approval in Sweden. The daily Dagens Nyheter fears taxpayers' money will be thrown away in the current aid packages for Fiat: "If it is at all possible to unite Fiat, GM Europe and Chrysler in one group it will take time to organise a component sharing mechanism. It is not fanciful to speculate that the vision presented by Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne in the Financial Times will cost a lot of money before it bears fruit. … It is easy to give the vision of a new company the name fiasco before it exists on more than a piece of pink paper. It is also appropriate to raise a cautioning finger at the financial ministers of the countries in question. Is this the best way to spend taxpayers' money?" (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Sweden, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Jaques Wallner

The state of the Bulgarian budget and the country's balance of payments make it necessary to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), writes the weekly paper Kapital: "Mathematics is an exact science, politics is not. In mathematics there is one solution, in politics there are many, according to politicians' interests. In its decision-making, the government has for a long time turned a blind eye to mathematics. The time for accuracy has now come, however. And a few simple calcultations should prompt the next government [after the parliamentary elections on July 5] to sign an accord with the IMF and follow its instructions. Because Bulgaria has two problems: its budget deficit and the low coverage of the balance of payments deficit by foreign investments." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Olga Raeva

In no other OECD country are there so many 15-year olds who smoke as in Austria. The daily Die Presse writes that the health minister can't wriggle his way out of responsibility by pointing to lacking funds for smoking prevention: "The remarkable thing about this is that Health Minister Alois Stöger would like to do something about it, as he bravely says, however unfortunately he lacks the money to do so because the budget is too tight. … The economic crisis has put pay even to creative political solutions. It serves as an excuse for everything that the minister in question doesn't feel like doing. In reality it isn't all that difficult: For example, one could start by cutting early pensions, an area in which according to the OECD Austria ranks among the leading countries worldwide. And the money that is saved in this way could be rerouted into smoking prevention. But in a country that boasts smoking laws that enrage non-smokers and smokers alike, that would be too much to ask." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Health Policy, » Austria
All available articles from » Thomas Prior

A revolution is taking place in coffee houses throughout the Czech Republic. On the recommendation of the Czech waterworks, cafés should now start serving tap water alongside coffee. Until now beer was by far the cheapest drink in Czech cafés. The conservative daily Lidové Noviny comments: "Teetotalling in this country is a more expensive hobby than drinking beer. If you start looking for the reasons behind alcoholism here, that's where you should begin. ... Even if tap water will be available at unrivalled prices, coffee house owners should not despair. It's up to them to set the rules. Under communism we had the rule 'Beer only with meals'. Perhaps now we'll soon be reading: 'Tap water only with drinks and meals'." (05/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Czech Republic
All available articles from » Zbyněk Petráček