Angela Merkel once again rejected the idea of introducing Euro bonds on Tuesday. The German Chancellor's stance is endangering the entire Eurozone, the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore criticises: "The innovative character of the common bond has not yet been recognised. It consists in their covering bonds through tangible assets like gold reserves, public infrastructure and stakes in state-owned real estate. The fact that the debtor countries too would also give guarantees - Italy would cover up to 180 billion euros - should convince the Germans of the merits of the proposal. Moreover the Eurozone is clearly facing a growing number of threats - in particular France. The danger of a collapse of the monetary union is still present. This would have negative repercussions for the German economy, whose projected debt of 2.159 billion euros for 2013 is by no means a pittance." (23/11/2011)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Marco Fortis
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Germany benefits greatly from Europe and so should end its blockade of common euro bonds, writes Jacques Attali in his blog Conversation with Jacques Attali: "Berlin must understand three things if it doesn't want to plunge Europe into chaos once again. Firstly: Germany is not the best pupil in the EU, who is being forced to pay for the others' mistakes. German public debt is at 82 percent of GDP and consequently almost as high as France's. Secondly: Germany profits the most from Europe. The EU co-financed the reunification and allowed Germany to become a top dog in exporting agricultural products, because it employs workers from Eastern Europe at the wages they're used to getting back home, which France neither wants to do nor can do. Thirdly: Germany stands to lose a great deal in leaving the Eurozone." (20/11/2011)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Common bonds will tempt governments to get into more debt, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung warns, "because national governments won't have to suffer the consequences of mismanagement, such as higher central bank interest rates, as they did with the lira and the drachma. ... Common bonds would only be acceptable if there is someone to automatically stop governments from incurring debts. But who would that someone be? Commission President Barroso wants to do it himself. The Portuguese wants to limit deficits. The problem is: so far the governments haven't transferred enough of their sovereignty to the EU for it to be able to stop them getting into debt. Exactly fifteen years ago, the German finance minister Theo Waigel set up a deficit ceiling in the monetary union. But that didn't stop  many southern European states from hitting the gas pedal once they had the single currency anyway." (23/11/2011)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Euro bonds could work against Poland, the German economist Hans-Bernd Schäfer and his Polish colleague Arkadiusz Radwan argue in the left-liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza: "Euro bonds must also be considered from the perspective of Poland's competitiveness on the bond market. If the euro bonds are introduced and meet with a positive response from investors across the world Poland's competitiveness on the bond market will be relatively reduced. This could increase the cost of financing the budget deficit. The introduction of euro bonds is therefore not in Poland's interest. However if it does come to this it will raise the question of whether Poland should try to join this system. The answer to that depends on how optimistic one is about the strength of the Polish economy and how Polish debts will develop." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Hans-Bernd Schäfer
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti on Tuesday distanced himself from the German and French conceptions of European policy. And it's a good thing, too, writes the left-liberal daily Le Monde: "Sarkozy would like to realise the old French dream of a political union concentrated around the euro and led by the European heads of state and government. But such a French Europe does not tally with Merkel's democratic, federal Europe, nor with Monti's liberal one. ... Reducing the Eurozone to deliberations behind closed doors by its leaders runs the risk of provoking a popular revolt: the people fear that France and Germany will have all the say along with the markets, while the governments of the south collapse one after another. Berlin and Rome will not be the only ones to say no to Sarkozy. His neo-Gaullist regression may reconcile the French with Europe during election time, but it will not be accepted by Europe." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Arnaud Leparmentier
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

Spain can't afford to prolong the change of government any longer in the current economic situation, the daily La Vanguardia complains: "One of the absurdities of our system is the slowness of the procedures, which are crippled by party interests. It was irresponsible to allow the campaign for the early elections to go on for months only to give [the Socialist front runner] Rubalcaba more time. Nor did it achieve anything since he only lagged further and further behind as time went on. In this way the country was left in an economic state of emergency, entirely lacking in credibility and with no one important wanting to call us because they didn't know who would pick up the phone here. The transition period before elections is always bad, but in the current economic situation it was fatal. And now it's going to take forever to put together a new government. This means we will have to delay urgent decisions for even longer. Someone needs to step on the gas even if he's not yet sitting in office, because the measures against the economic crisis needed to be implemented yesterday, not postponed for tomorrow." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Pilar Rahola

The military council in Egypt announced on Tuesday that it was bringing the presidential elections six months forward, meaning that they would take place in the middle of next year. The demonstrators are not satisfied with the plan and continue to demand the dissolution of the council. In Egypt, unlike in Tunisia, the revolution will need a second phase, writes the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "In Tunisia the revolution was carried through in a Marxist manner. The poor rose up across the country. ... The middle classes took sides with them. The class struggle was overcome and this paved the way for a transition for democracy. In Egypt the whole spectacle took place on Tahrir Square. ... It was a spectacular revolt that convinced both the military and the US to topple Mubarak, without however giving the young activists the chance to reap in the dividends of their success. The second phase of the revolution is beginning with the desire to return to the roots of the protest and take better control of the developments this time round." (23/11/2011)

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Who's saying what » Arabs fight for freedom

In the US the so-called super-committee of Democrats and Republicans was unable to agree on a proposal for reducing the public deficit on Monday night. The liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung sees political calculation as the culprit here: "The White House tried the lousy trick of presenting the withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan as a measure that would save billions - as if anyone in Washington had intended to keep the troops there for another ten years. This example shows how party politics continues to dominate the budget dispute. The Republicans, who won the Congress election less than a year ago with their calls for an end to Washington's spending spree, see no reason to now suddenly accept tax hikes. This, in turn, fits in well with the Democrats' strategy, who can then accuse the opposite side of obstruction and hope to divert attention from the shortcomings of their economic policy. The level of suffering in the US is obviously still too low." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Andreas Rüesch

Slovenia's conservative ex-prime minister Janez Janša has good chances of winning the country's early parliamentary elections on December 4. The left-liberal daily Dnevnik draws a parallel with Hungary's authoritarian head of government Viktor Orbán: "The mindset and the psychological profile are very similar. Both are representatives of the authoritarian brand of politician who takes control of his state and exploits everything for his own interests: the media, public administration, school system, even the constitution. ... If we want to understand what the mental attitude of political Slovenia will be like after December 4 we just need to look at the developments and the political climate in Hungary. ... But there is a small difference between Orbán and Janša. While Orbán's political record is more or less clean Janša's is problematic, and this will cause difficulties." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Vlado Miheljak

Against the backdrop of the debate about a two-speed Europe the former Lithuanian ambassador Vytautas Plečkaitis calls for Lithuania to become more integrated in Europe: "In converting to the euro Estonia has already decided to adopt the German rules and together with Finland has opted for a more deeply interconnected Europe. ... More Europe means in my opinion also more solidarity, a Western work culture, responsibility and high standards for oneself as well as more respect for other people. More Europe would also bring about quicker modernisation and open up our society, and this would promote freedom and equality as well as tolerance towards people with different backgrounds. ... Already today there are plenty of Lithuanian citizens who appreciate Russian culture - but not the authoritarian tendencies in Russia -, who want to know more about Polish culture, who respect the Germans' orderliness, their discipline and their engineering skills, culture and literature and who love French poetry and Paris. All this should not be concealed, nor should we be afraid of such feelings. ... And for this to be the case Lithuania needs more Europe and to play in Europe's premier league." (23/11/2011)

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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

For years, Austrian banks have been liberal about lending money to Eastern Europe, profiting from the boom there. Now heavy losses may be the result, the rating agency Moody's has warned. Banks are therefore cutting back their lending in Eastern Europe, which is hitting Romania hard, the daily România Liberă writes: "The decision by the Austrian parent banks to limit the credit volume of their subsidiary banks in Eastern Europe marks the end of an era of crisis and is presumably the start of a new one. The concrete repercussions will be grim, but there may be worse to come: because of the pressure on the local currency, the leu, from higher interest rates, and because it will be more difficult for the state and for businesses generally to receive loans. More serious, however, is that this decision means relations between Romania and the industrial countries have reached a turning point. ... After all, we are really only an emerging market where high profits can be made at a high risk, but only if you know exactly what you want to get in a certain period, and above all only if you know a quick escape route." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Lucian Davidescu

The value of the Swiss franc has risen to the point that hundreds of thousands of Hungarians who took out mortgages in the currency are no longer able to service their debts. This is driving many of them to commit suicide, warns the conservative daily Magyar nemzet: "Every week we hear new reports of the many indebted people who seek to escape the bailiff by resorting to suicide. It is now a well-established pattern that people in debt either leap from the window of their home which is up for forced sale, or they set their house on fire before the bailiff arrives. ... Around a month ago Éva S. forestalled the bailiffs by leaping from the window of her Budapest flat. Her 77-year-old mother pressed charges because in her view her daughter was driven to commit suicide. The bailiff wanted to enter Éva S.'s flat accompanied by the police, but she barred the door. She decided to kill herself when she heard them breaking the lock. Before leaping from the window she wrote a text message to her 21-year-old daughter: 'I love you dearly but I can't take this injustice any longer. Please forgive me!' Éva S. belonged to those whose only possession is the home they live in." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Zsuzsanna Körmendy

A Roma woman who suffered forced sterilisation in the Czech Republic in the 1990s reached an out of court settlement regarding compensation with a clinic in Ostrava on Tuesday. The conservative daily Lidové noviny hopes the practice, which had its roots in the communist era, has finally been ended: "The civil rights movement Charta 77 had already called attention to these goings on. Since the compensation was only agreed on yesterday, one can say that it was really only yesterday that communism ended in this 'branch of industry'. ... Since this practice outlived communism it's no surprise that those concerned are now turning to the European Court of Human Rights. In the case at hand it was exactly this threat that prompted the clinic in Ostrava to agree to compensation." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Zbyněk Petráček

Several days ago an animal rights group published secretly filmed video footage to draw attention to the catastrophic conditions at some Finnish pig farms. That doesn't mean the entire sector is to blame, writes the liberal daily Savon Sanomat: "On the contrary, pig farmers try to provide their animals with the best possible conditions and feed, because that's the only way they can hope to make a profit. Why should they let the animals lie around sick and untreated if the slaughterhouse won't take them in that condition? Finnish pig farms have been having financial difficulties for years. ... Denigrating the sector will only put an additional burden on them. Local meat production is of much value to our community, and we must do what we can to help it survive. The best thing would be to react to these scandalous images by showing how animals live in farms with good workers and conditions." (23/11/2011)

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Vienna is currently thick with fog and smog. The politicians, however, lack the courage to impose a ban on the use of private vehicles, and Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich even said on Tuesday that he was not responsible for keeping the air clean. The liberal daily Kurier nevertheless dreams of Utopia: "A car-free Vienna, even if just for one day a year? Absolutely unthinkable. But is it really? Let's imagine exactly how it would look: A driving ban would be extended across Vienna for one day. Except of course for ambulances and vehicles carrying disabled persons, the police, fire brigade and, because we don't want to harm the economy, delivery vehicles. Everyone else would get around for a day on the trams and subways. And by bike. First of all that would have the desired effect on the environment and air quality. Secondly it would be good publicity for public transport. Rumour has it that some residents of Vienna haven't used it for years, or even decades." (23/11/2011)

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All available articles from » Doris Knecht