François Hollande is straining German-French relations with his call for the introduction of euro bonds, but until the president's campaign for the upcoming elections in his country is over he won't back down on his stance, the liberal business paper Fincancial Times Deutschland writes: "He does not simply drop his ideas when Merkel opposes them, which secures him the secret approval of many European leaders. They are happy that the chancellor no longer calls all the shots in Europe. … Parliamentary elections are scheduled for mid-June in France, meaning it is still too early for the president to go back on his campaign positions. And the chancellor will make no concessions before it is clear which positions he will hold to at all costs. So the euro summit on Wednesday will be marked by discrepancies, which is not a bad thing in itself. Things will only get really dicey if the two fail to find common ground after the French elections. Because without an intact Franco-German axis Europe will be up against a brick wall." (23/05/2012)

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

The discussion about euro bonds and a new growth offensive at today's EU summit is a sign of a gradual change in European economic policy according to the daily Público: "A new spectre is hovering over Europe and seems to indicate that Merkel's pointing finger and austerity policy will soon be a thing of the past. … The election in France was enough to make Europe think seriously about the path to chaos it has taken and suddenly start discussing potential alternatives. Let's not fool ourselves, the EU summit won't mark the end of the stringent austerity policy that is smothering the economy and driving up unemployment in Portugal. Nor will the idea of euro bonds be pushed through yet. So it's too soon to pronounce the victory of expansionist economic policy, but at least we can begin to believe that the sanctions imposed by Merkel on weaker countries are doomed to failure." (23/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Portugal
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico will back France and speak out in favour of euro bonds at today's EU special summit. But he is in no position to rebel against Germany, writes the liberal daily Sme: "Of course you can't rule out the possibility that common euro bonds would solve the crisis in Europe. Obama is pushing for just such a debt union, as are Cameron, the International Monetary fund and the Mediterranean countries with France in the lead. ... But it's another question altogether whether such mutual liability is sensible. Because with it Hollande is leading Europe into a political crisis, at the height of the economic one it already faces. It is not possible for Merkel to agree to his demand: she simply can't. ... Quite apart from the fact that the truth lies with Merkel, it is clear: Slovakia, which is so to speak part of the German economic sphere, cannot possibly forge an alliance with Paris against Berlin." (23/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Economic Policy, » Slovakia, » Europe
All available articles from » Peter Schutz
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

As an alternative to the euro bonds propagated by France, Germany has proposed so-called project bonds that would be used to finance cross-border infrastructure projects. But with this proposal the politicians are fleeing reality, economists Alberto Alesina and Francesco Giavazzi argue in the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera: "Never have we been so close to the real threat of a collapse of the Monetary Union as we are now. … Given this historical situation, the idea that Europe needs more infrastructures to grow seems quite honestly preposterous. Europe really doesn't suffer from a lack of roads, trains or airports. Our politicians talk about infrastructure in an attempt to evade the real problems: state influence on the economy and difficult labour market reforms. It's high time Europe's leaders asked themselves whether they really want to save the euro or not. If they do, then they need to take action now, but please don't build more roads or railways." (23/05/2012)

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

Egypt holds its first free presidential election this Wednesday. Despite the chaos in the country this is a hugely significant event, writes the left-liberal daily Le Temps: "It takes a lot of imagination to think up a more chaotic transition phase than that in Egypt. Certain presidential candidates were excluded from the vote for more or less obscure reasons, the brand new parliament is already constantly blocked and the army is playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the Islamists where even the most patient observers have lost track. To top it all, the election begins today even though it's not yet clear what powers the next head of state will have. … And still: the passion that the Egyptians are putting into their first encounter with democracy shows that behind the scenes something very important is happening. … The Egyptians still have a long way to go, because the future of their country is at stake. But they are making the task of shaping that future all their own." (23/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Egypt
All available articles from » Luis Lema
Who's saying what » Arabs fight for freedom

A huge media circus accompanied the presentation of Thilo Sarrazin's new book on Tuesday. The former board member of the German Bundesbank has managed to launch an interesting debate on the euro, the conservative daily Kathimerini notes: "Many analysts write that he is an intellectual fire-raiser and accuse him of simply aiming to provoke. But with his views he manages to shape the agenda in his country and trigger many interesting debates. Until recently TV presenters avoided the subject of the euro because it was regarded as too dated and boring for the average viewer. But since the publishing of the book the subject has gained a new dynamic and the discussion has been revived." (22/05/2012)

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

In the local run-off elections that took place on Sunday and Monday in Italy, the Berlusconi party PdL lost two-thirds of its municipalities while the Lega Nord lost every single one of its own. But it wasn't the Left that won the votes. Instead voters either abstained or voted for the candidates of protest groups, above all the Five-Star Movement led by political comedian and blogger Beppe Grillo. However the problem is not Grillo but the political void, the left-liberal daily La Repubblica writes: "Citizens' trust in the parties is worn out after years of missed opportunities. The citizens desperately want change, but there are no political or cultural structures to satisfy this need. … Grillo is just a symptom and at the same time a vent. The progressive draining of politics has robbed citizens of their sense of community and turned them into confused individuals: an ideal audience for a brand of politics that is all show and in which citizens are simply spectators, their participation limited to simply listening, their approval expressed merely through applause. … It this really the new politics or is it merely an extreme and paradoxical caricature of politics?" (23/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Ezio Mauro

The right-wing conservative government under Viktor Orbán plans to stop state funding for parties for the remaining two years of the current legislative period. The political scientist Gábor Török finds the plan anti-democratic and writes in his blog Torokgaborelemez: "The plan to stop funding for parties in the coming two years is one of the most brutal ideas the governing camp has yet come up with, because it constitutes a major blow to democratic competition. ... This bleeding the parties dry inflicts immense damage on democracy. ... If the parties receive no state funding they will have three options: 1. They pare down their activities, that is they cease to work out programmes, organise events and run election campaigns. In other words they stop behaving like political groups. 2. They continue all of the above activities but finance them through various loans and get themselves hopelessly in debt. 3. They are 'bought' by one interest group or another." (17/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Gábor Török
Who's saying what » Resistance to Hungarian government

The Romanian parliament passed a new electoral law on Tuesday. The relative majority election system it foresees is subject to controversy, and the liberal democratic former governing Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L) plans to take legal action against it. But it was the PD-L that got the ball rolling in the first place, the daily Adevărul points out: "The majority election law with a single ballot was the major passion of the PD-L, it couldn't live without it. ... Now, however, the situation has changed completely. The PD-L no longer governs and has plunged in the opinion polls. The electoral law that has now been passed by the majority of the [left-liberal] USL alliance brings the PD-L no advantage whatsoever. So it's now doing all it can to stop the law from coming into force. Once more the slogan is confirmed that it doesn't matter who the cake is meant for, but who gets to eat it. ... This whole thing should serve as a lesson. Our politicians have never cared about principles, and have never thought in the long term. All they've ever done is be led along by their current interests. And every time a new party comes to power it basks in the illusion that it will reign forever." (23/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Ion M. Ionita

The financial and economic crisis has led to a new protest movement in Europe and the US. But the angry youths behind the Occupy movement are less idealistic than their parents who took to the streets in the 1960s and 70s, writes columnist Zorniza Ilieva in the daily Novinar: "Young people today are more pragmatic, more adaptable, far better informed and aware that music can't change the world. In the last century, clever boys sang songs about politics and we all sang along with them - and still do today. But today these boys would seem ridiculous, because they have no place in our modern world. Today young people are storming the parliaments, founding parties, delivering inflammatory speeches and intervening in top-level politics. Once in power, however, they quickly become just like their predecessors. Their speeches become more and more smooth and moderate and they lose the fire of protest and the energy that comes with newness." (22/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Social movements, » Demographics, » Society, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Zorniza Ilieva
Who's saying what » The world protests

A good two weeks before Euro 2012 kicks off in Poland and Ukraine, the imprisonment of Ukrainian opposition figure Yulia Tymoshenko is putting a strain on Kiev's relations with the West. The West should opt for a twin strategy regarding Ukraine, the Polish publicist Adam Krzemiński writes in the left-liberal weekly paper Polityka: "It is certainly laudable to pressure President Yanukovich to treat Tymoshenko fairly. Nevertheless there is a danger that boycotting Euro 2012 would only worsen the situation, pushing Ukraine further into the camp of authoritarian Russia. ... So what is to be done? On the one hand we must refrain from making any brotherly gestures, on the other we should nevertheless talk with Kiev. And we shouldn't be too quick to cancel meetings like the planned summit in Yalta. Because more was at stake than just a photo with Yanukovich. The problem is not that the meeting in Yalta has been put off, but that Warsaw and Berlin have not been able to agree on a common strategy regarding Kiev." (23/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Adam Krzeminski

The first ever private spaceship set off for the International Space Station ISS from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday. But the success of this trip is down to US space authority Nasa, the conservative daily Lidové noviny points out: "After half a century in which space travel has been the exclusive preserve of governments in the West and East, private capital is now entering the sector. The reputable New York Times talks of a 'triumph of capitalism'. … But one can only really talk of a giant step when private companies are able to run entire space travel programmes as successfully as governments, and if possible more cheaply. At this point we shouldn't get too carried away with the 'triumph of capitalism'. The development and launch of the Falcon rocket and the Dragon module were only possible because they were financed by state-owned Nasa. The question now is whether the triumph of private capital in space can be achieved without government aid." (23/05/2012)

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All available articles from » Zbyněk Petráček

IMF boss Christine Lagarde on Tuesday called on the British government to stimulate growth as a means of bringing the economy out of its current recession. A good suggestion which politicians must heed, the left-liberal daily The Independent urges: "It is here, too, that the IMF had the most useful things to say about Britain yesterday. Ms Lagarde not only backed further monetary easing. She also called on the government to do more to prioritise economically productive areas (such as capital investment) over unproductive ones (such as public sector wages), and to ramp up efforts to boost business lending. All are sensible suggestions. It should not need the IMF to make them. After the bursting of the biggest credit bubble in history, there is no way to avoid a painful correction. It is time for politicians to stop making false promises ... and to start telling the truth about what is possible and what is not." (23/05/2012)

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Large numbers of teachers and pupils went on strike in Spain on Tuesday to protest cuts in the education sector. These cutbacks will only deepen the social divide, the left-liberal daily El País fears: "There's little hope that a strike will overturn the government's decisions, but it would be good if it at least showed the same sense of responsibility it demands from others and combined the cuts with measures aimed at using the resources freed in this way effectively. However there is a conspicuous lack of such measures. It won't be easy to minimise the effects of cuts in this sector. In an impoverished population with 2.2 million minors living in households that are threatened by poverty, according to a recent Unicef report, higher tuition fees, fewer daycares, fewer teachers, larger classes and fewer extra lessons for weaker pupils will automatically increase social inequality. These measures will also compromise the quality of public education and threaten to hijack the future of this country." (23/05/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Social affairs, » Upbringing / Education, » Spain
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis