More than a million people immigrated to Germany last year - the highest figure since 1995, according to figures put out by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany on Tuesday. The conservative daily Die Welt warns the country not to succumb to the temptation of resting on its laurels: "Germany must not allow itself to relax in the belief that it has discovered a miracle formula against demographic decline. … The international start-up community consists of cosmopolitans who will have no qualms about migrating elsewhere if they are bogged down with bureaucratic hurdles, over-regulation, unfairly high taxes or outbursts of xenophobia. ... The same goes for engineers and other highly trained immigrants who are needed in the economic powerhouse in southern Germany. Only if we give them the feeling that they are welcome and needed here will we be able to maintain the influx of good brains that is so necessary for our economy and our future." (08/05/2013)

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More from the press review on the subject » Migration, » Economy, » Euro crisis, » Germany, » Europe
All available articles from » Clemens Wergin

A list of the 100 people who paid the most taxes was published last week in Turkey. Now 35 individuals on the list declined to be mentioned by name, whereas in 2006 it was only 17. The left-liberal daily Radikal examines the reasons for this secretive behaviour: "Some may baulk at the idea of boasting for cultural reasons - this will certainly be true of a few of them. Some may be modest and ashamed to have their income talked about. Let's assume this is also the case for some. Another reason is that some want to avoid attracting the attention of spouses, relatives or friends. They can be quite pushy. ... But since nothing has changed in the social situation [since 2006], there is only one other possibility: most of the people who willingly pay five to ten million lira [around two to four million euros] in taxes yet want to conceal their identities are nouveau riche." (08/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Akif Beki

Around 39 percent of Europe's managers believe that bribes are part and parcel of daily business in their country, a recent survey by consulting firm Ernst & Young reveals. Slovenia came out worst in the survey, with 96 percent of the respondents taking corruption for granted in their country. The left-liberal daily Delo calls for radical action: "It's time we banged the table here in Slovenia. When our country comes first among the countries with most corruption and bribery, it's also time for a radical change. If 96 percent of the managers and financial experts included in the survey believe that Slovenia is a country of corruption, dirty money and bribery, there can be no more excuses. ... Could the cause of these filthy business morals not lie in the filthy morals of the political elite that rules the country?" (08/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Janez Markes

The Slovenian government announced on Monday plans to introduce a "crisis tax" on all income in July. The VAT is also to be increased in the bid to plug up the holes in the budget. The left-liberal daily Delo is not enthusiastic: "Higher taxes will brake the growth Slovenia so urgently needs right now. Therefore we naturally oppose such measures on principle. But most worrying is the introduction of a crisis tax on income, because this will erode the middle class and frighten away even more investors. … Anyone who had naively expected the government to adopt measures that go beyond simply ensuring survival will be disappointed. The proposals for the stability programme are more likely to slow growth than boost it." (07/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Miha Jenko

France's Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced on Sunday that his government wants to sell shares in companies to finance investments. That's the right move, but it presupposes a clear investment strategy, the liberal business paper Les Echos writes: "This step must not prevent the state from doing all it can to reduce its current expenses by cutting all spending that does not have a proven impact on growth. ... The other condition is that the state investments must be supervised. The open debate between the director of the Public Investment Bank and its vice-president Ségolène Royal shows how great the temptations are within the Socialist Party when it comes to financing white elephants or companies of local interest. To avoid such quarrels, the Socialists should finally define their industrial policy." (07/05/2013)

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More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » France
All available articles from » Eric Le Boucher

The public debts of the EU member states further increased last year. According to the current figures put out by the Eurostat statistics office, their accumulated debt amounted to 85.3 percent of the EU's gross domestic product at the end of 2012. In 2011 that figure stood at 82.5 percent. The left-liberal daily To Ethnos finds this difficult to understand: "Let it be pointed out that the Maastricht criteria stipulate a maximum public debt of 60 percent of the gross domestic product. The entire Eurozone has overstepped this limit. … In the present circumstances only five countries in Europe would be allowed to convert to the euro because they fulfil the Maastricht criteria: Luxembourg, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland! … The Europeans are suffering. Their salaries and pensions are being cut or stagnating. The deficit reduction targets are lowering their living standards. So how can it be that government debt continues to rise?" (05/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Giorgos Delastik

According to current figures of the EU Commission, the economic performance of the 17 euro states will drop this year by 0.4 percent compared with last year. Perhaps the economist Paul Krugman was right to forecast moderate recovery for the Estonian economy, the liberal weekly Eesti Ekspress writes: "Barroso and the EU Commissioner Olli Rehn have long been associated with Krugman's camp. [The Estonian Finance Minister] Jürgen Ligi has also had to explain why he thought Finland was stupid to demand loan guarantees from Greece. ... Last week Rehn had to admit that three years of austerity imposed by Germany have achieved nothing. According to the new forecasts by the EU Commission, the Eurozone's economy will shrink by 0.4 percent this year. That means people and small businesses need to finally get their hands on more money." (07/05/2013)

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More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Online media, » Currency, » Euro crisis, » Estonia, » Eastern Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Hans H. Luik

In Turkey, the Limak consortium won the contract to build the world's largest airport in Istanbul on Friday. The contract is worth around 22 billion euros. The left-liberal daily Radikal criticises the government for constantly talking about the strength of the Turkish lira but always using foreign currencies for major projects: "If tenders were directly linked to imports it would be understandable to a certain extent. But the fact that these tenders, the costs and later on the proceeds of which are clocked up in lira, are quoted in foreign currencies only underlines how meaningless all the talk of a strong lira is. A politician explains that he accepts a public tender not in the local currency but in that of another country. … For some this is funny; for others it's black humour." (06/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Uğur Gürses

Cyprus's parliament approved the conditions for the bailout package on Tuesday, paving the way for the payment of the first tranche, which will run into the billions. Nevertheless there is still much talk both at home and abroad about whether Cyprus should exit the Eurozone. This debate is not only detrimental but also influenced by personal interests, the conservative daily Simerini writes: "No one tells us what the consequences of such an exit would be - and above all where the billions are supposed to come from that our economy would need to stand on its own two feet. In addition the following must be observed: the entire debate [in Cyprus] against the euro and for Cyprus exiting the Eurozone and reintroducing the Cypriot pound is being led by people who studied in the US or Britain. This is no coincidence. Because from day one the US saw the euro as a threat to the hegemony of the dollar and declared an unrelenting war on the new currency. And Britain never seriously believed in the European idea or European integration." (04/05/2013)

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More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Domestic Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Cyprus, » Europe
All available articles from » Savvas Iakovidis

The chief of Romania's central bank, Mugur Isărescu, spoke nostalgically at a conference last week of the "good old days" when bankers inspected their customers personally. But this assessment was a mutual act which the banks themselves would shy away from nowadays, the liberal business weekly Capital points out: "In the 'good old' days of banking it wasn't just the customer who had to worry about the bank 'seeing through him'. The banker was also very much aware that he was being scrutinised by the customer and that his business would be doomed if he lost the customer's trust. Today's bankers, however, are wary of the customers' scrutiny. They are undercapitalised and have solvency problems; they're incapable of fulfilling their contractual obligations. If they could they would avoid all direct contact with the people whose money they manage. And ideally the customers wouldn't have any contact with each other either, so they don't notice that the other customer is withdrawing all his money at the next counter." (06/05/2013)

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All available articles from » Oana Osman