The three Polish dockyards are threatened with closure because the EU Commission has demanded that Poland return a billion euros in funding after failing to come up with a plan for making them profitable again. The left-wing liberal Gazeta Wyborcza criticises the accusations levelled at the EU and the government by the dockers and the Polish opposition. "We may be in the EU, but we are still Poles. So if the shipyards end up being closed, there will immediately be a reckoning up and a search for the guilty parties. This is about emotions and populism rather than facts. Furious dockers will come to Warsaw and claim that they never received any public assistance. ... They will demand that the treasury minister resign, even though far more responsibility lies with the previous government, which failed for years to find a solution to the problem. Accusations will be levelled at the EU Commission, which is allegedly under the thumb of western dockyards. ... But the problem of the dockyards is actually much sadder than that. For it concerns their inability to adapt to changed circumstances." (18/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Polish)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Poland
All available articles from » Witold M. Orlowski

The daily Maaseudun Tulevaisuus writes about hopes and expectations for the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks which begin next Monday in Geneva. "The Doha Round takes place for the eighth time this year. ... In the past few months barely any progress has been made, let alone a breakthrough. ... Naturally it would be wonderful if an agreement was finally reached. ... The liberalisation of agricultural trade plays a decisive role. ... The situation is not being made any easier by the fact that food is increasingly becoming a scarce commodity worldwide. ... Well thought-out efforts must be made ... to set up independent food supply chains in poor countries. ... In the meat trade, protecting European consumers ... against diseases carried in non-European cheap imports is an urgent issue. Otherwise the Doha Round could have disastrous consequences for the domestic food production chain." (18/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Finnish)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Economic Policy, » Global

The whole of Europe is suffering from rising inflation. The business newspaper Les Echos addresses the various aspects of the French debate: "One thing is clear. The return of inflation has already changed the way the economy functions and will continue to do so. ... The bad news ... is that the industrial giants, which have in the past 'determined' price rises for raw materials, have changed their attitude. The head of Renault-Nissan Carlos Ghosn is not the only one - he announced that the price of his cars was set to rise. ... After the summer break wages will be back on the agenda. Many bosses know that the trade unions want to exploit [inflation], ... to push for big wage increases. The good news is that in the debate at least no-one is talking about the alleged benefits of inflation. ... The conclusion one comes to is not very satisfactory, but it is hardly to be doubted: Like its neighbours, France will be forced to live with [inflation]." (17/07/2008)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Social Policy / Employment, » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » France
All available articles from » Dominique Seux

The EU has threatened to reduce agricultural subsidies to Greece by 10 percent because Greece cannot prove that the money really benefits the farmers. The daily I Kathimerini criticises Greece's incorrect handling of subsidies: "We have got used to reading everyday that the EU is demanding that [Greece] pay fines for breaching EU regulations. Greece is paying a high price for the poor functioning of its state mechanisms, for corruption at all levels and for the incompetence of the various governments, which could never bring themselves to think about the political consequences. ... All governments knew about the problem with the subsidies but for many years they simply decided to pay the fines. ... They preferred to... keep in place a faulty system instead of having the courage to modernise it." (17/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Greek)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Crime and Law, » Agriculture, » Economic Policy, » Greece

Following the reduction in roaming prices for mobile phones the EU Commission has announced its intention to regulate the prices for text messages within Europe as well: "It is right that the EU Commission should be demanding consumer information and price transparency, but it cannot be the EU's job to regulate prices in the single market", the daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet believes. "Even if price reductions appear to be a positive step at first sight, this price regulation will be afflicted by the same problem as all attempts to regulate prices: prices are dictated not by politicians but by the market. It is the EU's job not to interfere in pricing policy. Otherwise it could set prices for taxis, hairdressers and so on. Such an intervention would smack of planned economy and would put paid to the interaction between investment, competition and innovation. So let's say 'yes' to rules of play for the single market and 'no thank you' to price regulation." (17/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Swedish)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Consumers, » Europe

The rising price of oil has put airlines particularly under pressure, the Spanish business newspaper Cinco Días writes, speculating about the medium-term prospects of the sector: "It is still too early to know who will win this trial of strength to which the market is adjusting. But it would be logical for an intensive consolidation process to take place that would leave room for three or four major airlines and for one or two budget operators, insofar as the oil prices return to a sensible level. Its position in the Latin American market must be the weapon [the Spanish airline] Iberia uses to keep its project alive and to emerge strengthened from the intensifying competition." (17/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Spain, » Latin Amerika, » Global

The business paper Les Echos comments on the long-awaited merger between the French energy companies Gaz de France (GDF) and Suez: "The birth took a long time and right up to the very last moment the outcome was uncertain. But the labour pains will not have been in vain. The GDF-Suez consortium that has just been born is not a child that will first have to learn to walk; rather it is a fully-grown company on the global market - one which will wield influence in a strategic area from the word go. The shareholders who have watched the company's share capital rise by 65 percent since the fusion was announced are not the only ones to be delighted. At a time when energy prices are exploding, the merger between Suez and GDF will certainly not ... have a short-term positive impact on the monthly bills of its customers. ... Gas will be expensive, but at least there will be gas! As a giant in a world of giants, the GDF-Suez tandem will not only have a more stable pool of suppliers at its disposition, it will also be in a better negotiating position vis-à-vis titans like Gazprom. ... In the coming trial of strength between gas producers and middlemen, size is what counts. French customers ... will no doubt profit from this." (16/07/2008)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Energy Policy, » Corporations, » Consumers, » France
All available articles from » David Barroux

In Bulgaria there is growing concern that the preconditions for receiving farming subsidies were widely misunderstood and incorrectly fulfilled. It turns out that those applicants who received subsidies for several companies were breaking the rules. "In up to 30 percent of cases persons with shares in several different firms received multiple subsidies. If sanctions are imposed in such cases, all the major companies in the meat, fish and dairy processing industries would be affected. In the worst scenario the subsidies would have to be refunded. ... Brussels has good reason to take a critical view of the developments in Bulgaria. In the course of 14 audits Sofia was given recommendations that no one bothered to follow. If it had followed these recommendations subsidies to the tune of 125 million euros under the [EU special access] SAPARD programme would not have been frozen some time ago." (16/07/2008)

» full article (external link, Bulgarian)
More from the press review on the subject » EU Policy, » Agriculture, » Bulgaria
All available articles from » Ivan Michalev

In view of the menace of recession, the Irish economist David McWilliams wonders if it would not be better to leave the Eurozone: "If a Martian economist landed in Ireland he'd see straight away that Ireland is caught in a currency arrangement which will make our recession much deeper than necessary. This is an economic fact, not a political slogan. The euro is now part of the problem, not part of the solution. ... We find ourselves in the bizarre situation where we can't reflate our economy either by printing money or by borrowing. ... As a result, unemployment will rise to a much higher level and house prices will fall much further than necessary in the next few years. ... The only way Irish people straddled with huge mortgage debts (the legacy of our stupid binge) will be able to pay these off is with a bout of massive inflation. It sounds radical but this is the truth. ... When an economy is in a nosedive, it is the democratic responsibility of the elected government to do something about it. In bad times, ideas that seem extreme in 'normal' times are sometimes entertained." (16/07/2008)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Fiscal Policy, » Ireland, » Europe
All available articles from » David McWilliams

Spain's biggest real estate group Martinsa-Fadesa has filed for bankruptcy. The announcement has had a domino effect for construction and real estate companies on the stock markets. Some politicians have called for the state to intervene and offer state aid. The daily El Mundo opposes this: "Martina-Fadesa is the real estate group that holds the greatest area of built-up square metres in the country (28 million) and owns 170,000 living units currently under construction. ... Experts fear that Martinsa ... will be only the first of a long series to declare bankruptcy in this sector. ... One issue that needs to be analysed is the shady connection between real estate groups and financial institutes that provided great sums for companies with dubious solvency records. ... There is no justification for the government to rush to the financial aid of a sector that has proceeded with so little transparency." (16/07/2008)

» more information (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Corporations, » Financial Markets, » Spain