EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso has been sharply criticised for Europe's crisis management at the G20 summit in Mexico. But the harsh words are justified, writes the liberal business paper Financial Times Deutschland: "The lessons that were handed out to Europe at the G20 especially by the emerging countries - with barely suppressed glee - are understandable. Often enough in the past they have been on the receiving end of instructions and requirements from the EU. Now the Europeans must get used to this unaccustomed tone. And to the new global balance of power. It is also true, however, that it's not just the rebuked Europeans who are facing major difficulties. For the time being other states with their own set of woes - like the US - can hide behind the euro crisis. But that will change if the Eurozone really does manage to get a grip on its problems. And that, in turn, could be aided by the reprimand the Europeans received at the G20 summit. Because pressure from the outside unites in times of doubt." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de la UE, » Economía política, » Europa, » Global, » México
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

The agreements reached among the G20 representatives in Mexico are a promising start to the summit meetings of the coming weeks, writes the liberal daily La Vanguardia: "Europe is moving. According to internal sources the EU will renegotiate the terms of the Greek bailout to make them more viable. A member of the ECB said that there may already be agreements on the banking union in the second half of the year. … These weeks of intense summit activity must produce results. The G20 has proved to be a good starting point. In these difficult times, with an obvious lack of institutions, the EU is showing that it wants greater cohesion. Germany and France have differing points of view. But the Right and Left have always coexisted in the European project. They must now learn to pull in the same direction once more." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Europa, » Global, » México
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

The participants of the G20 summit decided on Tuesday to boost the bailout fund of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to 456 billion dollars. The Polish law professor Robert Gwiazdowski sees this as a questionable measure and writes in an opinion piece for the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita: "Now that so much money has been wasted the international politicians are hoping for a miracle to prevent bankruptcies. … Because where is all this money to come from when everyone but the Chinese is deep in debt? Normally only a miracle could produce it! Of course, faith can move mountains. But what is this belief that countries can be satisfied just by giving them money based on? … Because according to the official biographies of the politicians, they were already dreaming of a career in politics in their school days. But apparently they didn't pay enough attention to their lessons." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Relaciones internacionales, » Política financiera, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Robert Gwiazdowski
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

Against the backdrop of the G20 summit in Mexico the conservative daily Magyar Nemzet writes that a new world order is in the making in which the US will no longer play the dominant role: "It's time to start thinking about what the world will be like without a real superpower. The expansion of the G8 to a G20 makes little sense as long as a single country determines how the world develops. … A new global balance must be found that reflects the changed world. The politicians of the most important industrialised states can of course discuss the current problems however their discourse will remain meaningless as long as a single power has all the say. The world must finally wake up to the fact that there is life after Washington. But it still doesn't seem able to do this." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Gábor Stier

In crisis-ridden Greece, the conservative Nea Dimokratia (ND) party, the socialist Pasok party and the Democratic Left (Dimar) plan to form a government this Wednesday. The parties must succeed, writes the left-liberal online paper To Vima: "The country needs a government right now to regain stability and create the preconditions for fighting the recession. There can be no delays. … If the situation does stabilise, if the banks are recapitalised and there are quick changes for the better, the interest of the investors will increase and the country will get back on its feet. These challenges are enormous. But if they aren't met, new disasters and undesirable conflicts will result. This must not be allowed to happen. Because then there will be no winners or losers - just victims." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Política financiera, » Elecciones, » Grecia
Todos los textos disponible de » Antonis Karakousis
Cobertura de debates » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

The German Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that the German government may no longer act on matters concerning the European bailout fund, the ESM, without consulting parliament. The liberal-conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung welcomes the judgement because it strengthens national legislatures vis-à-vis Brussels: "People in Brussels seem confident that the constitutional law of the most important donor country can be stretched until it corresponds to the requirements of the Euro rescuers. ... In principle this assessment may even be correct. ... Nevertheless the price for that would be too high. A lively discussion is taking place in Germany on just where the limits are when it comes to to solidarity. While at first attention focused primarily on the financial burden, now political aspects are increasingly taking the forefront. And there is little willingness to surrender further sovereignty. Both the government and the opposition would do well to heed this sentiment, otherwise they'll pay for it at the next parliamentary elections." (19/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Economía política, » Justicia, » Alemania, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Eric Gujer
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta is suspected of plagiarising lengthy sections of his doctoral thesis. Ponta responded on Tuesday by accusing President Traian Băsescu of plotting against him. However the daily România Liberă doubts the prime minister must fear a loss of face at home: "The EU follows such cases closely. That was already the case with the Hungarian ex-president Pál Schmitt and the former German defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, both of whom resigned in the wake of plagiarism allegations. If Ponta travels to Brussels [for the EU summit], he stands to be taken down a notch or two, regardless of whether the accusations pan out or not. ... In Romania, by contrast, the scandal won't have the slightest impact. As a rule the public couldn't care less about accusations of intellectual property theft (or any other theft that doesn't concern them directly, for that matter). But the scandal will spark a new war between Băsescu and Ponta. However we needn't pity Ponta. ... If you play dirty yourself you shouldn't expect others to play fair." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Ciencia / Investigación, » Delincuencia, » Justicia, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Gabriel Bejan

More than 100 heads of state and government will convene this Wednesday at the Rio+20 climate change summit. But owing to the absence of the politicians of major industrialised states the summit is doomed to failure, the left-liberal daily De Morgen suspects: "The Western powers are asking themselves how they can bring the spreading financial crisis under control. The emerging industrial states are above all focused on their growth, and the developing nations seem to have had enough of empty promises. Not Brazil but the G20 summit in Mexico dominates the international agenda. And in reality nothing has changed. … The more agreements were signed, the worse our planet has fared. That's the reality. … Global leaders like Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and David Cameron are sending just any old representative to Rio+20. [Belgian Prime Minister] Elio Di Rupo and [Flemish Minister-President] Kris Peeters are doing the same. However Prince Laurent [of Belgium] will travel to Rio to attend what threatens to be a climate flop. Nothing could better illustrate the unbearable meaninglessness of this summit." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Medio ambiente, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Steven Samyn

Even before the start of the Rio+20 climate summit the international community agreed on Tuesday on a final declaration. A breakthrough is not to be expected at the summit, writes the left-liberal daily Der Standard, because only the prospect of profit could lead to any real review of the approach to climate protection: "Instead of wasting time trying to tackle a multitude of different problem areas and generally discussing the 'rescue of the planet', the participants of the conference should be focusing on economically viable solutions. Only such solutions have any chance of implementation in the current crisis environment. There is enormous, largely untapped potential in sustainable, climate-friendly, non-fossil, renewable and otherwise innovative technologies. The 'green economy', an item on the agenda in Rio, is not a universal panacea, but it is the only edifice of ideas that could lead to long-term, positive changes in many problem areas." (19/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Medio ambiente, » Catástrofes naturales, » Catástrofes naturales, » Global
Todos los textos disponible de » Johanna Ruzicka

That leading EU politicians have welcomed the election of the party Nea Dimokratia in Greece, which is tainted by corruption, highlights the decline of values in Europe, writes the political scientist Ioannis Tellidis on the blog of the London School of Economics and Political Science: "If anything, the consolidation of democracy in the South through membership in the EU constituted the belief that the Union would be a mechanism of checks and balances against the ... machinations and violations of human rights that were experienced during dictatorships or politically precarious eras. With their current stance and support towards pro-austerity parties and policies that lead to further asphyxiation, misrepresentation and - crucially - loss of dignity, EU and German officials have seriously damaged their credibility and reliability - not just in Greece, but also in Ireland, Portugal and recently Spain. The EU could have shown its solidarity to the countries of the periphery, not by allowing things to stay the same, but by utilising the very values, objectives and ideals of the Union as incentives for the improvement of governance and governability in these countries." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Ioannis Tellidis

The interest rates on Spanish and Italian government bonds rose again at the beginning of the week. To prevent the crisis from spreading further the EU must tap its gold reserves, economist Alberto Quadrio Curzio writes in the liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera: "Given the threat of the crisis spreading like wildfire, the goal now is to stop the panic and promote growth. In both cases, using the Eurozone's gold reserves, which amount to 347 million ounces, could help. At the current gold price and dollar value they are worth around 433 billion euros. … The original proposal to use the gold reserves as collateral for a common European financial fund for the introduction of European government bonds failed owing to Germany's opposition to euro bonds. But one could consider using the gold reserves as a guarantee for the rescue fund of the debtor countries. … Because the objections to this are more psychological than economic in nature, the time seems to have come to rebut them before it's too late." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Economía, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Alberto Quadrio Curzio
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has invited French businesses who want to save their companies from rising taxes to relocate to Britain. President François Hollande should bolster competitiveness at home instead of chasing businesses out of the country with a disastrous tax cocktail, writes the conservative daily Le Figaro: "First the social contributions were raised to finance the lowering of the retirement age (!), now dividends will be taxed and the tax on capital will be raised. ... The next thing we'll see is a rise in the minimum wage. ... Add to that a 75 percent tax - you could just as well call it confiscation - on revenues over a million euros. ... Finally, a plan to make dismissals more difficult is being studied, which will put an additional brake on job creation. François Hollande prides himself on having placed growth and jobs at the centre of his project. But he has forgotten one basic rule: it is the businesses, and they alone, that will allow him to achieve his goal." (19/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Empresa, » Economía política, » Impuestos, » Francia, » Gran Bretaña
Todos los textos disponible de » Gaëtan de Capèle

Cecilia Malmström, the Swedish EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, on Tuesday announced a new strategy in the fight against human trafficking. The plan includes tougher penalties, improved cross-border coordination between police and the judiciary and specially trained teams of experts. It's high time such measures were taken, writes the liberal daily Dagens Nyheter: "The legal systems of the different countries think and act far too much on a national basis. It's scandalous that in the year 2012 there is still so much human trafficking. At the same time Cecilia Malmström's report testifies to great resolve. Every EU country is to set up national police task forces and the corresponding public prosecutors, who will all cooperate with each other and exchange information. … Human trafficking is a crime that claims many victims: those directly affected, their families, and those who are affected by the crimes that the victims are often forced to commit. Human trafficking is an expression of gross cynicism and a sign of contempt for human dignity. It must be brought to the general public's attention and combated." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Delincuencia, » Europa

A Warsaw court of appeals on Tuesday upheld the judgement against the Polish singer Doda, who had been sentenced to a fine of 5,000 złoty (around 1,170 euros) for offending religious sentiment. The judgement endangers the basic right to freedom of opinion, warns the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza: "Poland is in the grips of a sort of religious censorship. Doda's statements offended and outraged many people. They sparked a scandal and provoked much protest. But it was precisely to protect such statements that democratic constitutional states created the right to freedom of opinion. Civil rights aren't needed to protect uncontroversial opinions that meet with no disapproval. You don't need to help those who swim with the current and fully agree with the majority opinion. Civil rights are meant as a guarantee for the very people who swim against the current and who offend their fellow citizens. Regardless of whether they're right or not." (20/06/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Religión, » Sociedad, » Polonia
Todos los textos disponible de » Wojciech Maziarski