The Spanish government's austerity measures may delay economic recovery initially, but in the end they will encourage more sustained growth, the left-liberal business paper Cinco Días hopes: "Of course for a society like the Spanish one, which is used to taking out credit to attend to its investment and consumption needs, it's normal to spend less once the credit disappears and disposable income goes down - whether it's as a result of lower salaries, job cuts or increased taxes. Now these three factors are competing with each other. … So demand won't increase in the coming quarters and recovery will be delayed for months. If before we saw light at the end of the tunnel, now we see that it was only a train coming in the opposite direction. But Rajoy's drastic cure will work in the end. It may have the effect of contracting the economy in the short and medium term, but it will pave the way for healthier growth in the future. It will realise its full potential as soon as all the economic players - from individual households to the state - recover their balance and adjust to the costs, the prices and the margins." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política financiera, » Economía política, » Asuntos sociales, » España
Cobertura de debates » Spain in the banking crisis

The draconian austerity programme announced by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will plunge Spain into the abyss, writes the liberal daily De Standaard: "Of course it's an illusion that the budget deficit can be reduced in this way. The opposite will be the case. … It almost looks like Madrid has set out to prove that this strict orthodoxy leads to ruin. Apparently the glass needs to be left completely empty before the next step finally puts an end to this madness. And there is another indication that the euro crisis has reached a state of madness: a group of strong euro countries can finance its debts more cheaply than ever. Their budgets are benefiting from the crisis. … But this is no doubt the ominous calm before the storm. If the engine doesn't want to start up at these interest rates then obviously lack of credit is not the problem, and cheap money not the solution. Rather the entire system is broken. Then confidence evaporates. And no one knows how to repair the car." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Impuestos, » España, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Bart Sturtewagen
Cobertura de debates » Spain in the banking crisis

Whether Spain's reforms will make a positive impact won't be clear until the end of the year, the liberal business paper Handelsblatt concludes, but it's not sure the country won't go bankrupt before then: "There was good news for the Spanish this week: they have a year longer, until 2014, to reduce their new indebtedness from the most recent level of 8.9 percent (end 2011) to below the deficit limit of three percent. … However even this short-term concession won't ease the pressure from the financial markets. If, by some means, it becomes clear at the end of the year that Spain will manage to attain its new budget goal, and if, by some means, there is a sign that the structural reforms are starting to take effect and that the economy has reached the end of its nosedive, confidence could resurge and lead to lower financing costs. With the current interest rate level, however, Spain won't last for that much longer." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » España, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Anne Grüttner
Cobertura de debates » Spain in the banking crisis

As part of its efforts to balance its shaky budget Spain raised its airport taxes on July 1. The left-liberal news portal Polityka Online sees this as counter-productive in a country whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism: "The Spanish government's decision is all the more surprising because as recently as June it was boasting that unemployment had gone down for the first time in a long period. Up to 100,000 Spaniards found employment at the beginning of the summer season. There was no talk of a revival in the industrial or construction sectors. So it looks like this improvement in the situation is down to the millions of tourists coming to the country. … Mariano Rajoy's government has plucked the hen that lays the golden eggs instead of looking after it. … This decision is great news for the Greeks and Portuguese. They can count on attracting the tourists who don't want to pay extra on the tickets they bought months ago." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Turismo, » Economía, » España
Todos los textos disponible de » Cezary Kowanda
Cobertura de debates » Spain in the banking crisis

Romanian Prime Minister Viktor Ponta was forced to give an explanation for the power struggle in his country before the EU Commission on Thursday, and promised to adhere as demanded to the democratic rules in future. The liberal-conservative Neue Zürcher Zeitung is delighted that Brussels gave Bucharest a warning but didn't go any further, as it did with the ruling ÖVP/FPÖ coalition in Austria in the year 2000 when it imposed a complete boycott: "The EU Commission appears to have learned from the Austria case. In recent years it countered the attacks of the Hungarian government on media freedom and the independence of the central bank not with clumsy boycotts but with gradual measures: with warnings, breach of contract proceedings and the withholding of funding. This enabled head of government Orbán to back down on key issues without losing face. The same strategy would be appropriate for Romania. The Commission must react, because Prime Minister Ponta's transgressions are far more serious than Orbán's. But the EU needn't resort to the sledgehammer approach." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Vecindad de la UE, » Europa, » Rumania
Todos los textos disponible de » Eric Gujer

According to the preliminary figures released on Thursday, the liberal National Forces Alliance received significantly more votes than the Islamic parties in Libya's first free elections, writes the left-liberal daily De Volkskrant: "In this way the Libyans have bucked the trend in neighbouring countries where the voters have turned the Arab Spring into a monumental victory for the Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood's lack of success in Libya bodes well for democracy in the country. ... Of course Libya still has obstacles to overcome. The country is being flooded with weapons, and certain powers in the east want to acquire more autonomy, if necessary with violence. Nevertheless the elections have shown that the Islamists, like the 'federalists' [who want more power for the eastern part of the country] can count on little popular support." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Elecciones, » Libia, » África del Norte
Todos los textos disponible de » Bert Lanting
Cobertura de debates » El mundo árabe lucha por la libertad

The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi plans to run for election again in 2013, the parliamentary party leader of Berlusconi's PdL party, Fabrizio Cicchito, has said on Thursday, confirming reports in the media. The scandal-plagued ex-prime minister's new bid for office is a frightening prospect for Europe, writes the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "Europe has received the news of Berlusconi's return to politics a little incredulously, but above all with great concern, almost as if an old spectre it believed it had ridden itself of for good had returned. … Berlusconi's resignation was seen by Europe as a decisive step towards saving the country and the Monetary Union. There is silence now at the official level but the announcement of Berlusconi's candidature confirms the worst fears many heads of government had already expressed in confidence about the credibility and endurance of the country [in its battle against the crisis] in the post-Monti era." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Elecciones, » Italia, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Andrea Bonanni
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

Miroslava Todorova, Chair of the Bulgarian Judges Association, was dismissed from office on Thursday after severely criticising the lack of reform efforts on the part of the Bulgarian government. Politicians afraid for their own skins are behind the dismissal, Ivan Bedrov writes in his blog: "Those in power want to maintain a dependent, inept and demoralised legal system that knows full well who it can touch and who it can't. If the courts were working properly many politicians would be in jail tomorrow. ... Miroslava Todorova was dismissed for having taken too long to deliver a judgement. If she has broken the law, she deserves just punishment. But have you ever heard of another judge or prosecutor being dismissed on such grounds? Or even for having connections with the mafia, being involved in dubious dealings or having amassed inexplicable wealth? No, you haven't, and you're not about to, either. Unlike the criminals on the street, here criminals endowed with immunity dispose of their enemies through administrative procedures." (12/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Justicia, » Bulgaria
Todos los textos disponible de » Ivan Bedrov

The Czech parliament on Wednesday removed the immunity of former defence minister Vlasta Parkanová, against whom the police is conducting investigations for allegedly ordering overpriced defence equipment. Czech society is beginning to clean itself up, writes the left-leaning daily Pravda: "What was a banal case has become an incident of cataclysmic proportions. To blame for this is, among others, the Finance Minister and party friend of Parkanová, Miroslav Kalousek, who has spoken of the Stasi and Gestapo methods employed by the police. Kalousek is not interested in the former defence minister, however, but in saving the system that is begining to show major cracks. He himself helped to construct this system in the defence ministry in the 1990s. ... We are now witnessing the emancipation of the law enforcement authorities. The police, prosecutors and judges are acting together and are no longer intimidated even by the highest-ranking  politicians. This marks the beginning of a cleansing process in Czech politics." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política interior, » Delincuencia, » Justicia, » La República Checa
Todos los textos disponible de » Lukáš Jelínek

To fight the crisis the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) on Wednesday proposed the idea of mandatory bonds which could later be bought back with interest once the economic situation permits it. The liberal business daily Jyllands-Posten sees this as an original idea: "Force is never desirable, but the DIW deserves credit because it has worked seriously on the basis of solid scientific research to come up with models for solving the crisis that offer an alternative to the International Monetary Fund or the European Central Bank. … In view of the 25 million unemployed [in the EU] and a record level of unemployment among young people, academic potential must be exploited and unusual approaches considered while focusing on the objectives of generating growth and employment and improving public  finances. It's clear that the European welfare state model has had its day and should have been adjusted to the new reality long before the crisis began." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Impuestos, » Alemania, » Europa
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

Ireland adjusted its GDP growth rate for 2011 upwards on Thursday, from 0.7 to 1.4 percent. The conservative daily The Irish Independent praises Ireland's budget discipline, saying Greece would do well to take it as an example: "Dublin has so far easily passed every quarterly review of its programme while Greece has stumbled through, frequently missing targets that resulted in delayed aid payments. But Ireland's success has as much to do with an austerity programme that predates its bailout by over two years and other advantages taken for granted such as an efficient tax system. While not quick enough to ultimately avoid the humiliation of having to ask for help, Ireland began to reverse a decade of reckless policy decisions in mid-2008 and had already dished out three austerity budgets by the time the troika came to town." (12/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política financiera, » Economía, » Irlanda
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

Estonia's Supreme Court dismissed a complaint brought by the Estonian Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder against the ESM euro bailout fund on Thursday, leaving the Estonian parliament free to ratify the ESM and fiscal compact. The conservative daily Postimees is relieved because it was against the Estonian parliament blocking the ESM: "For us it would be better if Germany, the Netherlands and Finland assumed parliamentary control of the ESM. Because the interests of these countries jointly cover our own, and in this area their competence exceeds ours. Estonia blocking the ESM would at best be self-delusion because Estonian policies are decided at the party headquarters. A negative decision from the country's Supreme Court would have set a dangerous precedent. The court would have become a major instance in European policy, similar to Karlsruhe in Germany, whereby in Germany the Constitutional Court has proven itself as a balancing factor." (12/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Política de la UE, » Política financiera, » Alemania, » Estonia, » Europa
Todos los textos disponible de » Ahto Lobjakas
Cobertura de debates » Salidas a la crisis de endeudamiento

The French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroën on Thursday announced it would close its plant in Aulnay-sous-Bois near Paris and axe a further 8,000 jobs, according to the company due to a significant drop in sales. The massive cuts are not just the result of economic considerations, the left-liberal daily Libération writes: "At least three questions must be asked: First about the responsibility of the managers and shareholders whose strategy has so badly failed. Did they do all they could in time to avoid making mistakes that stand to cost PSA a large amount of money? Another question that presents itself is whether car makers really face the choice of relocating or going under. Renault, which is less based in France, is not facing ruin. The third question is about the role of politics, which was were clearly unable to hinder the social catastrophe as it approached and must now shoulder part of the responsibility. How can productivity be stimulated when industry is closing shop? That is the challenge facing the new president." (12/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Empresa, » Economía política, » Industria, » Francia
Todos los textos disponible de » Nicolas Demorand

Attacks by neo-Nazi bands occur almost on a daily basis in Greece, but the culprits are hardly ever prosecuted. According to a report by Human Rights Watch put out on Tuesday, the authorities tend to ignore the incidents or even advise victims not to press charges. The conservative daily Kathimerini warns of the consequences: "The gangs who hunt, beat and terrorise 'foreigners' are not only dangerous for the weaker members of our society, the immigrants, but also for society itself. ... Current law can be applied if the necessary political will exists and the police and judiciary do their job. But if the state continues to do nothing to counter the xenophobic attacks, if the cowards can be sure they will go unpunished, then we must accept that we live in a world governed by arbitrariness. And our fate will then be far worse than what we are now experiencing with the economic crisis." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Migración, » Delincuencia, » Justicia, » Grecia
Todos los textos disponible de » Nikos Konstandaras
Cobertura de debates » Greece puts the Eurozone to the test

Each year in the summer and autumn, when berries are picked for commercial use in Finland, a debate flares up about "everyman's rights". The Finnish Ministry for the Environment now plans to examine whether there are limits to the typically Nordic custom that everyone can use nature and its products for free. The liberal daily Keskisuomalainen argues that these limits do indeed exist: "'Everyman's right' is an ancient custom according to which someone has temporary permission to move from one piece of land or area of water to the next looking for game or fish. … As soon as money is involved 'everyman's right' no longer applies. It's clear that an individual can't use someone else's property for commercial purposes, not to mention that commercial activities can be a serious nuisance for the person in question. … Commercial nature safaris on other people's property without the express permission of the owner - whether it's a ride on snowmobiles or a berry-picking outing - can't fall under 'everyman's rights'." (13/07/2012)

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Más de la revista de prensa sobre el tema » Empresa, » Sociedad, » Finlandia