The director of the ailing Spanish bank Bankia resigned under pressure from the government on Monday. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy plans to announce measures for the reform and recovery of this and other credit institutes on Friday. The conservative daily ABC sees government intervention as necessary: "Reforming the Spanish banks is indispensable for freeing up the credit channels, the paralysis of which has plunged companies and households into a state of insolvency in recent years, leading to devastating unemployment. Politicians will have to face the no doubt increasingly negative reaction of the people with courage and a sense of responsibility, particularly since the operations aimed at rescuing the unstable financial sector will grow ever more expensive. Any financial support must be worthwhile for the state and be perceived as a sensible and targeted investment so that the credit taps are switched on once more in Spain and the reform of a sector so indispensable for recovery is completed once and for all."  (08/05/2012)

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Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Banki, » Hiszpania

According to current prognoses by Poland's Energy Regulatory Office URE, there will be power shortages in Poland as early as 2015 because of insufficient production capacities. The conservative daily Rzeczpospolita makes an urgent call for the energy sector to be liberalised: "Experts have been discussing this topic for years, but despite many announcements on investments, unfortunately nothing much has been done to counteract this risk. ... Hence we must ask the Polish authorities: Why are tenders [for investments] processed so slowly? Why must one wait so long for the Environment Ministry to approve investments? Why is the privatisation of the energy sector coming along so slowly? And when will we have true competition between the energy giants? By the looks of it, the lights will soon go out." (08/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, polski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka wewnętrzna, » Energia, » Przedsiębiorczość, » Polska
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Jakub Kurasz

After the presidential elections in France and the parliamentary elections in Greece on Sunday the conservative daily The Times calls for a European growth strategy: "There is no way of resolving this crisis except by cutting spending in the short term and creating the conditions for growth. These aims can work against each other, but they are both essential. In particular, because the option of currency devaluation is not open to Eurozone members, the only immediate option is to squeeze domestic costs. At the Europe-wide level this is holding back growth and only adding to the suffering of families unaccustomed to living on handouts. But it does not mean that austerity is the wrong path for individual countries, including Britain. ... EU governments must acknowledge that restoring public finances, while essential, is not enough: they must also create the conditions for growth." (07/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, angielski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Rynki finansowe, » Wybory, » Francja, » Grecja
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

The strict austerity measures for combating the financial crisis have prompted the hardest-hit to vote their governments out of office, writes the daily Delo. "The cuts have led to a drop in GDP in countries on the so-called European periphery, from Latvia to Spain, and the unemployment figures of certain southern EU countries have risen dangerously close to those of the 1930s. Unemployment has already reached 24 percent in Spain, and even 50 percent among those under 25. And things look bad in Greece and Ireland, too. But sooner or later the crisis on Europe's edge will also hit the centre of the European Union, including Germany. ... The announced social and political shocks have set in. The measures for fighting the crisis implemented so far have provoked increasing anger, and the people's lack of trust in their politicians has caused several governments to fail." (07/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, słoweński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Polityka gospodarcza, » Sprawy socjalne, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Mija Repovž
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia

According to a report published in the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf wants to grant Swiss authorities access to banking data in cases where tax evasion is suspected. She explained that in view of recent concessions granted to other states like Germany and the UK it's only logical that banking secrecy laws should be relaxed within the country too. The finance minister has obviously succumbed to the sermons of foreign tax investigators, the liberal daily Corriere del Ticino writes in anger: "Switzerland cannot afford to have individuals falling for the slogan 'banking secrecy is tax evasion', be it for ideological reasons or for the sake of keeping their post. … If we really want to protect our economic interests we need a new common stance on the protection of banking secrecy and politicians who are realistic enough to see that the world's borders go beyond those of the EU. We need a policy that prevents red tape fanatics from further hindering financial operations in Switzerland. … We shouldn't allow ourselves to be fooled by hypocritical sermons about morals." (04/05/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, włoski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Banki, » Szwajcaria
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Tito Tettamanti

The economy of the Baltic countries grew by roughly 5.5 percent in 2011. According to analysts these countries will also register above-average growth in 2012 in comparison to other EU states. But numbers can be deceptive, warns the online portal of the weekly magazine Veidas: "Are the Baltic countries really on the cutting edge in Central and Eastern Europe? ... If you compare the current GDP with the highs before the crisis, the Baltic countries are clearly bringing up the rear. ... They have only reached 85 to 90 percent of GDP levels before the crisis. And it seems it will take the Baltic region several years to surpass pre-crisis levels. Consequently the pace of economic growth alone is not a sufficient criterion for comparing the situation in various countries after the crisis: growth is easy when you start out at a low level." (03/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, litewski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » gospodarka, » Europa Środkowa, » Europa Wschodnia, » Kraje Nadbałtyckie
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Rūta Medaiskytė

The former chairman of Finnish telecommunications company Nokia's board of directors, Jorma Ollila, has now also given up his post as chairman of the supervisory board. The liberal daily Helsingin Sanomat welcomes the fact that the new chairman, Risto Siilasmaa, also comes from Finland: "Now that Nokia has a Canadian CEO, the nationality of the chairman of the supervisory board is of key import alongside other qualities. As chairman of Nokia's supervisory board Siilasmaa has a connection with company's beginnings. He is the keel that keeps the vessel on course. Although Nokia is a global company whose management and employees come from all over the world, Finnishness is a key component of Nokia's identity. Nokia can make its mark with this:  Nokia can look back on a history of almost 150 years based on its Finnish character. … For a company that loses its history will soon be at the mercy of the waves." (04/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, fiński)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Przedsiębiorczość, » Finlandia, » Cały świat

The finance ministers of the Eurozone agree on standard criteria for regulating banks on Wednesday after 16 hours of negotiation. The implementation of the new internationally agreed capital requirements (Basel III) in EU law was hindered by the objections of the UK, Poland and Sweden. This shows that once again national interests are taking priority over those of the community as a whole, the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore laments: "The diplomatic negotiations proved to be particularly difficult because unlike in the past the discussion no longer revolved around the general need to regulate the banks but around what form such regulations would take in practice. Decisive for the positions of the individual countries are the particularities of each of their banking sectors. … The technical aspect - the introduction of strict capital requirements for financial institutes - takes on a political dimension in connection with the limited liquidity. Between the lines the negotiations demonstrated that the crisis has hardened national positions. The states' desire to ensure the stability of their own economies outweighs their desire to defend the European single market." (03/05/2012)

» Dalsze informacje (Link zewnętrzny, włoski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka UE, » Polityka finansowa, » Banki, » Europa
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Romano Beda

In Portugal, thousands of people took part in May 1st demonstrations to protest the mounting encroachments on labour and social rights and the rising unemployment which the liberal-conservative government's stringent austerity programme entails. Trade unions and employers' associations alike should use the transformation process to reconstruct the foundations of the economy, the business paper Jornal de Negócios points out: "The trade unions must recognise that there can be no social welfare state without the creation of prosperity and jobs and without salaries finally being adjusted to productivity. For their part the employers' associations must understand that without motivated and qualified employees their companies cannot be successful. Do either of these parties realise what opportunities we have here?" (02/05/2012)

» Artykuł (Link zewnętrzny, portugalski)
Więcej z przeglądu prasy na temat » Polityka finansowa, » Rynek pracy, » gospodarka, » Portugalia
Wszystkie dostępne teksty » Camilo Lourenço
Aktualne debaty » Sposoby na wyjście z kryzysu zadłużenia