Category: European Union

EU, IMF Clash Over Botched Handling of Greek Bailout

The European Commission on Thursday said it fundamentally disagrees with an International Monetary Fund report that places much of the blame for Greece’s botched first bailout on Europe, rejecting criticism that the EU should have consented earlier to a restructuring of Greek debt.

In an internal report released on Wednesday, the IMF said there had been “notable failures” in the way Greece’s 240 billion euro ($310 billion) bailout was handled, admitting that it had underestimated how much austerity measures would worsen the country’s economic plight.

IMF Admits to “Notable Failures” in Greece Bailout

In a scathing internal self-assessment of its handling of the 2010 Greece bailout, the International Monetary Fund said Greece’s recession and unemployment problems were more severe than anticipated and admitted to putting the eurozone and the euro’s safety before the interests of Athens.

“Blockupy” Protestors Target ECB and Banks in German Austerity Protest

Thousands of activists from the anti-capitalist “Blockupy Frankfurt” movement will descend in the German financial capital on Friday, targeting the European Central Bank and other financial institutions to protest against the austerity policies of the German government and the so-called troika.

EU Economies Allowed to Overshoot on Budgets as Brussels Retreats from Austerity

The European Commission slowed the pace of austerity on Wednesday by allowing six eurozone economies more time to meet its deficit targets. At the same time, the Commission warned that social safety nets were fraying and poverty was rising dangerously in many parts of Europe as efforts to combat unemployment fail to produce results.

Majority of EU States Oppose Chinese Solar Duties

Germany and the United Kingdom are among at least 14 European Union members who are opposed to punitive tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports, undermining aggressive attempts by Brussels to pressure Beijing over alleged unfair trade practices.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has accused Chinese firms of selling solar panels below cost in Europe – a practice known as “dumping” – and plans to introduce provisional punitive duties, making it harder for China to advance its market share.

ECB Offers to Assist in Design of Controversial Financial Transaction Tax

The European Central Bank has offered to assist the EU in the redesign of its planned financial transaction tax (FTT) to ensure the levy does not destabilise financial markets, an indication that the central bank has joined the ranks of sceptics and has ‘deep reservations’ about its impact on the real economy, reported the Financial Times.

The tax is intended to ensure that the financial sector shares the cost of the banking crisis, and is supported by Germany and 10 other eurozone countries who hope the levy will encourage more responsible behaviour by bankers.

EU Backs US-Led Tax Evasion Crackdown

European leaders have thrown their weight behind a growing momentum on tax evasion crackdown, backing U.S.-led efforts to develop a new global template to end corporate tax scandals and combat banking secrecy.

Amid mounting public outrage over individual and corporate tax scandals, the European Union on Wednesday pledged to clamp down on the “staggering” levels of tax evasion and push for the greater sharing of income information between tax authorities.

France Calls For Establishment of Eurozone Government

French president Francois Hollande on Thursday called for a eurozone-wide “economic government”, with its own budget and full-time president as well as a harmonised tax system, as a step to deepen integration in the increasingly divided currency bloc.

With the appointed president, the proposed eurozone government would meet monthly to shed light on key economic developments in the unified bloc, said Hollande, who marked his first year in office as the most unpopular president in modern French history.

Growing Disillusionment As Crisis Wears Down Support for EU: Study

The European Union is the new “sick man of Europe” as public support for the European project falls and distrust between countries grows, according to a Pew study that surveyed the damaged caused by the region’s prolonged debt crisis.

Approval of the 27-nation European Union, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, has sunk in five of the eight European Union countries surveyed by the Pew Research Centre in 2013.

German Euro Founder Calls for Breakup of “Catastrophic” Single Currency

Oskar Lafontaine, the German finance minister who helped to launch the euro, has called for the breakup of the single currency to let peripheral Europe recover from its economic slump, warning that the current trajectory of the euro is “leading to disaster”.