Category: Europe/Middle East

EU Misspent Nearly $9 Billion Of Budget In 2012: Auditors

Approximately 6.6 billion euros ($8.9 billion) in European Union funds were misallocated or lost to inefficient expenditure schemes last year, according to the bloc’s official auditors on Tuesday, marking a 0.9 percentage point rise from the previous year and the third year in a row that inefficient spending have rose.

The European Court of Auditors, which is responsible for checking the finances of the EU’s institutions, said it found irregularities affecting 4.8 percent of total spending last year, up from 3.9 percent in 2011.

EU “Ready” To Discuss Free Trade Pact With China: Official

The European Union is set to hold talks with China either late this year or early 2014 on improving market access for its members in the world’s second largest economy, said EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht on Tuesday, describing the current relationship between the two markets as “a fundamental source of mutual benefit”, which could still do with further strengthening.

ECB Keep Rates On Hold As Europe Eyes Recovery

The European Central Bank on Thursday voted to leave borrowing costs in the euro area unchanged at 0.5 percent,  while ECB chief Mario Draghi suggested that interest rates could fall further from their current record lows should the economic outlook for the eurozone deteriorate.

Speaking at a press conference after the policy meeting, Draghi hinted that the ECB’s policy would not be tightened until well into next year at the earliest, unless market data improves significantly.

UK Has Most High-Paid Bankers in EU

More bankers in the United Kingdom were paid in excess of 1 million euros than in any other European Union country, according to new data released by the European Banking Authority.

Specifically, figures from the EU’s banking watchdog showed that 2,346 bankers earned more than 1 milion euros in the UK, compared with 739 in the rest of the EU in 2011.

Fewer Births in Europe Since 2008 Economic Crisis

Fewer babies have been born in Europe since the start of the 2008 financial crisis, ending a Europe-wide upswing in the birth rate, claims a new study.

The study, conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, found that the birth rate in 28 European countries dropped as unemployment rose.

Cyprus Bailout Deal Caused Mini Bank Run Across Eurozone: ECB

Cyprus’s controversial bailout in late-March may have caused the level of private bank deposits in most eurozone nations to drop the following month, showed European Central Bank data on Wednesday, reflecting fears among savers in other countries, especially those whose banking sectors were already under stress, that their savings would also take Cyprus-style losses.

Germany Rebuffs EU Calls To End Austerity

German officials on Tuesday took turns to criticise European Commission President Jose Barroso for his recent remarks advocating an end for austerity, pledging to continue their “growth-friendly consolidation” policies despite growing weariness to the contrary.

On Monday, Barosso had told a Brussels panel discussion that it was time to rethink the bloc’s emphasis on belt-tightening, warning that “we are reaching the limits of the current policies.”

Eurozone Unemployment Rate Hits Record High: 19 Million Now Jobless

The eurozone’s unemployment rate rose to a record high of 12.0 percent in the first two months of the year, with 33,000 additional people joining the ranks of the jobless, according to the European Union’s statistical agency Eurostat on Tuesday.

Not surprisingly, Greece had the highest unemployment rate among the 17-nation bloc at 26.4 percent, while Spain came in at a close second at 26.3 percent. Austria (4.8 percent) and Germany (5.4 percent) on the other hand were the lowest in the region and saw their figures remained unchanged from January.

Emerging Markets’ Euro Holdings At 11-Year Low: Report

Central banks in developing countries sold nearly 45 billion euros in currency holdings last year, reported the Financial Times on Monday, highlighting the damage Europe’s sovereign debt crisis has done to the Euro’s international standing, even as the U.S. dollar held steady.

According to FT, Euros now made up only 24 percent of emerging nations’ reserves, the lowest since 2002, while USD holdings managed to stay at about 60 percent.