The markets have been bowled over by the scale of the eurozone bail-out package announced this morning, after agreement by G-7 finance ministers, the ECB, the European Commission, the 16 eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund. An emergency funding facility of up to €720 billion is designed to protect weaker eurozone members and save […]
Posted by Michael Berendt
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Elections, European politics, Eurozone, Finance, UK politics |
The markets have been bowled over by the scale of the eurozone bail-out package announced this morning, after agreement by G-7 finance ministers, the European Commission, the 16 eurozone governments and the International Monetary Fund. An emergency funding facility of up to €720 billion is designed to protect weaker eurozone members and save the integrity… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
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Banking, ECB, English, EU Institutions, European politics, Eurozone, Finance, UK politics |
April 26, 2010
There’s never been a British general election campaign like this one! With just over a week to go before the May 6 election day it seems from the opinion polls that big changes could be on the way. Here the Brits stand, midway between a Continental tradition of coalition government with multiple parties, and a… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
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English, EU Institutions, European politics, International politics, UK politics, Uncategorized |
April 7, 2010
Zero GDP growth in the eurozone for the last quarter of 2009 and a feeble recovery in the first quarter of 2010 is not what most of Europe’s finance ministers might wish to hear, but that’s the latest message from the OECD. It just shows what a challenge Europe faces in restoring the strength of… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
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ECB, English, EU Institutions, European politics, Eurozone, International politics, UK politics |
March 22, 2010
Eighteen months ago, when the world economy seemed on the brink of collapse, one of the biggest fears was that economic depression would trigger a global wave of protectionism. So it’s all the more surprising that Europe is busily working on new trade treaties. The EU is on the brink of finalising a major free… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
March 3, 2010
The new Barroso Commission has wasted no time in grasping the GMO nettle, after years of delay and obfuscation. It is authorising the cultivation and use of Amflora, a new genetically modified potato for industrial use, while at the same time working on a policy which will allow individual member states to forbid the cultivation… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
February 27, 2010
Ironic that the European Commission’s positive report on Iceland’s application to join the EU, produced in just six months, should have coincided with the breakdown of talks over the €3.9 billion which the Netherlands and the UK are demanding from Iceland for the collapse of the Icesave bank. It is widely predicted that Icelanders will… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
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Banking, Dutch, English, Enlargement, Fisheries, UK politics |
February 13, 2010
It should be a time for celebration. The Lisbon Treaty has come into force, a new European Commission has been convincingly approved by the Parliament, the European Council has a permanent president and a European foreign policy structure has been created. Yet it feels as if Europe’s clock has been turned back ten years, to… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
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ECB, English, EU Institutions, European politics, Eurozone, Finance, International politics, Treaty of Lisbon |
January 28, 2010
We’ve heard a lot about banks that are “too big to fail”. Perhaps a more immediate question is whether the sovereign nation of Greece is too big to fail. The risk of default and the threat of Greece quitting the eurozone would have profound implications for Europe’s monetary union, for other European countries wrestling with… » read more
Posted by Michael Berendt
January 10, 2010
In his first major initiative since taking up his new role on January 1 2010, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy has convened a summit for February 11 to prepare for the 2020 Strategy, a ten year programme for creating a more competitive Europe. But can these plans really achieve anything? Only if they lay […]
Posted by Michael Berendt
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Competition, Digital, European politics, Eurozone, Finance, Telecoms |
Blogging commentary on current events from the perspective of someone who has been closely involved with the policies, the policy-makers and the whole complex network of people who make the process of European integration so exciting and absorbing.
