European politics

UE coronavirus

At Different Speeds In Europe On CoronaVirus: Each One Has To Shoulder Their Own Burden

José Ramón Díez Guijarro (Bankia Estudios) | Extraordinary measures have allowed financial markets to stabilize during the week. With one exception, as it seems that the concept of urgency is different in Europe from that in the rest of the world. The European summit on the coronavirus ended with the decision to take two weeks to analyse proposals. Even in a situation like the present one, northern European countries are not prepared to mutualise risks. We will see if all this does not end up affecting the waterline of the European project.


Paris

France Faces its Own National Concerns

Luis Alcaide (Capital Madrid) | Next Sunday, the 15th, municipal elections will be held. To what extent will national problems, such as the controversial reform of pensions by decree, influence the results?


Rutte

The Hanseatic League and the EU Budget

In order to strengthen the Dutch government’s decisive contribution to the EU’s internal fiscal dumping, which drains tens of billions of euros of public resources from the states that do not enforce this, the Rutte government is opposed to the adoption of directives that seek to limit unfair tax competition in company taxation and to which it proposes changing the procedure from unanimity to qualified majority voting on tax rules.


ursula pedro

The EC Asks Spain Government For Prudence With Labour Reform Review

The European Commission (EC) urged the Spanish government to “carefully” evaluate the potential impact of any modifications to the 2012 labour reform and to “preserve “the most positive aspects of it, which “supported solid job creation” during the recovery phase. Citing a recent study from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it states that “the labour reforms adopted in 2012-13 in response to the crisis have played an important role in promoting a rich recovery in employment which began in 2014.”


bridge general

Boris Johnson’s Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Peter Isackson | Until January 31 of this year, there was both a tunnel linking Britain to the continent and a powerful (metaphorical) bridge called the European Union. Now the tunnel is all that connects England and Europe. Johnson’s engineers are hard at work dismantling that symbolic bridge, which may explain why Boris feels the still-united kingdom needs a new physical bridge — a symbol to replace a symbol.


Brexit bandera 777x400

Brexit Badly Hurts The European Budget

JP Marín-Arrese | Those betting Brexit would take a heavy toll on Britain, discover much to their surprise that the EU stands as the first collateral casualty. The vacuum left in the budget by the UK departure has fuelled bitter acrimony between the Member States, especially in those receiving large amounts of Community money, like Spain. Its PM Sánchez has described the proposal tabled by the Council Chair as deeply disappointing.


Germany

Germany, Today, Is Dependent On China

The world has changed a lot because China has changed a lot. China’s share of global GDP has risen from a negligible 2% in 1990 to 15.9%. Meanwhile, the other powers have fallen in that period: Japan, from 14 to 5.8%; Europe, from 35% to 21.9%; and the USA, from 27% to 23.9%, according to Weltbank data.  So hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany are now dependent on China. And all over the world, because China today accounts for 1/3 of world growth.


Brexit bandera 777x400

Brexit Update: The Exit Is Only The Beginning

Julius Baer | Although the UK will most likely officially exit the EU tomorrow, this exit will mostly be formal. The withdrawal agreement only defines the terms of divorce, limiting immediate disruptions, but says little about the future trade relationship between the UK and EU. The so-called ‘Political Declaration’, a 26- page sketch of the future trade relationship alongside the with- drawal agreement, but not legally binding, defines a so-called ‘transition’ or ‘implementation’ period from the date of Brexit until the end of 2020.


Something smells rotten in the City

Something Is Rotten In The City

Manuel Moreno Capa | As soon as Boris Johnson swept to victory in the UK general election of last December 12, he made two decisions that have not been welcomed by the City of London: the first, to reduce the transitional period of Brexit to one year (how naive he is if he thinks his tough stance will soften the positions already taken by Brussels); the second, to appoint a new Governor of the Bank of England not much liked by the markets.


france pension strike

How much does the strike against pension reform is costing France?

Jean-François Jolivalt (La Française AM) | The more than 40 days of protests and transport strikes in France against the pension reform proposed by the French Government is an unprecedented event in the recent history of France. Strikes are undoubtedly a burden on consumer confidence. However, the population has adapted to the situation thanks to electronic commerce, distance work, carpooling and car sharing, which are all services or alternatives that are now widely accepted and available.