Frankreich: Mit 60 in die Rente
Präsident François Hollande will sein Wahlversprechen halten: Die Franzosen sollen wieder mit 60 Jahren in die Rente gehen.

Der Euro am Abgrund (Vom 16.11.2011)
Aktualisierte Wiederholung vom 09.12.2010.Die Währungskrise wird immer bedrohlicher. Seit eineinhalb Jahren versucht die Politik, den Euro zu retten. Erfolglos – immer mehr EU-Länder geraten in den Strudel der Schuldenkrise. Der Dokumentarfilm, den Hansjürg Zumstein vor einem Jahr gedreht hat, zeigt, wie es zur Eurokrise kam.

Zum Teil in Schweizerdeutsch (Schwyzertüütsch) übertragen.

Germany's Chancellor Merkel Urges EU Political Union
BBC: German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the EU needs a political union even if it means some countries integrating faster than others.

Speaking on German TV, she called for "more Europe", including a budgetary union, saying "we need a political union first and foremost".

"Step by step we must from now on give up more competences to Europe, and allow Europe more powers of control."

However, she has resisted calls for the joint issuing of eurozone debt.

She will hold talks on Thursday with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who has urged the 17-nation eurozone to speed up measures to build a budgetary union to shore up the embattled monetary union.

Ms Merkel's insistence on economic austerity and budget discipline has alienated many Europeans who say the policy is strangling growth and piling more debts on the struggling "periphery" countries like Greece and Spain. » | Thursday, June 07, 2012

N-TV: "Wir brauchen eine politische Union" – Merkel will vorangehen: Bundeskanzlerin Merkel will mehr Macht an Brüssel abgeben - und zwar auch dann, wenn nicht alle EU-Staaten mitmachen. Wichtig ist ihr, dass die Euro-Staaten enger zusammenwachsen. Damit verschreibt sie sich einem Konzept, das lange als Tabu galt: Das Europa der zwei Geschwindigkeiten. Man dürfe nicht stehen bleiben, "weil der eine oder andere noch nicht mitgehen will." » | Quelle: n-tv.de, dpa/rts | Donnerstag, 07. Juni 2012

SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: EU-Gipfel – Merkel will politische Union in Europa vorantreiben: "Mehr Europa": Angela Merkel will sich auf dem nächsten EU-Gipfel für eine Stärkung der politischen Union in Europa einsetzen. Gleichzeitig warnt die Kanzlerin aber vor allzu hohen Erwartungen - an einen "großen Wurf" glaubt sie selbst nicht. » | Donnerstag, 07. Juni 2012

Spain Warns Euro 'Finished in Months' without Banking and Fiscal Union
THE GUARDIAN: If EU summit in Brussels fails to show markets euro will be defended at all costs, Spain says currency could be doomed

Spain is warning that Europe's single currency will unravel unless its leaders decide within weeks to centralise budget and tax policies in the eurozone and agree on a strategy to pool responsibility for failing banks.

As Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, came under mounting international pressure to accept the eurozone's fourth national bailout in two years, the government in Madrid angrily rejected the demands, insisting that it did not need rescuing.

With fears of a euro meltdown having rapidly shifted from Greece to Spain, Rajoy is pleading for a direct eurozone rescue of his country's banks, to avoid the humiliation attached to requesting a national bailout.

Sources close to the Spanish government said its negotiating position was that the fundamental quandary facing the eurozone was not Spain, but a European failure of leadership in persuading the financial markets that the euro would be defended at all costs.

A crucial Brussels summit at the end of the month would have to remedy that by agreeing to establish a eurozone banking and fiscal union, major federalising steps certain to be fought over intensely. Without that commitment, Spanish sources said starkly, the single currency would be finished within months. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels and Nicholas Watt | Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Hollande schickt Franzosen wieder mit 60 in Rente
WELT ONLINE: Frankreich sozialistische Regierung hat die unter Sarkozy beschlossene Rentenreform wieder rückgängig gemacht. Demnach wird die Rente mit 60 für bestimme Arbeitnehmer wieder eingeführt.

Nicht einmal vier Wochen nach ihrem Amtsantritt hat die neue sozialistische Regierung in Paris damit begonnen, die umstrittene Rentenreform der Konservativen teilweise zurückzudrehen.

Die Rente mit 60 wird für bestimmte Arbeitnehmer wieder eingeführt, wie Sozialministerin Marisol Touraine am Mittwoch nach einer Kabinettsitzung mitteilte. Im Jahr 2013 sollen etwa 110.000 Bürger davon profitieren.

Der Anfang Mai abgewählte konservative Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy hatte das Renteneintrittsalter trotz massiven Widerstands der Gewerkschaften im Jahr 2010 von 60 auf 62 Jahre angehoben. » | AFP/pku | Mittwoch, 06. Juni 2012

More Than Four Million Spaniards Out Of Work
More than half of Spain's youth under 25-years-old are unemployed and almost five million of the country's citizens are now on unemployment benefits. But, while private depositors and investors have withdrawn more $100bn from Spanish banks in the last two months, the government insists that it is not on the verge of insolvency and does not need an international bailout. Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports from Madrid.

Real Estate Debt Threatens Spain's Economy
Real estate developments stand as empty and unfinished 'ghost' projects across parts of the Spanish capital Madrid. Spain got rich on cheap credit when it joined the euro, which also fueled a property boom at the time. But that collapsed in 2007. Many property developers went bust and their building loans became bad debts for the banks. And these debts are so big that they may force Spain itself into insolvency. Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports from Sesena, Spain.

Christine Lagarde: Grand Vision Still Needed to Address Global Economic Problems
Confidence in the global economic recovery depends on greater political decisiveness and a bolder collective approach to policy, says International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde. Reuters Global Editor Chrystia Freeland caught up with Lagarde at a conference in Riga, Latvia for this edition of The Freeland File. (June 6, 2012)

George Soros: Germany Has Three Months to Save the Euro
Legendary hedge fund manager George Soros rocked economists and politicians by asserting at a conference in Italy that the European Union is "like a bubble" and that European leaders need to fix its crisis within three months, or the union and its currency will collapse. (June 4, 2012)

Moody's Cuts Ratings of Some German Banks
REUTERS.COM: Moody's Investors Service cut the credit ratings of several German banks on Wednesday, citing increased risk of further shocks emanating from the euro zone debt crisis and their limited loss-absorption capacity.

"As a result, the long-term debt and deposit ratings for six groups and one German subsidiary of a foreign group have declined by one notch, while the ratings for one group were confirmed," it said. » | Reporting by Ian Chua; Editing by Paul Tait and Edwina Gibbs | Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Europäische Finanzkrise: Europa steht in Flammen
SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG: Deutschland ist einsam und isoliert. Wider alle historische Erfahrung hält Kanzlerin Merkel dogmatisch an einer Sparpolitik fest, die Europa an den Abgrund geführt hat. Wenn der Euro und mit ihm der zweitgrößte Wirtschaftsraum der Welt zerfällt, dann wird das eine Krise auslösen, wie sie die heute lebenden Generationen noch nicht erlebt haben.

Die Zeiten sind ernst, sehr ernst sogar. Wer hätte jemals auch nur davon geträumt, dass David Cameron die Regierungen der Euro-Gruppe dazu auffordern würde, endlich all ihren Mut zusammenzunehmen und gemeinsam eine Fiskalunion (gemeinsames Budget, Steuerpolitik, gemeinsame Garantie für die Staatsschulden) und, da es anders nicht geht, auch eine politische Union zu schaffen? Nur so könne ein Zerfall des Euro aufgehalten werden.

Der konservative britische Premierminister! So geschehen kürzlich! Und noch schlimmer daran ist, dass Cameron völlig und uneingeschränkt recht hat! Das europäische Haus steht in Flammen, und London fordert ein vernünftiges und entschlossenes Verhalten der Feuerwehr.

Freilich hat er die Rechnung ohne die Feuerwehr (uns Deutsche) und unsere Feuerwehrhauptfrau Angela Merkel gemacht. Europa, angeführt von Deutschland, löscht lieber weiter mit Kerosin statt mit Wasser, und der Brand wird so mit der von Merkel erzwungenen Austeritätspolitik beschleunigt. Genau deshalb hat sich die Finanzkrise in der Euro-Zone innerhalb von drei Jahren zu einer wirklichen Existenzkrise ausgewachsen. » | Ein Gastbeitrag für die Sueddeutsche Zeitung von Joschka Fischer | Montag, 04. Juni 2012

Deutschland und Frankreich als Europa-Retter »

Verbunden »

Dax setzt Talfahrt fort - Weltkonjunktur und Euro-Krise im Blick
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Frankfurt - Die Angst vor einer deutlichen Abkühlung der Weltkonjunktur hat den Dax am Montag abrutschen lassen.

Der Leitindex rutschte am Montag erstmals seit Anfang Januar wieder unter die 6000-Punkte-Marke. Er fiel um bis zu 1,6 Prozent auf 5953 Zähler. Laut Händlern wirkten vor allem die enttäuschenden US-Arbeitsmarktdaten vom Freitag noch nach. Auch chinesische Konjunkturdaten dämpften die Kauflaune. Das Wachstum im Dienstleistungssektor hat sich nach offiziellen Daten den zweiten Monat in Folge verlangsamt. » | Reuters | Montag, 04. Juni 2012

Europe Mulls Major Step Toward "Fiscal Union"
REUTERS.COM: When Jean-Claude Trichet called last June for the creation of a European finance ministry with power over national budgets, the idea seemed fanciful, a distant dream that would take years or even decades to realize, if it ever came to be.

One year later, with the euro zone's debt crisis threatening to tear the bloc apart, Germany is pushing its partners for precisely the kind of giant leap forward in fiscal integration that the now-departed European Central Bank president had in mind.

After falling short with her "fiscal compact" on budget discipline, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pressing for much more ambitious measures, including a central authority to manage euro area finances, and major new powers for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Court of Justice.

She is also seeking a coordinated European approach to reforming labor markets, social security systems and tax policies, German officials say.

Until states agree to these steps and the unprecedented loss of sovereignty they involve, the officials say Berlin will refuse to consider other initiatives like joint euro zone bonds or a "banking union" with cross-border deposit guarantees - steps Berlin says could only come in a second wave. » | Noah Barkin and Daniel Flynn | BERLIN/PARIS | Monday, June 04, 2012

Diamond Jubilee Marks 60 Years of British Economic Potential Squandered

THE GUARDIAN: Britain has got richer in the past six decades, but other countries have got richer faster and enjoy a more stable economy

Hard though it is now to credit it, when the Queen came to the throne 60 years ago, the UK was the third-biggest economy in the world after the US and the Soviet Union. With Germany recovering from the physical damage caused by the second world war, Britain was Europe's powerhouse.

Since then there have been booms and busts. Two long periods of growth have culminated in deep and painful recessions. Governments of both left and right have tried to modernise and reinvigorate the economy: the three-day week, the winter of discontent, Black Wednesday and the (unfinished) great recession of the past five years have shown how difficult this has been.

Throughout it all, Britain has got richer. While there are surveys questioning whether we are happier on the occasion of the Queen's diamond jubilee than we were when she came to the throne, living standards have more than tripled since 1952.

The consumer luxuries of the age when Harold Macmillan said we had never had it so good have become the necessities of today. Nor is it simply in material terms that Britain is better off. Today's babies can expect to live for about 10 years longer than the baby boomers of six decades ago. They will be fitter and healthier as well.

Yet, the real story of the past 60 years has been of potential squandered. Britain has grown richer, but other countries have grown richer faster. What's more, the economy has become more unbalanced and its foundations shakier. » | Larry Elliott | Sunday, June 03, 2012

Irish Back EU Fiscal Pact
Irish voters have agreed to back the European Union's fiscal pact in a referendum, final results show. About 60 per cent of those who voted said "yes", with turnout at about 50 per cent. There are 17 countries in the eurozone, but only 12 of them are required to ratify the treaty in order for it to become law. The treaty makes deficit reduction a priority for the budgets of all signatories, but critics say that it makes it illegal for member states to follow pro-growth policies, by necessitating a pro-austerity approach. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from Dublin, Ireland.

Barack Obama Blames Eurocrisis for Slowing Economy
The President says the latest US job figures reflect a still-struggling American economy also affected by Europe's financial crisis, adding that election-year government gridlock is not helping.

Read the article here | Friday, June 01, 2012

The End Is Nigh for the Greek Euro
Germany’s Bild says it’s time for Greece to leave the euro. We’re in the endgame, says Nikolaus Blome. It’s as if the vultures were circling over the proud country, he says. The Greeks are plundering their banks of banknotes. Imports into Greece can no longer be insured. And there are continual rumours that drachmas have already been printed. The country is in decay. It can’t go on like this much longer. It’s time for one of the bosses of the Eurozone to tell the Greeks the truth. As hard as it sounds, writes Nikolaus Blome, the country needs to be built up anew, from the ground up. The Greeks need a new start in economics, politics, and administration. Just as in a developing country. The first step is for Greece to leave the euro.

World Stock Markets Plunge as Global Crisis Deepens

THE GUARDIAN: Stock markets hit to their lowest level in 2012 as poor US jobless figures and weak manufacturing data from Europe sparked renewed fears of a global slowdown

World markets plunged to their lowest level this year as poor US jobless figures and weak manufacturing data from Europe sparked renewed fears of a global slowdown.

As traders sold off shares in favour of safer assets such as gold, the FTSE 100 in London fell 1.14% to close at 5260.19, its lowest level since 25 November last year. European markets also ended sharply lower, with Germany's Dax down nearly 3.5%, France's Cac down 2.2% and Spain's Ibex off by 0.4%. In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average had fallen more than 220 points - or 1.8% - by the time London closed. After overnight falls in Asia following signs of a slowdown in China, the MSCI world index hit its lowest level since December.

The day's economic data went from bad to worse, with the eurozone manufacturing sector suffering its worst month since June 2009 and its jobless rate hitting a record high of 11%. In the UK the manufacturing sector sufferered [sic] its second-biggest fall in 20 years, according to the latest purchasing managers' index. Read on and comment » | Nick Fletcher | Friday, June 01, 2012

Griechenland: Tsipras will Sparprogramm nicht
Der Chef der griechischen Linksradikalen Alexis Tsipras hat sein Programm vorgestellt. Sollte seine Partei Syriza in zwei Wochen vorne liegen, werde das Sparprogramm aufgekündigt. Einschätzungen von SF-Korrespondent Werner van Gent

Unemployment in France Highest in 12 Years
The jobless rate is the first big challenge for new President Francois Hollande who vowed to tackle unemployment during his election campaign. Al Jazeera's Tim Friend reports from Paris.