EU – Page 69 – Slugger O'Toole

Austerity? What austerity? The MTV EMA goodie bag, I mean goodie suitcase

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast) on November 4, 2011, 5:17 pm

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MTV EMA European Music Awards goodie bag/suitcase

It’s good to see that as debt and austerity envelopes the European Union, the presents thrust upon the artists and ‘VIPs’ attending the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast this weekend are reflecting the pressures felt by those who listen to their music … I hope they’ve all booked an extra piece of hold luggage on their return flights, otherwise Ryanair are going to fleece them for an extra suitcase! MTV today revealed the contents of the 2011 MTV EMA …

Sarkozy: “We will fight to defend Europe and the euro”

Pete Baker on November 4, 2011, 3:23 pm

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With apologies to Moochin, here’s the real POTD [of the week? – Ed] when the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, had his card marked at Cannes by Frau Bundeskanzlerin. Via Daniel Hannan at the Telegraph blog. Italy have called in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but no money has changed hands, according to Berlusconi… Answering questions at a press conference in Cannes this afternoon, Mr Berlusconi said he had no intention of resigning and did not believe his time in government was coming …

Euro Crisis: “The [banking] system is based on bad maths and appalling computer models”

Mick Fealty on November 4, 2011, 10:17 am

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Whilst we are waiting for half the European world to implode amongst a whole heap of grumbles about the costs of Greek social entitlements (free buses in Athens for one), Bryan Appleyard’s perspective is worthy of note: Actually, no kind of state will work if it hires banks to conceal its debts in order to qualify for euro-membership. They key words in that sentence are, of course, ‘hires banks’. The welfare state is expensive but not, ultimately, as pricey as …

Euro Crisis: Would ‘EU bifurcation’ push two Irelands even further apart?

Mick Fealty on November 4, 2011, 8:54 am

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It all starts in Greece, but it may come home in ways not necessarily antipated by our local politicians. First the Greek bailout was on, then it was on subject to a referendum that Prime Minister Papandreou hadn’t told any of his EU colleagues about. Then Mr Papandreou was going to resign, on his way to President Karolos Papoulias by some accounts. Then he wasn’t, and all he wanted was the backing of the opposition. In the meantime, it looks …

Of Greece Germany and Porsches

Turgon on November 3, 2011, 3:07 pm

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I am no economist but I thought I would try this: The interlocking woes of the Eurozone seem endlessly complex. The wasteful Greeks, Italians etc. are all denounced as compared to the hard working Germans living within their means and now being forced to bail out the profligate southern Europeans. A classic example is presented in the revelation that there are more Porsche Cayennes per capitia in the Greek city of Larisa, the capital of the relatively poor agricultural area …

Euro Crisis: “Nice little country you got here. Shame if anything should happen to it.”

Mick Fealty on November 3, 2011, 1:16 pm

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Whilst we’re waiting for Turgon’s Greek Tragedy to break, here’s a precise little comment from the Economist: …the effect of Greek departure from the euro would be disastrous for the country in the short term. Its revenues would be in devalued drachma; its debts in euro. Not just the government but the banks and part of the corporate sector would have to default; capital controls would be needed to stop Greeks moving their deposits abroad; it would have to balance …

Greek PM to resign Update: Not going to resign

Turgon on November 3, 2011, 12:39 pm

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The BBC are reporting that the Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is to offer his resignation to be replaced by a coalition government, led by former Greek central banker Lucas Papademos. It is unclear but seems likely that this will prevent the referendum on Greece accepting the latest deal on its debts. Fortunate that: Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel could not have pesky Greek democracy getting in the way of their plans could they? Already the European Commission had said …

I share the Irish public’s dismay at the cost and unfairness of this policy

John Ó Néill on November 3, 2011, 12:21 am

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In this morning’s Irish Times, the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, offered everyone the wisdom of his thoughts on the payment of a €700m unsecured unguaranteed Anglo-Irish Bank bond. The whole piece is worth a read. He states that: Part of the existing agreement with our external partners is not to allow any Irish bank, including Anglo Irish Bank, default on its debts to bondholders for fear of paralysing wider European financial markets. I share the Irish public’s dismay at the cost …

Euro crisis: “The Greek government has become adept at playing Europe’s leaders…”

Pete Baker on November 1, 2011, 4:34 pm

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The Guardian’s Business blog team are live-blogging events following the ‘bolt from the blue’ that was the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou calling for a referendum on the ‘rescue package’. And there’s an emergency Greek government cabinet meeting at 4pm [GMT]. BBC business editor, and still everyone’s hero, Robert Peston, looks at “the price of Greek democracy”. Opinion polls wouldn’t suggest there’s a high probability of Mr Papandreou winning the day. But views can change. What’s in it for the Greek people? Well, …

The underlying difference between Catholics and Protestants is economic…

Mick Fealty on November 1, 2011, 9:04 am

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Given nothing much is happening up at Stormont, its hard to define real political difference between the DUP and Sinn Fein… But here, the European Central Bank (PDF here) can fill in the void with a reading from two Swiss Cantons, Vaud a French speaking Protestant state in the east and Freibourg, the French speaking Catholic enclave next door… A new study by the European Central Bank has also found that Catholics are more likely to favour sharing wealth and …

Euro crisis: “And all bets are off if Europe does not start to grow again…”

Pete Baker on October 31, 2011, 3:25 pm

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At the Guardian’s business blog, Graeme Wearden is live-blogging the European debt crisis, as the “OECD predicts some negative growth in eurozone in 2012… and calls for “bold” action from the G20, Italian bond yields hit 6.13%, Markets fall as bailout deal euphoria peters out, [and the] Euro crisis drags MF Global to the brink“. Meanwhile BBC Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, considers “Europe after the euphoria” Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or that expectations had been exceeded, but there was a whiff …

Michael Campbell sentenced to 12 years after MI5 sting operation

Pete Baker on October 21, 2011, 4:29 pm

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After a two year trial in Lithuania, suspected Real IRA member Michael Campbell, 39, from County Louth, has been found guilty of supporting a terrorist group, illegal possession of weapons and attempted weapons smuggling and has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was arrested in Lithuania in January 2008 as a result of an MI5 sting operation, working alongside Lithuanian authorities, against republican terrorist groups. From the Guardian report Michael Campbell was jailed for 12 years by a judge …

“It is highly unlikely that channel will get any airing in San Sebastián this week.”

Pete Baker on October 19, 2011, 6:41 pm

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As of yet, there’s been no response from Basque terrorist group ETA to the declaration by the great and the good Former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, former Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Bruntland, Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Former French Minister, Pierre Joxe, International Representative for west Belfast Louth, Gerry Adams, TD, and… ermm… his sometime speech-writer, Tony Blair’s former Chief of Staff, Jonathan Powell. That’s despite it being what the BBC described as a “carefully choreographed” event. Not that I’d expect …

Euro crisis: “It is easy sometimes to exaggerate the impact of street protests.”

Pete Baker on October 14, 2011, 6:31 pm

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With the G20 finance ministers meeting in Paris to ponder the eurozone debt crisis, time for a quick look at how the PIIGS are doing… Now that Slovakia has, finally, acquiesced to the inadequate European financial stability facility… At the cost to the Slovakian government of a general election in March 2012… In Portugal the government is seeking to tighten the austerity belt further, and the international rating agencies cut Spain’s credit rating. The Guardian’s Jon Henley is on a “Europe on the breadline” …

Making Europe a death penalty-free zone

Patrick Corrigan on October 10, 2011, 12:56 pm

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Victims are informed they will be executed just moments before it happens. They are killed with a bullet to the back of the head. Their bodies are not handed over to their families. The burial site is kept secret. This is not a description of paramilitary disappearances in 1970s Northern Ireland. It is Europe today and it’s the state meting out the bullets in the head. While US capital punishment tends to get most of the headlines, state execution is …

Taoiseach on euro crisis: “I think we have to get on with what we have now…”

Pete Baker on September 30, 2011, 7:03 pm

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Oh dear… RTÉ reports Taoiseach Enda Kenny sticking his head in the sand insisting that the status quo is perfectly adequate to deal with the eurozone crisis. Speaking in Warsaw, Mr Kenny admitted there had been a lot of discussion among eurozone leaders about where the crisis was headed, and that there would be a good deal more discussion before heads of government meet in mid October. When asked if he supports Treaty change in order to facilitate a deeper …

Frau Bundeskanzlerin calls for coercive powers (aka a nascent transfer union)…

Mick Fealty on September 27, 2011, 11:37 am

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Just been sent a translation of an interview given on German TV by the Frau Bundeskanzlerin, aka Angela Merkel: “The Chancellor sees no alternative to the euro and calls again, on Gunther Jauch”s show, for a commitment to the stabilisation of Greece. Regarding the debt-crisis, Merkel very clearly demanded a strengthening of the stabilisation-responsibilities. For this purpose, she said, “there must be a mechanism, for the future, giving the right to intervene and coerce.” “We must work,” she went on,”for …

A primer on the Eurozone crisis & thread for recommended reading

Lorcan Mullen on September 19, 2011, 4:14 am

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(This will likely remain the most important story in the news this week. So here’s a bit of a primer for anyone feeling a bit lost, and hopefully people can leave interesting links and insights below the line. Over the course of the week, I’ll try to start a few threads examining different aspects of the problem: the limits of austerity, bailouts and moral hazard, and ideas for future wholesale reform.) This week, we may finally see the beginning of …

Euro crisis: As seen by…

Pete Baker on September 16, 2011, 1:54 pm

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I’m not sure where he found it, but Philip Lane has posted this amusing graphic at the Irish Economy blog as the EU’s existential crisis continues. Heh. Pete Baker

Quote of the Day…

Mick Fealty on September 15, 2011, 10:36 pm

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Dan O’Brien in the Irish Times on the reality the Germans and French have been reluctant to accept: ….people in those countries whose banks lent to peripheral governments are going to pay one way or the other. Default would involve core countries having to recapitalise. Mick FealtyMick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK …