Newspapers : 19th February (Fr)

Le sous-marin "Le Triomphant" serait plus endommagé qu'annoncé. Le Monde (fr)
"... Ouest-France relève que cette immobilisation sans doute longue du Triomphant fragilise le dispositif de dissuasion nucléaire de la France, qui ne dispose plus que de deux SNLE utilisables pour assurer ses patrouilles dans l'attente de la livraison fin 2010 du Terrible, quatrième bâtiment de nouvelle génération qui doit compléter l'arsenal nucléaire français ..."

Révisons notre modèle de croissance. Henri Lachmann, Le Monde (fr)
" ... principales caractéristiques : recours excessif à l'effet de levier ; endettement non soutenable des ménages qui seul a permis le maintien de la consommation ; croissance fondée essentiellement sur la valorisation des actifs, en particulier immobiliers, par essence inégalement répartie entre les générations. Au total, une accumulation de mécanismes d'enrichissement artificiel dont la crise a mis à nu tous les risques qu'ils comportent... Ce mode de croissance n'a pu servir de modèle que parce qu'il se fondait sur l'oubli de lois économiques élémentaires, dont la situation actuelle montre toute la pertinence a contrario.
Les rendements exigés par les investisseurs, tout d'abord. Alors que ces derniers devraient être en ligne avec la croissance à long terme de l'économie, le diktat du Return on Equity ou ROE (retour sur fonds propres) de 15 % a agi comme un pousse-au-crime, et ne pouvait être atteint que par une politique malthusienne de réduction des fonds propres et un recours excessif à l'endettement ..."

Video : 19th February, Sarkozy's Adress to the Nation, A lesson of Communication

Discours de Nicolas Sarkozy suite au Sommet Social !, from Hugues2 18th February, DailymotionLes Dessous Social (fr)

La leçon de com' de maitre Sarko. Marc Landre, Les Dessous du Social (fr)

" ... l y a eu d'abord l'allocution du président de la République lui-même en ouverture des journaux de 20 heures qui a relégué en deuxième voire troisième sujet les commentaires de Thibault, Chérèque, Mailly et consorts. Puis les ministres ont été dépêchés dans les médias pour prêcher la bonne parole présidentielle : Luc Chatel sur iTélé, Christine Lagarde dans le Soir 3... Rebelote jeudi matin à la radio : François Fillon sur RTL, Raymond Soubie (le conseiller social du président) sur Europe 1, Brice Hortefeux sur France Inter, Christine Lagarde sur RMC-BFM TV ..."

"L'Europe est forte lorsqu'elle s'appuie sur des Etats forts et responsables (...) L'erreur est de croire qu'il faut des Etats faibles pour faire une Europe forte"

" The Europe is strong when it relies on strong and responsible States (...) The mistake would be to believe that we need weak States to create a strong Europe"

Nicolas Sarkozy, the 16th December, Strasbourg, European Parliament, end of the French EU Presidency

Blogs : 15th December

Why We All Need To Keep A Watchful Eye On What Is Happening In Greece. Edward Hugh, A Fistfull of Euros (en)
" ... EMU membership no longer gives an automatic guarantee of oncost-free external financing, and if you look at the names of the other countries lining up in the queue behind Greece - Italy, Spain and Portugal in particular - you can begin to see the outline of a contagion mechanism whereby the coming to reality of the worst case Greek scenario might just extend itself into a problem of sufficient magnitude to transmit Greek vulnerabilities across and into the entire euro area. No one is too small to be a problem when it comes to financial crises ..."

So Just When Does Spain’s Twin Deficit Problem Become Unsustainable? Edward Hugh, A Fistfull of Euros (en)
" ... Spain urgently needs someone leading the country who is able to turn the page, put some realistic numbers on the table, and try to work to meet objectives, instead of simply failing to achieve them time after time. What do I mean by this, well, if you seriously think that the contraction next year will be of 2% of GDP then it is better to say 3%, and beat your target, that say 1% growth and come in with a 2% contraction. Not only will your citizens be getting more and more fed up with all of this (and the impact on morale should not be treated lightly) but much more to the point, since Spain is heavily dependent on foreign finance to buy the debt that the government is going to need to issue (see more below) to finance the fiscal deficit, then each and every failure to achieve target is likely to be punished with a higher cost of financing debt (as the yield spread on the risk rises) ..."

European energy intensity and dependence. Antal Dániel, Blogactiv (en)
" ...The energy intensity of a country shows how much energy is needed to produce a single euro of gross domestic product (GDP). Central-Europe, which is more industry-oriented and has been addicted to cheap Soviet natural gas needs a lot more energy to produce its lower national income than Western Europe. This partly explains the worries and the political economy of energy-related issues in the region ..."

La chaise de Jean-Louis Borloo. Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (fr)
" ... ‘demandez lui de rentrer’." Immédiatement, on lui répond: " Ah, ça ne se fait pas". François Fillon, le Premier ministre, qui occupait la seconde chaise de la France aurait donc du sortir. Le chef de l'Etat poursuit: " J'ai dit ‘on va faire une révolution, un putsch, on va mettre une chaise de plus’ (...) J'ai dit si vous la mettez pas, je vais la chercher moi-même. C'est pas un détail, ils sont capables de passer des heures pour savoir le nombre de chaises par délégation, ça n'a aucun sens", a conclu le président français sous les éclats de rire des journalistes ..."

Sarkozy séduit par Trichet. Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (fr)
" ... Nicolas Sarkozy (photo: Thierry Monasse) fait son mea culpa: "J'ai apprécié le pragmatisme dont Jean-Claude Trichet fait preuve en ce moment. Je n'avais pas compris que c'était possible", a déclaré le chef de l'Etat français aujourd'hui, à l'issue du sommet européen. En privé, il reconnait qu'il s'est totalement planté sur la Banque centrale européenne et qu'il a été surpris par sa souplesse. De fait, depuis le début de la crise bancaire et financière, la BCE a montré qu'elle était capable de se couler dans un système coopératif qui n'est pas sans rappeler ce qui se passe aux Etats-Unis entre la Réserve Fédérale et le gouvernement ..."

Barroso n'apprécie pas les critiques de Sarkozy. Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (fr)
" ...Il faut dire que l'Elysée ne cache plus guère son mépris à l'égard du grand homme qu'il accuse de ne pas savoir gérer sa Commission: "il dépend trop de ses grands féodaux" (c'est-à-dire de ses commissaires) dit-on au château. Ce qui montre que le soutien que lui apporte Sarkozy pour un second mandat à la tête de la Commission est stratégique: il s'agit bel et bien confirmer l'affaiblissement de l'exécutif européen. Avec Barroso, c'est une assurance tout risque qu'il prend ..."

A vacuum at the heart of politics. Richard, The EURefernedum (en)
" ... Booker, of course, takes it further, pointing out that the confrontation in Hradcany Castle confirms "the inability of the Euro-elite to accept anyone else's opinions," and also puts it in context. He writes: Imagine that a Franco-German MEP, invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace, plonked down in front of her an EU "ring of stars" flag, insisting that she hoist it over the palace alongside the Royal Standard, and then proceeded to address her in a deliberately insulting way. The British people, if news of the incident leaked out, might not be too pleased ..."

Countdown to Pound/Euro Parity. Frank Schnittger, European Tribune (en)
" ... Perhaps we need a "Countdown to parity" diary series chronicling the decline of Sterling relative to the Euro. It currently stands at .89 £ to € or 1.12 € to £ as in the graph below. This is down from a high of 1.75 € to £ in the early 2000's ...
... Although the nominal Debt to GDP ratio is c. 40% of GDP, some authorities now estimate the real Debt GDP ratio to be closer to 100% once all the contingent liabilities taken on by the Bank nationalisations are taken into account - the highest figure for over 50 years. Sober analysts like Willem Buiter are warning of a triple financial crisis: a combined banking crisis, sovereign debt crisis and sterling crisis and advocating an immediate move to join the Euro as a means of stabilising the crisis ..."

Yet another agency: The Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators. Julien Frisch, Watching Europe (en)
" .... While the Court of Auditors has criticised existing agencies for their financial abuses, the Council of the European Union proposes in a Common Position issued today to establish yet another EU agency.This one is titled: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators and its main function, according to the document linked above, seems to be to co-ordinate the national gas and electricity regulators, advise the European Commission on market regulation for this sector, and develop "non-binding frameworks". The only really interesting part of the Draft Regulation establishing the agency is § 8 ...."

Newpaper : 10th December Tribune on Le Monde

Un besoin d'Union face à la crise. Tribune, Le Monde (fr) by :
Jean Luc Dehaene, ancien premier ministre belge ;Jacques Delors, président fondateur de Notre Europe, ancien président de la Commission européenne ;Joschka Fischer, ancien ministre allemand des affaires étrangères ;Felipe González, ancien premier ministre espagnol ;Pascal Lamy, directeur général de l'OMC ;Paavo Lipponen, ancien premier ministre finlandais ;Denis Macshane, membre du Parlement britannique ;Péter Medgyessy, ancien premier ministre hongrois ;John Monks, secrétaire général de la Confédération européenne des syndicats ;Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, président de Notre Europe, ancien ministre italien de l'économie et des finances ;Romano Prodi, ancien premier ministre italien, ancien président de la Commission européenne.

Quote : 10th December Rama Yade on the EP 2009

« Je suis très honorée de cette proposition, mais je suis davantage motivée par un mandat national (…). Je veux aller où je suis utile. Je ne veux pas être là juste pour occuper une fonction…».
" I am honored by this proposition, but I am more motivated by a national mandate (...) I want to go where I am useful. I do not want to be there just to hold a sit ..."
Rama Yade on Sarkozy's offer to head the European Election Campaign for the leading French right wing.

Answer from the Elysee after her decision :
«... s’étonne qu’au XXIe siècle, on ne soit pas intéressé par les affaires européennes ».
" ... (The Elysee Palace) is atonished that in the 21st century, one is not insterested by European Affairs."

Newspaper : 9th December (fr)

L'essoufflement d'Erasmus, Brigitte Perucca, Le Monde (fr)
" ... Paradoxe ? Au moment où la ministre de l'enseignement supérieur, Valérie Pécresse assure urbi et orbi son désir que "la mobilité des étudiants européens devienne la règle et non plus l'exception", le plus populaire des programmes européens ne fait plus recette. Erasmus, qui a entraîné, en un peu plus de vingt ans quelque 1,7 million d'étudiants hors de leurs campus nationaux, ne séduit plus. Ou plutôt il séduit moins. Quand les jeunes des nouveaux pays membres sont encore en appétit, la Vieille Europe fait la fine bouche ...
.... Chacun sait qu'il est impossible ou presque de ne pas valider son semestre ou son année Erasmus ! Les universitaires commencent à se plaindre ouvertement de ces séjours à vocation plus touristique qu'universitaire. L'Auberge espagnole, le film de Cédric Klapisch, qui a fait un malheur auprès des jeunes, fait désormais l'effet d'une mauvaise pub. Ce qui était considéré comme positif - peu importe le contenu académique, un séjour dans un autre pays ouvre l'esprit - commence à être remis en question ..."

Picture : 8th December Anyone But Barroso

TSB (Tout sauf Barroso). Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (en)
" ... Des bloggueurs viennent de lancer une campagne sur le net explicitement intitulée: "Tout sauf Barroso". Il y a une pétition ouverte à la signature réclamant la non reconduction de l'actuel président de la Commission et un groupe Facebook. ..."

Blog : 24th November

L’Union en 2025 : un « géant boiteux » dans un monde incertain. Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (fr)
" ... Ce nouveau rapport insiste sur le déclin du monde unipolaire, dominé par les États-Unis, qui a succédé au monde bipolaire à la suite de l’effondrement du communisme en 1989. Désormais, la planète sera multipolaire et la puissance américaine sérieusement concurrencée par de nouveaux acteurs, en particulier la Chine et l’Inde et, dans une moindre mesure, la Russie et le Brésil. À l’horizon 2040-2050, selon le CNI, le PNB de ces quatre pays sera équivalent à celui des membres du G7… Le problème est que les ressources sont limitées : selon le rapport, il y aura donc très probablement des conflits entre ces différents blocs afin de contrôler les matières premières (eau, nourriture, etc.).
Un tableau particulièrement pessimiste qui donne tout son relief à la page consacrée à l’Union : alors que le monde devient de plus en plus dangereux et incertain, alors que le partage des richesses va se faire à notre détriment, l’Union, elle, continue à s’empailler sur le sexe des anges… L’histoire ne repasse pas les plats, le CNI nous le rappelle ..."

Europeana se plante magistralement… Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (fr)
" ... N.B.: en fait, les dix millions de "hits" dissimulent, selon la Commission, 4000 visiteurs simultanés!!! On rêve. ..."

IMF to Italy: Carry on Restructuring. P O Neill, A Fistful of Euros (en)
" ... Nonetheless, the Fund wants to be clear that while the G20 summit might have sounded like a call for many countries to engage in fiscal stimulus, Italy shouldn’t think of itself as one of those countries. It doesn’t have the room and should concentrate instead on getting the budget under control. Indeed, the Fund’s emphasis on expenditure cuts for Italy makes it sound like the kind of medicine that David Cameron will be prescribing for the UK when the Pre-Budget Report comes out next week — but he is not going to get the gift of an IMF report saying that the UK should join Italy as a country needing to get its fiscal house in order ..."

Are Baltic Devaluations Now In The Works? Edward Hugh, A Fisful of Euros (en)
" ... Now this is a very interesting question, isn’t it? The only honest answer I can give is that I don’t know, and indeed I haven’t the faintest idea. The government of Latvia (the Baltic state which is currently most rife with “rumours” about imminent devaluations) works in its own wondrous ways, and neither we (nor Latvia’s citizens) have any idea at all how they plan to lift their country out of the deepest depression they have experienced in many a long year...."

Back in The Saddle (with some random observations). Alpha Sources.CV (en)
" ... As in the US we are far from an actual state of deflation, but given my argument as I laid it out (see link above) the negative momentum we are observing suggests that what comes next on the macroeconomic front may be quite "unexpected" as those ever incoming stream of Bloomberg headlines are so fond of noting. If we look at the evolution of data the interpretation is quite clear. As can be seen from the graphs below, the decrease in inflation is currently being produced solely as a function of declining headline inflation (this is the same picture as the one emanating from the US and Japan). ..."

PCA? The EU needs a real Russia debate. Katinka Barysch Centre for European Reform (en)
" ... The signal the EU has sent now is that it is prepared to accept new realities in the Caucasus and return to business as usual. In fact, the EU did so long before the November 14th summit. After a lull in September, EU-Russia co-operation restarted in October, with several EU-Russia ministerial councils (on energy, foreign affairs and justice and home affairs) and various technical working groups getting together that month. It makes little sense for the EU to continue co-operation at all levels, from expert meetings to summits, while keeping the PCA talks on hold. So unfreezing the talks was consistent, if not exactly brave ..."

Video : 20th November, Europeana Project

EU plans online library. The Telegraph (en)
" ... Items have been collected from 1,000 museums, national libraries, galleries and archives — including the Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam — so users can scour for books, paintings, audio files, maps, videos and other artifacts in one website: http://www.europeana.eu ...
... The site has 3 million items now and officials hope to get 10 million items on it by 2010. Even that is just a start, as only one per cent of the historic works, documents and cultural artifacts across Europe have so far been digitized. "You may download most of what is on there (for free)," Ms Cousins said. The project, which started two years ago, seems to be Europe's answer to Google's efforts to build a private digital library and is to be launched amid much fanfare by the EU's ministers on Thursday ...
... Santiago de la Mora from Google's European office welcomed the launch, saying Google hoped to collaborate with Europeana "taking part in what could become the biggest technological leap in disseminating knowledge since Gutenberg invented the printing press." ..."

Blogs : 19th November

Italy’s Unicredit Has Definitely NOT Made Losses On The Russian Interbank Market. Edward Hugh, A Fistful of Euros (en)
" ... The real roots of this problem are to be found in the fact that Unicredit has very substantial exposure to losses in a number of key Central and East European countries, and the Italian government, which already has a debt to GDP ratio of over 100%, is in no position - especially with an economy which looks set to shrink all the way through from here to 2011 - to offer much in the way of cash to support the bank. As I point out in this post, Austria (which is a much smaller country than Italy, but which has similar East European exposure) has already lined up an initial 100 billion euros to support its banks, while the Italian government has remained hesitant to be specific about anything, but seems to be talking about support which only amounts to something like 20 billion euros. So we are left with the rather undignifying spectacle of the leaders of the eurozone’s third largest economy having to rely on Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi and Vladimir Putin for vital support to keep one of Italy’s leading banks alive ..."

A cyclist city is a civilised city. A Certain Idea of Europe (en)
" ... THE popularity of bicycle-rental schemes across Europe, inspired by the "Vélib" programme in Paris, continues to spread. Instead of sitting in gridlocked traffic, a growing number of Europeans are picking up a bicycle in one corner of town, dropping it off in another, and doing the reverse on their way home at night. Barcelona, Amsterdam, Lyon and Rome are some other cities that have embraced the idea. Now Boris Johnson, the London mayor who is an avid cyclist himself, has given the go-ahead to the placement of 6,000 rental bikes at 400 stations around central London by May 2010 ..."I have long held the view that a cyclised city is a civilised city'' ..."

Heading north. A Certain Idea of Europe (en)
" ... NOT all of those Polish plumbers leaving Britain and Ireland as the economies slow are necessarily going straight home. Sweden has seen immigration surge to record levels this year ..."

Economic stupidity strengthens. Ironies Too (en)
" ... I have just returned from a few days in England. Incredibly there still seems no general understanding of the treachery of the nation's parliamentarians or understanding of the depths of the social and economic crisis now prevailing.The media in particular seem to be goading the brainless Brown and his Treasury team towards the almost certain national suicide of large unfunded tax cuts ..."

The power of the pen. Richard, EUReferendum (en)

Tracking: European Parliament elections 2009 (XXVI). Julien Frisch, Watching Europe (en)
" ... So yes, EP elections are often used to sanction national governments, an act which on the national level sometimes leads to far-right votes, but right now I don't see a great danger of a Euro-radicalisation on the right wing of the political spectrum ..."

Charming MEPs. Open Europe Blog (en)

Newspapers : 11th November

Merkel snubs WWI ceremony. Peter Allen, The Telegraph (en)
" ... Mrs Merkel is said to be furious with the choice of Tuesday's venue by Mr Sarkozy, with Verdun the site of arguably the most controversial battles in military history, with the Germans in particular portrayed as acting like industrialised killers ...
... But rather than being held in Paris - as is traditional - the 90th anniversary events have been switched by President Nicolas Sarkozy to Fort Douaumont, on the Verdun battlefield in the north east of the country. Arthur Titherington, a British veteran who was a prisoner of war during the 1939-45 conflict, said: "I would certainly have expected Prince Charles to be at a British battlefield on November 11th." ...
... Despite a number of recent meetings, there have been numerous reports of frosty relations between Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy, with her even complaining about his Gallic kisses and hugs ...

Fischer urges Merkel to be ‘more decisive’. Bertrand Benoit, The FT (en)
" ... In an interview, Mr Fischer told the FT the government of Angela Merkel, chancellor, had played too passive a role in the debate over Europe’s response to the financial storm and was underestimating the severity of the coming economic crisis, “the like of which none of us has seen in our lifetimes” ...
... “Both Nicolas Sarkozy [the French president] and Gordon Brown [British prime minister] have made more decisive contributions,” said Mr Fischer. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the French proposals are the right ones. We don’t need a new protectionism, but only to say ‘no’ is not enough (...) Through its crisis management, Germany has given the impression that Europe’s largest economy is now acting purely nationally. This is a big concern because the economic crisis will put the European project, including the euro, at risk.” ...

European nations join forces on defence jets. Sylvia Pfeifer and Peggy Hollinger, The FT (en)
" ... the European Defence Agency said the European Air Transport Fleet initiative, which should be operational in the next decade, would pool aircraft such as the A400m being built by EADS, the European defence group, and Lockheed Martin’s Hercules C-130 transporters ...

European Union to Resume Russian Partnership Talks. Stephen Castle, The NYT (en)
" ... Monday’s decision to resume talks was a clear acknowledgment of how much Europe and Russia need each other economically, especially as the global financial crisis reorders priorities, foreign ministers and analysts said. Among the issues expected to be discussed when talks resume are energy, trade, and cooperation on security and combating terrorism.
Russia supplies a considerable portion of Europe’s energy needs, and many Europeans fear that makes them vulnerable to Kremlin pressure. Russia, meanwhile, needs the earnings from energy exports ...
... Britain and Poland, which initially took a tough line on relations with Russia, also supported new talks. The Polish foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said the move put Poland in the “mainstream of the E.U.”
Nicu Popescu, a research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said it was “clear that the financial crisis is more important for everyone — the E.U. and Russia — than the crisis in Georgia.” Alexander Stubb, Finland’s foreign minister, agreed. “Realpolitik has influenced this,” he said. “It is in Europe’s interests to restart talks.” ..."

La revanche de "Super-Trichet". Frédéric Lemaître, Le Monde (fr)
" ... N'en déplaise au président français, qui se verrait bien jouer les prolongations, l'homme qui incarne l'euro à l'étranger, c'est le président de la BCE. "C'est ma signature qui figure sur les billets", aime-t-il rappeler. Il y a trois ans, un Silvio Berlusconi pouvait encore critiquer la monnaie unique et évoquer le retour de la lire italienne. Aujourd'hui, les pays périphériques de la zone euro, comme la Hongrie, le Danemark ou l'Islande, n'ont qu'un rêve : se mettre à l'abri des dévaluations en intégrant le giron de la monnaie européenne ...
... Le président de la BCE a deux types d'interlocuteurs privilégiés : les autres banquiers centraux et les dirigeants de la zone euro. Impossible d'analyser sa stratégie sans étudier leurs jeux de rôle respectifs ...
... M. Trichet tient son pouvoir, moins de son indépendance formelle que de son soutien dans l'opinion. "La confiance en la monnaie est la source véritable du pouvoir des banques centrales. C'est sur elle que les banques centrales prennent appui pour contraindre le pouvoir politique, et non sur leur indépendance statutaire", résume André Orléan (CNRS) dans l'ouvrage collectif ..."

La langue de la liberté. Editorial, Le Monde (fr)
" ... Comment résister à la tentation de parodier le discours de Barack Obama, le soir de son élection, il y a une semaine, à la présidence des Etats-Unis ? Si quelqu'un pense encore que la France est rétive à la diversité, si quelqu'un doute de la capacité de ce pays à assumer son métissage, si qui que ce soit s'interroge sur le rayonnement de la francophonie, l'élection de l'Afghan Atiq Rahimi par le jury du prix Goncourt et celle du Guinéen Tierno Monénembo par le jury du prix Renaudot viennent d'apporter une réponse éloquente ..."

Special USA : 31th October

On Rue89.com, a French based web newspaper, I found articles from a very good contributor based in Los Angeles : Armelle Vincent (California Dreaming Blog)

A Battle Mountain, Nevada, « on ne va pas voter pour un nègre ! ».

Blogs' News : 28th October

Academy of Lagado. Richard, EUReferendum (en)
Lord Tebbit on the future of the EU. Ironies Too (en)
20 years since Bruges. Ironies Too (en)
The Great Juncker: Back to the nation state. Julien Frisch, Watching Europe (en
EU as a democratizing force: Croatia. Vitaliy, The 8th Circle (en)
European Central Bank: Procurement rules. Grahnlaw (en)

Bruges, Twenty Years On. EURSOC Two, EurSoc (en)
" ... It is twenty years since Margaret Thatcher's heroic Bruges Speech ... Her most pertinent criticism, however, is of the drive towards a superstate. We may be closer than we think to such a phenomenon today ...
... Valéry Giscard d'Estaing on Britain's European future: "If countries such as Britain do not want to move to the next stage, we should be prepared to agree with them a special status that would preserve close ties but avoid them acting as a brake on the progress of others." ...
... Tebbit, Thatcher and Giscard are of a previous generation, though the fact that the former French President led the committee which drew up the failed European Constitutional Treaty suggests that their views and political clout still count for something. If Sarkozy, the Germans, Tebbit and Giscard agree on an issue, there's sure to be something up ..."

With a heavy heart …. Richard, EUReferendum (en)
" ... the European defence ambitions have nothing to do with mounting a credible defence. The European defence forces are a hollow joke, inadequate, disorganised, demoralised and useless.What this is all about is keeping up the appearance of military might, while actually spending less on defence ...
... the European defence ambitions have nothing to do with mounting a credible defence. The European defence forces are a hollow joke, inadequate, disorganised, demoralised and useless.What this is all about is keeping up the appearance of military might, while actually spending less on defence ..."

Ukraine and Hungary To Receive IMF Loans, While Belarus Joins the Line. Edward Hugh, A Fistful od Euros (en)
" ... Hungary announced the loan at more or less the same time as Ukraine received a USD16.5bn loan from the IMF. Under normal circumstances both these moves would be good news for Central and East European equity markets assets. This was not the case on this occassion, however, and Hungary’s stock markets fell more than 10% on opening yesterday, suggesting that either investors are not convinced the packages will be sufficient, or that they fear there is more to come ..."

Tongue twisters. Certain Ideas of Europe (en)
" ... Linguists have counted 239 known languages in Europe, which is about 3.5% of the world's total. The big ones--English, French, Spanish, German--are well-known. Some regional languages that were dying, Catalan and Welsh for instance, have bounced back ..."

Be tiny, live longer?. Certain Ideas of Europe (en)
" ... THE World Health Organisation recently reported that Andorra, that little pocket tucked in the Pyranees, has the highest life expectancy of any country in the world. One can speculate on the many reasons why this would be so: in addition to the mountain air and lifestyle, being well-situated to pick and choose from the best of French and Spanish culinary influences (all in moderation, of course) can't hurt ..."

Lean Time for Green? Afew, European Tribune (en , fr)
" ... Et, souligne Jérôme Pouyet, professeur à l'Ecole d'économie de Paris,"si le gouvernement commence à injecter des milliards d'euros dans le système financier, il faudra les trouver quelque part, et on peut peut penser à la suspension de projets d'infrastructure", comme les LGV ..."

Boring: The European Ombudsman and his 2007 report. Julien Frisch, Watching Europe (en)
" ... The European Ombudsman receives complaints from European citizens and European organisations about EU institutions (the main addressee in 2007 was the Commission and the main issue was intransparency) and is supposed to support the solving of the underlying problems.So in fact, his work should be interesting for all citizens.But neither the 2007 report nor the Executive Summary are interesting to read. The summary really should be more concise, more directed towards the public, much more visual, much more obvious, not the kind of largely bureaucratic language that we encounter in the main report ..."

Are bond traders pricing in an EMU break-up? Open Europe Blog (en)
" ... Tony Barber on the FT's Brussels blog urges readers to "watch the yield spread" when it comes to the debt of eurozone governments.This is an issue Ambrose Evans-Pritchard at the Telegraph has been writing about for a while, and is certainly an interesting proxy for the market's faith in European monetary union. Barber singles out the spread between German and Italian 10-year government bonds: 25.8 basis points one year ago, 69.6 one month ago, 72.3 one week ago and 95.6 today ..."

IMF loans to Hungary and Ukraine: potential consequences. Vitaliy, The 8th Circle (en)
" ... Countries that sign IMF agreements, ceteris paribus, attract 25% less FDI inflows than countries not under IMF agreements. Of course, this result should be taken with a grain of salt until closer inspection by the reader, but it is a concrete empirical finding we have published in a peer-reviewed journal. Then the natural question is why do politicians in countries like Hungary and Ukraine sign IMF loans? Jensen offers some answers: "The IMF may provide immediate capital for countries in crisis and some ability for the government to deflect criticism for austerity measures to the IMF, but it is at the expense of long-term economic performance" ..."

Qu'est-ce qu'un paradis fiscal ? Gus, Publius (fr)
" ... Il y a une manière fort simple de répondre à cette question, qui a le grand mérite de ne pas exiger de décision européenne unanime ou même majoritaire : il suffit de demander aux spécialistes en défiscalisation, plus souvent nommés spécialistes en structuration de patrimoine, c'est à dire ceux qui font profession d'aider leurs clients à faire échapper leurs revenus à l'impôt ..."

Don't Count Out the Petrostates. Robert Amsterdam (en)
" ...However, announcing the "fall" of Russia, Iran and Venezuela as a result of the about-turn in oil prices would be naive. A state's power in world politics is not absolute, but relative to the power of other states. If petro-states are on the back foot on account of the plunging value of their chief export, then the oil-importing nations of the West are stuck in an even deeper hole. The relative political power of the US and other Western states has taken a massive dip as a result of unregulated financial fiction, and petro-states cannot fall when their rivals are getting battered ..."

More Newspaper : 27th October

Jörg Haider und die Männer. Robert Misik, Die Tageszeitung (de)

L'Asie entre en scène. Sylvie Kauffmann, Le Monde (fr)

" ... Peu importe qui, au bout du compte, aura amené la Chine à Washington. Ce qui est stupéfiant, c'est qu'il ait fallu plaider pour qu'elle y soit. Et que les dirigeants occidentaux, plongés jusqu'au cou dans "la plus grave crise financière depuis 1929", n'aient pas jugé indispensable que des moteurs de croissance comme la Chine et l'Inde soient associés d'office à la recherche d'une solution durable ...

... Ces Asiatiques ont jusqu'ici eu le bon goût de ne pas accabler les responsables de la crise actuelle, du moins pas trop haut. "Critiquer le capitalisme ? Mais nous, on veut continuer à nous en servir !", réplique un Chinois, en marge de la réunion de l'ASEM à Pékin. "Critiquer les Occidentaux ? A quoi bon, ils représentent toujours près de 70 % de l'économie mondiale !", commente un Indien. "Pallier l'absence de leadership américain ? Mais il est essentiel que les Etats-Unis continuent d'assurer notre sécurité !", s'affole un Japonais ...

Treaty of Lisbon : 24th Ocotober

La Suède va ratifier le traité de Lisbonne le 20 novembre. Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (en)

" ... Le gouvernement suédois est confiant : le jeudi 20 novembre, le Riksdag, le Parlement monocaméral de la monarchie nordique (photo), devrait voter sans problème la loi de ratification du traité de Lisbonne à la majorité requise des trois quart des votants (nécessaire pour éviter une dissolution de la chambre qui s’impose pour un texte qui modifie la Constitution suédoise) ..."

French Newpapers : 23th October Sarkozy's Souverain Fund

Sarkozy crée un fonds stratégique d'investissement. Françoise Fressoz and Christophe Jakubyszyn, Le Monde (fr)

" ... Nicolas Sarkozy avait proposé mardi à ses partenaires européens la création de fonds souverains européens pour éviter que le capital des entreprises passe sous contrôle étranger. Dans son esprit, ces fonds étaient appelés à se coordonner. Sans attendre la réponse des autres pays, dont certains comme l'Allemagne affichent une nette réticence, le président de la République a décidé la création d'un fonds français.
Géré par la Caisse des dépôts et consignations, sous la surveillance du Parlement, bénéficiant des ressources propres de la Caisse, complétées "le cas échéant par d'autres ressources publiques ou privées", il servira aussi à défendre les filières jugées stratégiques soit pour les consolider, soit pour éviter l'éventuelle délocalisation de leurs centres de décision. Ces interventions prendront la forme d'avances remboursables ou de prises de participation au capital ... "

French Newspapers : 22nd October

LE QATAR, JOKER DIPLOMATIQUE DE NICOLAS SARKOZY. Reuters, Le Monde (fr)

Nicolas Sarkozy veut diriger la zone euro jusqu'en 2010. Cécile Chambraud, Arnaud Leparmentier and Philippe Ricard, Le Monde (fr)

Sarkozy l'européen. Editorial, Le Monde (fr)
" ... Quand il était à l'intérieur ou aux finances, Nicolas Sarkozy rongeait son frein durant les interminables réunions auxquelles il devait assister à Bruxelles. Maintenant, il a visiblement pris goût à ces réunions, surtout depuis qu'il les dirige comme président du Conseil européen ...
... mardi 21 octobre, devant le Parlement de Strasbourg : il deviendrait président de l'Eurogroupe jusqu'à ce que la présidence tournante revienne à un pays de la zone euro, c'est-à-dire pendant encore un an au moins.
M. Sarkozy a ainsi inventé, à son profit, la présidence stable de l'Europe que le traité de Lisbonne aurait instituée s'il n'avait été rejeté par les Irlandais. Pour faire bonne mesure, le président français a aussi proposé de transformer cet Eurogroupe en un "gouvernement économique européen", de créer des fonds souverains en Europe pour investir dans les secteurs clés, de mettre en oeuvre une politique industrielle européenne. De vieilles idées françaises qui sont de véritables chiffons rouges agités devant nos amis allemands ...
... Il sait que toutes ses suggestions ne seront pas retenues, mais que nos partenaires ne peuvent pas toutes les refuser. Proposer, proposer, il en restera toujours quelque chose... La tactique a fonctionné dans la tempête ..."

Picture : 22nd October Sarkozy Voodoo Doll

Sarkozy threatens to sue over voodoo doll. Henry Samuel, The Telegraph (en)
" ... Each body part of the doll, which comes with a set of pins and a "voodoo instruction manual", is accompanied by a provocative quote related to the French president. These include his campaign slogan "work more to earn more," or "platform heels" – referring to the diminutive president's chunky shoes designed to gain a few inches in height. On his groin is written "scum" – the word he used to describe young suburban delinquents before the riots of 2005 ..."

Voodoo doll irks Sarkozy . Charles Bremner, The Times (en)

" ... The doll, issued 10 days ago, is matched by another set featuring Ségolène Royal, the Socialist whom he defeated in last year's presidential election. The voodoo kits had scored only a mild media interest until Sarkozy unleashed the legal artillery. The Sarkozy one at least is now likely to be a hit ...

... Sarkozy is breaking with a long tradition with his quick finger on the legal trigger. Other presidents -- the late François Mitterrand in particular -- have used dirty tricks such as tax audits and illegal phone-tapping to exact revenge against media trouble-makers but they have eschewed litigation. In January, Sarkozy sued Ryanair for using his image in a jocular advertisement. He sued Le Nouvel Observateur magazine last spring over a mobile phone text message that he purportedly sent his former wife Cécilia. He later dropped the case ..."

Blogs : 21st October

IMF tries to defuse geopolitical speculation in DSK affair. P O Neill, A Fistful of Euros (en)
Vatican v Israel in row over the Holocaust. Certain Ideas of Europe (en)
"Lifestyle journalism" . Richard, EUReferendum (en)
Something of an enigma. Richard, EUReferendum (en)
The atheist bus campaign is BACK. Jon Worth, Euroblog (en)
Baroness Ashton boredom strategy. Jon Worth, Euroblog (en)
Ashton gets backing from Schulz, so all’s OK (not). Jon Worth, Euroblog (en)
The constitutional position of European Commissioners. Nosemonkey, EUtopia (en)

Despite The “Sudden Stop” Kazakhstan Won’t Be Calling On The IMF For Help. Edward Hugh, A Fistful of Euros (en)
" ... Well that is good news, so at least we know that one of the CIS and CEE economies won’t be looking to the IMF for bail-out support in this crisis which is presently growing by the day. So Kazakstan, that country which is reputedly host to reserves of approximately 95% of the elements in the periodic table, with a population of around 15 million housed on a surface area greater than the whole of Western Europe, is going to be able to look after itself. But hang on a minute, just where is Kazakhstan, and just what have they been getting up to over there, and why the hell should I take Karim Masimov’s word for it, when just about all the other Iceland Look-alike show contestants seem to be saying the same? ..."

Europe’s hour is coming? Stanley Crossick, BlogActiv.eu (en)
" ... There are serious differences between the Americans and Europeans as to how far reforms should go and also the nature of such reforms. The EU seeks a fundamental reform of the present system (a ‘Bretton Woods II’) and a worldwide supervision of the markets. The different approaches of the French (“capitalism of the future”) and Bush (“fundamentals of democratic capitalism”) will inevitably clash. Bush recognized the need for “regulatory institutional changes” but added, “It is essential that we preserve the foundations of democratic capitalism – commitment to free markets, free enterprise, and free trade.” ....

Un comité des « sages » pour l’avenir de l’Europe. Jean Quatremer, Les Coulisses de Bruxelles (fr)
" ... Le Sommet européen de mercredi et vendredi dernier a approuvé la composition du “groupe de réflexion” présidé par Felipe Gonzàlez, l’ancien premier ministre socialise espagnol (photo), qui sera chargé de réfléchir au futur de l’Union « à l’horizon 2020-2030 ». Il s’agit de la Française Nicole Notat, ancienne patronne de la CFDT, le Polonais Lech Walesa, qu’on ne présente plus, l’Italien Mario Monti, ancien commissaire européen à la concurrence, la Danoise Lykke Friis, universitaire, le Néerlandais Rem Koolhaas, architecte, l’Allemand Wolfgang Schuster, maire CDU de Stuttgart, le Britannique Richard Lambert , journaliste, l’Autrichien Rainer Münz, économiste, et la Grecque Kalypso Nicolaïdis, spécialiste de l’Europe à Oxford. À ce groupe de neuf personnes, s’ajoutent les deux vice-présidents, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, l’ex-présidente lettone, et Jorma Ollila, président du finlandais Nokia, qui avaient été désignés en même temps que Gonzàlez ..."

Back to snarl mode … Richard, EUReferendum (en)
" ... Thank you all for your responses on the forum to our five million down post, celebrating – if that is the right word – another milestone in the short history of this blog. ..."

Dave won't fix it. Richard, EUReferendum (en)
" ... just get rid of Gordon and replace him with "Dave" and all your troubles are over. "Dave will fix it", just like Jim used to on the television.The trouble is that Dave won't fix it. He can't fix it. If he takes over the hot seat, he will no more be in control than Gordon ever was. The idea that any one man, Blofeld-like with a cat on his lap, is actually in control is strictly for the fairy tales and the James Bond films ..."

Britain's debt - £76,475 per household? Ironies Too (en) 21st October
" ... Yesterday I queried what exactly was the true British debt figure. The above number is provided by a Tory MP Brooks Newmark who sits on the Treasury Select Committee as may be read on the Conservative Home blog, link here.The total is given as an astronomical £1,866 billion."

Sarko puts in for overtime. Open Europe Blog (en)
" ... According to Belgian daily De Standaard, EU Commission President Jose Barroso is "lying awake at night" worrying about the fact that soon Nicolas Sarkozy will no longer be EU Council President ...