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How the world sees Greece
Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Greece reportedly given more time to fix ailing state budget
Greece's international creditors have granted it two more years to reign in its public deficit, a German newspaper has reported. Citing a draft deal it said Greece will still receive its next trance of bailout aid.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Press Watch, September 14
The winding road toward approval of the 11.5 billion euro budget cuts package and various developments that might help inject liquidity into the Greek economy dominated the headlines of Athens dailies.
A 1.4 billion loan from the European Investment bank was intensely covered. About 750 million of that will be disbursed immediately and the rest will be given in installments through next March.
A 1.4 billion loan from the European Investment bank was intensely covered. About 750 million of that will be disbursed immediately and the rest will be given in installments through next March.
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European ministers discuss Greece debt extension
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Greece may get more time to cut its budget, its creditors indicated Friday in another sign of increasing flexibility and optimism across the 17 countries that use the euro, while Spain appeared to be inching closer to making a formal request for financial assistance.
The new Greek coalition government is seeking a two-year extension to meeting a budget reduction program to 2016, as the country's recession is proving worse than anticipated at the time the program was negotiated.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the eurogroup of finance ministers, told a press briefing following an informal meeting in the Cypriot capital, that the report from the "troika" of the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund is unlikely to be ready before the beginning of October, pushing on a decision on Greece's bailout loans into the second half of October.
The ECB bond-buying plan, the creation of a new government in Greece following two elections and a German court ruling in favor of Europe's new bailout fund have all calmed markets and politicians nervous at the eurozone's debt problems.
"De Guindos also informed the eurogroup today that the Spanish government intends to adopt a national reform program by the end of September based on recommendations of the European Union, with very clear commitments and precise timetables," Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for monetary affairs, said.
The new Greek coalition government is seeking a two-year extension to meeting a budget reduction program to 2016, as the country's recession is proving worse than anticipated at the time the program was negotiated.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the eurogroup of finance ministers, told a press briefing following an informal meeting in the Cypriot capital, that the report from the "troika" of the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund is unlikely to be ready before the beginning of October, pushing on a decision on Greece's bailout loans into the second half of October.
The ECB bond-buying plan, the creation of a new government in Greece following two elections and a German court ruling in favor of Europe's new bailout fund have all calmed markets and politicians nervous at the eurozone's debt problems.
"De Guindos also informed the eurogroup today that the Spanish government intends to adopt a national reform program by the end of September based on recommendations of the European Union, with very clear commitments and precise timetables," Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for monetary affairs, said.
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Greece has another month before debt assessment
Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the eurogroup of finance ministers, says Greece will not learn whether it's done enough to get its next batch of bailout cash for at least a month.
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Thursday, September 13, 2012
German Court Approves Rescue Fund
 Wall Street Journal | German Court Approves Rescue Fund Wall Street Journal By HARRIET TORRY and GEOFFREY T. SMITH Germany's highest court cleared the way for the euro zone's permanent bailout mechanism to go ahead. Dow Jones's Jenny Paris and Martin Essex discuss what the court ruling means and how markets reacted to the ... Euro hits highest since Mid-May on German ruling Stocks, euro gain on German ruling; Fed in focus Euro rises to 4-month high on German ruling |
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Greece: Strikes flare as coalition government struggles to clinch new ...
 AFP | Greece: Strikes flare as coalition government struggles to clinch new ... Washington Post ATHENS, Greece — A fresh wave of anti-austerity strikes hit Greece Wednesday as the leaders of the governing coalition remained unable to finalize further spending cuts for the coming two years without which the country will lose its vital rescue loans. Greece revs up privatization drive to sway troika Greece faces more anti-austerity strikes, protests Greece Aid Decision May Be Delayed to November - EU Sources |
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Greece revs up privatisation drive to sway troika
 Business Recorder | Greece revs up privatisation drive to sway troika Reuters ATHENS, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Greece outlined a plan to sell one of its most profitable state-controlled companies, gambling monopoly OPAP, reviving a stalled privatisation drive to appease international lenders. Inspectors from the troika of European ... Greece faces more anti-austerity strikes, protests Greece Aid Decision May Be Delayed to November - EU Sources |
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Holland's likely new coalition will treat EU with caution
Prime minister Mark Rutte's centre right VVD party running neck-and-neck with Diederik Samsom's Labour party in polls
Two Dutch centrist parties are preparing to stitch up a new left-right coalition following an early general election being closely watched across Europe because of its potential impact on responses to the euro crisis and the Franco-German split over austerity versus growth policies.
At the end of a volatile campaign that has seen hard-left anti-European socialists top the polls, traditionally powerful Christian democrats wiped out, and the social democrats of the Dutch Labour party slumping, it was the latter who were making the political weather, staging a remarkable comeback to rival the main governing party as election victors.
The campaign has revolved around Europe and austerity after the minority centre-right coalition of Prime Minister Mark Rutte collapsed in April after less than two years because of disputes over spending cuts needed to meet EU budget deficit targets next year.
Rutte's centre-right VVD party was running neck-and-neck with the Labour party whose new leader, Diederik Samsom, has emerged as the star of the election. Pundits predicted a new coalition of Labour and the VVD with around 70 of the 150 seats at stake, requiring a third junior coalition partner.
The hard-left socialists were tipped to come third, with the far-right anti-immigration maverick, Geert Wilders (pictured), expected to lead his Freedom party to fourth place. Both Wilders and the socialists have waged an anti-austerity, anti-EU campaign, with Wilders's anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant activism playing a much lesser role because of the domination of economic issues and budget cuts.
Samsom has quickly emerged as a prime-ministerial contender due to his strong television performance in the campaign debates. Most polls still predict Rutte's VVD will emerge as the marginal winner, meaning he would be first choice for prime minister. Power politics in the Netherlands get under way in the wake of rather than before an election because of the coalition system and the highly fragmented party spectrum. The horsetrading will start today and the formation of a government could take months.
If, as expected, a Lib-Lab partnership is the basis of the new government, the key sticking points will be over the pace, scale and location of spending cuts and tax rises. There could be disputes over the ongoing attempts to stabilise the euro and Holland's participation in bailing out weaker eurozone countries. Rutte received much criticism during the campaign for declaring on television that Greece would not get another euro of Dutch money.
The outgoing Rutte government was closely allied with Germany in taking a hawkish line on austerity and dictating tough terms to bailout beneficiaries. But his minority coalition collapsed when it emerged that the Netherlands also needed to fill a huge funding gap to meet EU-set budget deficit targets by next year.
Wilders, propping up the minority government in parliament, vetoed the welfare cuts needed to meet Brussels' targets.
In the expected new coalition, Labour will argue for slower spending cuts than Rutte, will take a softer line on eurozone bailouts, and also seek to temper the austerity, tilting the balance of power in the eurozone towards President François Hollande's socialists in France and away from Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
The two biggest parties, if joined in a coalition, will need to agree on raising the retirement age, on how to reform the most generous system of mortgage tax relief in Europe, on health, social security and other welfare cuts, all to meet EU budget targets in one of the wealthiest countries in Europe with some of the lowest unemployment.
The likeliest outcome of the election will be to demonstrate that the Dutch have turned much more wary of the EU, albeit keen to keep the union and the euro.
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Greece and the U.S. election
My first memory of anything to do with a U.S. presidential election lurks in the mists of my Athenian childhood.
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Greece Faces More Anti-Austerity Strikes, Protests
 Deutsche Welle | Greece Faces More Anti-Austerity Strikes, Protests ABC News A fresh wave of anti-austerity strikes hit Greece Wednesday as the leaders of the governing coalition struggled to finalize further spending cuts for the coming two years — without which the country will lose its vital rescue loans. State hospital ... Is the US election keeping Greece in the euro? Greece's Samaras meets with ECB's Draghi |
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Is U.S. race keeping Greece in euro?
Yanis Varoufakis says the U.S. doesn't hold as much influence over Greece as it used to -- and that many Athenians fear European officials are waiting until the U.S. election is decided before cutting Greece loose from the euro.
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Greece faces more anti-austerity strikes, protests
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A fresh wave of anti-austerity strikes has hit Greece, whose fractious governing coalition leaders are struggling to finalize further spending cuts for the coming two years.
State hospital doctors, school teachers and local authority employees have walked off the job to protest planned salary and funding cuts under the new €11.5 billion ($14.7 billion) package.
State hospital doctors, school teachers and local authority employees have walked off the job to protest planned salary and funding cuts under the new €11.5 billion ($14.7 billion) package.
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Dutch vote in election set to be dominated by pro-European parties
Polls show Liberals and Labour ahead, dispelling concerns radical eurosceptics might gain sway in a core eurozone country
Mainstream pro-European parties look set to dominate the Dutch parliamentary election on Wednesday, dispelling concerns that radical eurosceptics might gain sway in a core eurozone country and push to quit the European Union or flout its budget rules.
But the Netherlands is likely to remain an awkward, tough-talking member of the single currency area, strongly resisting transfers to eurozone debtors, regardless of whether prime minister Mark Rutte's Liberals or the centre-left Labour party of Diederik Samsom win the most seats.
Opinion polls on Tuesday showed the Liberals and Labour on 36 seats each or the Liberals fractionally in front, with the hard-left Socialists and the far-right anti-immigration Freedom party fading in third and fourth place respectively.
That makes it more likely, though not certain, that Rutte, with the strongest international profile, will stay as prime minister.
Early morning commuters at Amsterdam's central train station were among the first to vote.
Maike Stukkeheim, an artist, said: "I had a hard time choosing who to vote for, in the end I voted Socialists. I don't particularly like them but I wanted to vote left. I think it's (the political landscape0 getting more and more rightwing, more conservative."
The final days of campaigning turned into a two-horse race between Rutte, 45, a former Unilever human resources manager dubbed the "Teflon" prime minister because of his ability to brush off disasters, and the energetic Samsom, 41, an ex-Greenpeace activist whose debating flair wowed voters.
Both parties have played down talk that they will end up in coalition, together with one or two smaller parties, but parliamentary arithmetic suggests this is the most probable outcome given a highly fragmented political landscape.
But about a fifth of the 12.5 million voters say they are undecided, leaving room for surprises.
The Netherlands is one of the few triple-A rated countries left in Europe and a longstanding ally of Germany in demanding strict adherence to fiscal discipline. The vote is seen as a barometer of northern European stamina both for austerity and for bailouts to keep the single currency bloc intact.
Thrifty Dutch taxpayers are frustrated by demands for belt-tightening at home, particularly the steady erosion of their cherished welfare state and pensions, while stumping up billions of euros to rescue what they see as profligate budget sinners.
"People have become negative about Europe because we give so much money to Greece and other countries and at the same time we are aware of the fact that we badly need money here to pay for schools, for the army and everything," Jaap Paauwe, a professor of management at Tilburg University, told Reuters.
With the focus on the eurozone crisis and its impact on the domestic economy, Europe took centre-stage during the campaign.
Employers' groups representing big businesses such as electronics giant Philips as well as small and medium-sized firms that form the backbone of the economy ran a campaign highlighting the benefits of EU membership.
The main employers' group hung a banner outside its head office in The Hague proclaiming: "Vote for Europe and your job."
In a pamphlet distributed to voters entitled "The Netherlands earns its living from Europe", business groups said the export-dependent economy would lose €90bn (£72bn) a year in sales without the euro and the EU's internal market.
In contrast, one of the biggest unions posted a cartoon on its website showing the electoral battleground as the last chance saloon with caricatures of Rutte and his allies stalking the saloon bars in the wild west.
Fears over Europe initially played in favour of the two main populist parties, particularly the Socialist party which a month ago was either leading or a close second in opinion polls.
The Socialists have waned largely because of the dismal showing of their leader Emile Roemer, a former teacher, in an almost nightly marathon of television debates.
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Freedom party which is calling for the Netherlands to quit the euro and the EU, has also lost support.
Some of his followers are disappointed that he squandered his real power as Rutte's chief ally in parliament when he brought down the government in April by refusing to support another package of budget cuts.
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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Greece faces more anti-austerity strikes, protests
A fresh wave of anti-austerity strikes has hit Greece, whose fractious governing coalition leaders are struggling to finalize further spending cuts for the coming two years.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT news.yahoo.com |
Is the US election keeping Greece in the euro?
 San Francisco Chronicle | Is the US election keeping Greece in the euro? CNN Athens, Greece (CNN) -- My first memory of anything to do with a U.S. presidential election lurks in the mists of my Athenian childhood. It was a warm June evening. My mother had taken me for a walk around the ancient stadium where the first modern-era ... Greece faces more anti-austerity strikes, protests Greece suffering "merciless lashing," — president Greece central govt budget gap falls, revenues struggle |
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Greeks eye 'war reparations' from Germany as markets await euro ruling
 Telegraph.co.uk | Greeks eye 'war reparations' from Germany as markets await euro ruling Telegraph.co.uk The Greek government has dedicated four officials to raking over the archives from the period of German occupation, which lasted from 1941 to 1945, according to the newsgroup ekathimerini.com. “The matter remains pending," it quoted deputy finance ... Euro Crisis Faces Tests in German Court, Greek Infighting New package of Greek budget cuts questioned by the Troika |
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Monday, September 10, 2012
Greece: Police Deployed Outside Far-Right Party HQ
 ABC News | Greece: Police Deployed Outside Far-Right Party HQ ABC News The police move came after Golden Dawn party members last week smashed stalls at a church fair in Rafina near Athens and at a farmers' market in the central Greek town of Messolonghi. Videos of the attacks posted by the media on the Internet showed ... Greece scraps police protection for far-right lawmakers |
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Greece: Police deployed outside far-right party HQ
Police in Athens stopped and searched motorists and pedestrians on Monday outside the headquarters of an extreme right political party after its members attacked immigrant street vendors.
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Greece scraps police protection for far-right lawmakers
 euronews | Greece scraps police protection for far-right lawmakers Reuters ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece scrapped police protection for lawmakers from the far-right Golden Dawn party on Monday after the bodyguards did nothing while the deputies went on a rampage destroying street stands run by migrant vendors. Led by three ... Greece: Police deployed outside far-right party HQ Greece removes police guards from extreme right lawmakers, citing party's ... |
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Greece removes police guards from extreme right lawmakers, citing party's ...
Greece removes police guards from extreme right lawmakers, citing party's ... Washington Post ATHENS, Greece — Greece's public order ministry is withdrawing police guards who have been protecting the lawmakers of an extreme far-right party that has vowed violent intimidation against immigrant street vendors. A ministry statement says it wants ... |
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