Sipilä: IMF decision on Greek aid programme doesn't change Finnish line

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä says that at this point Finland does not intend to change its policy on cutting Greek debt, even though the International ...

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EUphoria: Deal on Greece and… Iran

The Greek parliament adopted on Thursday (July 16) the commitments specified for the country’s third bailout programme. But German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble did not change his mind and still claims a Grexit is better. Another big deal reached this week is the agreement on the Iranian nuclear deal. The EU foreign policy chief Federica […]

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EU Official Donald Tusk Says Greek Proposals Must Be Matched by Creditors

Mr. Draghi's comments represent a change of mood for the ECB, which has insisted since the beginning of the Greek crisis that membership of the ...

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Iran, Greece, Climate Change Dominate U.S.-Brazil Meeting

Barack Obama and Dilma Rousseff discussed the Greek financial crisis, climate change, security and other issues in a meeting in Washington.

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Europe Migrant Crisis: 40000 Will Move From Italy, Greece in EU Deal

LONDON — Forty-thousand refugees will be relocated from southern Europe under a deal reached by political leaders to tackle the continent's ...

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EU sidestep on migrants will do nothing to curb Mediterranean death toll

Four countries at Europe’s frontier will continue to bear brunt of crisis, refugees yet to make journey will still view sea as logical optionTo misquote the first man on the moon: the EU’s new migration agreement is one small step forwards for European bureaucrats, and one giant leap sideways for mankind. On the plus side, the decision by the majority of EU members to accept 40,000 asylum seekers currently in Italy and Greece is at least a start. With nationalism and xenophobia on the rise throughout Europe, the argument goes, the continent’s leaders were still brave enough to share at least a fraction of the Italian and Greek burden. Related: Mediterranean migrants: EU leaders agree voluntary intake after heated talks Continue reading...

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G7: Protests, climate and few commitments

The G7 is drawing to a close in Bavaria. While the summit was overshadowed by crises in Ukraine and Greece, progress was made on climate change. Naomi Conrad reports from Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

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Greek Minister Tsakalotos: ‘If Eurozone Dissolved, it Would Lead to Very Nasty Politics’

If the Eurozone is dissolved, it would create a very dangerous political situation in Europe, Greek Alternate Minister for International Economic Relations Euclid Tsakalotos told Channel 4 News on Thursday. Asked how close Greece is at defaulting, Tsakalotos said: “I think that if reason prevails, if people see how reasonable we have been, there is every chance of having a good solution.” “But Europe has to decide. It has to decide the democratic course, the flexible course, the course that incorporates social change, that incorporates ordinary people’s aspirations for a sense of belonging… that democracy counts, that democracy can change things or it can decide that it’s a rule-based institution for the rich,” he added. Commenting on the scenarios circulating in the markets that the government will fail to reach a deal with its creditors, the Greek Minister said that the mood is always volatile. “The markets change from day to day, [they] are not stable on this and they can change from news. And news affects them more than they should from day to day because things don’t change so quickly.” Regarding a possible timetable for an agreement, Tsakalotos said there will be a deal in the near future. “There’s uncertainty. But we are doing our best to reduce that uncertainty and we are doing it exactly because we believe in a different kind of Europe. We are systemically in favor of Europe because we believe that a breakup of Europe, the breakup of Eurozone, would lead to very nasty politics, to competitive devaluations, the kind of nationalism we had in the interwar period and much worse. So we are not pro-Europe as a tactic, we are pro-Europe as a strategy,” he noted. (source: ana-mpa)

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ND Leader Calls on Government to Change Policy

Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras on Friday called on the government for a change of policy and consensus so that a deal is reached. In a statement to ‘Agora’ newspaper, Samaras blamed the government for its policy saying that “the government presents its own positions as the final agreement and keeps destabilizing the Greek economy and its negotiating position.” He also said that the Greek government had overestimated its negotiating position and lost time with “nonsense.” “We propose a wide concordance so that the country changes policy. Wide cooperation so that the country exits its obvious impasses, that the country overcomes its dangers,” he added. (source: ana-mpa)

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Greece seeks to change Fraport airports deal, source says

Greece is trying to change the conditions of a deal to lease 14 regional airports to a joint venture led by German airport operator Fraport, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

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Europe has finally woken up to migrant deaths in the Med – but can it deliver a united response?

The EU needs to agree a concrete migration policy. EPA/Alessandro Di MeoIt is common to describe the deaths of hundreds of people in the Mediterranean sea over the last few days as “a tragedy” and “a crisis”. The suffering of victims, their families and their home communities is indeed shocking and extreme. Yet the idea that this is a tragedy and crisis is perhaps misleading. What makes something a tragedy is that it is a fateful, unpredictable and unpreventable event. A crisis on the other hand is a problem that has recently become suddenly more urgent and extreme. The recent deaths in the Mediterranean were none of these. On the contrary, they were predictable, and predicted. Since the summer of 2014, the UNHCR has put out 10 statements calling for action to prevent the deaths of migrants putting to sea in the Mediterranean. Over the past five years at least, several thousand people have died in the Mediterranean in capsized boats and these have periodically hit the news headlines. However, up until now, the pattern of the political response in Europe has also been largely predictable and mostly ineffective. This is for two main reasons. First because the migration across the Mediterranean represents a difficult political, social and economic problem, with complex origins. Secondly, because there has been political stalemate in the EU about the responsibilities of different member states and about what “burden-sharing” means in practice. Could this time be different? There is evidence to support the idea that this time the political response in the EU might be different comes from several sources. The current EU commission, lead by Jean-Claude Juncker, had already prioritised the issue of migration in its “political guidelines. Now there has been a marked change of tone in the declarations from the European Commission. These were previously characterised by a barely concealed frustration with the resistance of member states to resolve questions of burden sharing. But following the most recent deaths, European Council vice-president Federica Mogherini talked of “finally” securing a “European response” while an agreement to deal with the issue was referred to by Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Commissioner for Migration, as a “shared responsibility”. A rare show of unity: Dimitris Avramopoulos and Federica Mogherini at the joint European Council meeting. EPA/Julien Warnand The apparent success of Mare Nostrum and the predicted drastic human cost of its withdrawal and then replacement with the relatively limited EU-level Triton mission has been pivotal in justifying the need to enhance Triton – and, now, to extend its mission. In particular, this evidence seems to have stung the German government into a volte face on the need to enhance the EU’s mission in the Mediterranean. What is proposed? The ten-point plan agreed by ministers on Monday has at its heart a very significant change in the level of EU (as opposed to member-state) involvement in regulating the Mediterranean. For this a legal mandate is required (points one and two of the plan). This would change the balance of authority between member-state action and that of the EU in the Mediterranean, strongly in favour of the EU. This would also involve a considerably higher level of militarisation of the Mediterranean, especially if a new or expanded mission gains a mandate to destroy boats used to carry irregular migrants. Other significant measures which would further “Europeanise” policy in this area are the deployment of EU-mandated asylum officers in Italy and Greece and of immigration liaison officers in transit countries. The EU is also going to provide support to the main entry countries for enhancing “rapid return” (Avramopoulos called these “front-line states”), involving more flights back to countries of transit and origin. Member states are tasked specifically with ensuring that all migrants have fingerprints taken and are screened and recorded, as a way of monitoring irregular migration, dealing with smugglers and identifying those in need of protection. There are only two proposals, both much more speculative than the other points, which refer to supporting migrants on arrival. One is a proposal for a possible, very limited – and pilot – resettlement programme across the EU (point 7). The other is to have a review to consider policy options on how to accommodate migrants in emergency situations (point 6). What are the barriers? There remain significant barriers to the successful implementation of real change in policy on this issue. The first barrier is that real political commitment for the ten-point plan is not yet secured. For this, agreement in Thursday’s extraordinary meeting of EU member state heads of government will be required. Yet there is still evidence of political reluctance to substantially enhance support for an EU search-and-rescue operation – notably from the UK. However, it is also notable that the UK is also keen to focus on smugglers and trafficking operations, a policy on which most member states can agree. It is relatively straightforward to gain agreement from member states for those measures which justify higher security and more militarisation of the Mediterranean. Agreement on the proposals for speedy and humanitarian processing of aslyum applications, accommodation and settlement of refugees will be more difficult to generate. This brings us to the second major barrier to real change in policy – and that involves more critical reflections on the ten-point plan and its proposals. Seven of the ten measures – and all those most concretely proposed – revolve around enhancing security and military policy responses. These policies reflect the way in which the EU has historically responded to irregular migration, but they are unlikely to solve the problem in the long term. Most EU member states have recognised the importance of development to reduce irregular migration, but little concrete action is forthcoming so far. Meanwhile, most migrants from outside the EU have little or no access to legal routes to migration, as immigration policies of member states remain highly restrictive. Yet the political conflict, economic inequalities and social harm which drive people to abandon their homes are increasing, not decreasing. Unless and until the EU has secured agreement from member states for a set of policy measures which involve more than picking people up, destroying their ramshackle boats, fingerprinting them, putting them on planes and sending them back to the countries they have come from and travelled through, then this is not a European solution to endorse. Emma Carmel receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (NORFACE programme). The views expressed here are her own.

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FTSE falls below 7000 on Greek woes and Chinese rule change

Global markets ended the week on a sour note, with worries about the fate of Greece in the eurozone unsettling investors as well as uncertainty over a ...

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FTSE falls below 7000 on Greek woes and Chinese rule change

Global markets ended the week on a sour note, with worries about the fate of Greece in the eurozone unsettling investors as well as uncertainty over a ...

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.theguardian.com

FTSE falls below 7000 on Greek woes and Chinese rule change

Global markets ended the week on a sour note, with worries about the fate of Greece in the eurozone unsettling investors as well as uncertainty over a ...

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Greece optimistic on deal with euro zone next week

Greece is optimistic about reaching a deal on economic reforms with its euro zone peers early next week, unblocking urgently needed funding, its economy minister said on Thursday. After talks with EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the ...

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Greek Orthodox Patriarch to attend Philippines climate change forum on French president’s invitation

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew will attend a climate change forum in the Philippines on Feb. 26-27, on the invitation of French President François Hollande

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Think of the World as a Country

The global economy seems perplexing today: While all the traditional economic growth factors are in place (the world's population is increasing, technical progress is huge, available savings are substantial, free trade is greater than ever), growth is slowing globally, save for the United States at this stage. And around the world, even in the United States, real unemployment has risen to record levels, investments are slowing down, inequalities are greater than ever before, especially in the United States. And the recent Baltic Dry Index (BDI) plunge (a number issued daily providing an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea, and which for a long time now has been a big indicator of impending crises) with its downward trend has caused panic to spread in the small circle of traders. To deal with this problem, it seems that none of the conventional efforts are working: Interest rates are at their lowest; central banks are pumping an insane amount of money into the banking system; governments are plagued by record high deficits. Nothing is working. Nothing is starting. Everything is slowing down. Even prices. What is wrong with the way the world has been functioning? How to explain that this incredible potential is not translated into practice? Economists, sociologists, political scientists throughout the world are discussing these issues ad infinitum without any convincing answer being given. And without anybody offering a new solution that is credible. Yet there is a critical need to understand the situation and to find ways to act. Otherwise, the global economy will plunge into a global depression with devastating political consequences. We will start seeing, we already see, those extreme parties taking power and democracy being questioned by the very people who pretend to speak on its behalf. For me, the answer is obvious, although few people will admit it: The whole world economy is now a single economy. And one cannot understand it by juxtaposing the analysis of national economies and their trade exchanges. We must think of the world as a single economy; as a country. But a country without rule of law or regulatory state. And such an economy, which was previously unknown in the real world up until today, can only, according to all existing theories, lead to an underutilization of the factors of production, that is to say to a shortfall in demand. And no regulatory state is there to compensate. In other words, the world is suffering from not having a tool able to create demand globally. The ideal solution would be to create a World Central Bank, with democratic governance, with a world currency, able to pour massive resources on the world. In the form of money or in the form of investments in sustainable economy sectors. The halfway solution would be to ask the G20 governments to agree to boost public investment massively, with recourse to heavy borrowing, forced if necessary, from large owners of capital. The solution that is most in the interests of young people and employees would be a dramatic increase of all salaries throughout the world, and the acceptance of inflation. The one that is most in the interests of large owners of capital and seniors would be to make stock markets soar in order to create demand through the revaluation of wealth. None of this will take place, of course. So the most likely scenario is that everybody will keep to oneself, to the point that they will isolate themselves from one another. But those who will create demand only at home, by massively increasing salaries or public expenditure, will quickly become dependent on imports, their currency will collapse. The United States may want to opt for this solution, as may Greece, on the other end of the spectrum. This will lead to protectionism, fragmentation, war. It has become fashionable to say that we must think of the world as one, when talking about the climate change conference and its success. And yet, if ever there is a global conference that is urgent, it is rather one that would reform the IMF to make it more democratic and give it all its powers. Because if the world does not take action on the economy quickly, the problem of the emission of greenhouse gases will soon be resolved in the simplest way possible: There will be no one left to produce any.

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SYRIZA’s Tsipras: ‘Let’s not leave the country, let’s change it’

The January 25 national elections motto should be “Let’s not leave the country, let’s change it,” main opposition Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) leader Alexis Tsipras said on Friday, speaking to the youth section of the party at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation in Athens, Greece. Mr. Tsipras said that the memorandum policies related to Greece ‘s loan agreements “hit the most productive part of society which could provide a new push, that of young people” and pointed out that over 200,000 young scientists left the country while unemployment for this segment of society has climbed to frightening highs. “Under these circumstances, young people do not even have the option of dreaming,” he added and said that his party would invest in them. The SYRIZA leader stated that on his party’s agenda was to create 300,000 new jobs, support innovative ideas, provide initiatives to collaboratives and create a special bank to fund new enterprises. He also said that his party’s government would establish a research and technology portfolio instead of the current general secretariat, as well as a portfolio focusing on social solidarity and volunteerism. (source: ana-mpa)

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Op-Ed Contributor: A Sea Change in Greece?

The strict economic policies of the government have begun to bear fruit and better days now seem possible.

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Climate change to hit farming, coast

The average temperature in Greece is expected to rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius in the next 35 years and by up to 4 degrees in the period from 2070 to 2100, experts have told a conference on climate change in Athens. The rise in temperatures will harm agricu... ...

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