EU-DIGEST

Greece avoided a downgrade to its credit rating by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, which had warned last month that it was considering such a move, although the ratings firm slapped on a negative outlook.

The euro also rose in the minutes following S&P's announcement.

S&P credit analyst Marko Mrsnik said the Greek government's plans to reduce its deficit was supportive of the nation's current triple-B-plus long-term credit rating, which is three notches into investment-grade territory. S&P said the government's reduction measures were "appropriate to achieve its 2010 fiscal target."

Labels: EU, Greece

Labels: Britain, EU, financial speculators, Greece, US, Wall Street

As he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced the cameras Monday, she spoke of the weekend's election in Iraq. "Greece is the birthplace of democracy, so anytime there's a democratic election anywhere in the world, Greece should get a royalty, Prime Minister," Clinton said.cratic election anywhere in the world, Greece should get a royalty, Prime Minister," Clinton said.

To pull Greece back from the edge, Papandreou has promised to cut the deficit to 3 percent of GDP by 2012. For the U.S. government to make an equivalent cut, it would have to shut down the Pentagon and a few other agencies: the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, Energy, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, the Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, plus the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA -- and even then we'd come up a few dollars short. Greece had to hit bottom before it acted. The United States seems determined to do the same.

For the complete report: Dana Milbank - From Greece, an economic cautionary tale for the U.S. - washingtonpost.com

Labels: EU, Financial Regulatory Controls, Greece, The Financial Meltdown, USA

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday that "quick action is needed," calling on the U.S. to "make a gesture" and curb the trades. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, in Washington, DC to meet with President Barack Obama, is also calling for curbs on speculation which he blames for making his country's debt crisis worse.

The European Commission threatened to ban "purely speculative naked sales on credit default swaps of sovereign debt" and said it would ask for a similar move globally at the Group of 20 summit of leading and emerging economies in June. Papandreou on Monday compared the practice of selling naked credit default swaps to buying insurance on a neighbor's house and then burning it down to collect.

Note EU-Digest: when is the EU Commission finally going to realize that talking about the issue to the US makes no more sense, because the US has basically caved in to accepting the financial industry and Wall Street's financial manipulations. Instead the EU needs to act immediately and unilaterally ban "purely speculative naked sales on credit default swaps of sovereign debt".

Labels: EU, financial speculators, Greece

Labels: EMU, EU, Greece, IMF

Labels: Economy, EU, Germany, Greece, IMF

It is true that the whole world has problems, but Greeks like to point out that they work to live, while the rest of us live to work. This alone is enough to anger nations like Germany, which funded the majority of EU subsidies collected by Greece as top beneficiary; and America, whose tourists spend the most money per trip.

Note EU-Digest: Its time to tighten your belt Greece. You can't have your cake and eat it too...

Greece is reaping what it has sown | Kat Christofer | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Labels: EU, Greece

Labels: EU, Greece

Labels: EU, euro, Greece, Hedge Funds, US Financial Sector

EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said after a day of talks with Greek leaders that financial markets would be convinced the country will meet its deficit-reduction targets once they saw precise new measures.

Labels: EU, Greece

Labels: EU, Greece

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

Labels: EU Economy, Greece, US Banking System

"The (CNI's) Economic Intelligence division...is investigating whether investors' attacks and the aggressiveness of some Anglo-Saxon media are driven by market forces and challenges facing the Spanish economy, or whether there is something more behind this campaign," El Pais said.

Some French commentators are drawn to this scenario. It's the Anglo-Saxon banks and hedge funds who are behind the euro crisis, is their conclusion. Indeed, one French commentator was quoted as saying "those who played against Greece will pay dearly. The European Union states now view this as direct aggression against them." Even the head of the 16-nation Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, is drawn to the idea of the euro as victim. "We shouldn't accept to be the target of financial markets," he says. "I am concerned," he goes on, "at the irrational way of behaving of financial markets". In the UK, Labour MP and former Europe Minister Denis MacShane writes that "the Anglo-Saxon club of anti-Europeans is on the rampage".

The facts show that some if not all of these allegations are true - speculators have raised their bets against the euro. It is reported that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which reflects hedge fund activity, has witnessed growing positions being taken on the euro falling further. Nicolas Veron of the Bruegel Institute says "the markets are testing the limits of the single currency policy framework".

All this is unacceptable and must become the number one priority on the EU commission "to do list". If action is further delayed, the EU electorate and the EU parliament should seriously start questioning the motives of their national governments and the EU commission for not calling a halt to the manipulations of the international financial community on the sovereignty of their nations and the EU.

EU-Digest "Spain: Are international "murky manoeuvres" behind financial market pressure on Spain? Where are the EU regulations?"

Labels: EU, Financial Regulatory Controls, Goldman Sachs, Greece, Spain

Labels: EU, Greece, Russia

Labels: EU, Goldman Sachs, Greece, Wall Street

Labels: EU, Goldman Sachs, Greece, Wall Street

Labels: EMU, EU, Greece

Labels: EU, Greece, Wall Street

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her counterparts yesterday pledged “determined and coordinated action” to support Greece’s efforts to regain control of its finances. They stopped short of providing taxpayers’ money or diluting their own demands for the country to cut the European Union’s biggest budget deficit.

While bonds gained, the euro slipped for a third day today and pressure is now on the governments to show how they would back up their words with action. Investors’ attention now turns to a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels on Feb. 15-16.

Labels: EU, Greece

The losses pushed the 10-year yield near the highest level in three weeks as the FTSE 100 index of stocks rallied 0.6 percent. Euro region leaders stopped short of offering specific measures to help Greece reduce its budget deficit, the largest in the 16-nation euro area. Gilts also fell as the U.K. sold inflation-linked securities maturing in 2022.

“We’re extending declines,” said John Wraith, a fixed- income strategist at Bank of America Corp. in London. “It’s an EU announcement and an EU support program, and there is some speculation that the U.K. may participate.”

Labels: EU, Greece

Talks of a possible bailout for Greece intensified following news that ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet would be cutting short a trip to Australia in order to attend the forthcoming EU Council summit in Brussels on Thursday. A spokesman later said the change was purely logistical.

But Stiglitz, who is advising the Greek government, believes no bailout will be required and downplayed fears of contagion throughout the euro zone.

Note EU-Digest: Mr. Joseph Stiglitz is absolutely right. Speculators, Euro Sceptics and others must be thought a lesson by Governments, because they will always look for the weakest link."

Labels: EU, Greece, Joseph Stiglitz, Speculators

The Feb. 11 summit, the first since Van Rompuy became the bloc’s full-time president in January, will also discuss “some aspects of the present economic situation,” according to a letter sent to EU leaders today.

Note EU-Digest: Wall Street and the financial community better understand that they are not the ones who are going toset the agenda for the EU.

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

Labels: EU, Greece, meltdown

The Greek fiscal tragedy playing across the Aegean has turned into a daytime soap opera in the past couple of weeks. First, a European Commission report condemned the Greek authorities for falsifying budget data. Little surprise that Greece's Stability and Growth Program, released a couple of days after the EC condemnation, was not taken seriously by markets. The climax was reached last week, as Greek credit-default swaps, which insure against default, hit a record of 358 basis points.

Monday’s first scheduled bond issue of the year for the Greek government quelled worries a bit, as investors flocked to the generous yields of 6.2%, which is 0.3% above the country's existing debt with similar maturities.

It is these structural problems and the lack of monetary policy or exchange-rate devaluation as policy options that have left the Mediterranean quartet of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, the so-called PIGS, and to some extent Ireland, with messy budgets. However, Greece stands out from the crowd by having both a high deficit and a large debt-to-GDP ratio.

To predict how this drama will conclude, recall how the Greeks came to this fiscal mess. Some of Greece’s woes are common to the euro zone, suffering from a currency union that has tighter monetary policy than the other major economies and a currency that is overvalued.

Labels: EU, Greece

Greece: According to the report which Kathimerini had sight of, Greece’s public sector debt could be over the officially reported one by some 300 billion euros. The report, which was requisitioned by the Finance Ministry from an independent committee of six widely respected experts, found that outstanding obligations relating to areas like unpaid arrears to public sector suppliers, interest rate swaps with commercial banks, and debt guarantees for public sector companies have all been excluded from the official data. "Beyond the officially declared 300 billion euros, fiscal chaos is covering up a public debt of many billions of euros" according to Kathimerini. "The Committee recorded in detail all manner of distortions and misunderstandings in the system used to collect and monitor data. But the ingredient that can lead to the conclusion that this is a report to catapult the country's fiscal problems into the limelight are those concerning the manner of recording or not recording of public debt". Some of the comments the experts make on these topics are:

1. Debt as currently recorded has been reduced through a number of "interest rate swaps. One such trade involves the use of Greek banks. The government owes, for example, the National Bank of Greece about 5.5 billion, which is not recorded in outstanding debt. The agreement was originally with Goldman Sachs and it was then passed to National Bank of Greece. The 5.5 billion euros involved is effectively a 30 year loan, and during this time both parties pay interest to each other, with the difference that the State pays a much higher interest to NBG than the NBG pays to the state. That is, the debt is paid off through higher interest payments rather than via the normal amortization process.

2. Credit providers: The European System of National Accounts (ESA) does not take such provision into account because government debts must normally be paid within 60 days. Greece, however, does not comply with the normal condition of early repayment, thereby releasing billions of euros in extra debt, debt which is later recognised and produces a subsequent revision of deficit and debt numbers for the year in question. The most widely quoted case of this is that of public hospitals, which by September 30, 2009 owed suppliers (for the period 2005 - September 2009) 6.3 billion euros. It was the recent addition of these obligations (21 October 2009) which led to the increase in the general government deficit for 2008 and 2009 and the corresponding increase in debt. In addition to the debts of hospital debt, the Committee estimated that there are still further outstanding government obligations of around 6.0 billion euros. Once these liabilities have been paid (or recorded in official figures) the debt will be naturally revised upwards.

3. The debt balance also includes the debt of various public bodies which are guaranteed by the state. Debt guaranteed by the Government at the end of 2009 tamounted o 26.2 billion (or 10.9% of GDP) up from 6.2% of GDP in 2002. About 40% of that debt is owed by the OSE (Greek Railways) and is body is unable to repay (shades of the Hungarian situation here).

4. Much of the above is possible due to the following practice: in order not to increase the budget deficit and debt, public bodies are encouraged to open bank loans guaranteed by the government (but not recorded as outright debt), usually with a higher rate of interest than if the government borrowed the directly and then subsidized the organisations directly. When these obligations are eventually formally assumed by the State, there is then a sudden increase in debt.

As former IMF Executive Board Member for Southern Europe said in a Bloomberg interview yesterday, “In Ireland, it was the banking sector that was the undoing of fiscal management. In Greece it’s the opposite, it’s the country’s fiscal management that is the undoing of the banking system.”
For more: Global Economy Matters: Does Anyone Really Know The Size Of The Greek 2009 Deficit?

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Labels: China, EU, Greece

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

“Let me be very clear on this: Never again will we accept budget figures that do not reflect the facts,” Trichet said in an interview with Germany’s Focus magazine, the text of which was published by the ECB today. “Appropriate auditing must always be possible. As early as next month the European Commission will make proposals that will dramatically improve the relevant framework.”

Trichet also said Greece, whose deficit has ballooned to almost 13 percent of gross domestic product, has not respected the Stability and Growth Pact, which calls on members to limit budget shortfalls to 3 percent of GDP.

Greece and other euro- area countries “must do everything they can to put their national finances in order,” he said.

Labels: Economy, EMU, EU, Greece, Jean-Claude Trichet

Labels: EU, Greece

Labels: EU, euro, Greece

The Greek government “is going to do all what is necessary” to reduce its budget shortfall, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado told reporters today in Brussels before leading a meeting of European Union counterparts. While Greece’s deficit-cutting proposals “are a step in the right direction, we’ll have to see whether they’re enough,” Luxembourg’s Jean- Claude Juncker said late yesterday.

The Greek government’s latest proposals call for about 10 billion euros ($14.4 billion) of spending cuts and revenue increases this year to cut the deficit from 12.7 percent of GDP to 8.7 percent by year end. The plan includes 2.5 billion euros in state asset sales this year. Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos said in Brussels that the Greek program “leans heavily on one-time measures” and “needs to be more substantial.”

Greek officials have already pledged to provide more- reliable statistics after the EU earlier this month complained of “severe irregularities” in the country’s economic data.

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

Labels: deficit, Economy, EU, Euro Zone, Greece

“It is essential that rapid action is taken to avoid the situation getting worse,” Rehn told a European Parliament committee today in Brussels during his confirmation hearing. While the EU “is assessing the matter with major concern,” he said Greece is unlikely to leave the euro region.

The Greek government “is aware of the seriousness” of the deficit situation and that its room for maneuver is “very limited,” Rehn said.

Labels: EU, Greece

Labels: EU, Greece

A makeshift bomb has exploded outside Greece's parliament on Saturday evening, January 9, causing no injuries and minor damage. The explosion occurred in the heart of Athens, close to the finance ministry and the city's best hotels. "This was an unprecedented act of terrorism against the Greek people," said government spokesman George Petalotis. This blast followed another bomb attack outside the headquarters of Greece's biggest insurer, National Insurance, on December 27. Fire Conspiracy Cells, a leftist guerrilla group, claimed responsibility for the December attack. Police believe they may also be responsible for Saturday's blast.

Labels: EU, Greece

But if anyone was grateful to Greece, whose profound fiscal problems are being blamed for this hoped-for currency reversal, they weren't announcing it.

Indeed, it is probably not praise that is ringing in the ears of the Greek finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, as he travels Europe this week to drum up support for his government's tepidly received plan to bring its budget deficit under control.

Georges Ugeux, chairman and chief executive of Galileo Global Advisors, a New York boutique financial advisory firm, says repeated failure of European efforts to force Athens to put its house in order and deal with corruption, a big parallel economy, and fiscal fraud is starting to have important consequences.

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

Greece dismissed talk of a bailout from Europe after an ambitious plan to solve the worst debt crisis in the country's modern history failed to convince EU officials and investors. "It hasn't been a question of a bailout," Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said in Paris after talks with his French and German counterparts. "We haven't discussed this with my colleagues." EU partners thought Greece was heading "in the right direction", he added.

Papandreou warned that Greece "faces the risk of sinking" under its 300 billion euros' (442 dollars') worth of debt and had "lost every trace of credibility" after fresh doubts about its official statistics. Greece's public deficit is likely to rise to 12.7 percent of output this year -- far exceeding the eurozone limit of 3.0 percent.

Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note that "despite its travails, Greece is not likely to default on its debt. "But pressure probably will remain intense until the new administration can prove to the market that it is committed to cutting public spending."

Labels: Banking Industry, EU, Greece

This week European stock markets slumped by up to 6% when the Fitch credit rating agency downgraded Greece's creditworthiness to a 10-year low. With national debt approximating 125% of national output, the country's dramatic fiscal imbalance undermines the stability and unity of the eurozone.

Being part of the euro deprives Greece of the capacity to devalue its currency or to inflate its debt. If Athens deflates and adopts a draconian fiscal contraction, social unrest looms on a far greater scale than this week's street riots on the first anniversary of a police shooting that killed a student. If, on the other hand, Greece were to default on its debts, it might be forced to abandon its membership of the eurozone. The ensuing crisis could engulf Italy and other member countries, threatening to bring down the entire edifice and dealing a massive blow to Europe's global economic credibility.

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece

New York Times - “Stop the boat! Stop the boat now!” the captain of the Greek Coast Guard patrol vessel yelled over the bullhorn, turning a spotlight on the flimsy dinghy as it chugged toward this island in the Aegean Sea. As the dinghy sputtered to a halt, a crowd of frightened faces squinted up into the light. Squeezed onto the 6-meter, or 20-foot, vessel were 30 Afghan migrants — men, women, children including babies — and their smugglers: two Turkish boys. The interception occurred one Saturday night earlier this month. But the migrants, the smugglers and the coast guard officers are protagonists in a daily drama played out in this seven-kilometer-wide strait separating the island of Lesbos from the Turkish coast, one of the narrowest sea crossings between the two countries and a favored route for smuggling. Hampering European Union efforts to curb a relentless influx of desperate people seeking to enter the bloc through this slender channel are age-old tensions between the E.U. member Greece and the E.U.-hopeful Turkey and the ever inventive tactics of opportunists profiting from the situation.

Most of the human traffickers are Turks, age 16 and 17. “We’ve seen one kid three times,” a patrol boat captain said, noting that minors, who cannot be prosecuted under Greek law, were sent back to Turkey, but often tried to return to Greece a few weeks later. The captain asked not to be identified by name for security reasons.

Labels: Economy, EU, Greece, Illegal Immigration, Turkey

Eurostat experience highlights doubts over Greek data - by Andrew Willis

New figures released by the EU's statistics office – Eurostat – on Thursday (22 October), provide fresh information on EU government debt levels for 2008, but also point towards Greek political manipulation of the country's economic data. According to the new figures, average EU27 budget levels for 2008 were –2.3 percent of GDP, a rise from –0.8 percent in 2007. But the figures come with the following caveat: "Eurostat has expressed a reservation on the data reported by Greece due to significant uncertainties over the figures notified by the Greek statistical authorities."

Labels: Economic Reports, EU, Greece

Greece - More Good Years - by Dan Buettner

n 1970 Yiannis Karimalis got a death sentence. Doctors in Pennsylvania diagnosed the Greek immigrant with abdominal cancer and told him he'd be dead within a year. He was not yet 40 years old. Devastated, Karimalis left his job as a bridge painter and returned to his native island of Ikaria. At least there he could be buried among his relatives, he thought—and for a lot less money than in the United States. Thirty-nine years later, Karimalis is still alive and telling his amazing story to anyone who will listen. And when he returned to the States on a recent visit, he discovered he had outlived all the doctors who had predicted his death. On Ikaria, a mountainous, 99-square-mile island in Greece, residents tell this story to illustrate something they've known all their lives: on average, Ikarians outlive just about everyone else in the world.

In antiquity Ikaria was known as a health destination, largely for its radioactive hot springs, which were believed to relieve pain and to cure joint problems and skin ailments. But for much of the ensuing two millennia, civilization passed over this wind-beaten, harborless island. To elude marauding pirates, Ikarians moved their villages inland, high up on the rocky slopes. Their isolation led to a unique lifestyle. Over centuries with no outside influences, island natives developed a distinctive outlook on life, including relentless optimism and a propensity for partying, both of which reduce stress. Ikarians go to bed well after midnight, sleep late, and take daily naps. Based on our interviews, we have reason to believe that most Ikarians over 90 are sexually active.

Labels: EU, Greece, Health

Greece Government Sworn in - by Neil Magdalini

Greece’s new government was sworn in Oct. 7 after the ruling conservative government was defeated by the Socialists in the elections held on Oct. 4. Greek voters took a drastic turn at the recent elections by massively voting in favor of center-left party Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), breaking with the center-right New Democracy (ND) Party which had been in power since 2004.

Labels: Elections, EU, Greece

Bomb hits Athens stock exchange

A bomb has exploded outside the Athens stock exchange, slightly injuring a female passer-by and damaging the building, police say. The blasts may be the work of a group called the Revolutionary Struggle, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens. Earlier this year the group claimed responsibility for two bombs aimed at the American Citibank group. In a letter the Revolutionary Struggle had promised more attacks against economic targets. It said: "We need to rid ourselves for good of all the scum of economic and political power so that humanity can free itself from these criminals." Greece has been dogged by unrest since police shot a teenager dead last December.

Labels: EU, Greece, Revolution

NATO: Greece-Turkey row endangering troops

NATO’s chief pressed Greece Thursday not to hinder cooperation between NATO and the European Union in Afghanistan because of its differences with Turkey, saying the security of international troops was at stake. NATO and the EU, both present in Afghanistan, have so far failed to conclude a security agreement for better cooperation in the field. “The lack of this agreement might put our personnel on the ground at risk,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. “We have discussed that in detail, because it’s a real concern to me. We can’t allow a lack of security because of these political issues.”

Labels: EU, Greece, Nato, Turkey

Greece to unveil Acropolis museum

The long-awaited Acropolis Museum in Athens is to be unveiled soon. The modern glass and concrete building, at the foot of the ancient Acropolis, houses sculptures from the golden age of Athenian democracy. The euro 130m ($182m)structure also offers panoramic views of the stone citadel where they came from. Culture minister Antonis Samaras said he hoped it would be the "catalyst" for the return of the Parthenon sculptures from the British Museum. Some of the sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, originally decorated the Parthenon temple and have been in London since they were sold to the museum in 1817.

Labels: Art, EU, Greece

Greece moves to curb illegal immigration

The Greek government decided on Thursday (June 11th) that trafficking illegal immigrants will be considered a crime. At a session chaired by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, the cabinet agreed to establish special detention centers to house illegal immigrants for up to a year, rather than the current three-month limit. Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos says Karamanlis will seek discussion regarding the matter at the EU summit next week. His main requests will be in two-fold -- agreements with third countries for the repatriation of illegal immigrants, and obliging countries that have already signed such agreements to observe them. The opposition Communist Party of Greece compares the proposed new centres to "concentration camps".

Labels: EU, Greece, Immigration

Immigrants to rally in Athens over defaced Quran

Muslim immigrants and rights advocates gathered in central Athens for a demonstration to protest a police officer’s alleged defacement of an extract of the Quran during an identity check on an Iraqi man. Immigrant groups and human rights organizations scheduled the rally in central Omonia Square for Friday evening, a week after a similar demonstration degenerated into clashes with police, leaving 14 people injured, dozens of cars smashed and 46 people arrested. The protesters want police to apologize for the incident last week in which they say an officer tore and stomped on an extract of the Quran during an identity check for Muhammad Attiq. Police say they are investigating the allegation. Attiq has filed a lawsuit against the officer.

Labels: EU, Greece, Islam

The EU’s Turkey test - by Nikos Konstandaras

Who would have thought in the years since 2005, when much of the Muslim world erupted in fury over a Danish newspaper’s publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, that this facile experiment would set off a chain reaction that would undermine the Western world’s values of free speech and tolerance? And yet, after a four-year hiatus, the cartoon furor is back – this time not as farce but as tragedy.

If the EU now chooses to dilute its principles in order to appease Turkey (and its backers in the United States and Britain), then the current leader of the EU will have managed to destroy the most democratic, the most just, the most progressive social, political and economic experiment the world has seen. That seems a monumental and unforgivable loss for the sake of very short-term gains.

Labels: Cartoons, Cyprus, EU, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Greece, NATO. US, Turkey

Unmanned nEUROn stealth combat aircraft

For the complete report from defpro.com click on this link

nEUROn Europe's unmanned combat aircraft taking shape

On February 9, 2006, French defense procurement agency DGA, the program executive agency, named Dassault Aviation as prime contractor in charge of developing nEUROn, a European combat aircraft vehicle demonstrator. This signaled the active launch of the project.The AVE-C drone carried out a demonstration flight on June 30, 2008. Since this drone features a general design similar to nEUROn, this test helped confirm the likelihood of the new UCAV performing a successful automatic takeoff and landing right from its first flight.The maiden flight of nEUROn is scheduled for the end of 2011. Test flights will be carried out over a period of about 18 months, in France (Istres), then Sweden and Italy. 85% of the total budget has now been awarded to Industry by DGA, which acts on behalf of the six Partner States (France, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Greece and Switzerland).In other words, not only is nEUROn beginning to take shape, but so is a real pan-European military aviation industry.

Labels: Air France, Aircraft Industry, EU, European Military, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland. nEUROn, Unmand Aircraft

Greece - Debt Financing Outlook for 2009 and Beyond - by Georgios Zoumpoulidis

If macroeconomics is about understanding, microeconomics is mostly perception; and where financial markets are concerned, at times, even deception. Take Greece for example - a typical example of a peripheral, debt laden Euro economy. Its first crash test for 2009 will probably be on Jan 13, when its first bond auction for 2009 will take place. It is almost certain that the spread between Greek and German bonds will be more than 200 points. But what exactly does this spread tell us? Strictly technically speaking, in times of recession, debt laden economies behave more or less like highly leveraged stocks - the banks squeeze liquidity (shutting down lines of credit, for example) and then ask for added insurance and/or even partial/full repayment of debt. This course of action marks a turning point for the underlying company - management is forced to either wake up and turn around the company or prepare to file for bankruptcy (for a state, that would be something like asking the IMF for help!). But there is a crucial difference, if you are a member of EU: you can't really go into "turnaround" mode; you can't print your own money.

Note EU-Digest: Just imagine if we did not have the euro today in the EU. With the financial crises the world is facing it would have meant utter chaos on the European financial markets. Lets face it: together we are able to survive in Europe, divided we fall

Labels: Council of Europe, EU, EU Economy, Greece

Violent protests in Europe borne out of deeper frustrations - by Christine Spolar

The center-right government of Costas Karamanlis, increasingly unpopular amid mounting economic problems, didn't anticipate or understand how the anger had spiraled. The youth were suddenly lashing out at all that ails Greece: a weak government, an economy that remains one of the poorest of the European Union and their own bleak job prospects. They looted businesses, pelted police with stones and ran amok near government banks, offices and university campuses with Molotov cocktails. About 100 people have been injured. Property damage is an estimated $2 million. Talk of what happened in Athens and Thessaloniki has spread to Italy and Spain, which have had protests of their own.

Labels: EU, Greece

Greek unrest spreading in Europe

Six days of unrest in Greece is now spreading over to other European countries raising concerns that there is more violence to come. One of the main worries appears to be that the clashes could be a trigger for opponents of globalization, disaffected youth and others who are irate at the continent's economic turmoil and rising unemployment, AP reported. Because of the unrest in Athens, demonstrators in Spain, Denmark and Italy smashed shop windows, threw bottles at police and attacked banks and over in France, cars were set on fire on Thursday outside the Greek consulate in Bordeaux, where protesters scribbled graffiti about a looming 'insurrection'. The internet played a role in the protests with Greek website protesters updating each other on the locations of clashes and confirming that there had been sympathy protests in nearly 20 countries with more demonstrations planned for Friday in Italy, France and Germany.

Labels: EU, Globalization, Greece

Disorder on the Hellenic street | When nettles go ungrasped

There is something weird and frightening about the sight of a modestly prosperous European country—assumed by most outsiders to have recovered from its rocky history of coups and civil strife—that is suddenly gripped by an urban uprising that the authorities cannot contain. Greece’s travails seem all the odder after a recent economic record which, to judge by the basic numbers alone, looks tolerably good. Could this take place in any seemingly stable democracy, or does the land of democracy’s birth have special features? Well, the incident that sparked Greece’s mayhem—the killing by police of a teenager—could have happened almost anywhere. And there are many cities where an angry minority is ready to run amok: think of Budapest in 2006 or Paris in 2005. But in the Greek case a spasm of rage among youngsters and the bohemian underworld has laid bare a deeper seam of discontent: with corruption, maladministration and the sheer frustration of life at the bottom of the Athenian pile

Labels: EU, Greece

Strife-Torn Greece Begins to Show Signs of Calm - by RACHEL DONADIO and ANTHEE CARASSAVA

Life in Athens slowly returned to normal on Thursday following five days of disturbances and a general strike Wednesday. No major demonstrations were planned for the first time since Saturday, when a teenage boy was fatally shot by the police, setting off riots in the capital and other major cities that left hundreds of stores damaged and dozens of people injured. Small groups of students staged some protests, attacking police stations in Athens with rocks and bottles, the Greek media reported. Sporadic obstruction of traffic by youths was also expected.

“Things are a scale or two lower today,” said Panayotis Stathis, the national police spokesman. “There is a gradual de-escalation, and that’s how things will be going.”

Labels: EU, Greece

Greeks turn their ire on the capital's goose-stepping guards - by Nick Squires

It was the equivalent of launching an attack on the Changing of the Guard outside Buckingham Palace. Gangs of Greek protesters, incensed by Saturday's fatal shooting of a 15-year-old schoolboy by a police officer, hurled rocks and other missiles yesterday at the ceremonial guard outside Greece's parliament. The presidential guards are one of the country's most familiar tourist sights, famous for their theatrical goose-stepping, skirted tunics and distinctly unmilitary black pom-poms on the end of their hobnailed boots. Normally they stand stock-still in parliament's dazzling white marble forecourt, in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Greeks accuse the centre-Right government of Mr Karamanlis of cronyism and corruption. A scandal over a property deal involving a powerful Greek Orthodox monastery led to the government's majority being reduced to just one seat in the 300-member parliament last month after Mr Karamanlis axed an MP. The economy suffers from crippling public debt and is suffering still from the budget blowout from the 2004 Olympics. The OECD predicts that Greece's economic growth rate will dip to a sluggish 2 per cent next year, as the manufacturing sector shrinks at a record pace.

Note EU-Digest: There is nothing sluggish in today's world economy about a 2% growth rate as this article of the Telegraph seems to imply. Certainly much better than Britain's economic growth at present. Fortunately also for Greece is that they are part of the Euro Zone, which has been a stabilizing factor of their economy. As usual this report by the Telegraph, like most of their articles covering the EU there is a distasteful undertone of Eurosceptisism.

Labels: Britain. EU, Eurosceptism, Greece

Bulgaria in talks to import Egyptian natural gas reducing dependence on Russian energy linking existing Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline

Sameh Fahmy the Egyptian oil minister held talks today (Thursday) in Bulgaria about selling up to 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to the EU country, which is trying to cut its dependence on Russian energy imports. Egypt's Oil Minister said deliveries could begin in 2011-2012, starting at half a billion cubic meters per year.Dimitrov said Egyptian gas could come to Bulgaria through the existing Turkey-Greece-Italy pipeline if Turkey and Egypt were to link their gas networks. Such a link, he said, would be 'crucial to guarantee Egyptian supplies for the Nabucco gas pipeline project. The Nabucco pipeline was built to ease Europe's reliance on Russian energy. The EU gets about one-third of its oil and about 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia.

Labels: Bulgaria, Egypt, EU, Gas Supplies, Greece, Italy, Turkey

Greece -FM: Hu Jintao's visit highlights friendly ties between China, Greece and Greece - by Liang Yeqian

Chinese President Hu Jintao's ongoing official visit to Greece reflects the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Monday in an interview with Xinhua. She said current Greek-Chinese relations, strong as they are, could be further strengthened through enhanced cooperation in the fields of commercial shipping, tourism, culture and education, and people-to-people exchanges. Bakoyannis said Greece has particular strength in the merchant shipping sector as it has the busiest ports in southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Greek ship-owners are currently the biggest and most important customers of Chinese shipyards, and nearly 50 percent of merchandise traveling to and from China are transported by Greek merchant fleets, she went on to say. She said the strategic partnership between Greece and China also includes their cooperation in international affairs, adding that her country supports increased dialogue between China and the European Union.

Note EU-Digest: Chinese President Hu Jintao has promised to expand maritime trade with Greece after finalizing a euro831.2 million (US$1b) container-port concession deal Tuesday. Under the agreement, China's Cosco Pacific Ltd. will receive a 35-year concession to manage two container terminals at Greece's main port of Piraeus.The agreement was signed after Hu met Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis for talks. Karamanlis said Greece will become a key transit point for Chinese goods bound for southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.

Labels: China, EU, Greece, Ports, Shipping

Armenian, Greek worshipers come to blows at Jesus' tomb

Dozens of Greek and Armenian priests and worshipers exchanged blows in Christianity's holiest shrine on Palm Sunday, and pummeled police with palm fronds when they tried to break up the brawl. The fight is part of a growing rivalry over religious rights at Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the site where tradition says Jesus was buried and resurrected. A fist-fight broke out after Armenian clergy kicked out a Greek priest from their midst, pushed him to the ground and kicked him, according to witnesses. The Holy Sepulcher is shared by several Christian denominations according to a centuries-old arrangement known as the status quo. Each denomination jealously guards its share of the basilica, and fights over rights of worship at the church have intensified in recent years, particularly between the Armenians and Greeks.

Note EU-Digest:These unacceptable acts by Armenians and Greeks are a disgrace to Christianity and its holy places. Israel should consider banning these two factions from worshiping at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Labels: Armenia, Christianity, EU, Greece, Israel