The state of economy and finances in the EU. From general comparison between West and Est to the analysis of the economic sectors, the evolution of the currency in the stock exchanges or the impact of the financial crisis.

As a part of plan of economic recovery, EU decided to allocate EUR 3.98 billion on energy projects. Today, the vast majority (97 %) has been devoted CCS technology demonstrations, building some cross-border gas and electricity interconnections as well as for developing a series of offshore wind parks etc; but not a single euro for [...]

Griechenland hält Europa trotz seines Anteils von nur 2,8 % am Bruttoinlandsprodukt der Eurozone in Atem. Aber auch zahlreiche andere EU-Mitgliedstaaten stehen vor einer desaströsen Haushaltslage.
Hilft in dieser Situation  der Vorschlag des deutschen Finanzministers, mit der Errichtung eines Europäischen Währungsfonds einen der wichtigsten Stabilitätsanker der Eurozone [...]

VINNOVA, the main funding agency for EUREKA projects companies and research organizations wishing to participate in EUREKA projects, welcomes and supports the efforts to discuss and further develop Community innovation policies. VINNOVA also agrees with the general description of the importance of innovation for long term sustainable growth and [...]

The EU is taking its time in deciding what real policy actions to implement regarding the crisis over Greek finances and the eurozone, but publics in Greece and elsewhere are not waiting to express their disenchantment with national and supranational elites.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent moves to weaken institutionally the two principal centers of resistance to the conservative-populist rule of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have met with little resistance from the country’s stock markets, buoyed by positive trade figures and upgrades in Turkey’s sovereign debt ratings.

Sir,
Regarding ‘EU, US re-assess SWIFT data-sharing deal‘:
The statements made by the spokespersons of SWIFT are very worrying. They originally said that servers have been moved to Switzerland and the Netherlands, but now admit that there are still servers in the US which hold EU banking data. Could it be that SWIFT has simply been lying [...]

Frankreich geht es darum, dass Deutschland, das in den vergangenen zehn Jahren beträchtliche Produktivitätsfortschritte erzielt habe, die entsprechenden Gewinne anders verteile. Mehr “europäische Konvergenz” sei gefragt. Fragt sich, in welche Richtung. Während in Ländern wie Frankreich, Spanien und Griechenland die Arbeitskosten in den vergangenen fünfzehn Jahren nämlich um 35, 45 bzw. 65 Prozent gestiegen sind, [...]

This story about the Europe 2020 strategy was published by EurActiv on 19th March 2010.
In a meeting with the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, the Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian labour ministers, representing the current and upcoming rotating presidencies of the EU, discussed the fundamental differences between EU social and finance ministers, [...]

This story about the proposed European Monetary Fund was published by EurActiv on 18th March 2010.
Policymakers are debating whether a proposed ‘European Monetary Fund’ would require changes to the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, as predicted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The EU executive believes it would, while politicians on the margins say it would not. [...]

The Spanish EU Presidency yesterday decided to shelve a vote on the proposed AIFM Directive on hedge funds and private equity due to “a last-minute intervention by Gordon Brown”, according to the FT. The talks apparently stalled on British concerns ove…

This story about the 3% R and D target was published by EurActiv on 17th March 2010.
EU finance ministers are fighting against the European Commission’s target of spending 3% of GDP on research and development (R&D), demanding a new “outcome-oriented” measure of success.
The 3% figure is one of five headline goals of the ‘Europe [...]

Die Euro-Staaten haben es – politisch durchaus klug – fertiggebracht, die Entscheidung über mögliche Finanzhilfen an Griechenland in so viele Einzelschritte zu zerlegen, dass der jeweils nächste Schritt nicht mehr wirklich überrascht. So auch jetzt: Nachdem die Euro-Finanzminister die technischen Details für den Fall eines Falles festgelegt haben, können sie darauf verweisen, dass es ja [...]

Ein  Bürogebäude mehr oder weniger - der Europäische Währungsfonds (EWF) wird Brüssel schon nicht sprengen. Im Gegenteil, es wird durch Tausende neue Beamte aufblühen. Doch die Europäische Union wird nicht mehr dieselbe sein.
Ein Aufsichtszentrum könnte die europäischen Finanzen sogar etwas disziplinieren. Bei Gelegenheit wird es aber den Kompromiss zum Vertrag von Lissabon begraben. [...]

There is little new in this round of discussion of a new financial transactions tax (FFT). One exception is that some prominent European leaders have expressed support for it. Although the agreement is broad brush and does not contain important details. Another is that relatively more of the discussion is focuses on the notion of [...]

Den Aufstieg in die Superliga der Rüstungsverkäufer haben die deutschen Unternehmen nämlich nicht durch Masse, sondern durch ihre Ingenieurskunst geschafft. Lukrative U-Boot-Aufträge, vor allem aus Griechenland und der Türkei, sowie der Verkauf von gebrauchten Panzern an Chile und Brasilien - ohne diese nicht alltäglichen Geschäfte, wäre Deutschland ein Waffenexporteur mittlerer Größe. [...]