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Commentary: U.S. uninsured depositors can and do take losse True, it was news that Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem was making that acknowledgment. The European finance ministers had been stressing as recently as last week that the opposite was the case, that Cyprus was a special situation. Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem is president of the Eurogroup council. The market genuinely was shocked.

Michel Sapin made the gaffe in a radio interview, which left French President Francois Hollande battling to undo the potential reputational damage. “There is a state but it is a totally bankrupt state,” Mr Sapin said. “That is why we had to put a deficit reduction plan in place, and nothing should make us turn away from that objective.” The comments came as President Hollande attempts to improve the image of the French economy after pledging to reduce the country’s deficit by cutting spending by €60bn (£51.5bn) over the next five years and increasing taxes by €20bn.

Forget about that dead parrot of a question – should we join the eurozone? The eurozone has officially joined us in a newly emerging international organisation: we are all now members of the Permanent No-growth Club. And the United States has just re-elected a president who seems determined to sign up too. No government in what used to be called “the free world” seems prepared to take the steps that can stop this inexorable decline. They are all busily telling their electorates that austerity is for other people (France), or that the piddling attempts they have made at it will...

(Reuters) - The euro zone debt crisis dragged the bloc into its second recession since 2009 in the third quarter despite modest growth in Germany and France, data showed on Thursday. The French and German economies both managed 0.2 percent growth in the July-to-September period but their resilience could not save the 17-nation bloc from contraction as the likes of The Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Austria shrank. Economic output in the euro zone fell 0.1 percent in the quarter, following a 0.2 percent drop in the second quarter. Those two quarters of contraction put the euro zone's 9.4 trillion euro...

When Greece's government pushed through a law last week aimed at slashing public wages and raising taxes, its biggest threat was not the firebrand opposition or the 100,000 protesters thronged at the gates of parliament. It was the assembly's workers themselves, a well-connected group that has long evoked disdain for enjoying the kind of lavish pay and benefits that have become emblematic of the public sector excess at the heart of Greece's debt crisis. The staff dispute that image. But, having discovered that a 500-odd page draft law of cost cuts and tax hikes included a last minute amendment giving...

The Swiss Army is preparing contingency plans for violent unrest across Europe. A nation mostly famous for its banks, watches and chocolate fears it may face a massive influx of European refugees in the near future. One of the world’s richest nations openly expressed concerns over the possible outcome of Europe’s continuing financial troubles, and is currently conducting army exercises against the possibility of riots along its borders. In September, the Swiss military conducted exercises dubbed ‘Stabilo Due,’ with scenarios involving violent instability across the EU.Switzerland has maintained an avowedly neutral stance for decades, and refused to join the eurozone...

Spain is ready to request a euro zone bailout for its public finances as early as next weekend but Germany has signalled that it should hold off, European officials said on Monday. The latest twist in the euro zone's three-year-old sovereign debt crisis comes as financial markets and some other European partners are pressuring Madrid to seek a rescue programme that would trigger European Central Bank buying of its bonds. "The Spanish were a bit hesitant but now they are ready to request aid," a senior European source said. Three other euro zone senior euro zone sources confirmed the shift...

In a letter addressed to Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, his fellow coalition leaders -- PASOK’s Evangelos Venizelos and Democratic Left’s Fotis Kouvelis -- Justice Minister Antonis Roupakiotis and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras, six judges and prosecutors associations have claimed that the proposed cuts in their salaries and pensions devised by the government are unconstitutional. Judges and magistrates have been staging a series of rolling work stoppages in recent weeks, while administrative judges have said they will extend their industrial action until October 5.

Greek police protesting against austerity cuts blocked the entrance to the riot police headquarters on Thursday, preventing buses carrying riot police from leaving for the site of major demonstrations this weekend. The government plans to slash police pay in a new round of spending cuts worth nearly 12 billion euros over the next two years. The savings plan is expected to provoke new street protests in the coming weeks by austerity-weary Greeks fed up with repeated wage and pension cuts.

Even as Greece desperately tries to avoid defaulting on its debt, American companies are preparing for what was once unthinkable: that Greece could soon be forced to leave the euro zone. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has looked into filling trucks with cash and sending them over the Greek border so clients can continue to pay local employees and suppliers in the event money is unavailable. Ford has configured its computer systems so they will be able to immediately handle a new Greek currency. No one knows just how broad the shock waves from a Greek exit would be, but...

Spain has issued a veiled warning that it will not accept a full bail-out from Europe if the terms are too harsh, a move that would paralyse the European Central Bank and call the euro’s survival into question. In an escalating game of brinkmanship, Spanish finance minister Luis de Guindos said his country is not yet willing to sign a Memorandum giving up fiscal sovereignty to EU inspectors. “First of all, one must clarify the conditions,” he told German newspaper Handelsblatt. Mr de Guindos said the crisis engulfing the region is larger than any one country and warned north Europe...

Even as Greece desperately tries to avoid defaulting on its debt, American companies are preparing for what was once unthinkable: that Greece could soon be forced to leave the euro zone. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has looked into filling trucks with cash and sending them over the Greek border so clients can continue to pay local employees and suppliers in the event money is unavailable. Ford has configured its computer systems so they will be able to immediately handle a new Greek currency. No one knows just how broad the shock waves from a Greek exit would be, but...

Italy's public debt hit an all-time high in June of almost €2 trillion and the annual budget deficit was also bigger than a year before, due largely to Italy's share of bailouts for other eurozone states, the central bank announced. Public debt at the end of June rose €6.6 billion to €1.973 trillion, the Bank of Italy said yesterday (13 August), as the Treasury's cash reserves increased by €10.3 billion. Italy's benchmark bond yields remain close to 6% despite tough austerity measures introduced by Prime Minister Mario Monti's government. With the country mired in a deep recession, markets are skeptical...

What does Greece have to do with the next US president? Or the current debate about a "political and fiscal union" in Europe? Readers tempted to shrug shoulders and say "not much" would be ill-advised. The main topic in the US campaign ahead of the 6 November presidential elections is the economy. And Europe has become the bogeyman for the Republican camp. "I see our President making us more and more like Europe. I don't want to be like Europe, I want to be like America," Republican candidate Mitt Romney said on Sunday (12 August) during a campaign event in...

Greece should start paying half of its pensions and state salaries in drachmas as part of a gradual exit from the eurozone, a leading German conservative was quoted on Monday as saying. Alexander Dobrindt, general secretary of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavaria-based sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), has long argued that Greece would be better off outside the eurozone. "With Greece we have reached the end of the road. There must not be any further aid. A country which does not have the will to fulfil the conditions, or is not able to do...

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Tuesday he expected the governor of Sicily to resign following a growing financial crisis that has pushed the autonomous region close to default. Monti said in a statement there were "grave concerns" that the island could default and he said he had written to the governor Raffaele Lombardo seeking confirmation that he would resign by the end of the month.

How bad is Europe’s economic climate? Switzerland, Germany and Denmark have negative 2 year sovereign yields. This means that investors are paying the governments to store their funds! Switzerland has been in negative territory for a while. Note the red line that is off the chart! Germany, the European “Big Dog,” has recently joined the negative yield club. And the Netherlands, where they serve mayonnaise on their french fries (I tried it), has also recently joined the negative yield club. And these are NOMINAL yields. Even the U.S. where the 2 year sovereign rate is 0.258% and the inflation rate...

Addressing the European Parliament yesterday (3 July) in Strasbourg, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso slammed British euroskeptics for their divisive behavior and taking pleasure in the eurozone's troubles. "Let me tell you that it is puzzling that you seem to delight in the difficulties of the euro area," Barroso told the British Tories, adding that this was in stark contrast with the position taken by Prime Minister David Cameron. Barroso was taking aim especially at Conservative MEP Martin Callanan, who has repeatedly criticized bank bailouts as wasting taxpayers' money and talked in favor of eurozone exits for some countries....

India will pledge an additional $ 10 billion to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) firewall against a eurozone financial conflagration. This was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his opening speech at the Group of 20 summit in Mexico. The money will be part of an estimated $63-billion contribution by the BRICS countries, the emerging group og economies currently chaired by India, to the IMF’s $430-billion emergency fund. The BRICS countries, comprising Brazil Russia India China and South Africa, had earlier agreed that their contributions would be conditional on the IMF enhancing their voting rights and “that this recourse...

The eurozone crisis can be traced more to political than economic and financial causes, Emma Bonino, vice president of the Italian Senate and a former European Commissioner told EurActiv Italia. She says it is mostly a problem of governance. The EU Summit this week (28-29 June) is not a meeting as many others: “It’s a key date for the EU, almost a point of no return,” she said, reasserting the need for a United States of Europe. She spoke on the margin of a conference organized by European Movement Italy, ahead of the Rome mini-summit on 22 June. Bonino shares...