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"We've been looking at how we can bring back confidence in the European Union," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Warsaw late on Monday as he arrived for a meeting of ministers in the Future of Europe Group, which he launched in March. The 11-nation group is poised to submit a raft of recommendations to Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso - heads, respectively, of the bloc's intergovernmental and executive branches, neither of whom are elected by the EU's 500 million people. "We have to understand that we are a community of values and we have to defend...

European banks would leave London “in very short order” if Britain voted to exit the European Union, a senior Goldman Sachs executive said in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Michael Sherwood, a vice-chairman at the bank, said the prospect of a British withdrawal was a real worry given Prime Minister David Cameron’s plans to hold a referendum on the subject if re-elected in 2015. … Goldman’s Sherwood predicted European banks would quickly relocate if Britain did sever its EU ties. “Forget what we would do. Every European firm would be gone in very short order,” he was quoted as...

The European Commission is planning use of EU budget funds for the next rescue of Greece, roping Britain into future responsibility for shoring up the eurozone currency structure. Günther Oettinger, Germany's EU commissioner, said on Sunday that a third package worth over €10bn will be needed in 2014 and will partly come in the form of direct help rather than a debt haircut for existing creditors. Most of the rescue aid so far for Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, and Spain's banking system has come from the eurozone's rescue machinery, outside the EU treaty structure. Use of EU budget funds appears not...

A fossil of the oldest known ancestor of modern rats—an agile creature that could climb, burrow and eat just about anything—has been unearthed in China, scientists said Thursday. The newly named species Rugosodon eurasiaticus had flexible ankles for tree-climbing and sharp teeth that could gnaw both animals and plants, according to the journal Science. These adaptations helped the ancient rat-like rodents known as multituberculates become among the longest lived mammals in history, said the study led by Chong-Xi Yuan from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing. Believed to originate 160 million years ago during the Jurassic Period, they...

The euro firmed and Athens breathed a sigh of relief after European leaders agreed to rescue debt-ridden Greece, but markets stayed cautious amid lingering concerns over the currency's health. "I think Europe proved its capacity for action on a major issue," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel as European Union leaders wound up a two-day summit mulling a new 10-year jobs and growth strategy for the bloc's half a billion people. "For all of us it is important that our common currency ... remains stable and that's why yesterday was important for the euro," Merkel said of a rescue plan brokered...

NARAL Pro-Choice America, formerly known as the National Abortion Rights Action League, appears concerned it may be losing the battle to depict a 20-week abortion ban as "extreme." The group expressed outrage that a host on NBC, a network usually sympathetic to abortion rights advocates, implied the 20-week ban is "reasonable." "Is it not reasonable to put late-term restrictions on abortion ... ?" David Gregory of "Meet the Press" asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on July 14. Gregory pressed Reid twice more, repeatedly using the word "reasonable," after Reid continued to dodge the question. Reid promised to "look at"...

Europe’s debt-crisis strategy is near collapse. The long-awaited recovery has failed to take wing. Debt ratios across southern Europe are rising at an accelerating pace. Political consent for extreme austerity is breaking down in almost every EMU crisis state. And now the US Federal Reserve has inflicted a full-blown credit shock for good measure. None of Euroland’s key actors seems willing to admit that the current strategy is untenable. They hope to paper over the cracks until the German elections in September, as if that is going to make any difference. A leaked report from the European Commission confirms that...

The Bank of Japan decided to hold back on its unprecedented monetary stimulus (at least on hold). Soveregin yields around the world rose on the news. Japan and the US yields only rose 4 basis points, but Greece 10 year yields spiked 86 basis points. The global fear of retracting Fed support is palpable. Equity markets fell around most of the world as well. The USD/JPY Yen exchange rate? Since May 2nd, the USD/JPY rate rose after May 2nd, but has been declining as of late. And Fannie Mae 30 year 3.0% duration (risk) continue to rise since May 2nd....

The potential for social unrest in European Union countries is higher than anywhere else in the world and the already yawning gaps between rich and poor, a major trigger, are likely to widen globally, the International Labour Organisation said on Monday. Those most vulnerable, the report said, were Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. However the risk of social unrest had declined in Belgium, Germany, Finland, Slovakia and Sweden since 2010. Overall, the risk of unrest in the EU "is likely to be due to the policy responses to the ongoing sovereign debt crisis and their impact...

In an interesting development in the battle to see which country is bright enough to exit the euro first, a book urging a return to the Escudo (the prior Portuguese currency) became an instant a bestseller in Portugal. The Wall Street Journal reports Idea of Euro Exit Finds Currency in Portugal. A book by a Portuguese economist achieved a small feat on its release last month: It instantly topped Portugal's bestseller list, overtaking several diet books and even the popular erotic novel "Fifty Shades of Grey." The book, "Why We Should Leave the Euro" by João Ferreira do Amaral, has...

April 03, 2009 Think Islamist extremists don't have their eyes on conquering Europe? Think again. This video produced by Ibnul Akwa links the recent successes of Shabaab in Somalia and of al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Eastern North Africa with the eventual reconquista of Spain. There's nothing original here...

The gilded lifestyle of MEPs has been compared to the uncontrolled excesses of ancient Rome after research showed their perks have not been dented despite biting austerity measures. From Italian MEPs who enjoy free haircuts to Maltese ones who get 52 free gallons of petrol a month, the perks—and expenses—continue unabated for the representatives of European Union nations. MEPs from the 27 EU nations are paid salaries of £137 million ($207 million) a year, according to research by German pricing watchdog Preisvergleich.de, and some earn 740 percent more than the average citizen. …

The European Union is to ban olive oil jugs and dipping bowls from restaurant tables in a move described by one of Britain’s top cooks as authoritarian and damaging to artisan food makers. The small glass jugs filled with green- or gold-colored extra virgin olive oil are familiar and traditional for restaurant goers across Europe, but they will be banned from 1 January 2014 after a decision taken in an obscure Brussels committee earlier this week. From next year, olive oil “presented at a restaurant table” must be in prepackaged factory bottles with a tamper-proof dispensing nozzle and labeling in...

Amid growing calls from Tory MPs for David Cameron to respond to the Ukip threat by bringing forward legislation on an EU referendum, Farage warned that his party would not go away even if No 10 "starts singing the same song". William Hague, who famously suffered a major defeat in the 2001 election after tacking to the right, called for a cautious response to Ukip as he warned of the dangers of "quick fixes". Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said many Ukip voters were "frustrated Conservatives". As the Tories work out their response to Ukip, which won nearly a quarter...

Even if Germany had to write off the loans it extended to Southern European countries as part of the eurozone’s emergency rescue measures, the economic advantages of its membership would still be overwhelming, according to a recent study by the Bertelsmann Stiftung. … “Without the euro, growth of the real gross domestic product [GDP] in Germany would be lower by about 0.5 percentage points per year,” the study says, warning that without that euro, Europe “would fall apart politically” and become “a losing player in international competition.” And projections for the future are looking bright, the study adds. “Adding up...

The World Gold Council has advised Italy to deploy its 2,000 tonnes of gold to break free of EMU austerity dictates. By using the reserves – the world's fourth largest – to collateralise the first chunk of any losses for bondholders, Italy could raise €400bn or so on the capital markets and determine its own future for a while. Italy did this in 1974 when it borrowed $2bn from the Bundesbank, using gold as collateral. Portugal did the same thing to borrow $1bn from the BIS in the 1975-1977, and India used its gold to borrow from Japan in 1991....

The European Union’s finance ministers today decided to give Ireland and Portugal an extra seven years to pay back loans granted to them as part of their bailouts. The decision, taken by ministers at their meeting in Dublin, should make it easier for those countries to leave their bailout programs and return to normal bond financing markets in the coming months. … Ireland was forced into a €67.5 billion ($88.3 billion) rescue in November 2010 and will receive its last installment in November this year. Portugal obtained a deal worth €78 billion ($102 billion) in May 2011 and will receive...

Austria has accused the UK of being a haven for money launderers ahead of an EU meeting in Dublin, with Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal and Slovenia’s (potential) bailout needs also on the agenda. The Austrian finance minister, Maria Fekter, described Britain as “the island of the blessed for tax evasion and money laundering” in an interview with her country’s Kurier newspaper on Thursday (11 April). Comparing the UK and its “protectorates”—micro-states subject to British law—to Cyprus in terms of hosting secretive foundations and trusts, she noted: “Just as we urged the abolition of sealed foundations in the Cyprus rescue to drain...

Most attention lately has been on Cyprus, Spain, and Italy. Long-time troubles have been brewing in Portugal and I have an update coming up shortly. First consider Underwater: The Netherlands Falls Prey to Economic Crisis.The Netherlands, Berlin's most important ally in pushing for greater budgetary discipline in Europe, has fallen into an economic crisis itself. The once exemplary economy is suffering from huge debts and a burst real estate bubble, which has stalled growth and endangered jobs. "Underwater" is a good description of the crisis in a country where large parts of the territory are below sea level. Ironically, the...

Eurozone Faces New Challenge As Portugal Blocks Cuts The eurozone crisis threatens to flare up again this week after Portugal's constitutional court blocked the country's planned austerity programme. By Philip Aldrick 07 Apr 2013 The single currency bloc has already been destabilised by Cyprus and now faces fresh uncertainty if Lisbon cannot find new savings to meet the conditions of its €78bn (£66bn) bail-out. Pedro Passos Coelho, Portugal’s prime minister, said last night that the rejection posed “serious obstacles and risks” to Portugal’s progress in meeting its bail-out commitments, but that it would “do everything to avoid a second rescue”....