Free Republic

German and French politicians are calling for a quantum leap in how the EU’s single currency is run, proposing an embryo eurozone treasury equipped with a eurozone finance chief, single budget, tax-raising powers, pooled debt liabilities, a common monetary fund, and separate organization and representation within the European parliament. They also propose that all teenagers in the EU be given the chance to spend a subsidized six months in another European country. In an article published in the Guardian and other European newspapers, Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s social democratic leader and vice-chancellor in Angela Merkel’s coalition government, and Emmanuel Macron, France’s...

German Social Democratic Party (SPD) MEP Jo Leinen told The Local on Monday he was unhappy with comments from European Parliament (EP) President Martin Schulz, who suggested that Britain should be allowed to opt out of the call to work towards “ever closer union” among EU countries. “The only country that has opted out of European integration with special rules in the past decades has been Great Britain,” Schulz told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. “We would only be recognizing what has been true for London for a long time.” But Social Democratic MEP Jo Leinen told The Local that Schulz’s...

MADISON (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker tells a German audience that young people around the world will be stronger if a new trade agreement between the United States and the European Union can be reached.Walker made his comments Tuesday at the Hannover Messe trade show.A recording of his comments provided to The Associated Press shows the likely Republican presidential candidate voiced his support for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. Negotiations between the U.S. and EU began on it in 2013 but many Europeans remain skeptical over concerns about environmental protections, labor security and other issues.Walker referenced...

Belgian economist Alexandre Lamfalussy, who headed the institution that became the European Central Bank and was credited as one of the founders of the shared euro currency, has died at age 86. […] Lamfalussy headed the Frankfurt-based European Monetary Institute from 1994-97. The institute laid the groundwork for the creation of a supranational central bank to manage the new currency. The institute became the European Central Bank in July 1998, under its first president, Wim Duisenberg. The euro was introduced on Jan. 1, 1999, with 11 member countries. …

It might seem logical that triumph for David Cameron’s traditionally Euro-skeptic Tories would boost the likelihood of Britain splitting from the European Union in a referendum the prime minister has promised to call by 2017. But things are rarely so simple in European politics. Victory has given Cameron his best chance yet to push through enough reform within the EU to avoid “Brexit.” And the poor showing of the UK Independence Party—whose iconic leader Nigel Farage resigned after failing to win his seat—greatly frees up the British leader to seek a compromise with his EU counterparts. Cameron’s Conservatives also represent...

HSBC, Europe’s biggest bank, has ordered a review into whether it should move its headquarters out of Britain and potentially back to its former home in Hong Kong, threatening London’s reputation as a global hub for finance and investment. The announcement from HSBC, founded in Asia but a key part of the British establishment, prompted a warm response from Hong Kong, where it is revered as “The Bank”, and silence from the British government. The commitment to the review comes less than two weeks before British parliamentary elections on May 7 and poses challenges for both Prime Minister David Cameron...

European antitrust regulators on Wednesday charged the Russian energy giant Gazprom with abusing its dominance in natural gas markets, a move amounting to a direct challenge to the authorities in Moscow. The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, said that unfair pricing might have resulted in higher gas prices in Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which have long been wholly or substantially dependent on Russian gas. In those countries, the commission said, Gazprom was suspected of charging wholesalers prices that were significantly higher compared with the company’s costs or to benchmark prices.

Say four simple letters, TTIP, to many Europeans and you’re likely to be met with a blank stare. But in Germany, where resistance to the proposed US-EU free trade pact or Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is fiercest, the response is likely to be a volley of angry words. In fact, in the whole of Europe, perhaps only in Austria and Luxembourg is the interest and opposition likely to be of a similar magnitude, as a new round of talks—the ninth since last year—kicks off in New York on Monday. According to a YouGov poll published at the end of...

For over a fortnight, Europe's single warning to Greece has been that the chaos and misery of national bankruptcy await it unless its new left-wing government changes its anti-austerity tune. The message of impending doom appears to have gone largely unnoticed on the streets of Athens, where a mood of hope and optimism bordering on euphoria reigns as Greeks see themselves finally shaking off foreign shackles to shape their own destiny.

Speaking to BuzzFeed, Cameron admitted any future negotiations would be “tough”, but maintained his stance that a continuation of the status quo was “not an option”. The EU “isn’t working properly” and too many people are happy to “go on as they are”, Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday (16 March). “Europe isn’t working properly. You can see that by the fact that Britain, outside the euro, has created more jobs in the last five years than the other 27 put together,” said Cameron. “Rather than burying this under the carpet, let’s work out what needs to change.” […] Yesterday,...

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble confirmed on Tuesday that Germany has agreed to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), despite pressure from the US.Germany, France and Italy “want to bring our long experience … to help the bank build a solid reputation,” Schäuble said at a joint press conference in Berlin with Chinese vice-premier Ma Kai. “We want to make a contribution to the positive development of the Asian economy, in which German companies are actively taking part,” he said. France and Italy have also agreed to become members of the $50-billion institution, seen as a rival to the...

The E.U. Experiment Has Failedby Bruce ThorntonThursday, March 5, 2015 The slow-motion crisis of the European Union is the big story that rarely gets the attention it deserves. Even an event like the recent terrorist attack in France that left 17 dead is often isolated from the larger political, economic, and social problems that have long plagued the project of unifying the countries of Europe in order to harness its collective economic power, and to avoid the bloody internecine strife that stains its history. On the economic front, the E.U.’s dismal economic performance over the last six years was summed...

In an interview with Spiegel, celebrated French economist Thomas Piketty speaks about Alexis Tsipras’ election victory in Greece, Europe’s inability to fix its financial woes and what EU leaders can learn from the United States. […] “We may have a common currency for 19 countries, but each of these countries has a different tax system, and fiscal policy was never harmonized in Europe. It can’t work. In creating the eurozone, we have created a monster.” […] “We need a fiscal union and a harmonization of budgets. We need a common debt repayment fund for the eurozone, like the one proposed...

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has described his country as the most bankrupt in the world and said European leaders knew all along that Athens would never repay its debts, in blunt comments that sparked a backlash in the German media on Tuesday. A documentary about the Greek debt crisis on German public broadcaster ARD was aired on the same day euro zone finance ministers met in Brussels to discuss whether to provide Athens with further funding in exchange for delivering reforms. "Clever people in Brussels, in Frankfurt and in Berlin knew back in May 2010 that Greece would never...

Germans are more supportive of how the EU is run than any other member state, but experts tell The Local that may only last as long as the economic good times. Among Germans, 69 percent told Gallup pollsters that they “approve” of the EU leadership's job performance in 2014. That was well above the average approval rating of 49 percent across all member states, while just three other countries—Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg—topped 60 percent approval. “[The results] might be an indication that some Germans now start to identify leadership within the European Union with their own government and with the...

Fast-food giant McDonald’s has avoided paying €1 billion in tax across the EU, and should be included in the EU’s probe on “sweetheart” tax deals, according to a report published Wednesday (25 February). The report, published by the European Federation of Public Service Unions, its US Counterpart and the charity War on Want, accuses McDonald’s of “aggressive and potentially abusive optimization of its structure which has led to the avoidance of significant amounts of tax across the continent”. It concludes that “it is likely that the company reached a secret tax deal with Luxembourg”. In July 2009, the Happy-Meal maker...

The European Union’s executive has unveiled a vast plan to boost coordination between the EU’s 28 national energy markets to wean Europe off unstable Russian gas supplies and provide cheaper energy for consumers. European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič on Wednesday called it “undoubtedly the most ambitious energy project” since the inception of the EU over half a century ago. He believes that improving links across borders in Europe’s energy grid could save businesses and consumers up to €40 billion ($45.4 billion) a year. A more energy-independent Europe will also increase the EU’s political options in eastern Europe. […] “Our...

One in five Germans believe that a revolution would be the only way to truly reform society, a study released by the Free University of Berlin on Monday shows. Anti-capitalism, anti-fascism and anti-racism were all are prominent positions according to the study entitled “Against state and capital—for the revolution”, which has revealed a public much further to the left than previously thought. In the report, 20% of the people surveyed agreed with the statement that “Living conditions won’t be improved by reforms—we need a revolution”. A similar percentage of people said they saw the rise of a new fascism in...

Poverty levels in Germany have reached an all-time high, with 15.5 percent of the population—or 12.5 million people—affected. Single parents and unemployed people were the hardest hit, according to a report from a welfare association. Over 40 percent of single parents and almost 60 percent of the unemployed are poor, according to the Paritätische Gesamtverband, an umbrella organization for associations focusing on social services. Older people and retirees, around 15 percent of whom are considered poor, are the fastest growing demographic group in terms of poverty, according to the report released on Thursday. One of the report authors, Christian Woltering,...

To many on the outside, Germany looks like a big, rich country enjoying the benefits of being Europe's largest economy. Inside, Germans know that looks can be deceiving. As in any nation, parts of Germany suffer from poverty, and Germans have always assumed they knew which parts: the west is rich and the east is poor. But a new report reveals the truth isn't that simple. The wealth imbalance in Germany isn't just between east and west; there are also large regional differences between the country's north and south. And across the country there are pockets of poverty more crushing...