Free Republic

Interest rates on new mortgages remained broadly steady in July compared to the previous month, new data from the Central Bank shows. The average interest rate for new mortgage agreements was 4.06% for the month. That compares to 4.04% in June. New fixed rate mortgage rates averaged 4.04%, while new variable rate home loans averaged 4.18% Despite the small month on month increase though, compared to July of last year, new mortgage interest rates are 1.43% higher. That is reflective of some of the European Central Bank interest rate increases being passed through to borrowers. Since July of 2022, the...

Brexit leader Nigel Farage has accused the European Union of rank hypocrisy for “funding Putin’s war machine”, as the bloc admitted to spending €35 billion on Russian gas since the invasion of Ukraine. Once again taking up the mantle of criticising the globalist bloc, Nigel ‘Mr Brexit’ Farage said that German and other EU member states are propping up the Russian economy with one hand while sanctioning the country not the other. “Not only is the Russian ruble back to where it was before the invasion, but the Germans keep buying huge volumes of gas and oil. Germany and...

Germany’s lockdown-loving health minister still wants compulsory vaccination to be implemented despite parliament not supporting the measure. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is reportedly still hoping to legally force everyone over the age of 18 in the European Union member-state to get vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus. This is despite the fact that there is now a significant lack of support for such forced vax measures in the country, with politicians in the thought-policing nation now looking at implementing different methods to tackle the disease. In an interview posted by public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, Lauterbach made clear that his dream scenario...

Earlier this week, Denmark lifted the last of its COVID-19-related travel restrictions. Entry restrictions have been continuously relaxed and since March 29, the last restrictions have been removed removed. Since March 1, the only remaining COVID-19 entry restriction has been a requirement for testing within 24 hours of entry into Denmark for persons who have not been vaccinated with a recognized vaccine or previously infected and who enter from countries outside the European Union and Schengen Area. This requirement was lifted at midnight on the night of March 29. As a result, there are no longer COVID-19 restrictions on...

For the first time in nearly two years, people in Berlin will not have to wear face masks in many shops, and other restrictions have been lifted. Here's a look at what's changed in the capital. For some people it’s ‘freedom day’, and for others it’s reckless. But regardless of what you think, the powers that be have spoken: several Covid-19 measures have been relaxed in Germany’s Hauptstadt Berlin as of Friday April 1st. What’s changed? From this date, masks are no longer compulsory in shops, museums, restaurants or schools – unless the business or facilities issues their own mask...

Spanish opinion polling suggests that the centre-right People’s Party (PP) and the populist VOX party could form an absolute majority in the Spanish parliament as the ruling Social Democratic Workers Party (PSOE) falters. Polling data from an IMOP-Insights survey suggested that the ruling PSOE of current Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez could lose as many as eleven seats in the parliament if an election were called, while VOX could significantly increase its current seat count of 52 to 80 and form a 177-seat majority with the PP in the 350-seat chamber....

Germany’s addiction to Russian gas has come to backfire on the European state, with one minister saying that the country is now suffering ‘in the most brutal way’ thanks to the policymaking of previous administrations. Annalena Baerbock, a senior member of Germany’s Green party who is now serving as the country’s Federal Foreign Minister, has said that her nation is now suffering “in the most brutal way” as a result of its addiction to Russian gas. Baerbock’s comments come as German authorities prepare for Russia to cease its supply of gas to the country, after the G7 nation outright refused...

Germany is experiencing the highest level of inflation since the country was reunified in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall and economic growth projections have been cut in half amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. On Thursday, Germany’s federal statistics agency Destatis revealed that inflation has risen by 7.3 per cent over this time last year, up from 5.1 per cent in February.

There are difficult months ahead for Eurozone nations, with the head of Europe’s central bank warning that the ongoing Ukraine Crisis poses ‘significant’ dangers to the currency union. ‘Significant’ dangers to do with supply chain issues and the rising costs of food and energy are now facing the Eurozone, the head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, has warned. These impending dangers can all reportedly be traced back to the ongoing war in Ukraine, with Russia’s invasion of the country creating a number of significant economic pressures which appear to be threatening Eurozone nation-states. According to a report by...

Inflation in the 19 European countries that share the euro hit a 13-year high, challenging the European Central Bank’s (ECB) view that price pressures are largely benign and will soon fade. Consumer price inflation in the eurozone accelerated to 3.4 percent over the year in September, up from 3 percent a month earlier and 2.2 percent the month before that, according to Oct. 1 data (pdf) from Eurostat, the European Union’s statisics agency. That’s the highest reading since September 2008 and slightly ahead of analyst forecasts of 3.3 percent. A surge in energy costs was behind the bulk of the...

By Erik-Jan van Harn, economist at Rabobank Summary The Eurozone economy contracted by 12.1% in the second quarter. The German, French, Spanish and Italian economy contracted by 10.1%, 13.8%, 18.5% and 12.4% respectively Sentiment indicators point towards a pickup in economic activity, but do not towards a Vshaped recovery As long as there is no vaccine the probability of a second wave is real. Moreover, a vaccine does not necessarily mean that the economy can return to its pre-COVID mode of operation Permanent changes to the economy requires a different skillset from employees. The government should actively guide people...

The Eurozone economy will fall into a deeper recession this year than initially thought, and the recovery in 2021 will be less robust, according to an updated economic forecast released by the European Commission on Tuesday. The revised forecast predicts the economy of the 19 nations that use the euro will shrink 8.7% in 2020 before recovering by 6.1% next year. For the 27 countries that comprise the EU, a downturn of 8.3% is expected in 2020, before growing 5.8% in 2021. This means that in 2021 Europe will still be worse off than before the global outbreak of COVID-19...

The virus outbreak is exposing cracks in the foundation of Europe’s 21-year-old shared currency and festering animosities among its members, even as governments struggle to come up with a unified response where success or failure could mark the continent’s politics for years to come. Divisions between north and south, unhealed wounds from the 2010-2015 debt crisis and enforced budget austerity, as well as the lack of a powerful central treasury are haunting governments as they try to find a way to keep the economy afloat without blowing up national coffers. Finance ministers from the 19 countries that use the euro...

The coronavirus outbreak has made a recession in Europe’s largest economy inevitable in the first half of this year, Germany’s council of economic advisers said on Monday, predicting that output could shrink by up to 5.4% this year. The panel, which advises the government on economic policy, said its baseline scenario — in which the economic situation would normalize over the summer — was for the economy to contract by 2.8% this year before potentially growing by 3.7% next year. But a more marked “V-shaped” recession curve with widespread halts to production or longer-lasting public health measures, could lead to...

The eurozone's stagnating economy has suffered its worst performance for six years with uncertainty over Brexit partly to blame, economists said today. The forecast mirrors the gloom also predicted by the European Central Bank, which downgraded growth in the eurozone for next year to a feeble 1.1 per cent.

Amid a slowing economy, and to counter the slowdown, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz plans to support corporate research and development with incentives worth €1.27 billion ($1.43 billion) annually from 2020, according to a draft of the plan seen by Reuters on Wednesday. Companies doing basic research or industrial development would be able to claim up to €500,000 in bonuses each year, according to the draft law. Previous versions of the bill limited the funds to small and mid-sized companies, but the latest version has no such restrictions. Only a week ago, the chancellor’s spokesman Steffen Seibert denied the need for...

European economic power Germany is coming under increasing pressure to boost spending to accelerate economic growth, as its massive surpluses create growing friction with other countries. The dispute has simmered since the 2008 global financial crisis, but French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned Friday that widening differences over economic policy among eurozone countries could undermine the currency union itself. “Growing economic divisions among member states are unsustainable in the long term and could result in the disappearance of the common currency project,” Le Maire told reporters on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Spring meetings....

The head of the European Central Bank warned that global friction over trade — such as U.S. threats to impose more tariffs — is holding back the economy as he underlined the bank’s readiness to deploy more stimulus if needed. Mario Draghi said Wednesday that an improving jobs market and rising wages were helping the economy in the 19 countries that use the euro but uncertainties like trade disputes and Brexit are hurting it. “Global headwinds continue to weigh on euro area growth,” he told a news conference after the central bank kept its key interest rates and policy promises...

The spread of illiberal ideology is threatening the euro, but it is an illusion that leaving it would offer an easier path, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Saturday. Warning that a half-finished monetary union could be at risk in the next crisis, Draghi made the case for sweeping changes in how the currency bloc operates and spreads around financial risk. “The fascination with illiberal prescriptions and regimes is spreading; we are seeing little steps back in history,” Draghi said in Pisa, Italy. “Only by continuing to make progress, freeing up individual energies but also fostering social equity,...

German conservative Manfred Weber, who is running to take over the European Union’s top job next year, said on Monday that turning the European bailout fund (ESM) into a European Monetary Fund (EMF) should be a priority. […] “The political picture behind that is that in the last eurozone crisis, we asked for the IMF’s (International Monetary Fund) help. Barack Obama was the president then, so partnership was possible. In future crises, which we can’t exclude happening, I as a European don’t want to be dependent on the White House.” …