MY POINT OF VIEW : David Cameron is now speaking more like the type of person of Scots ancestry, whom I’ve known throughout my life, in four different countries. I, too, was named after the Old Testament legend. Let us hope this David is able to skilfully negotiate, with his slingshot, an escape from the crushing, networking giant of the Continent, knowing euphorically as the ‘Guy Fawkes Club’ – to put it into context. As every attempt has been made to make the bible look irrelevant in today’s world (just see what Romans Ch1v22-32 says of homosexuality), those directing the course for British governments seemingly more concerned to make it easier for the Anglican church to be gobbled up by the Guy Fawkes Club – which long ago gave up any pretence of following Scripture (apart from the subject of marriage – talk of straining at a gnat...swallowing a camel)! Perhaps David has done a crash course in Comparative Religion, and has noticed how undemocratic it has been, for mostly Romans to have held key positions in government & quasi government organisations since UK membership of the Common Market – if only because no decent, self respecting Protestant could bring his/herself to be involved in the systematic destruction of the English Speaking peoples, to advantage that jealous rabble on the Continent. Which Cardinal was it who said, ‘Secret mines may take the town when open batteries fail,’ – on the very same subject ! At last, David Cameron is speaking like a Prime Minister of the Greatest little Britain of all time! UK only started to prosper, to the benefit of the rest of the world, also, when Henry VIII cut the haemorrhage of resources to Italy, & UK began to stand on her own two feet, trusting only in holy scripture, & herself. Mussolini’s mentoring Hitler was meant to reverse all that, & when it didn’t, citizens steeped in Mussolini’s theory & logic began settling in the nations of the victors after cessation of WW2 hostilities, with Mussolini’s Plan B. Part of that was Franca Arena’s setting up our first ever republican movement in Australia, & Ray Bellisario, family also from Italy, setting up England’s first republican movement since Cromwell, to discredit the leadership which caused Mussolini to lose, while other aspects of his culture were trumpeted as superior both directly & subliminally in influential nations, so that, for instance, cat spew chino & pissa (my spelling) became something considered superior, & with an arrogantly assumed dash of romance attached to it. A sense of inferiority amongst the nationals of some other countries, about their own cultures, only helped feed the appetite for self aggrandisement, of those keen to rebuild a new Roman Empire. To assist in this plan the IRA were entrusted with the removal of those who could have warned Great Britain’s leadership what was really going on: battle experienced heroes like the Queen’s relative, Earl Mountbatten, & Airey Neave, MP. I fear, though, that Cameron’s telling the nation how he would vote in any referendum, will tend to make it a foregone conclusion, as voters seem to follow what is seen as the ‘party line.’ Even the Soviet Union discovered that ‘individualism’ whether as nations or as persons, do far better when left to find their own level, instead of being part of some vast metaphorical farm growing peanuts, with individual humans’ means of self expression being emasculated – as though ‘bigger’ is ‘better !’ The communist experiment failed, so why allow catholic activists promote the lie that the British were better off under the Treaty of Rome? It has been an entirely religion driven exercise, cynically aimed at achieving what Mussolini failed to during WW2.

And the dollar falllsss, and the markets rrrriseee...?? abslute madness...?

LONDON—Euro-zone industrial output declined the most in three years in November, pulled lower by countries in the region's south facing recession as they attempt to cut debt and deficits through austerity policies. The decline is a further indication that the wider economy could contract for a third consecutive quarter in the final three months of 2012 as fiscally frail countries struggle with still-high borrowing costs and demand for goods suffers amid continuing job cuts. Output dropped 3.7% from a year earlier, the biggest decrease since November 2009, when output slumped 7%, Eurostat, the official European statistical office said Monday. Industrial output fell 0.3% in November compared with October, the third consecutive slide on a month-to-month basis. The yearly decline was due to weakness across the board with production of intermediate and capital goods falling at the steepest pace since 2009. In October, industrial output retreated 3.3% on the year and 1.0% on the month, Eurostat said. The October data were revised after previously being reported as falling 1.4% on the month and 3.6% on the year. The November figures were weaker than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires last week projected the data to show industrial output rose 0.2% on the month and fell 3.2% on the year. The data provide further evidence that the economy of the 17-nation currency bloc contracted for a third straight quarter in the final three months of 2012. "November's euro-zone industrial production data provided further strong signs that the recession in the region as a whole intensified in the final quarter of last year," said Ben May, European economist for Capital Economics. Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal all saw production decline in November compared with October. Italy also published its full industrial production release Monday. Output fell 1.0% on the month and by 7.6% on the year in November last year, a bigger fall than expected. Output has declined for six straight months in monthly terms, and 15 consecutive months on an annual basis. Italy's national statistics agency Istat said the decline was mainly due to a fall in investment and energy output. Eurostat also reported that Germany saw a meager 0.1% monthly increase in November, while in France, output grew 0.5% over the same period.

Crass scaremongering by crass corrupt political "elite".

Crass scaremongering by crass corrupt political "elite".

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Viviane Reding, the vice-president of the European Commission, attacked the Prime Minister over the Government’s proposal to opt out of European Union law enforcement and policing measures. The justice commissioner expressed particular concern that the Government was “minded” to opt out from 135 EU crime and policing laws, including the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), which, she claimed, had “horrified” Britain’s own police force. “Do you want criminals and paedophiles running around freely on the streets? Is that really in the United Kingdom’s interest? It is crazy,” she said. In June 2014, the crime and policing legislation comes under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, handing control of sensitive extradition and policing issues to EU judges. Under the Lisbon Treaty, Britain must either opt out of every measure or allow the EU jurisdiction over all 135 pieces of European legislation, a substantial transfer of sovereignty.The usual and very clumsy socialist mantra, if you are not with us you're a fascist/pedophile/Nazi nut/racist or some such clap trap...English Common Law, based on hundreds of years of common sense, held us in good stead well before the perversion of EU Vermin Rights Charter screwed our society over....A lot of assertions by Reding about the importance of staying in the system that "she" has created, but no explanation as to the logic of her assertions, or why she thinks the world will come to an end the day we leave HER system. I think this is just a part of the orchestrated shadow boxing that we get daily from the EU functionaries, supported by the Cleggies, ahead of the much advertised Cameron speech, which itself may not amount to much anyway. Any attempt at a balanced debate will always be taken over by much loud shouting from the EU....Geez and I always thought all the paedophiles were in the parliamwnts (all, including the EU parliament) and now she screams they`re on the streets also?? Brussels help help-send over Inspector Clouseau !!!!

Over in Germany, cracks are starting to widen in the Angela Merkel's government. In the magazine Stern (in German), Horst Seehofer – who is head of the CSU, the Bavarian partner of Merkel's CDU party – sharply criticized decisions taken at the recent eurozone summit and threatened to break the coalition if further financial commitments were made to crisis-hit countries. Greek Socialist Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said today that he hoped Greece would be able to benefit from a European Union concession – already extended to Spain, Ireland and possibly Italy – allowing the use of EU rescue funding for the direct recapitalization of banks.---- Venizelos said:....I would like to hope that this will apply to Cyprus, Portugal and Greece. This would help reduce (Greek) debt. If it were to apply to Greece, it would reduce the country's debt, now somewhere above €330bn, by as much as €50bn, which has been earmarked for the country's banks as part of an earlier debt restructuring deal. The Pasok chief also presented a 10-point plan for Greece, which includes honouring the country's commitment to the country's creditors but extending the adjustment period by three years.,,,,Over to Athens, where Horst Reichenbach, the head of the EU taskforce created to speed up Greece's recovery using EU support funds, said Greece must prioritize paying out arrears it has racked up with suppliers to get funds flowing again to cash-strapped businesses. The EU task force, which is working to help Greece reform its bloated public sector, said the lack of financing risked undermining any progress achieved through reforms. Elsewhere ekathimerini.com reports that the government is ready to negotiate with the troika of the ECB, the EU and the IMF. It cites a government spokesman who said:We will present data that cannot be doubted, which will prove the dead-end we have been led to by the current policies, especially with regard to the recession and unemployment. Using this data as our weapon and presenting our alternative proposals, we believe that we will succeed in a new path being approved.We are making every effort to ensure there won't be any more sacrifices or job losses. The Greek government is expected to present its policy program in parliament on Thursday or Friday. Separately, the labor institute has warned that the actual number of unemployed Greeks, including the long-term jobless, will reach 1.6m, or close to 30% by the end of the year, rather than the 1.48m originally expected. The gloomy forecast comes a day after eurozone data showed that more than one in two Greek young people are already out of work.

It's never going to happen....wishful thinking

Major British financial institutions, like the Royal Bank of Scotland, are drawing up contingency plans in case the unthinkable veers toward reality, bank supervisors said Thursday. United States regulators have been pushing American banks like Citigroup and others to reduce their exposure to the euro zone. In Asia, authorities in Hong Kong have stepped up their monitoring of the international exposure of foreign and local banks in light of the European crisis. For the growing chorus of observers who fear that a breakup of the euro zone might be at hand, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany has a pointed rebuke: It’s never going to happen. But some banks are no longer so sure, especially as the sovereign debt crisis threatened to ensnare Germany itself this week, when investors began to question the nation’s stature as Europe’s main pillar of stability. On Friday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Belgium’s credit standing to AA from AA+, saying it might not be able to cut its towering debt load any time soon. Ratings agencies this week cautioned that France could lose its AAA rating if the crisis grew. On Thursday, agencies lowered the ratings of Portugal and Hungary to junk. While European leaders still say there is no need to draw up a Plan B, some of the world’s biggest banks, and their supervisors, are doing just that. “We cannot be, and are not, complacent on this front,” Andrew Bailey, a regulator at Britain’s Financial Services Authority, said this week. “We must not ignore the prospect of a disorderly departure of some countries from the euro zone,” he said. Banks including Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Nomura issued a cascade of reports this week examining the likelihood of a breakup of the euro zone. “The euro zone financial crisis has entered a far more dangerous phase,” analysts at Nomura wrote on Friday. Unless the European Central Bank steps in to help where politicians have failed, “a euro breakup now appears probable rather than possible,” the bank said.

ITALY - Mr Monti's appointment seemed a done deal earlier in the week, but two other candidates are now being openly discussed – Angelino Alfano, Mr Berlusconi's former justice minister, and Lamberto Dini, a former Bank of Italy official who headed a similar technocrat government during an earlier phase of political paralysis in the 1990s. Italy would be "playing with fire" if it proved unable to form a new government under Mr Monti and give him a clear mandate to enact the reforms, Corriere della Sera said in a front page editorial. Business leaders and most of the country's big unions launched a joint appeal for Mr Monti to be made the new prime minister in order to restore confidence in Italy's ability to cut its debt and calm the euro zone crisis. "By Monday, Italy must have a new emergency government, with a respected leader and the broadest possible consensus in parliament," their statement said. There are serious concerns in Italy that even if a Monti government could be formed, it could be brought down within months by political infighting and an inability to push through the deeply unpopular reforms, which have been demanded by the country's European leaders and the International Monetary Fund. "On the eve of Berlusconi's resignation, there is still great confusion," newspaper Corriere della Sera warned.

Euro fear as Spain and Italy's debt ratings are downgradedBritish banks and building societies lose rating while pressure mounts on EU to restore faith in single currencyThe eurozone crisis intensified on Friday when Spain and Italy were downgraded by the ratings agency Fitch, heightening fears over the health of Europe's banks. Fitch's move came at the end of a day which had already seen 12 UK banks and building societies downgraded by the rival agency Moody's and amid speculation about co-ordinated European action to bolster the finances of the continent's banks by next weekend. The euro fell against most major currencies, piling fresh pressure on European politicians to restore confidence in the single currency. Germany's Angela Merkel said Europe needed to find a solution for its banks by 17 October. Analysts from Capital Economics estimate the total financial package may top €200bn (£172bn). Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy of France are due to meet in Berlin on Sunday to discuss the crisis, with bank recapitalisation expected to be at the heart of their negotiations.

Moody's downgrades Italy: analyst reaction - Italy’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s for the first time in almost two decades on concern the government will struggle to reduce the region’s second-largest debt amid chronically weak growth.

I suspect money is secretly being printed and moved around to prop up Greek banks and maybe other European banks too. The Fed's enforced audit published recently shows they already disbursed at least $16 trillion (some reports claim as much as $23 trillion) to various establishments around the globe. Merkel, Sarkozy et all look much too smug to me and they know public anger is growing, particularly in America is growing by the hour.

Eurozone finance ministers have put off until next month any decision to give the green light for a further €8bn bailout for Greece despite recognising that the Athens government had made some considerable progress in slashing the country's debts. Jean-Claude Juncker, Eurogroup chairman, repeatedly made plain early on Tuesday that none of the eurozone countries was urging a Greek default and categorically denied that there was any question of Greece leaving the euro area. In a move certain to disappoint markets, the 17 finance ministers sent signals they had no intention of agreeing to reboot the zone's rescue fund of €440bn closer to the €2tn or more demanded by leading investors and analysts. EU officials reiterated that there was "no Plan B". But Juncker and Olli Rehn, the EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner, indicated that ministers had for the first time discussed measures to improve the bailout fund's efficiency and effectiveness in order to raise its firepower – code for raising the guarantees it needs for buying up more government bonds in the secondary market. Juncker said: "We consider that we should by no means increase the fund's financial volume." He dropped a broad hint that private bondholders would be forced to pay more than the 21% "haircut" agreed at the 21 July meeting that increased the fund's volume and approved the second €109bn bailout for Greece – ascribing that to "technical" reasons. Juncker and Rehn recognised Greece had made strides towards overcoming its debts and budget deficit but said that the Athens government had to be stricter about structural reforms and more ambitious in implementing privatisations.

"Nothing is really working at the moment". None of the markets are functioning. Until Greece defaults it's hard to see any resolution," said one senior London-based credit analyst. Credit default swaps on lenders as far afield as China and Australia, countries that until recently seemed immune to the chaos, have doubled in the last two months to levels not seen since the financial crisis. In Europe, French and Belgian government officials are due to meet on Monday to discuss the crisis enveloping Dexia as speculation mounts about a possible break-up of the Franco-Belgian lender. Last week, the cost of insuring Dexia bonds hit an all-time high of 900 basis points, nearly double the level just two months ago, meaning the annual cost to insure €10m (£8.59m) of the bonds is £900,000. "The money ran out in June and what you are seeing now is the beginning of a new credit crunch, except this time it will be truly global, not Western," said one senior London-based credit analyst. Dexia, along with other European lenders, has been hard hit by the closure of the interbank lending markets and the continuing unwillingness of investors to buy the bonds of eurozone banks. arbitraj@aol.com

"Europe must go for a big bang, a federation, the United States of Europe, or quite simply, integration" - Joseph Daul
For Joseph Daul MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group: "The time has come for the Eurozone countries and for all other EU states who want to be involved, to take decisive action by adopting, together and at the same time, measures which are strong enough to put an end to the doubts on Europe's ability to assume its responsibilities."
In a debate in the European Parliament on the economic crisis, Joseph Daul said that on a proposal by the Commission, the governments of the Eurozone and all those in the Union who wish to do so, should decide to deal drastically with their debt, collectively, and on the same day, by taking coordinated measures to guarantee the sustainability of the pension systems or to ensure the effective harmonisation of their fiscal policies, particularly on companies.
"By making an economic government reality, a government run by all the Eurozone countries, Europe would kill two birds with one stone: it would show its capacity to act in the long term, and it would strengthen unity among its citizens, who would finally be subject to the same rights and duties. By taking coordinated measures of budgetary discipline while promoting the necessary growth of our economies, the Eurozone would arm itself with converging rules, and would give a clear and strong signal of its willingness to strengthen integration", continued Joseph Daul.
Joseph Daul said: "Our citizens, although they are aware that this European crisis calls for a European response, not just a national response, are still questioning the capacity of national and European leaders to put an end to this crisis of confidence and low growth. What's at stake in the next three months is Europe's capacity to get back on the path to growth and employment, to preserve its way of life and defend its values. Only with a major act of integration will we finally be able to live up to the challenges", concluded Joseph Daul.

The incompetent and ill prepared EU Commissioner = EU economy commissioner Olli Rehn

EU economy commissioner Olli Rehn (the incompetent commissioner ) said a team which represents the troika of the Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF – would “provide technical support to the Greek authorities”. The previous team was pulled out of Athens earlier this month because of a lack of progress by the Greek government in reducing its deficit. Mr Rehn on Sunday praised Greece’s new cuts, saying they would “go a long way to meeting the fiscal targets” for 2010 and 2011. “Greece needs to meet the agreed fiscal targets and implement the agreed structural reforms to fulfil the conditionality and ensure funding from its partners,” he said.Philipp Roesler, Germany’s economy minister, said an “orderly default” for Greece could no longer be ruled out and branded the country’s deficit-reduction measures “insufficient”. The warning is likely to spook financial markets further and comes despite Greece yesterday announcing a fresh €2bn (£1.7bn) of budget cuts and the introduction of a country-wide real estate tax. Evangelos Venizelos, the finance minister, said the cuts and tax measure were necessary to allow Greece to meet obligations demanded by the European Union and IMF in exchange for bail-out funds. Writing in the Die Welt newspaper, Mr Roesler said: “To stabilise the euro, we must not take anything off the table in the short run. That includes as a worst-case scenario an orderly default for Greece if the necessary instruments for it are available.” He said such a default would mean “re-establishing the affected state’s ability to function, perhaps with a temporary restriction of its sovereign rights”. ..."perhaps with a temporary restriction of its sovereign rights" Temporary? I don't think so, this is the real agenda of the Eurocrats for all EU members.

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Saturday that reports of a draft IMF document showing a 200 billion euro (172 billion pound) shortfall in European banks' capital were misleading and the lender was still finalising its study. "There has been misreporting about the 200 billion euros, this number is tentative," Lagarde told a news conference after G7 and G8 finance talks in the southern French city of Marseille. "This is not a stress test that the IMF conducts nor is it the global capital need for European banking institutions, that it is not, and we are currently in discussions with our European partners to assess the global methodology until we reach a tentative draft. It will be published before the end of September."

Leading European experts have said that, although the German Court is unlikely to throw out the bail-out policy, which would cause chaos across the eurozone, it is likely to set conditions on continuing German support for the policy. Matt Persson, of the think tank Open Europe, said: "The Court will almost certainly approve the bail-outs, possibly citing as a reason that monetary stability is a legally protected interest. However, the Court is also susceptible to public opinion and, in order to guard its reputation, could well demand more influence for the German parliament and lay down additional constitutional red lines in return for approving the bail-outs." It could also make moves towards fiscal union in the eurozone even more complicated, he said. Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced criticism for not seeking fresh democratic mandates for the millions of euros the German government has provided in support for the eurozone's struggling nations such as Greece and Ireland. "Injecting more parliamentary democracy into the eurozone crisis is clearly a good thing but it will also further limit European Union leaders' room for manoeuvre to deal with the crisis, which in turn could increase market uncertainty," Mr Persson said. "Unfortunately for the ECB, under such a scenario it would once again be forced to pick up the responsibility of lender of last resort, as the European Financial Stability Facility will be too inflexible and unresponsive to play that role." Judges in the Constitutional Court will decide on Wednesday whether Merkel was right to sign off on multi-billion euro bail-outs for floundering economies. Five German professors launched the lawsuit which, even if it fails, has galvanised lawmakers in Berlin to demand more say in decision making.

A remarkably gloomy assessment of the world economy - Ms Lagarde warned that urgent action is required to stave off the threat of global recession and another credit crisis. Sounding a stark warning to stronger European countries such as Britain and Germany, the new IMF chief said: "We could easily see the further spread of economic weakness to core countries, or even a debilitating liquidity crisis." To reduce these risks, she called for "substantial" and mandatory recapitalisation to bolster European banks' balance sheets, which will be "key to cutting the chains of contagion". Ms Lagarde, who was speaking at the US Federal Reserve's annual forum at Jackson Hole, said the recapitalisation should first be financed through private channels, but could also be sourced from a Europe-wide bail-out fund. "Developments this summer have indicated we are in a dangerous new phase. The stakes are clear. We risk seeing the fragile recovery derailed. So we must act now," she said. Put simply, macroeconomic policies must support growth. Monetary policy also should remain highly accommodative, as the risk of recession outweighs the risk of inflation." Ms Lagarde's comments risk creating new panic about the funding levels and financial stability of European banks. There have been concerns that lending between banks has started drying up over recent weeks, which was a key sign of the "credit crisis" in 2008.

The European Central Bank will hold a conference call of its governing council to discuss its response to the debt crisis, an ECB source said. Italy's pledge to speed up austerity measures and whether the ECB should buy Italian government bonds are expected to be discussed. S&P's downgrading of the US credit rating on Friday added to fears over debt levels and economic growth in the world's biggest economy and in large European nations, such as Italy and Spain. As the effect was felt across the globe, China, the largest foreign holder of US debt, issued an extraordinary demand that Washington change its economic ways and address its "debt addiction". It said the rating reduction would be followed by more "devastating credit rating cuts" and global financial turbulence if the US failed to learn to "live within its means". "China, the largest creditor of the world's sole superpower, has every right to demand the United States address its structural debt problems and ensure the safety of China's dollar assets," it said. It also insisted the US should slash its "gigantic military expenditure and bloated social welfare costs", and repeated its demand for a new global reserve currency to replace the dollar. In London, opinion was split between those who believed the markets would take the US credit decision in their stride and others who believed it could trigger a series of events that would do untold damage to the global financial system. "The US government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone," the statement continued.

America did receive some support yesterday, with Francois Baroin, France's finance minister, insisting that he had total confidence in the US economy, while Russia said it would keep the current level of its US investments in national reserve funds.

Almost £50bn was wiped off the value of britain's 100 biggest companies on a day of global stock market mayhem triggered by a deepening of the eurozone crisis and fears for the US economy. After a day of massive stock market falls in Europe and the US of a kind not seen since the depths of the last economic downturn, traders said the atmospherewas reminiscent of the banking crisis of October 2008. Wall Street endured one of its worst days since the height of that crisis, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index closing more than 500 points or 4.3% lower at 11,383 in heavy volume, as it resumed a two-week streak interrupted only briefly on Wednesday. It was the biggest single-day loss since 2008. "For many traders this week has felt like the start of the banking crisis in 2008, which would go some way to explaining the panic selling we have seen today," said Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index. The fall on Wall Street is expected to cause further falls in the FTSE 100 index of leading shares today, after the index fell to its lowest close, 5393.14, since September 2010 yesterday. The futures market was predicting a further 100 point fall. Rumours were swirling around the City that hedge funds were being forced to sell assets such as gold in order to cover deepening losses on other investments. This led to a surprise 1% drop in gold, which in recent weeks had hit record highs of more than £1,000 an ounce as a safe haven bet in the eurozone and US debt crisis. Brent crude fell 5% to $107 a barrel amid signs of slowdown in the west's economies. Anxiety over the debt crisis in the eurozone, and increasingly in Italy, set the tone for nervous trading during the London morning, but the pace of the decline accelerated as Wall Street opened sharply lower. By early afternoon in New York the Dow Jones had declined by 400 points, resuming the two-week losing streak only briefly interrupted on Wednesday. Despite this week's 11th-hour agreement to raise the US debt ceiling, Wall Street is increasingly anxious over the health of the world's biggest economy. A major test comes today with the release of US employment data giving the latest health check of an economy which barely grew in the first half of the year.

EURO-ZONE - Fears that the eurozone crisis is escalating and further evidence of the weakness in the US economy drove stock markets lower on Wednesday as policy makers failed to restore confidence in global markets. The FTSE 100 index closed at its lowest level since November, after its biggest one day fall for nine months of 133 points. After a nerve-racking day Wall Street narrowly avoided its ninth consecutive day of falls – a losing streak unseen since 1978. A much anticipated speech by Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was delayed until European markets closed but failed to calm the storm on international financial markets that threatens to engulf his country and imperil the entire eurozone. Italy and Spain – whose prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has cut short his summer holiday – are now at the centre of the eurozone debt crisis that began with Greece more than a year ago and has enveloped Ireland and Portugal. European commission president José Manuel Barroso tried to inject calm into the markets by insisting that record high yields – interest rates – on Spanish and Italian government bonds were "unwarranted". "Developments in the sovereign bond markets of Italy and Spain are a cause of deep concern," Barroso said.

European politicians had hoped their deal on 21 July to bailout Greece for a second time and impose losses on bond holders would restore confidence in the eurozone. Their efforts have failed, particularly as US debt crisis compounded the febrile atmosphere in the markets. In France, shares in the second largest bank Société Générale were temporarily suspended – they eventually closed 9% lower in heavy turnover – after it took a €395m (£345m) hit on its exposure to Greece because of its contribution to the bailout plan. Concerns were also mounting that banks across the eurozone were finding difficulties in funding themselves on the markets. Huw van Steenis, banks analyst at Morgan Stanley, said: "Investors, we and some banks are increasingly concerned that funding markets won't reopen with sufficient depth or at good enough terms for Italian and Spanish issuers, requiring banks to take offsetting measures". Berlusconi's statement to the lower house of parliament faced immediate criticism for failing to tackle the problems facing the Italian economy even though he promised to work with unions and employers on a reform of Italy's notoriously rigid employment laws. He drew attention to the fact that his government had earlier given the green light to €9bn of infrastructure projects which he said would promote growth, especially in the poorer south.

The over 4 million Romanians who contribute 3% of their gross monthly income to one of the eight funds have thus found out after three years that they finance, without their knowledge, UK banks or car manufacturers in Germany. The eight funds invested around 130 million lei in foreign shares, such as those of BMW, Daimler and Louis Vuitton and a further 308 million lei in corporate bonds, such as those issued by UK banks Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and the Bank of Ireland. Investments of the eight funds on the Bucharest Stock Exchange amounted to 300 million lei, with the biggest investments targeting the five SIFs (Financial Investment Companies), Petrom and BRD, while investments in bonds issued by Romanian companies amounted to 50 million lei. Two thirds of the cumulated assets of the eight funds, i.e. around 2.2 billion lei, are invested in Romanian T-bills.

Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, 61, the man who bought the biggest company in Romania, Petrom, will step down as CEO of OMV, after a nearly ten-year term at the helm of the Austrian petroleum group. Tomorrow Petrom and OMV announce the last financial results under Ruttenstorfer. Ruttenstorfer and Treichl, another austrian - CEO of Erste Bank, the owner of BCR in Romania - who's mandate will expire in one year, can be considered the most powerful executives in Romania given that Petrom controls around 40% of fuel distribution, and BCR accounts for 20% of the banking market. In fact, the two are also heads of the supervisory boards of Petrom and BCR respectively, set up after the privatisation of the two companies to keep a close eye on the performance of chief executives.According to 2009 data, Petrom generated around 17% of OMV's business, with the local company accounting for more than half the hydrocarbon reserves controlled by the Austrians, while in Erste's case around 20% of its assets are accounted for by BCR assets. Ruttenstorfer's departure from the helm of OMV was announced as early as the end of March 2009, when it was decided to extend his mandate until April 2011, and to appoint Gerhard Roiss as CEO of the group after that date. Roiss, 59, is currently deputy CEO and head of the refining, marketing and petrochemical division. (Z.F)