The ERM  (European Exchange Mechanism) should have exposed the intent to all. This was and still is with the Euro, the French attempt to protect their economy from competition and the German attempt to export their economy and world view to everyone (but the French, at least for now. One assumes each believes it will win and impose its view on the other. The idea of the ECB was for the French to obtain indirect control over the bundesbank). When Britain left the ERM on white Wednesday it  quickly recovered and became again competitive which drew howls from the French and Germans of "unfair" competition. The same criticism leveled at other nations as they too fell out of the ERM and recovered. The point being that the regulatory framework was intended to prevent nation states using economic instruments to address inflation, unemployment competition etc, if it was to the detriment of France. In their turn the Spanish Italians Danes Swedes and Irish all fell foul of the cosy arrangement between France and Germany and the sweetheart deals that saw Germany act to protect the French economy every time it was in danger but left the rest go hang. Nothing has changed. This may be presented as an "all for one, one for all" community where the good of the EU is paramount over the good of the nation states and it clearly does require that the nation states put the good of the community above the good of the nation state. Except that for all the fine words and aspirational clap-trap it has never ever been that. Nor will it ever be....One of the aim of the Euro was to build an area of fair competitiveness, in areas where currency wars of the 70/80s and race to the bottom was the rule.  Saying that the British economy "became again competitive" when Britain left the ERM is a bit much: it was not a miracle but a mirage.  Problem with the ERM was that the British government was a strong advocate of a strong currency; they entered the ERM with a much too strong Pound; the British economy could stand the pace ...Mr Cameron has pledged to campaign to remain in the EU if he is able to get significant reforms from Brussels over the coming months. Speaking in the Commons, Mr Cameron hinted that he would expect his ministers to vote with the Government in the referendum. A number of eurosceptic ministers have privately indicated that they would like to be able to campaign for Britain to leave the EU.

 

Warning - greeks want out of EU !!!!

Signs that the standoff between Greece and its trio of lenders is finally ending has cheered investors, leading to a tremendous relief rally in shares in the country’s companies. The Athens Stock Exchange rose by more than 7pc on Thursday morning as negotiators moved closer to a deal. Leaders said that talks had intensified after coming out of a late-night meeting on Wednesday. Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, said that negotiators had “decided to intensify efforts to resolve the differences that remain”. “The European leaders realised that we must offer a viable solution and the chance for Greece to return to growth,” he said. Mr Tsipras said that there would be a further meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on Thursday. Mr Juncker said that “personal ties” between himself and Mr Tsipras have been “re-established”, suggesting that the mood at the debt discussions had improved.

Banks are bracing for hundreds of millions of pounds in new claims for foreign exchange manipulation from class-action lawsuits triggered by last week’s vast market rigging fines.

Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and four other banks were ordered on Wednesday to pay $6bn (£3.84bn) by UK and US authorities.   The Barclays penalty represents the biggest bank fine in British history. The regulators, detailing how traders gathered in chatrooms using monikers such as “The Cartel” and “Coiled cobra” to rig the $5.3 trillion-a-day currency market, also forced the banks to plead guilty to criminal charges. Lawyers say that the fines, as well as an investigation from the European Commission, could be a springboard to damaging civil litigation in the UK and Europe. Some lawyers believe settlements could ultimately exceed the fines handed out by regulators, although the total bill will depend on how claimants assess the scale of damages they have suffered.

Traders at the banks colluded to manipulate currency benchmarks used to peg foreign exchange orders from corporate clients, meaning they made huge profits while clients were ripped off.

Several class-action lawsuits have been filed and settled in the US, with banks paying out hundreds of millions in compensation. Citigroup, one of the six banks to be fined last week, said on Wednesday that it had agreed $394m of payments to settle private cases in the US, and RBS said it had reached a deal, without revealing how much it will pay.  US laws make it easier to arrange such cases, but firms in the UK are now canvassing support for action on this side of the Atlantic.  Law firm Hausfeld, which has been involved in several class action cases in the US and has secured settlements worth $800m, is drumming up support from institutions in the UK and Europe. It says court cases are expected on the continent in the coming months.

The EU is increasingly weaker and it is becoming impossible to control the processes that are taking place on its territory, informs Sputnik International, which states that Europe will become a playground for the US and Russia, which are trying to expand their influence.  According to the publication Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, the EU is no longer capable of controlling the processes that are happening on the European continent because the policy is dictated by NATO, led by the US, and the European governments are mere members of the audience.  According to the German newspaper, the government led by Angela Merkel is weakened by the espionage scandal, while the EU is no longer a community of values, just a purely economic community, in which every party is trying to balance its selfishness. The EU is helpless when its conflicts appear on the European territory, Sputnik International further shows, and it says: "Whether it's Greece, Ukraine or Macedonia, the EU governments have proven incapable of making efficient decisions and are only acting as observers.   For example, this is valid for the conflict in Ukraine, where the United States have forced the European governments to impose economic sanctions on Russia, one of the most important trade partners of the EU, Sputnik International also says, which adds that now, the EU has to pay twice: first of all the business sector is suffering significant losses because of Russia's sanctions, and second of all, European taxpayers have to finance new loans to keep Ukraine's economy afloat.  According to the German newspaper, the EU is becoming a playground for Russia and the US, which are trying to extend their areas of influence in the region: "Europe is a major energy market if the US decides to export the technology of hydraulic fracking and Russia is trying to secure its exports of natural gas".  "It is highly unlikely that the two opponents will have a monopoly, but even without it, both of them can earn a lot of money", the article further states. Thus, the outrageous statement of American official Victoria Nuland - "Fuck the EU"- seems to have become a reality, the EU states.  According to Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, this negative trend is the logical consequence of the contradictory development of the EU, which is derived from the paradox of arrogance and of the strife within the EU.

Romania’s prime minister is under pressure to resign after being indicted for forgery, tax evasion, and money laundering as part of a far-reaching anti-corruption drive by state prosecutors.

Victor Ponta, who has been prime minister since 2012, has refused to resign, saying only parliament could dismiss him, but the president, Klaus Iohannis, called for him to step down yesterday. Iohannis, who beat Ponta in presidential elections in November, said it was “an impossible situation for Romania”.  Parliament is due to vote next week on whether or not to lift Ponta’s immunity from prosecution. If it votes to shield him, political observers predict it will trigger a constitutional crisis, pitting prime minister and parliament against the president and the judiciary.

Ponta was called in to the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) in Bucharest yesterday, to be presented with an extensive charge sheet. He is accused of filing forged invoices for a total of $45,000 for work he did not do in 2007 and 2008, when he was a lawyer.

The DNA statement also said that an investigation would continue into alleged conflict of interest during Ponta’s term as prime minister, for making his closest business associate a minister. The DNA said there was “reasonable suspicion” of wrongdoing and said it would ask parliament to approve a criminal investigation into Ponti on those charges.

Greece missed its €305m (£218m) payment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday in a show of defiance as a deal between Athens and its creditors remains out of reach.  The country invoked a rule created by the IMF in the 1970s that allows it to bundle all of its €1.6bn payments due this month into one.  In a statement, Gerry Rice, the IMF's chief spokesman, said: “The Greek authorities have informed the Fund today that they plan to bundle the country’s four June payments into one, which is now due on June 30.  “Under an Executive Board decision adopted in the late 1970s, country members can ask to bundle together multiple principal payments falling due in a calendar month (payments of interest cannot be included in the bundle). The decision was intended to address the administrative difficulty of making multiple payments in a short period." The last request made to the IMF to bundle payments was Zambia in the mid 1980s.  The Greek finance ministry, which is led by Yanis Varoufakis, said in a statement: "After four months of negotiations, creditor institutions submitted proposals which can’t solve the riddle of the economic crisis caused by the policies implemented in the last five years." The move to delay repayment is likely to have come as a surprise to the Fund. Hours before the announcement, Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, described payment bundling by Greece as not on the cards.

The penal Romanian PM ( Victor Ponta)