There are several reasons for the euro crisis but bailing out banks is one of the major reasons, followed by large scale tax evasion by corporations.The EU is trying to regulate banks and is also taking measures against tax havens. Richard Murphy's (tax research UK)figures may be disputed but it must run into hundreds of billions.The Right are already talking about 'loss of sovereignty' by nation states. How much sovereignty does a nation state have (esp. a small one) in a globalised world? The sovereignty went when we bought into the present system whereby the 'markets' dominate political decision making. In 1966 when we had an economic crisis we had five levers to control the economy.
1 we could control the exchange rate-that ended with the end of the Bretton Woods agreement in the early 70s
2 we could impose tariff controls as a temporary measure. The WTO would not allow that now.
3 we had capital controls. Abolished by the Thatcher govt.
4 Interest rate was set by the chancellor-no longer -that was Labour
5 we could vary taxes upwards, Now we are told it would drive away foreign investment and rich people.
The scarcely regulated banking system trashed the world's economy and austerity policies are making it worse. The motive of the banks is obvious-they don't want to lose out. They over extended themselves and could not survive without state help. Much of the bail out of Southern Europe is not to pay for essential services for the people, but to pay off the banks. There is an issue of overspending by the govts. but it is not the main cause. Revenues collapsed in the wake of credit crunch. More were diverted to tax havens-partly due to inefficient government control. We, the people, have little power over the likes of Goldman Sachs but we can vote for politicians who can construct a pan European policy to control the banks and go after revenues which are being diverted. I agree that govts. should try to live within their income but not in the worse recession for sixty years.We need investment and it seems only the state is able to do so while the corporations sit on their money. I would go further and suggest that the power to create money should not remain with the private banking system but I doubt if there is enough support for this-at present. The fact is that taxpayers' money is not being diverted to bailouts. The banks are issuing money and it is being guaranteed by national governments. If the Eu can implement some of these reforms, there is a chance we could get out of the mess. Is there another plan which would involve less suffering?
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BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared her love for Europe, but warned that more "homework" is needed to fix the eurozone.
"Over the past two-to-three years a great deal was achieved in Europe, but we are still not at the end of the road, we still have a stretch to go. The road is the right one, even if for many it's a great challenge," Merkel told foreign journalists in Berlin on Monday (17 December).
She added that conceptual errors in the eurozone still have to be fixed, noting that back in 1989 the then European Commission president Jacques Delors asked for more economic co-ordination and supervision of the rules underpinning monetary union.
Here, too, Europe is slowly moving ahead, Merkel said.
Banking supervision - to be completed with direct access for banks to the eurozone bailout fund - is also in the making and due to be "fully functional by March 2014."
Asked if Europe is more of a pragmatic issue to her than a matter of the heart as it was for historic figures like Konrad Adenauer or Helmut Kohl, Merkel - a scientist and the first woman to run modern Germany - said: "People have different personalities, but caring and love for Europe are not something I am lacking."
"I am a complete personality, my heart is constantly needed for my reason to think things out. Heart and mind, everything belongs together. Everyone has their own image about how us politicians deal with the tasks still ahead of us in Europe, but this is the one single topic that has preoccupied me the most since [German] reunification," she noted.
The same goes for Greece, she said.
She noted that ever since February 2010 when Greece became the first eurozone member to ask for a bailout, up until its most recent EU payment was agreed last week: "I can say I have never thought about Greece so much in my entire life. And this is not possible without a certain inner involvement."
"Europe is so connected that Greece, Spain, Portugal and Germany cannot be held separately, we are all in the same boat. My entire personality is devoted to this, because I want Europe to be successful, especially when it comes to globalisation," she added.
Merkel pointed to realities that she said many people forget: that Europe represents seven percent of the world population, 25 percent of world GDP and about 40-50 percent of the total social expenditure in the world.
"If in 1980 we were the ones deciding in the world, it's not going to be automatically the same in 2030, we will have to work for it," she said.
"If one day we'll have so much debt that nobody will trust us to ever pay it back, then we'll be in a very difficult situation. And I don't want us to become dependent on other parts of the world, but to determine our own future," she added.
She urged governments to keep on cutting spending to "make our social systems more compatible in the EU."
Youth unemployment, soaring in countries like Spain and Greece, can also not be tackled "through programmes funded by the state," Merkel argued.
"I want Europe's youth to be in a better position than now, I am convinced we can do it, but only if we do our homework," she said.
John Davies, head of technical at ACCA, says: 'ACCA is very supportive of initiatives aimed at increasing transparency, such as strengthening disclosure on board policies on diversity and risk management, on the quality of explanations for non-compliance in corporate governance reports and regarding shareholders’ engagement via the modification of the Shareholder Rights Directive.
'On the company law components of the Action Plan, we are pleased to see that the Commission is proposing to merge and genuinely codify the provisions of various company law directives to make a more coherent and consistent set of rules. As a global body, ACCA is also very interested in the commitment to further explore the feasibility of the cross-border transfer of the registered office – which is a long running problem area- and the concept of 'group interest'. It will be difficult to resolve them but, in theory, both offer opportunities for benefits to be achieved. We also urge EU decision makers to ensure a proper follow-up of the European Private Company - the so-called SPE - proposal, in order to encourage and facilitate cross border operation by SMEs.'
Lutgart Van den Berghe, Chair of ecoDa Policy Committee, expressed that: 'ecoDa is convinced that only an improvement of the quality of explanations can safeguard the flexibility offered today by the European governance approach. Flexibility was seen as the condition to guarantee that companies have their governance tailored to their specific needs. Notwithstanding that there is some evidence that the quality of explanations and the quantity of the supervision are improving, it is obvious that more should be done to increase the effectiveness of the governance codes and to foster a better dialogue between companies and their shareholders. Therefore, ecoDa welcomes European initiatives to enhance the quality of explanations. More widely, ecoDa claims for proportionate and tailored governance measures, and encourages the European Commission to see governance as a means to an end, not an end in itself.'
Susannah Haan, Secretary General of EuropeanIssuers, said that: 'We are pleased to see the Commission has listened to companies’ concerns regarding the need for more effective shareholder identification and for better disclosure from shareholders regarding their voting policies and use of proxy advisers. It is essential to promote better understanding between companies and shareholders in Europe, given all the regulatory changes which mean that many companies will be obliged in the future to move from bank funding to market finance.'
The challenges will lie in the concrete design and implementation of the proposed actions, which will require on the one hand a balanced and integrated approach from policymakers, and on the other, engagement with stakeholders to ensure that the proposals are perceived to assist improved company performance and integrated shareholder engagement, rather than merely as creating new burdens.
ecoDa, EuropeanIssuers and ACCA look forward to actively contributing the debate. In this spirit, the three bodies are organising a conference on the 4 February 2013 in Brussels called The Action Plan on Corporate Governance and Company Law: What’s in it and why? to present and raise awareness on the new Action Plan, as well as discuss the potential impact of its various proposals and the way forward.
BERLIN - Little over a month in office, Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem may become the next Eurogroup chief to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker, as the more experienced French and German finance ministers block each other out.
A German government spokesman on Monday (17 December) did not deny reports in German media that Dijsselbloem's name was floated by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels last week.
"This was not on the official agenda. It is possible that such talks were held on corridors," Steffen Seibert said during a press conference. He added the appointment is a matter for finance ministers to decide among their own and that there is still time next month, as Juncker has indicated he would step down early next year.
A senior EU official also told this website that consultations will "really" take place only in January.
With Europe now in its fifth year of economic crisis, the most vulnerable in society are feeling the effects of governments' reined-in spending. Disabled people, often reliant on both state services and allowances, are among those hardest hit.
Here's a few more posers for you, from you:
1) On which Greek island in April 2010 did George Papandreou announce Greece's application for a bailout? (thanks YannisKoutsomitis !)
2) I mentioned earlier that Cyprus held the EU presidency this year, but which country had the honour for the first half of 2012? (thanks Lorkan!)
3) Who spoke Dutch, not the language they are associated with, to baffle a spy (thanks ShiresofEngland !)
4) What was the full name of the initiative which wasn't, as we briefly thought, known as the MOT?
5) How much is Ireland paying in interest and repayment per year (the next payment on 31.03.2013) for its promissory notes to repay the cost of bailing out Anglo-Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society? (thanks ballymichael !)
1) Of which bank was the future Governor of the Bank of England managing director?
2) For which bank was the unelected PM of Italy an international adviser in the years directly between his current position and that of former European Commissioner for Competition (1999 - 2004)?
3) Of which bank was the current head of the European Central Bank (ECB) a vice-chairman for Europe (2002 - 2005)?
4) Of which bank was a German former board member of the ECB and Bundesbank an adviser. (Hint: he helped create the Euro.)
5) Which bank did the current head of Greece's debt management agency used to work for?
6) With which bank did the unelected PM of Greece (2011 - 2012) and former Vice President of the ECB (2002 - 2010) make dodgy swap deals to mask the extent of Greece's debt when he was head of the Central Bank of Greece (1994 - 2002), causing Greece's current sovereign debt crisis?
7) Which bank did the 2011 head of the IMF's European Department used to work for?
8) For which bank is the former European Commissioner for Competition (1985 - 1989) and former Attorney General of Ireland now a non-executive director?
9) For which bank is the European Commissioner for Competition (1993 - 1999) now an international adviser?
Round 3: People
1) Who told the Guardian that Greeks should help "by all paying their taxes"?
2) And whose heart "bleeds" for Greece?
3) Who pledged to do whatever it takes "within our mandate"?
4) Who leads the Coalition of the Radical Left - Unitary Social Front?
5) Who is kissing goodbye to the presidency (after plenty of hugging and kissing during it)?
6) Who appeared to win victory at a summit in June, just after his country also managed a sporting triumph over the same 'opposition'?
7) What role did Poul Thomsen play in Athens this year?
8) Which British businessman sponsored a £250,000 prize for the best way for a country to leave the euro?
9) Which bank did Lucas Papademos, Greece's former technocratic PM, once work for? (we're thinking investment bank here, but other correct answers exist, eh Pesaola?)
10) And what term is Citi's Willem H Buiter credited with dreaming up?
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