Greek Cyprus parliament vote on bailout postponed to Tuesday
from Hurriyet Daily News
Greek Cyprus parliament speaker Yiannakis Omirou said a vote by lawmaker
Morning Brief: Cyprus bailout sparks new round of economic turmoil in Europe
from FP Passport by Elias Groll
Russia attacks Cyprus bailout plan
from FT.com – World, Europe
Financial markets are rocked following widespread criticism of a universal bank deposit levy being included in a ?10bn bailout for Cyprus
MAIN FOCUS: Savers to bail out Cyprus | 18/03/2013
from euro|topics
The Cypriot parliament is to decide today, Monday, on a compulsory levy for savers aimed at fixing the country’s public finances. The one-off payments were agreed together with the bailout for Cyprus at the EU summit on Friday. Commentators warn that this expropriation of the citizens could set a precedent and ask why the bailout isn’t being covered entirely by the ESM instead.
EU shocks Cyprus and everybody else
from Hurriyet Daily News
?The financial crisis is developing into a geo-economic and geopolitical plundering in the southeast
The Great Cypriot Game – How important is gas to Cyprus’ economic and geopolitical future?
by Open Europe blog team
Update 12:00 18/03/13:
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has had some interesting things to say on the deposit levy (viaReuters):
“We had an agreement with colleagues from the euro zone that we’ll coordinate our actions.”
“It turns out that the euro zone actions on the introduction of the deposit levy took place without discussions with Russia, so we will consider the issue of restructurisation of the (Cyprus) loan taking into account our participation in the joint actions with the European Union to help Cyprus.”
It seems Russia is none too happy with the eurozone approach, unsurprisingly. If it does refuse to ease the terms of the ?2.5bn bailout loan it previously gave Cyprus, it could hit Cypriot funding requirements, although probably not by a substantial amount. Still it could result in eurozone bailout funds being used to pay off a Russian loan in the near future – something which may not sit well with German taxpayers. Again, the interesting fall out will be to see how this impacts Russia’s approach to Cyprus and the EU more broadly.
In Spain, Money for Bulls But Cuts for Citizens
from Global Voices Online by Marianna Breytman
In February, the government of the People’s Party (PP) agreed to debate a citizen initiative presented before Congress to deem bullfighting a ?Cultural Interest Good? in all of Spain, with the PP’s vote being the deciding factor considering its absolute legislative majority. It is calculated that in Spain, more than 500 million euros are invested in bullfighting each year in the midst of severe welfare cuts.
A vote on whether to leave the euro? What’s next in Cyprus?
by Open Europe blog team
This will be another eurozone nail-biter.
The deal agreed by eurozone finance minister on Friday to tax Cypriot depositors (and some other conditions) in return for a ?10bn bailout still needs to get passed some hurdles. As ever, there’s one huge “hurdle”: democracy.
Cyprus president defends bailout
from BBC News | Europe | World Edition
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades says a $13bn bailout needed to avoid a “disorderly bankruptcy”, as he prepares for a tough vote in parliament.
Cyprus bailout wins backing in Berlin
from FT.com – World, Europe
The only party to reject the package is the far-left Linke party, which said it required too many antisocial spending cuts and did not force the banks to pay enough
Cyprus bails-in depositors to reduce cost of Eurozone bailout – a turning point in the Eurozone crisis?
from Open Europe blog
The ?7bn Cypriot question
by Open Europe blog team
Eurozone finance ministers are currently meeting to try to sort out Cyprus – the country that accounts for 0.2% of eurozone GDP but has still managed to throw a spanner in the eurozone works. Ahead of the meeting, wepublished a flash analysis on the state of the Cypriot bailout. Hint: it’s none too pretty.
The limits of liberalism: otherness and the crisis of Europe
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Iain Chambers
The intrinsic necessity of a subordinated, non-European, other to the making of a moral and political economy is not just built into Europe, but into the very idea of liberal citizenship in the modern nation state.
MAIN FOCUS: EU Parliament blocks budget | 15/03/2013
from euro|topics
The EU Parliament on Wednesday rejected the compromise on the EU budget for 2014-2020 by a large majority. Making use of its veto right, it has called for fresh negotiations. The EU is finally becoming more democratic, some commentators write. Others see the Parliament as a lobbying association and warn against expanding its competences.
The Bulgarian winter of protests
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Mariya Ivancheva
In the last week of February, after days of protests across the country, the Bulgarian government headed by Boyko Borisov resigned. What happened? What came after? And what comes next?
Civil society in post-Soviet Europe: seven rules for donors
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Orysia Lutsevych
The west’s contribution to building more democratic and open societies in the post-Soviet region leaves much scope for improvement. Orysia Lutsevych draws lessons and offers recommendations to both public and private donors.
EU summit: Hollande, Cameron put Syria on agenda
from Brussels Blog by Alex Barker
MEPs around Europe defy their parties on EU budget
from Open Europe blog
Self-immolation in Bulgaria isn’t as new as you might think
from FP Passport by Marya Hannun
Italian parliament remains in deadlock
from FT.com – World, Europe
Both chambers convene in Rome for the first session since last month?s elections but two rounds of voting to appoint speakers prove inconclusive
Monti?s analysis guides EU debate
from FT.com – World, Europe
The courtly economist has given his synopsis of what ails the eurozone: its economic reform agenda may be necessary, but it is taking too long to work
UK: General Lifestyle Survey , 2011
from Docuticker
Source: Office for National Statistics (UK) The 2011 General Lifestyle Survey Overview report marks 40 years of results from a continuous household survey. The survey started in 1971 as the General Household Survey and has been carried out every year since then, except for breaks in 1997/98 (when the survey was reviewed)
Greek Cyprus postpones debate on controversial EU bailout
from Hurriyet Daily News
The Greek Cyprus government postponed a planned emergency session.
The new war in Europe?
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Mary Kaldor
The European Union was founded in reaction to what I call ?old war? ? the wars of the twentieth century. Even though material interests ought logically to lead to increased political cooperation, contemporary European politics, or the absence of politics, suggest instead the possibility of what I call a ?new war?.
Internet Porn Is Safe in Europe (For Now)
from Mashable! by The Daily Dot
Italy: Anger and action after a fire destroyed Naples? ?Città della Scienza?
from Global Voices Online by Mirella Biagi
[All links point to resources in Italian, unless otherwise noted]
MAIN FOCUS: Concerns about rule of law in Hungary | 13/03/2013
from euro|topics
The constitutional changes adopted in Hungary on Monday have met with severe international criticism. The EU Commission and the European Council announced in a joint declaration that they will subject the amendments to close scrutiny. Unfortunately the Union has no effective instruments for sanctioning its members, commentators write, and criticise the reserve of the Europe’s leaders.
This House Has No Confidence In Olli Rehn, Nor Anyone Else
from A Fistful Of Euros » A Fistful Of Euros by Alex Harrowell
So here we are again. A peripheral European economy is falling apart, because of its hugely overextended banks. The powers-that-be, being the European Commission?s EMU directorate-general, the European Central Bank, and the German ministry of finance, intervene. This time, rather than letting the government deal with the banks, destroy its credit, and then lend the government money on terms that basically preclude any prospect of recovery ? and don?t ask me, ask Deutsche Bank and Edward Hugh about the impact of youth unemployment on long-run productivity ? they?ve decided to bill the banks? depositors under the bail-in directive, and to hit the insured depositors below ?100,000 although they didn?t have to, and then anyway impose a structural-adjustment programme of the order of 5.75% of GDP in case the horse sings this time ? don?t ask me, ask the IMF. Everyone?s now standing by for Monday and whatever may come.
Bulgaria?s anger, the real source
from open Democracy News Analysis – by Dimitar Bechev
An escalating crisis in Bulgaria marked by street-protests across the country forced the government’s resignation. But the instant wisdom that financial austerity caused it is misleading, says Dimitar Bechev.
Is Spain using accounting tricks?
by Open Europe blog team
This is interesting from today’s El País. The paper suggests that the Spanish government could have decided to delay various tax refunds due in December 2012 and pay them in January 2013 instead, in order to close the year with a lower deficit figure.