Tag: euro

The EU has maintained its share in global exports over the past decade, whereas other mature economies have seen theirs decline considerably, most notably the US and Japan, says Daniel Gros.

Swedish support for the EU is declining and the support for the euro has never been lower, according to a report published Monday (6 May) by the University of Gothenburg.

Poland's prime minister paved the way for a referendum on joining the euro, dropping objections to a ballot that could all but extinguish emerging Europe's waning love affair with a currency that has lost much of its lustre.

The eurogroup’s insistence that Cyprus’ anti-money laundering framework is assessed by a private firm violates EU law, argues Andreas Frank.

Poland indicated that the country’s decision to adopt the euro would be taken after the presidential and parliamentary elections due in 2015. No tentative target dates were set, but economists estimate the country could switch to the common currency in 2016-2017.

Latvia, which wants to adopt the euro in 2014, passed a fiscal discipline law yesterday (31 January) and another setting out guidelines for the proposed currency switch, key steps to satisfy the European Union that it is on track to join the eurozone.

The eurozone’s financial markets end this year in a much better shape than they did last year, but this gain rests on the promise that real progress towards banking union will be achieved in the coming year, writes Daniel Gros.

The European Parliament is voting in committee this week on the legislation which installs the single supervisory mechanism for Europe's banks. Tricky stuff - especially when certain governments in the Council appear to be backsliding on the banking union, writes Andrew Duff.

Financial market fraudsters across the EU could face imprisonment from next year under new EU-wide banking rules voted by MEPs in the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee yesterday (October 9).

A point of no return has been reached in the negotiations between the Spanish and Catalan governments, raising doubts about the future of the country, says Joan Marc Simon.

The European Central Bank agreed yesterday (6 September) to launch a new and potentially unlimited bond-buying programme to lower struggling eurozone countries' borrowing costs and draw a line under the debt crisis.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the liberal party leader who is battling for re-election next week, says Greece should not get more financial aid from Europe.

There are still significant economic disparities within the EU, such as the ones between North and South or among different EU regions. But EU member states have a common interest in tackling those challenges together, argues Rodi Kratsa-Tsagapopoulou.

A key missing ingredient in solving the euro crisis is the urgent restoration of growth, which European citizens demand and several leaders are increasingly stressing. Yet, meaningful actions on a sufficient scale have not yet been taken, argue Stephany Griffith-Jones, Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen and Lars Andersen in a recent study.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel must realise that Europe needs two stable legs to be able to run – fiscal discipline and growth – says Greek Socialist MEP Sylvana Rapti.

Although the establishment of a coalition government in Greece marks an important step for the country to escape the danger of descending into political and economic turmoil, the new government faces a number of challenges that will weigh heavily on its stability and, ultimately, on its success, argues Anna Visvizi.

Germany and Chancellor Angela Merkel have the opportunity to unify Europe for the third time in a century but, this time, through peaceful, democratic and "solidarisch" means, says David Gow.

The Obama administration has quietly endorsed the International Monetary Fund's support for European bailouts because the White House believes the deals will enforce "austerity" and gradually revive Europe's struggling economies. Now is the time to question that assumption, says Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Even though austerity depresses economic output, the Adjustment Programme is not the root of Greece's woes, argues Nikos Chrysoloras, a Brussels-based correspondent for Kathimerini, Greece’s leading newspaper and a Robert Bosch Stiftung “EU Journalism Fellow” for 2012, on a journalism practice with EurActiv.com.  The op-ed was first published on the Euro Crisis blog. 

Only one in ten Swedes would today support the adoption of the euro, according to a research study published by Gothenburg University.

​The only way to save the euro and get Europe out its financial crisis while maintaining people’s living standards is to have a more integrated union, the economist Jacques Attali said in an exclusive interview with EurActiv.

The new treaty on fiscal discipline cannot alone address the euro crisis and while there has been renewed talk of growth by EU leaders, current plans have proven "pitifully weak," says Carole Ulmer.

No celebrations are due to take place as the euro marked its 10th anniversary, but leaders seized the occasion to call for reforms needed to strengthen the EU common currency. 

US congressional Republicans backed by right-wing pressure groups are fighting to bar American funds from being used to rescue troubled European countries as unease mounts over whether EU leaders did enough to stabilise the euro.