EU Actually

Edition: International | Greek

FOLLOW EBR MAGAZINE ON:

Home » EU Actually

Shortly after the bailout extension was agreed by the EU finance ministers, Greece indicated it will ask for further financial assistance.

Greek debt deal rattles the Eurozone

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Greek Finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said that Greece needs a "new arrangement" in order to meet the country's repayment obligations of around €11.5 billion between June and August.

During a pressconference EIB President Werner Hoyer answered on a question about the EIB Group’s position on Greece that ‘“The EIB Group looks forward to increasing its financing for projects in Greece.

EIB remains strongly committed to financing Greek projects

By: EBR | Wednesday, February 25, 2015

As a long term investor institution for the whole EU, the EU Bank does not apply country quotas but evaluates funding opportunities based on the number, nature and quality of the projects that are submitted to it.

The European Commission is looking for ways to cut the reliance of more member states on Russian oil and gas as the conflict in Ukraine chills relations with the Kremlin.

Orban, Putin’s last friend in the EU?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, February 19, 2015

Last week Orban hosted Russian President Putin for talks about more bilateral energy deals. The two presidents reached in Budapest a new gas-supply agreement and agreed to avert a 3 billion-euro gas payment by rolling over unused volumes from a 20-year-old contract that expires this year.

According to the new Greek government, Germany has an enormous unpaid account in Greece. The Germans never paid anything for the murdering and plundering in the Second World War.

A Greek idea: ‘Let the Germans finally pay their World War 2 debts!’

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, February 9, 2015

The historian Albrecht Ritschl of the London School of Economics (LSE) and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz share the opinion that such an adjustment is not a weird idea.

It looks as though not only EU finance ministers have a problem after the Greek elections.

Greek blow for ‘Cold War-lord’ Tusk

By: N. Peter Kramer | Thursday, January 29, 2015

While the new Greek PM, Alexis Tsipras, was organising his government, Tusk published an EU statement claiming that all 28 EU-leaders had agreed that Russia bears responsibility for a rocket attack on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and proposing new sanctions against Russia.

The EU should build new infrastructure to link up with a future Russia-Turkey pipeline or lose access to supplies.

The price of no more Russian gas via Ukraine

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Political disputes between Kiev and Moscow have seen EU supplies interrupted on two occasions in recent years; with Moscow justifying the Turkey decision by saying Ukraine is ‘unreliable’.

Will the European Central Bank (ECB) announce on January 22 that it will start buying large volumes of Eurozone government bonds to further push down interest rates in the eurozone?

European Central Bank split on buying government bonds

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, January 13, 2015

The ECB will have to decide how much of each eurozone country’s bonds to buy, a politically tricky task. As a genuine EU institution the ECB offers the usual theatre of differing views and opinions.

What’s the position of Germany? Ms. Merkel said after the summit that sanctions only can be lifted if Russia gives up conquered territories in Ukraine.

Germany split on how to handle Russia

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, January 5, 2015

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel, the EU’s most powerful leader, was delighted with the first steps of her protégé Donald Tusk as new president of the European Council in December.

During his campaign for the Presidency of the European Commission, one of his promises was that he would start a European investment programme of 300 billion Euro for the next three years.

Jean-Claude Juncker: the man of 300 (?) billion

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, December 30, 2014

In the last week of November President Juncker presented his €315 billion programme, called the European Fund for Strategic Investments, for increasing small-business lending and investments in roads, renewable energy, schools and other public services.

Putin named Turkey as the preferred partner for a massive alternative pipeline.

The death of a gas pipeline

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, December 12, 2014

Seven EU member states - Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Slovenia - which were to have hosted Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline have to start looking for other ways to improve their energy security.

The speech, given in Italian, drew strong applause from the European Parliament. But did all MEP’s understand what the Pope tried to make clear? I am afraid not.

The Pope, the European Parliament and the President of the Commission

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, November 28, 2014

When EP President Schulz invited the Pope to visit the Parliament, he probably forgot that the new Pope isn’t a European

Obama – Xi climate agreement is a potential turning point.

US and China agree on cutting carbon pollution. The EU too!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, November 17, 2014

Obviously Juncker and Rompuy hadn’t read the letter of US Secretary of State John Kerry in the New York Times, with the striking heading ‘China, America and a warming planet’.

As a reminder: Prime-Minister Juncker was president of the Eurogroup till 2013 and co-architect of the rigid austerity policies that pressed European governments, struggling with low economic growth and high unemployment, to give priority to trim their budget instead of stimulating their economy.

LuxLeaks and EULEX: EU’s integrity is at stake!

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Two serious testcases for EU’s integrity and credibility

President Juncker is an aimable person, a very experienced European politician and … he is creative.

Jean-Claude Juncker and the seven vice-presidents (and a chef-de-cabinet!)

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, November 3, 2014

In the Berlaymont, the EU palace in Brussels where the European Commission sits, a change of guard has place. Controlfreak Barroso went out, bonvivant Juncker came in.

Interesting is how the softening of the Commission’s position will be received in Berlin.

Outgoing Commission relents on Italian and French budgets

By: EBR | Thursday, October 30, 2014

The outgoing (on November 1) Commission avoided a political collision with the French and Italian governments, indicating that it approves the countries’ 2015 budgets after last minutes adjustments.

The end of October, EU leaders will gather in Brussels for another summit. It seems that it is too early to expect solutions.

Is there a solution for EU’s problems?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Europe has already endured years of stagnation, high unemployment and a mounting public disillusionment that has fueled a political, often anti-European, backlash

The EU share of renewable energy consumption was 14,1 percent in 2012 but that average conceals big regional differences. Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic are below that average, with shares between 9.6 and 11.2 percent. Most of the six rely heavily on coal, which is one of the energy sources that emit the most carbon dioxide.

Do Eastern and Central European countries care about climate change?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Friday, October 3, 2014

In an effort to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius the European Commission proposed in the beginning of this year several targets for 2030.

Emily O’Reilly: Even if I don’t have powers of a judge, I do have very strong investigatory powers

EU Ombudsman attacks institutions non-transparency

By: N. Peter Kramer | Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Conflicts of interest is a strategic area O’Reilly is pursuing, after having looked at a sample of 54 EU officials who left their job for work in the private sector. She said the inquiry found ‘major deficiencies’ in the way the Commission justifies permissions to leave to a private sector job

Now NATO military forces are inside Ukraine. And NATO memberstates, the US and some EU countries, are delivering weapons to Kiev. But didn’t EU leaders say recently that there is ‘no military solution’ to the conflict? And isn’t there a ceasefire agreed between Ukraine and Russia?

Do US and EU want war with Russia?

By: N. Peter Kramer | Tuesday, September 16, 2014

While the ceasefire in East-Ukraine works, indeed more or less, the answer of the US and the EU on it is: more sanctions on Russia. Some EU member states trying to halt it were overruled by the hawkish colleagues from the Baltic and Poland for instance.

A study commissioned by the European Commission has identified 30 electrical appliances that could be covered by the EU’s Ecodesign directive outlawing high-wattage devices. The nonsense of all this is quite clear: your hairdresser, for instance, can tell you that curbing the power of hair dryers would simply mean blow-drying will take longer and in turn ‘that could lead to repetitive strain injury’.

European Commissioner Oettinger and your hair dryer

By: N. Peter Kramer | Monday, September 8, 2014

Do you remember that ridiculous Commission proposal to ban open olive oil cans from restaurant tables? May be you also remember that the Commission let us abandon the old light bulbs and to replace these with a new kind that use less electricity?

Pages: Previous Next

EU Actually

Russia and China warn the EU about Euroclear billions

By: N. Peter Kramer

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin went on a working visit to Cina. After a meeting with his Chinese colleague Li Qiang in the city of Hangzhou, an extensive press release was published yesterday.

Europe

Can the EU Meet the Trump Moment?

The second term of U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing Europeans to strengthen their capacity for collective action. But their biggest challenge comes from within: U.S.-backed radical-right parties that want to weaken the EU.

Business

China to loosen chip export ban to Europe after Netherlands row

Beijing has said it will loosen a chip export ban it imposed after Dutch authorities took over Nexperia, a Chinese-owned chipmaker based in the Netherlands.