Monthly Archives: May 2005

Almunia’s Test Case

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Economics Commisioner Joaquim Almunia is reportedly rolling his sleeves up. He is apparently preparing to use Italy’s continuing excess deficit as a test case, to show the way the new SGP will be applied. Forgive me if I am a little skeptical, but then again a French no on Sunday may leave him with little alternative.

“Revisions to Italian data by Eurostat, the European Commission’s statistical agency, showed the country breaching the 3 per cent limit on budget deficits (in 2003 and 2004 Edward). The changes will be used by Joaquin Almunia, EU monetary affairs commissioner, to underpin a recommendation that action be taken against Italy under the stability and pact“.

The Country Where I Quite Want to Be

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The Washington Post has sent a correspondent and a photographer to Finland for three weeks to “figure the place out.”

“Finland just might be the world’s most interesting country that Americans know least about. It has the best school system in the world, some of the most liberated women (the president is female), more cell phones per capita than anyone else, one of the world’s best high-tech companies (Nokia), remarkable information technology of many kinds, …”

Their report is bloglike and relatively interesting. The photos are great. The whole enterprise is a little odd, but hey, why not Finland?

All together Finnophiles!

Germany On The Road To Reform?

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“Voting for the C.D.U. Sunday meant putting a stop to Schr?der’s reform agenda…..But in the future, if the C.D.U. has power, there is no stopping the reforms.” says Morgan Stanley’s Elga Barsch (remember her?). This argument draws attention to an important enigma which must be puzzling a lot of people. As the New York Times puts it:

“If voters are angry about economic legislation that rolls back the social welfare state, and they take out their anger on the governing party, does that make more such legislation inevitable?

As undemocratic as that might sound, investors in Germany seem to think so. As financial analysts said chances of new legislation had increased, the country’s stock market rallied Monday after a stinging defeat in regional elections for the Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Gerhard Schr?der, which led him to call for national elections in the fall.”
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Just in time.

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Well timed ahead of the French referendum, Deutsche Bahm AG and la SNCF are demonstrating what “ever closer union” can be about… increased quality of life (AP via IHT):

A new high-speed train line will link France and Germany beginning in 2007, cutting travel time between Paris and Frankfurt to under four hours, officials said Monday. … Currently, the fastest train connection between Paris and Frankfurt via Saarbr?cken and Mannheim takes 6 hours, while passengers to Stuttgart have to go via Strasbourg.

The Euro-vision and the Vote

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The referendum battle continues its course. Le Monde notes the importance of the fact that whilst the ‘no’ vote seems to be consolidating its lead in France (see this FT graph), with only one week to go one fifth of the votes still declare themselves to be ‘undecided’.

Meantime the normally sobre EU Observer, lets it hair down for once to suggest that the Dutch No Looks Irrerversible, especially after a row surrounding the Eurovision song contest.
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