30bn euros for Spain Banks

Eurozone finance ministers have agreed to lend Spain 30bn euros (£24bn; $37bn) this month to help its troubled banks.

It will be the first installment of a bailout of up to 100bn euros, which was agreed in June.

The ministers will need to get approval from their own parliaments and hope to make the payment by the end of July.

The eurozone finance ministers also agreed to extend the 2013 deadline for Spain to cut its budget deficit to the EU limit of 3% by one year.

Read more: BBC News

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Euro zone finance ministers dismiss Greek exit

Euro zone finance ministers dismissed talk of Greece leaving the euro zone as "propaganda and nonsense" on Monday, but said the country had to respect the terms of the bailout programme agreed with the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

Eurozone Crisis [Graph: Extranea ]

If Greece can form a government and that government signs up to the bailout agreement, then it's possible some of the targets in the programme could be softened, the chairman of the euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, said.

"I don't envisage, not even for one second, Greece leaving the euro area. This is nonsense, this is propaganda," Juncker, who also serves as Luxembourg's prime minister, told reporters, dismissing those who threaten Greece with expulsion.

Read more: Money Control

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What is going to be the fate of Greece

Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden said it out loud: "If the Greek people or the Greek political elite do not apply all of these conditions ... they exclude themselves from the Eurozone." All of these conditions. And there are a lot of them. Then he added the crucial words: "The impact on other countries now will be less important than a year ago."

Greece might want to decide that it would be better to exit the Eurozone, rather than actually implementing the budget cuts, Friedan said. Returning to the drachma and devaluing it might create a more competitive economy. "It might be something which would allow Greece to get a new start," he said.

Read more: Business Insider

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China has no intention of 'Buying Europe'

China’s premier pledged to help Europe fight its debt crisis during a meeting Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel but a ruling party newspaper criticized sanctions on Iran and a human rights lawyer was blocked from meeting Merkel.

China is “willing to cooperate with Europe to fight the current crisis,” said Premier Wen Jiabao at a meeting with Merkel and German business people in the southern business center of Guangzhou. “Some people say this means China wants to buy Europe,” Wen said. “China doesn't have this intention and doesn't have this ability.”

Read more: France 24

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England and the Czech Republic opt out of fiscal compact

While the EU members agreed to enforce budget rules - a treaty that will empower the European Court of Justice to monitor compliance and impose fines on rule-breakers, England and the Czech Republic have decided to opt out of the treaty as both governments consider it impact to threaten their interests.

The Czech Republic is not yet in the euro, but like the other new EU member states it is committed to joining.

Read more: BBC News Europe

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EU to have a permanent bail out fund

Today will mark an important day to ease out the crises the EU is facing as the EU members will get together to sign a permanent bailout package for the Eurozone Monday.

The bailout package is the result of some 17 meetings held by the EU leaders within a span of two years to find a permanant solution for the economic recovery. The bailout package is likely to ensure availability of jobs, besides healthy recovery from the economic woes of the Europe.

Read more: Reuters

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Sarkozy, Merkel meet to discuss eurozone game plan

[ via France24 ] 9 Jan

The German and French leaders meet on Monday to discuss ways to boost growth in euro zone states struggling to overcome the sovereign debt crisis and rising unemployment, and finalise a deal to increase fiscal coordination within the currency union.

They may also discuss a financial transaction tax, the “Tobin tax”, being promoted by France but resisted by Britain unless adopted on a global scale, which could split the European Union at a summit at the end of the month.

Read more: France24

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France vows powerful summit deal

[ Reuters ] 7 Dec

The leaders of France and Germany will not leave this week's EU summit until a "powerful" deal is reached on the euro zone debt crisis, the French government said on Wednesday while Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged bold steps.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will lay out their plan at Friday's EU summit to impose mandatory penalties on euro states that exceed deficit targets, with the aim of restoring market trust and preventing the region's deepening debt crisis spiraling out of control.

Read full story for details Here.

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The euro zone crisis: Same bed, different dreams

[ Reuters ] 6 Dec

Since the inception of the euro, France and Germany have pursued divergent visions of European economic and monetary union. In two decades, the French have become a little more German, the Germans a little more French. But the gulf remains, says Reuters.

With the fate of the 17-nation single currency at stake at a summit this week, 20 years almost to the day since the Maastricht summit at which European leaders agreed to merge their monies, the same battles are still being fought out.

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Mario Monti unveils austerity package for Italy

[ The Economic Times ] 6 Dec

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, takes a 30-billion "Save Italy" austerity package to Italy's parliament on Monday to help stem a debt crisis threatening to overwhelm the euro zone. The package aims to raise more than 10 billion ($13.4 billion) from a new property tax, impose a new tax on luxury items like yachts, raise value-added tax, crack down on tax evasion and bring forward measures to increase the pension age. 

The cabinet approved the mix of tax rises, pension reforms and incentives to boost growth in a three-hour meeting on Sunday, opening one of the most crucial weeks since the launch of the euro more than a decade ago.

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Russia offers fiscal support to save Eurozone

Full Story: Pravda 8 November 2011

Pravda reports that the Russian President Dmitry Medvedevhas promised financial support to the Eurozone  at the G20 summit in Cannes. The Russian president made the statement because Russia is part of Europe and is concerned about its problems. No specific numbers were mentioned, but the Russian leader said that foreign aid cannot be decisive, and Europe must save itself.


It may be added that earlier the French President had requested China, with its foreign exchange reserves amounting to $3.2 trillion, to help Europe overcome its monetary crisis.

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