Showing posts with label European Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European Union. Show all posts

Friday, January 27, 2017

Britain’s excruciating embrace of Donald Trump shows how little independence it has gained from Brexit

The Economist
27-1-2017
Leaving the European Union means the country has less, not more, control over its circumstances

THERESA MAY’S private opinion of Donald Trump goes unrecorded, but she is surely not a natural fan. Before Mr Trump’s election the prime minister called his remarks on Muslims “divisive, unhelpful and wrong”. Fiona Hill, one of her powerful chiefs of staff, declared him a “chump” and Nick Timothy, the other, tweeted: “As a Tory I don’t want any ‘reaching out’ to Trump.” Mrs May flannelled in a television interview on January 22nd when asked about the president’s treatment of women, his disregard for NATO and his protectionism. In temperament the two leaders could hardly be less alike: one brash and operatic, the other cautious and meticulous. So expect the prime minister’s visit to the White House on January 27th to be a study in awkwardness: the mother superior dropping in on the Playboy Mansion.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Brexit’ Ruling Reveals Cracks in Britain’s Centuries-old Institutions


By KATRIN BENNHOLDJAN. 24, 2017

The New York Times

LONDON — It remains unclear whether Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans or timetable for taking Britain out of the European Union will be altered by the Supreme Court’s ruling on Tuesday that she must secure Parliament’s approval before beginning the process. Most analysts, even those who opposed “Brexit,” as the departure from the bloc is known, doubt that it will.

And Mrs. May had already said in her speech on Brexit last week that Parliament would have a vote on whether to accept the final deal negotiated with the European Union.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

World’s Largest Private Bank Makes Contrarian Call on Euro Rally


by Stefania Spezzati
23 January 2017, 5:10 μ.μ. EET
Bloomberg
At a time when some investors are questioning the future of the euro, the world’s largest manager of money for the wealthy is advising clients to bet on a rally.

UBS Wealth Management recommends buying the European currency as it sees it being undervalued against the dollar and because of faster euro-area inflation. It expects the euro to climb about 7 percent to $1.15 in six months, while the majority of forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg expect it to slip to $1.03-$1.04 in the same time frame.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

In ‘Brexit’ Speech, Theresa May Outlines Clean Break for U.K.


By STEPHEN CASTLE and STEVEN ERLANGERJAN. 17, 2017
The New York Times

LONDON — “Get on with it.”

With those words in a major speech on Tuesday, Prime Minister Theresa May charted Britain’s course toward a clean break with the European Union and expressed her fondest hope: that the time for “division and discord” is over.

Her much-anticipated speech outlined what promised to be a hugely complex, drawn-out negotiation, and it defined the broad objectives, but not the details, of British withdrawal. “The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, and my job is to get the right deal for Britain as we do,” she said.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Mersch Says ECB Policy Shift Premature as Economy Shows Strength

by Carolynn Look  and Fabio Benedetti Valentini
January 6, 2017, 12:00 PM GMT+2

Bloomberg

Improving euro-area economic numbers and a faster-than-forecast inflation pickup aren’t enough to warrant an immediate shift in the European Central Bank’s policy, according to Executive Board member Yves Mersch.

“It is absolutely premature today to claim victory over a weak economy,” Mersch, considered one of the more hawkish members of the ECB’s Governing Council said in Paris on Friday. “We have good results but it is absolutely premature to say: drop the guard.”

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

In Blow to ‘Brexit’ Plans, Britain’s Top Envoy to E.U. Resigns

By STEPHEN CASTLEJAN. 3, 2017


The New York Times

LONDON — Complicating his country’s already fraught preparations for exiting the European Union, Britain’s top diplomat in Brussels resigned unexpectedly on Tuesday, less than three months before withdrawal negotiations are scheduled to start.

The decision by the diplomat, Ivan Rogers, the permanent representative to the European Union, deprives Britain of one of its most knowledgeable officials as it tries to form a coherent strategy for untying more than four decades of European integration.

It also underscores some of the tensions at the highest level of government as Britain’s exit, known as Brexit, dominates the political agenda after last year’s referendum, in which voters opted to leave the bloc.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

As Brexit approaches, signs of a gathering economic storm for Britain


The Washington Post

By Griff Witte December 13 at 5:16 PM
LONDON — From a modest office in a small town in northeastern England, Elliott Peckett’s family stocked the world with costumes.

Billowy white Marilyn Monroe dresses. Red velvet Santa caps. Rhinestone-studded Elvis jumpsuits.

They were shipped out by the millions to 42 countries across the globe, and they brought the profits of countless Halloween parties, Carnival parades and Christmas wonderlands back home to England.

But thanks to Brexit, not anymore. After 122 years, Peckett’s costume company, Smiffys, is moving its headquarters to the Netherlands.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Markets stabilise after Italian referendum

5-12-2016
BBC

The euro was hit after Mr Renzi announced his intention to resign. At one stage the euro hit $1.0505, its lowest level against the US currency since March 2015.
But it rebounded from that low to stand at $1.0634, a fall of just 0.3%.
Shares in Italian banks opened lower before recovering ground.
The troubled Monte dei Paschi was down by more than 5% in the first few minutes of trade, but then rebounded and had edged into positive territory. Shares in Unicredit and Intesa also fell sharply at first before recovering.

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Turkey and E.U. Near Breaking Point in Membership Talks

By ROD NORDLAND and JAMES KANTERNOV. 23, 2016

The New York Times

ISTANBUL — The European Parliament is likely to vote on Thursday to suspend negotiations to bring Turkey into the European Union, infuriating Ankara and possibly hastening the end of a long and troubled process.

While the vote is advisory rather than binding, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is smarting from European criticism of its crackdown on opponents and on the news media after a failed coup attempt in July. So it has suggested that, in any event, it may pull out of the process altogether if there is no progress by the end of the year. Such progress now seems improbable.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

RPT-INSIGHT-Euro zone nations turn to hedge funds to meet borrowing needs

Tue Nov 22, 2016 | 2:00am EST

Reuters

(Repeats story published on Monday)

* Belgium, Italy and Spain see spike in hedge fund take-up

* Bankers warn trend could exacerbate market volatility

* Risks stir memories of euro zone's sovereign debt crisis

* Long-dated bonds sustain heavy losses in recent sell-off

By Abhinav Ramnarayan and Helen Reid

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Euro, Dollar Flirt With Parity

Trump outlook and Fed’s likely move are strengthening dollar, and ECB may not help stop euro’s fall

The Wall Street Journal

By MIKE BIRD and  IRA IOSEBASHVILI
Updated Nov. 20, 2016 10:00 p.m. ET

A 10-day losing streak for the euro against the U.S. dollar is rekindling an old debate: Will the common currency reach parity with the dollar?

In the last two weeks, the euro has fallen 4% against the dollar, hitting $1.06, a level last seen 12 months ago.

The sharp shift in expectations for U.S. interest rates and economic growth since the American presidential election has refueled the euro’s fall against the greenback. If the Federal Reserve increases rates, expectations are the dollar would rise further by drawing money to the U.S. looking for higher returns.

Here's When the Dollar and the Euro Are Expected to Hit Parity

Forbes

by  Lucinda Shen  @ShenLucinda  NOVEMBER 21, 2016, 10:59 AM EST

Good news for dollar bulls. Bad news for the global economy.
The euro and the U.S. dollar could be trading one-for-one next year as Europe struggles with political uncertainty and the U.S. is expected to go on a fiscal splurge.

In a note late last week, a team of analysts from Goldman Sachs predicted the two currencies will reach parity by the fourth quarter of 2017. The dollar has risen 4.4% against the euro, and 2% against a basket of world currencies since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election Nov. 8. The euro is currently trading at $1.06.

Monday, November 21, 2016

EU’s position in Brexit negotiations does not make sense, Philip Hammond says


The Chancellor accepted that negotiations could create uncertainty for the British economy
The Independent
Jon Stone Political Correspondent

The EU’s hardline stance against the UK in the upcoming Brexit negotiations “doesn’t make a lot of sense”, the Chancellor has said, as he warned that the talks will bring uncertainty to the British economy

Friday, November 18, 2016

May's changing vocabulary signals shift from 'hard Brexit'

Nov 18, 2016 | 7:48am GMT

Reuters

By Elizabeth Piper | LONDON
There is a recognisable repetition in Theresa May's speeches about Britain's decision to leave the European Union: "Brexit means Brexit", making "a success of it" and getting "the best deal" for Britain are some of her stump phrases.

But a closer look at her speeches suggests her position on key aspects of Brexit has evolved since she took office in the aftermath of the June 23 vote to leave.

Together with public comments by ministers in her Conservative government, the changes appear to suggest May has shifted from favouring a "hard Brexit" - a clean break with the EU's single market of 500 million consumers - to supporting continued membership of that market if possible.

Who rules? Euro zone budget tensions surface

Thu Nov 17, 2016 | 11:51am EST

Reuters

By Alastair Macdonald and Jan Strupczewski | BRUSSELS
Berlin's brusque "Nein" on Thursday to a call from Brussels for it to loosen its budget to help the euro zone's struggling south exposed tensions over who should control the currency union and police its rules.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, whose German finance ministry rejected the European Commission's call for it to spend more, went public last month to say the EU executive had become too "political" to act as impartial enforcer of euro zone fiscal rules and should hand the role to a new supervisor.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Trump shift puts euro markets back on edge as elections loom

Mon Nov 14, 2016 | 1:07am EST

Reuters

By Dhara Ranasinghe | LONDON
Anti-establishment votes in Britain and the United States have roiled markets twice this year and investors are determined not to be caught off guard again.

In 2017, voters in the Netherlands, France and Germany - and possibly in Italy and Britain too - will vote in elections that could be colored by the triumphs of Donald Trump and supporters of Brexit, and the politics that drove those campaigns.

A litmus test for Europe is around the corner in Italy's referendum on constitutional change on Dec. 4. On the same day, Austria holds a re-run of a presidential election in which one of the two candidates is from the far-right.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Brexit Feels Like a Very British Coup

NOV 8, 2016 1:01 AM EST

Bloomberg

By
Mark Gilbert
There's a joke doing the rounds on Twitter:

Brexit walks into a bar. "Why the long farce?" asks the barman.
Unfortunately, it's too close to the truth to be truly funny. Post-referendum Britain feels oddly different to the pre-plebisicite United Kingdom; less united, certainly, and also somewhat diminished as a kingdom.

Less than five months after the surprise U.K. vote to leave the European Union, and at least four months before exit negotiations will officially begin, the acrimony surrounding Brexit is intensifying.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Brexit: High Court judges to give legal verdict

03-11-2016
BBC

Senior judges heard a challenge last month from campaigners who argue Prime Minister Theresa May does not have the power to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty without MPs' approval.
The PM has promised to trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017.
Its author, Lord Kerr, has told the BBC he believed it was "not irrevocable".
Judges are set to give their verdict at 10:00 GMT.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Brexit so complex it could overwhelm politicians, warn senior academics

Independent group says leaving EU will test constitution and legal framework to their limits and ‘possibly beyond’

The Guardian

Managing Britain’s exit from the European Union is such a formidable and complex challenge that it could overwhelm politicians and civil servants for years, senior academics have warned.

Theresa May has announced she will trigger article 50 – the two-year process of negotiating a separation from the EU – by the end of March next year. The government will also publish a great repeal bill, which will transfer all EU-originated laws into British law, so that MPs can decide how much they want to discard.

Greece Defies EU, U.S. on Sanctions for Iran’s Bank Saderat

Athens bucks allies by vetoing renewal of sanctions against bank U.S. accuses of financing terrorism

The Wall Street Journal

By LAURENCE NORMAN in Brussels and  NEKTARIA STAMOULI in Athens
Updated Nov. 1, 2016 4:28 p.m. ET

Greece has defied its European allies and Washington by blocking European Union sanctions on an Iranian bank the U.S. accuses of financing terrorism, officials familiar with the move say.

Athens’s action last month marked the first time a European country has picked apart the sanctions regime meant to remain in place following the July 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran. The regime is designed to constrain Iran’s ability to resume illicit activities and pressure it to stick by the agreement.