After a meeting with his French counterpart Pierre Moscovici, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble announced an agreement to launch a working group to strengthen the eurozone. France and Germany will prepare joint proposals for fiscal, banking and monetary union.
Paris-Berlin pact on EU reform – Il Sole-24 Ore
On a decisive visit, the EU-ECB-IMF troika returns to Portugal for its fifth assessment mission on the country’s deficit reduction programme required for the rescue plan. In two weeks, the troika will say whether more austerity will be required or if it will close its eyes to the fiscal slippage. According to latest figures, tax revenues fell by 3.5 per cent in the first semester, while the government provided for an increase of 2.6 per cent for the whole year.
More time or more austerity? Troika is back and will decide – Público
Describing nuclear power as “an industry with a bright future”, the Minister of Industrial Renewal, Arnaud Montebourg, has provoked an outcry in the ranks of the environmentalist party, Europe Ecology - The Greens. His remarks have cast doubt on a deal between the socialists and the Greens for the closure of 24 of France’s 58 nuclear reactors by 2025.
Nuclear power: Montebourg splits the left – Libération
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced the nationalisation of the Hungarian gas distribution business, currently owned by German energy giant E.ON. The operation with an estimated cost of €1.2 billion comes hot on the heels of the purchase of Russia’s stake in the Hungarian oil company MOL.
Major acquisition unveiled – Népszabadság
Genel Energy, a company which is physically headquartered in Ankara but registered in Jersey, has acquired 75 per cent of the exploration rights held by Mediterranean Oil and Gas in Maltese waters. Led by Tony Hayward who left BP in the wake of the Deep Water Horizon catastrophe, Genel Energy is to drill for oil in an area that is also claimed by Libya.
Oil on the horizon? – The Malta Independent
Up to 100 miners barricaded themselves nearly 400 metres underground in the Nuraxi Figus mine, in southwest Sardinia, the last working coal extraction plant in Italy. They are holding 350kgs of explosives and are demanding the government invest in jobs and clean energy production to relaunch the mine.
To the bottom – Il Manifesto
The drive to limit global warming to an increase of 2°C, the goal set by international climate conferences, is no longer realistic, according to British scientist Bob Watson. Speaking to British television’s Channel 4, the internationally respected climate specialist insisted that "if we carry on the way we are there is a 50-50 chance that we will get to a 3°C rise,” and a 5°C rise cannot be ruled out.
Global warming target out the window – De Morgen
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