Today's front pages

“The economic crisis has brought eurozone unemployment to record levels. According to figures published by Eurostat on January 8, there were 18.8 million jobless in the countries of the single currency zone last November,” which, as the newspaper points out, is equivalent “to 11.8 per cent of the working population. It is also 0.1 per cent (or 113,000) more than the figure for the previous month, and 2.01 million more than the figure for the same month in the previous year.”

Unemployment at record level – Luxemburger Wort

The latest figures published by the State Secretariat for the Economy indicate that the average rate of unemployment in Switzerland was 2.9 per cent in 2012, as opposed to 10.7 per cent in the European Union (and 11.8 per cent in the Eurozone) in November 2012 — a “Swiss exception” that the newspaper attributes to a number of factors, notably favourable legislation and labour market flexibility.

Rising unemployment: a European evil and a Swiss exception – Le Temps

The Slovenian anti-corruption commission has reported a disproportionate growth in centre-right Prime Minister Janez Janša’s wealth, which “inexplicably increased by €210,000” between 2004 and 2012. During the same period, the Mayor of Ljubljana and leader of the centre-left opposition, Zoran Janković, failed to declare €2.4m, which the commission discovered in his bank account. The President of the National Assembly and the leader of the centre-right Civic List, Gregor Virant, has called on both men to resign.

Leading politicians unaware of money – Delo

The IMF presented a long list of recommendations to reform the Portuguese state and achieve the required cuts of €4bn in expenditure at the beginning of 2013. In the report "Rethinking the State - Selected Expenditure Reform Options" commissioned by the government, and which Jornal de Negócios has seen, the IMF says that the Portuguese state needs "intelligent reform", suggesting as a priority, cuts in staff and wages in sectors such as education, health and the security forces. The Fund proposes an increase in fees for patients using the NHS, cuts in retirement pensions, as well as the dismissal of 50,000 teachers.

The IMF recipe to cut €4bn – Jornal de Negócios

The EU wants to introduce a right to Internet oblivion. On January, the European parliament will begin examination of a proposed directive on the protection of personal data. “The project targets social networks like Facebook, but also companies like airlines and supermarkets as well as public institutions like hospitals and libraries,” explains the daily. In particular it provides for the automatic expiry of the right to keep personal data and a guarantee that anyone who allows his or her personal data to be stored on the Internet should be able to ensure that it is completely removed.

Forget me! – Die Tageszeitung

As police prepare for an “exceptionally large” January 13 demonstration against “marriage for all”, François Hollande has insisted that he will not “give in to the street” — a position which the conservative daily argues contradicts the president’s promise to engage in extensive debate on the reform of French society. Parliament is set to begin examination of the proposed change to the law on January 14.

Gay marriage: Hollande stubborn, while opponents mobilise – Le Figaro

An American-Danish group of researchers, which studied 10,000 Danish companies, has reported that when a company boss becomes a father for the first time, his salary tends to increase by more than the salaries of his peers who did not have children in the same year: by 6 per cent if the child is a boy, and 3.5 per cent if it is a girl. As for his staff, the men see a slight reduction in their salaries, while female staff salaries increase slightly.

He increases the boss’s salary – Berlingske Tidende