Feed
European Central Bank (ECB)
-
International Women's Day: Too many men at the top of the EU
Presseurop La Croix -
Ireland: ‘ECB calls on Coalition to step up its reforms of bank sector’
Presseurop The Irish Times -
Eurozone: ‘Spanish banks return €44bn to ECB in one go’
Presseurop El País -
Debt crisis: Troika divided over austerity
Presseurop Frankfurter Rundschau -
Economy: ‘First signs of upturn in the eurozone’
Presseurop Les Echos -
ECB: ‘Euro Vision’
Presseurop Time -
Economy: Saint Precarious – new icon of Europe
NRC Handelsblad (Amsterdam) -
Article: A human face for the euro
Presseurop -
Economy: Merkel shepherds us away from the fiscal cliff
NRC Handelsblad (Amsterdam) -
New Year's Quiz: 40 trick questions about Europe
Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (Frankfurt) -
2012 in cartoons: Who said anything about inflation risk?
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich) -
Debt crisis: Europe survives the year
El País (Madrid) -
Banks: Banking union comes a step closer
Presseurop El País -
ECB: Eurozone leaders disregard democracy
La Tribune (Paris) -
Germany: Goodbye euro, hello recession
Die Zeit (Hamburg) -
Eurozone: Mario Draghi tries to cajole Bundestag
Presseurop Die Welt, Wirtschaftswoche -
Society: Power struggle over gender equality
Presseurop Die Welt, Financial Times Deutschland, Financial Times Deutschland -
European Council: A minimalist summit
Presseurop El País -
Debt crisis: Spanish banks main investors in national bonds
Presseurop ABC -
Eurozone: The independent ECB is dead
Presseurop -
Eurozone: Draghi saves the single currency
El País (Madrid) -
Article: Today's front pages
Presseurop -
Eurozone: Draghi, the one true statesman
Le Monde (Paris) -
Banking Union: Make ECB Europe’s bank watchdog, says Brussels
Presseurop Financial Times, Les Echos -
Eurozone crisis: Mario Draghi — saviour or executioner?
Presseurop -
Eurozone: The day we’ll find out what Germany wants
La Vanguardia (Barcelona) -
Eurozone: Mario Draghi — bluff or balm for the crisis?
Presseurop -
Spain: ECB is making things worse
ABC (Madrid) -
Eurozone crisis : Latin euro or German rescue ?
Presseurop The Daily Telegraph, Handelsblatt -
European Union: Power struggle for control of banks
Presseurop Süddeutsche Zeitung -
Ireland: Ballyhea protestors go to Frankfurt
Presseurop Irish Examiner -
European Council: There are alternatives to the fiscal compact
The Independent (London) -
Article: Bundesbank lectures ECB
Presseurop Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung -
Eurozone crisis: Draghi buries European social model
La Tribune (Paris) -
Eurozone crisis: Save the ECB from the danger of Greece
De Tijd (Antwerp) -
Eurozone crisis: Save the euro – get rid of Germany
The Times (London) -
Debt crisis: ECB brings some relief to the banks
Presseurop -
Article: What now?
Presseurop -
Eurozone crisis: Neither Paris nor Berlin, but Frankfurt...
Les Echos (Paris) -
Article: Euro at a turning point
Presseurop -
Eurozone crisis: Only Eurobonds can save us
El Mundo (Madrid) -
Debt crisis: The ECB has only to say the word
Le Monde (Paris) -
Jury is out on Trichet’s record
Presseurop -
ITALY: Two men and a euro
The Economist (London) -
Article: Zero hour for the euro has come
Presseurop -
ECB: What it would have cost without Trichet
El País (Madrid) -
Debt crisis: End of the age of stability
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Frankfurt) -
Debt crisis: Family ties
Het Parool (Amsterdam) -
Debt crisis: What can Greece do now?
To Ethnos (Athens) -
Debt crisis: ECB in the Italian trap
Il Sole-24 Ore (Milan)
Austerity and free market regulations have created a band of loyal followers: The Precarious. And they are threatening the jewel European civilization, social security, argues Belgian writer Geert Van Istandael. 
The last minute negotiations in Washington to avoid a budget shortfall show that short-termism is well grounded in US politics. And by contrast, it shows that despite her controversial handling of the euro crisis, the German chancellor is wise enough to instead push for long-term solutions. 
Three years of the euro crisis, 2013 is around the corner, and you still have some questions? So does essayist Hans Magnus Enzensberger. The outspoken critics of the Brussels bureaucracy has been inspired to draw up a quiz – with, of course, entirely objective questions. Have fun! 
The year 2012 seemed pretty dangerous for the eurozone and the whole of the EU. But the worst did not come to pass, especially since Angela Merkel made concessions, which allowed Mario Draghi, President of the ECB to intervene. However, in 2013, Europeans will still have to remain vigilant. 
On the sidelines of the Brussels budget summit on November 22 and 23, Eurozone leaders approved the appointment of Luxembourgian Yves Mersch to the board of the European Central Bank. But he was elected despite the European parliament voting against him, a move which highlights the EU's dysfunctional nature. 
What would happen if Germany left the euro? Economist Gustav Horn of the Hans-Böckler Foundation, which has close ties to trade unions, speculates on what would happen in the days following a German exit from the euro – and on what Germany's most popular euro-critic, Thilo Sarrazin, might also say. 
“Commission divided over quotas for women”, announces Die Welt. On 23 October, the European executive failed to reach agreement on a project presented by Viviane […] 
The debt buyback programme announced by Mario Draghi is a sign of the European Central Bank's subjection to political power, laments the German press, which is alarmed by this new shift in European monetary policy. 
In announcing that the ECB will buy up the debt of countries in distress, Mario Draghi is compensating yet again for the inaction of European leaders. And he is standing up again as the one who is changing the rules of the game – exactly what we needed, rejoices El País. 
On 6 September, the European Central Bank President is expected to announce that his institution will attempt to resolve the Eurozone crisis by buring Spanish and Italian debt. Notwithstanding German opposition to this decision, Le Monde argues that it has the merit of defining a way forward for Europe. 
The ECB will probably intervene, but states will have to ask for help first. The message delivered by the President of the European Central Bank raises serious reactions in the European press, which questions whether Draghi really has the power or not. 
The meeting of the European Central Bank of August 2 has been declared crucial for Spain and Italy, who are waiting for help. This will be the moment we find out who in Germany — be it the Chancellor or the President of the Bundesbank — is to decide on its position on the crisis. 
In stating that “the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to save the euro,” its president has sent a positive signal to markets, believes the European press. In the absence of clarification, though, it is difficult to know the effects over the long run. 
What with market pressures, nationwide anti-austerity demonstrations and regional government on the brink of financial collapse: the Spanish government doesn’t have much room for manoeuvre. And the ECB seems to be doing everything to force a full bail-out with outside supervision, laments an ABC writer. 
The new treaty signed by 25 member states in Brussels on March 2 is supposed to create a new era of fiscal responsibility and economic union, but it is half-baked and reinforces the EU’s undemocratic credentials, argues a British columnist. 
At a time when the ECB is preparing to write a further €500 billion cheque for the banks, the ECB President has declared that over-indebted countries will have no option but to implement draconian austerity policies if they are to overcome the crisis. Shocking words, which, French business daily La Tribune argues, are nonetheless justified. 
A Greek default can still not be ruled out, and it would place the European Central Bank in considerable danger. To avoid this, states should pay up and provide guarantees, believes economist Melvyn Krauss. 
By foisting fiscal austerity on its Eurozone partners while stubbornly refusing an enhanced role for the ECB, and greater mutual support on national debt, Germany is a greater hindrance than a help to the single currency, argues Anatole Kaletsky. 
German proposals for greater discipline in the Eurozone have not been enthusiastically welcomed in France, where several Germanophobic comments have highlighted one incontrovertible reality: the French are very well disposed towards Europe, but on condition that it is a French Europe, remarks a Les Echos columnist. 
Ratings for all European countries are at risk, warned Moody's on November 28. The warning comes at a time when Italy is under heavy pressure from the markets and proposals for solving the crisis are proliferating. But it may already be too late, worries the European press. 
The measure demanded by most European partners and supported by the European Commission still meets with stiff opposition from Germany. But Berlin cannot indefinitely block the launch of Eurobonds, which increasingly appear to be the only solution to the debt crisis. 
There is a simple way to resolve the Eurozone crisis: the European Central Bank just has to state that it will be the lender of last resort for European states. But this solution, which has the support of many economists, is rejected by the ECB — a doctrinaire position, which a Le Monde columnist deplores. 
As the President of the European Central Bank steps down from an institution that has become an essential anchor for the single currency, the European press wonders about the legacy of his eight-year mandate. 
The extraordinary summit held in Brussels on October 26 is considered crucial by the European press. But whether it's about rescuing Greece or saving the single currency itself, it's a sense of unease that dominates. 
Accused at times of excessive timidity, at times of trespassing on the preserve of states, the governor of the European Central Bank has, on balance, been able to hold the euro steady and, so far, to avoid getting swept away by the crisis.
The resignation of the ECB’s chief economist, Juergen Stark, accelerates a trend that the Germans do not want to fess up to, writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: The end of the policy of stability at any cost to avoid state bankruptcy. 
Everyone now grasps that the Greek government cannot reduce its debt as promised, and the news has rattled the financial markets. In Athens there’s a feeling of helplessness in the air, as captured in this editorial in To Ethnos. 
Faced with the risk of Italian default, the European Central Bank opted to provide support for Italy’s sovereign bonds in exchange for a commitment from Rome that it would rapidly implement of a package of austerity measures. Now the Berlusconi government’s failure to take decisive action is seriously threatening the credibility of the ECB.