Policy Focus
- Agriculture & Fisheries
- Economic Affairs
- Energy & Transport
- Enlargement
- Environment
- EU Politics
- Europe's Regions
- Foreign Affairs
- Health
- Justice & Rights
- Science & Research
EU calls for global summit on bank crisis
Gordon Brown and other EU leaders have called for a global economic summit to "rebuild the world's financial system" as they held emergency talks on how to prevent a repeat of the current international credit crisis, reports the Guardian.
At a hastily convened meeting in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the heads of the EU's four biggest economies - Germany, France, the UK and Italy - were united on the need to call all leading economic nations together to create "a new financial world".
Le Figaro says that the G4 leaders sent a strong political message that they would not let their banks fall, signing a roadmap following the American 700bn dollar bailout plan finally approved by US treasury secretary Henry Paulson last week.
The IHT says the leaders approved a €30bn fund to help free up lending for small and medium-sized enterprises, and urged governments to take urgent action to remedy the banking crisis.
They also urged EU regulators to be flexible and act quickly when making decisions on massive government bailouts for banks.
Meanwhile, the Belfast Telegraph says the global financial crisis is to be the subject of a meeting of EU finance ministers today in Brussels. The paper says the meeting comes after several EU states have adopted unilateral plans to save their banking sectors, preventing agreement on a joint response to the crisis.
EU governments rush to save collapsing banks
European governments have rushed to save failing banks following the financial crisis, with the German government putting forward a rescue plan for Hypo Real Estate AG and guaranteeing private bank accounts, reports the IHT.
Germany has announced a new bailout package totalling €50bn for Hypo Real Estate, along with an unlimited guarantee covering some €568bn in savings and checking accounts.
Meanwhile, Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said that France's BNP Paribas SA had committed to taking a 75 per cent stake in Fortis NV.
Press Links
World on 'edge of abyss'
French premier François Fillon has warned the world is "on the edge of the abyss" as his country moved into an official recession, according to the Guardian
The prime minister's comments, blaming an "irresponsible" financial system, came as the Dutch government seized control of Fortis's Dutch operations in a €16.8bn (£13.2bn) deal agreed with the Belgian and Luxembourg authorities.
Press Links
Sarkozy appeals to Barroso over telecoms rules
Libération publishes extracts from a letter sent by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to commission president José Manuel Barroso regarding a European parliament vote on internet access.
In the letter, Sarkozy asks Barroso to reject amendment 138 of a text voted on 24 September as part of the telecoms package.
That amendment would prevent governments from blocking internet access – only the courts would have the power to do this – and as such would undermine France’s proposed new anti-piracy rules.
But the paper notes that even if Sarkozy’s plea is successful, the text is likely to be resubmitted by MEPs in a second reading, due next year under the Czech presidency, which is unlikely to call for its withdrawal.
Press Links
European governments offer aid to displaced Filipinos
EU governments have approved a grant for food, water and other emergency supplies for nearly 300,000 people made homeless as a result of two months of fighting in the southern Philippines, reports the IHT.
European ambassador Alistair MacDonald, the European commission's head of delegation to the region, said that the €7m approved in Brussels last week would supplement Manila's declining relief funds for communities caught in the clashes between government troops and Muslim rebels.
Press Links
Racism divides the Italian far right
Almost 50,000 people took to the streets in major Italian cities this weekend to protest against xenophobia and racism, says El País.
The paper says the protests have begun to affect the far right, with National Alliance leader Gianfranco Fini quoted in the paper as saying that Italy is living “in danger from racism and xenophobia, which would be wrong to deny”.
He said Italian politics would have to be on its guard in the coming years as the topic of racism would mark its work in future.
The paper says his comments clash with the stance of his coalition partners in the Lega Nord, with interior minister Roberto Maroni denying on Sunday that Italy is living in the shadow of a racism emergency.
Press Links
Turkey not ready for EU membership, says German foreign minister
German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said that Turkey has still not done enough to warrant a final decision on EU membership, reports Deutsche Welle.
Speaking in Hanover on Hannah Arendt Day, the commemoration of the Jewish philosopher born there in 1906, the website reports Steinmeier as saying that further reforms were needed in Turkey, and the country should use its “hinge and bridge” role to mediate conflicts in the Middle East.
