Critical News and Insights about Europe

Last Tuesday Brussels celebrated the return of the Eurozone inflation to positive grounds after five straight months of deflation (negative inflation). Some EU Commission economists, among others, assume that three positive decimal points of change of the level of consumer prices in May (0.3%), can signal the return of the economy to growth.

The world is moving forward full speed ahead and the Greeks seem to be the heavy anchor that has not been effectively lifted. This time though it is nothing about the glass of the negotiations being half empty or half full, as the eurosceptics or the pro-Europeans would normally say.

The world is moving forward full speed ahead and the Greeks seem to be the heavy anchor that has not been effectively lifted. This time though it is nothing about the glass of the negotiations being half empty or half full, as the eurosceptics or the pro-Europeans would normally say.

The resumption of hostilities in south-eastern Ukraine is blamed by the West to the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow reportedly wants to help the pro-Russian separatists who prevail in the Luhansk and Donetsk region to gain control of Mariupol a key port in this area on the Black Sea.

When back in April the European Commission formally filed a complaint against Google it was clear that the action could have turned the page of the whole "EU vs Google" case. But after the tech giant responded and set out the initial arguments against the Commission's findings, almost immediately, no further discussion about the thorny matter followed.

When back in April the European Commission formally filed a complaint against Google it was clear that the action could have turned the page of the whole "EU vs Google" case. But after the tech giant responded and set out the initial arguments against the Commission's findings, almost immediately, no further discussion about the thorny matter followed.

It was last Monday in Cannes when Andrus Ansip, Vice President of the European Commission (EC) for Digital Single Market (DSM), was interviewed in the context of the music industry's annual Midem event.

Last weekend the leaders of the G7 countries in reality acknowledged their impotency or probably unwillingness to effectively confront the expansion of the destructive and unlawful activities of the "too big to fail" banks and the shadow banking sector.

For the first time in the history of the EU-Turkish relations the European Parliament openly and loudly welcomed last week the heavy losses of the governing party in a general election. The MEPs actually rejoiced on "the most inclusive and representative parliament in Turkish modern history, reflecting the country's diversity", forgetting that it's a hang legislative and cannot produce a viable government.

The next meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Eurozone (Eurogroup) is convening tomorrow and the main topic will be the Greek deal with the three institutions. However, the fact that the negotiations haven't yet reached an accord from both sides makes the agreement very unlikely.

Last Tuesday 16 June the European Court of Justice issued a historic decision ruling that Mario Draghi was legally correct when on 26 July 2012 speaking at the at the Global Investment Conference in London said the famous phrase, "...the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.

European Youth Insights is a platform provided by the European Youth Forum and the European Sting, to allow young people to air their views on issues that matter to them. The following entry is written by by Allan Päll, secretary general of the European Youth Forum.

"The boy who cried wolf" is a famous Aesop's fable having a boy Shepherd calling the village for help too often just for the fun of his. Of course after many false alarms when the village came to help the boy for nothing, soon they just ignored his next calls.

Today's Eurogroup summit of the 19 euro area heads of state and government is convened by Donald Tusk, the President of European Council in order to bluntly present Alexis Tsipras, the Greek PM with a final ultimatum; 'comply or leave the Eurozone'. Of course this initiative was not Tusk's, given that his mandate is rather administrative than decisive.

The European Union has officially taken a decision yesterday regarding the staggering migrants crisis that is hitting Europe this year. The EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg has agreed to launch a mission against migrant-smugglers in Libya, which formally represents the first, big step of the EU in this unprecedented emergency.

The European Foreign Ministers gathered in Luxembourg two days ago and decided to continue imposing economic sanctions to Russia for another six months. This shows the strong intention of Europe to weaken Russia's power in Ukraine and thus put a stop on Russia's imperialistic plans.

Statistical data for the Eurozone economy paint a rather misty picture. Labour costs, an indicator which can fairly describe the evolution of the total volume of wages, marks a distinct increase signaling a clear betterment of the situation of the working classes.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful historical country that used to be part of the European Union. It became the 10th country to join the block in 1981 and was evolved ever since to become a pole of stability and growth in the Balkan region and serve crucial geo-strategic interests in the Mediterranean.

The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his governing left wing SYRIZA party, cornered between its populist rhetoric for greener grass and the realities of the dragging on negotiations with the country's creditors, called for a referendum next Sunday 5 July without a clearly defined question, denying to exactly clarify where the 'yes' or the 'no' outcome would lead to.

The deadline of the 4-month extension that the Greek government had received on February 20 just expired today. However, the Greek government and particularly the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on a last moment decision to return to the negotiating table sent a letter to the institutions only hours before the expiration of the bailout programme.

Alexis Tsipras, the Greek Prime Minister, his government and their depressed country are now in real dire straits. This is a much worse position than in any time during the last five years, a period in which Greece repeatedly faced total collapse and was rescued by a troika of creditors (the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund).

The imperative economic realities for the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will not be altered noticeably after his crushing win in yesterday's referendum. His 'no' (OXI in Greek) option marked an overwhelming victory meaning that the Greeks rejected the latest offer from the country's creditors.

The European Union finally reached an agreement last week to end roaming charges for people travelling within its 28 member countries as of June 2017. After 12 hours of negotiation the Latvian presidency reached a provisional deal last Tuesday with the European Parliament on new rules to end mobile phone roaming fees and safeguard open internet access, also known as net neutrality rules.

Greece is obliged by today or the latest tomorrow Friday morning to submit to its Eurozone partners a new program with more severe austerity and deeper reforms, if the country wants to stay in the Eurozone. Alas, this is exactly the program the Greeks rejected last Sunday in a referendum.

Written by Yanis Varoufakis ATHENS - The point of restructuring debt is to reduce the volume of new loans needed to salvage an insolvent entity. Creditors offer debt relief to get more value back and to extend as little new finance to the insolvent entity as possible.