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EU’s Galileo satellite system “doomed to failure”;
Commission to demand more money from taxpayers to complete project
EUobserver reports that Berry Smutny, the CEO of German satellite firm OHB Technology, has described the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system as “stupid”, “doomed to failure” and driven by French military interests. The company, which is involved in the development of Galileo, sacked Mr. Smutny yesterday after his statements in an October 2009 cable from the
The FT Brussels blog notes that Antonio Tajani, the EU’s Industry Commissioner, will today call for an additional €1.9bn for Galileo infrastructure, despite the project already running hugely over budget and overshooting its 2010 completion date. The initial cost of setting up Galileo was supposed to be €3.4bn and shared between private and public investment but private investors pulled out. The article notes that Tajani’s report puts Galileo’s annual operating costs at €800m, which will now have to be funded entirely by taxpayers, when the system becomes operational in 2014.
EUobserver Die Welt FT: Brussels blog Open Europe research
EU finance ministers delay agreement on increasing bail-out fund
At yesterday’s meeting in
Handelsblatt notes that
El Pais reports that
Handelsblatt FAZ Die Welt 3 Irish Independent Irish Times Irish Times 2 Washington Post Zero Hedge Zero Hedge 2 Euractiv El Pais 2 IHT Times FT FT 2 FT 3 FT 4 FT 5 Expresso Expansion Expansion 2 European Voice Reuters Reuters 2 WSJ Bloomberg Independent WSJ Telegraph BBC El Pais RP
Eurozone crisis divides
Die Welt reports that at yesterday’s
A second article in Die Welt reports that German FDP finance expert Frank Schäffler sees Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble as a “liability” for their coalition. "When it comes to expanding the eurozone aid scheme at the cost of German taxpayers, he's very quick, but when it comes to unburdening citizens in our own country he's always putting the brakes on", he said.
Eurozone comment roundup
In FAZ, editor Holger Steltzner argues that it seems to be business as usual in regards to saving the euro, “Chancellor Merkel will again vow to defend the principles of stability, which will then be finely pulverised by the
In the FT, Chief Executive of Pimco Mohamed El-Erian argues that enlarging the EU’s bail-out fund “would do nothing fundamentally to address the unsustainable stock of debt and its adverse impact on growth, investment and employment. Instead, it would facilitate an even larger and quicker transfer of debt from the private sector to the public sector”.
In the WSJ, columnist Paul Hannon argues “After two years of cutting back on their overseas investments, businesses are…putting more capital into their foreign operations. But there is one region in particular that is missing out: the euro zone. And that provides the clearest indication yet that the longer-term cost of the currency area's sovereign debt problems will exceed the sums involved in bailing out its weaker members”.
BBC: Flanders Handelsblatt Handelsblatt 2 FT Deutschland Expresso: Raposo John Redwood's diary WSJ: Hannon WSJ: Editorial WSJ: Booth and Mingardi FT: El-Erian Frankfurter Allgemeine: Steltzner
Les Echos reports that
Les Echos Business Week DPA Bloomberg
The Telegraph reports that the European Parliament is considering calling for personally targeted EU sanctions on Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, to punish the Kremlin for the controversial conviction of Mikhail Khodorkovsky on charges many believe are politically-motivated.
The Irish Times reports that Dr Mary Kelly, Director General of
El Pais reports that the rotating Spanish Presidency in 2010 cost
The European Commission says an initial assessment indicates that
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