France deserts the sinking ship of Europe

A few days ago the news emerged that France might be preparing to leave the EU. Marine Le Pen, head of "National Front" party, argues that France has no future in the EU, and if the country wants to develop further, it should seriously consider the option of self-navigation. Is this the case and what could France expect if it is no longer a member of the EU?

French Party "National Front" and its leader Marine Le Pen boldly declared their decision to withdraw France from the European Union. French policy has changed dramatically over the last few years. "National Front" is a party with 40 years of experience, and over this time its views have undergone radical changes. Why such a dramatic change in attitude and ideology in "National Front"?

Le Pen believes that, above all, the political and economic situation in the world has changed, and the country has entered an era of globalization, which, in turn, led to a drastic change in "National Front," one of the few parties that managed to perfectly adapt to the global environment. The party leader said that 25 years ago "National Front" was known as a strictly liberal party that did not share opposing political views.

Also read: Le Pen to Pravda.Ru: "I've always been hostile to Communism"

Being liberal at the time meant advocating for the establishment of the market economy under the framework determined by the government. Now there are no permanent borders and frameworks. Due to these major changes the party, not to be lost on the margins of history, has transformed its views and turned to ultra-liberalism. Today, political views of "National Front" are clear.

Marine Le Pen advocates the creation of a strong and strategic state and establishment of an arbitrator state. Is it possible? What means would be good to achieve this goal? The answer may be quite ambiguous. First of all, the party leader stated her desire to radically change the country, but keep the previously established international relationships with many leading countries. Le Pen said that first the situation in the country had to be changed, and the politics, which is its integral part, had to be flexible and adjust.

The leader of "National Front" stated that, in her opinion, the European Union was already dead. Is this true and why, then, dozens of states still strive to become the EU's honorary members? Le Pen said that today's media deliberately ascribed the EU nonexistent benefits and achievements, saying that the European Union was alive and developing, but this is not true. Le Pen added that the established European currency was also dead, as well as the organization itself. He stated the need to keep up with the time, to notice the collapse of the European Union and be able to leave the sinking ship.

The leader of the French party talked about the attempts to save the euro at all costs. Le Pen does not want her people to follow the example of the Irish who were forced to reduce the minimum wage by 12 percent or drastically cut state family allowances and unemployment benefits. Lowering the generally accepted level of life is another step towards the abyss. If the currency needs to be saved at this price, the price of the people, it would be much more humane to simply get out of the EU and completely abandon the euro, said Le Pen.

In an interview with "Euronews" Le Pen said that Europe was quite capable of getting out of the situation, if it were to adhere to the previously established concepts. But today, Le Pen saw the future of Europe without France in the EU. She talked about the possibility of France's withdrawal from the European Union earlier, but had never called the exact date of the referendum. The head of the French opposition expressed the opinion of the "National Front" demanding from President Francois Hollande a referendum on the withdrawal of France from the EU.

Le Pen proposed a specific date for the referendum - January of 2014. Why this date? The choice is clear, as in January of 2014 the next elections to the European Parliament will be held, and this is when France should express its will to withdraw from the EU. Marine Le Pen did not choose the time for such an initiative by accident. Her words today have a great weight, as the crisis in the euro area is obvious, and the arguments of Euro-skeptics are now becoming increasingly more convincing.

The result of recent elections in the Italian Parliament won by populist politicians, including Beppe Grillo, who proposed a referendum on Italy's withdrawal from the euro zone, is another striking example of the changing situation in the EU. During a meeting of the "National Front" leadership on Saturday, Le Pen spoke about the inability of the government to solve domestic problems that largely stem from the EU. Whether her predictions about the collapse of the European Union are realistic is a big question, but there are definitely some doubts. In addition to sharp criticism of the official policy of Brussels in terms of the economy, Le Pen criticized border controls within the EU.

She believes that the forthcoming entry into the Schengen area of ​​Romania and Bulgaria will have very negative consequences for France. France's decision to significantly tighten its immigration policy may be jeopardized, and the opposition does not want it to happen. So far it is not clear whether Marine Le Pen will be successful in her initiative but, judging by her rapidly growing popularity, this is realistic. Through a broad eloquent advocacy of her political views, Le Pen has managed to perfectly strengthen the position of her party.

Thanks to a new wave of global economic crisis, at the presidential elections in France in the spring of 2012 she became a serious competition to the leaders of the election campaign - Socialist Francois Hollande and President Nicolas Sarkozy. In the following election to the National Assembly she managed to become a member of the French Parliament.

Le Pen is open about her mistrust of the French Government. In an interview with "Euronews" she said that withdrawal from the EU was the only sensible way out of this situation. It is difficult to say whether such a radical solution will stabilize the state of affairs in France. However, Le Figaro wrote that in many years such drastic political and economic measures have not been taken, and that this shake-up in the political life of France and the entire Europe can put everything in its place.

Sergei Vasilenkov

Pravda.Ru

Fake or Not? EU Commission’s ‘safety warning’ to staff visiting Greece & alarming predictions

An odd and alarming at the same time e-mail puzzled many Greeks on Saturday, when a Greek newspaper posted on its internet site the content of an e-mail allegedly issued by the EU Commission to its staff containing “safety instructions”. The e-mail was apperently forwarded to EU staff due to visit Athens in the upcoming weeks. Worst than this is the e-mail sender warned of “violent riots with an X number of deads” and this in March. EU representative in Athens dismissed some part of the e-mail content but not convincingly enough.
On Saturday, online edition of  TO VIMA newspaper revealed the content of an e-mail allegedly sent by the EU Commission to its staff due to Greece.
The controversial e-mail as posted by TO VIMA at 2:30 p.m., on Saturday, March 2/2013:

«Dear sir
This note is confidential, for your information. Contacts information has been removed for reasons of safety of people involved. There is some additional information (only orally distributed), shared with IMF staff, in regard with intelligence collected, concerning violent riots in Athens on March, with Xs (the number mentioned is not possible to communicate) deads.
Kind request for discretional treatment.
FYI, this is the first travel advice ever issued by Commission for a mission of officials to a member state.
Greek employees in Commission have been severely upset and they read very carefully the recommendations also for their own safety whenever they will have to travel and accommodate back home.
Kind regards,
J»
Concerning your mission to Athens we would like to send you some recommendations and additional information about your stay in Athens.
What follows is security advice and tips recommended by the Security Directorate.
Recomendations to be read in To Vima

The alarming news prompted Kathimerini newspaper to post a relevant request to EU representative in Athens, Panagiotis Karvounis. He indirectly admitted the existence of “safety instructions to EU personnel”  However he denied the part of “verbal instructions” EU representative in Athens Panagiotis Karvounis answered to Kathimerini (posted on 10:30 pm Saturday, March 2/2013):

 ”The EU Commission issues  guidelines for the safety of its personnel, that’s not originality, that’s its duty.  The following text in quotes was NOT issued by the Commission. The instructions that follow in this text are implicit suggestions by the Commission for its staff. These instructions were made in consultation with the Greek authorities! “.

“According to EU Commission, the text posted by TO VIMA was fake,” Kathimirini correspondent in Brussels reports.
Later, TO VIMA picked up the issue again, posting Karvounis’ answer and noting:
“The EU Commission not only admits the existence of the e-mail containing travel warning for Greece with unprecedented safety instructions for the personnel to visit the country, it also involves the Greek authorities in this.” (To Vima)
The issue leaves a lot of question-marks open as the EU representative in Athens did not explicitly denied the  “safety instructions,” but apparently the “orally distributed intelligence collection”, speaking of “violent riots”.
E-mail, fake or not… it’s not the first time Brussels allegedly advises its personnel to take increased safety precautions when in Greece. On 23. January 2013, TA NEA newspaper had published a report according to which Brussels had advised the Troika staff to go around in disguise when in Athens. KTG had translated the report.
A travel warning issued by EU Commission about one of its members without an obvious reason like a war? Is “Kabul” boiling under our feet and we don’t know it?
Was this e-mail deliberately distributed by some EU Commission staff? Or do they there in Brussels know more than we? And who could predict with certainty “violent riots with X deads”? Somebody who confuse “social unrest” with “earthquake” prediction?
And if there is such intelligence, why nobody undertakes measures to prevent them?
UPDATE: EU Commissioner for Maritime Issue & Fishery, Maria Damanaki (PASOK) strongly complained about the e-mails and wrote a protest letter to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Damanaki requests to be informed in detail about the reasons and the procedures for the issuing of the travel wring.  In her letter, Damanaki also notes that Greece is a country peaceful and safe for all European and international officials, with vivid and timeless traditions of hospitality to every citizen. (posted on Maria Damanaki’s official website on Sunday noon).

New data shows Eurozone sinking deeper into recession

Topics: eurozone economy

 

The 17-nation eurozone sank further into recession in the last three months of 2012 as the debt crisis continued to exact a heavy price, official data showed Wednesday.
The eurozone economy shrank 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the third quarter when it contracted 0.1 percent, the Eurostat data agency said, confirming initial estimates given in February.
For the full 27-member European Union, the economy was 0.5 percent smaller in the fourth quarter after a marginal gain of 0.1 percent in the third, Eurostat said.

A recession is counted as two consecutive quarterly economic contractions.
Compared with fourth quarter 2011, the eurozone economy was down 0.9 percent and the EU 27 off 0.6 percent.
Among the major economies, European powerhouse Germany shrank 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter after a gain of 0.2 percent in the third and France slipped 0.3 percent after growth of 0.1 percent.
Non-euro Britain lost 0.3 percent after sharp growth of 1.0 percent in the third quarter, boosted by the London Olympics.
Among the fourth quarter best performers were Estonia, which grew 0.9 percent and Lithuania, up 0.7 percent, while bailed-out Portugal was the weakest, with its economy shrinking 1.8 percent.
Eurostat said that for 2012 as a whole, the eurozone economy contracted 0.6 percent and the EU 0.3 percent.
Data so far for 2013 suggests the European economy is stabilising after a very bad 2012 but the outlook remains weak and uncertain.

Wholesale Foreclosure Sales Planned

The U.S. federal government is making plans to sell more than 250,000 foreclosure homes at wholesale prices in bulk to a series of investor-backed firms in an effort to speed up the recovery of the housing market and artificially push home prices higher.
The plan comes on the heals of a pilot program that sold homes to investor led groups in a half a dozen states, most seriously damaged by the real estate collapse. The government has made a series of efforts to aid the housing market, including efforts to refinance underwater homeowners without regard to loan to value levels, but few of the programs has actually shown much success to aid the market, which has seen home prices decline for seven years in most areas of the country until recently.
The Fannie Mae program will be implemented to sell off assets in the form of either pool sales or joint ventures. Realtors are criticizing the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in its quiet effort to sell foreclosed homes in package deals. The REO properties, like those that have already been sold to investor groups, will have to be rented and not resold for a period of time and may not be immediately “flipped” for a profit.
A large scale sell-off of foreclosures held by Fannie Mae would reduce the number of vacant and foreclosed homes waiting to be sold throughout the country, and could also act to artificially push home values higher as a result of fewer homes listed for consumers in the general marketplace. However, it would come at an expensive price as the Federal Reserve buys home mortgages that have defaulted.

Homeless Population in NYC Shelters Reaches Record 50,000: Report

 

The number of homeless people sleeping in New York City shelters has risen to a record of more than 50,000 people a night, according to a new report.

The Coalition for the Homeless released the report based on city data Tuesday, which stated that an average of 50,135 people per night slept in shelters in January, including 21,000 children.

The number is a 19 percent jump from a year ago when the population was approximately 42,000, and a 61 percent jump from a decade earlier when the number was under 13,000.

Homeless advocates say Mayor Bloomberg's administration has not done enough to secure housing for homeless families.

"This is a tragedy of City Hall’s own making," said Mary Brosnahan, president of the coalition. "Had Mayor Bloomberg simply followed the strategy of previous mayors of both parties and prioritized moving the homeless into permanent affordable housing, there would be thousands fewer families and children in our shelter system today."

In response to the report, Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond said there are fewer people entering the city's shelter system than years prior, but that people were staying longer.

Diamond blamed the growing population on the loss of state rent subsidies for formerly homeless families two years ago.

"We lost that and the population did go up," Diamond said. "We lost that ability to help them."

The report suggests the city should give homeless families access to federal and city housing resources, including Section 8 and NYCHA public housing. But Diamond contends that federal funding for Section 8 has been "leveled or reduced" in the last three years and that there is now a seven-year waiting period for NYCHA housing.

"The reality is those resources don't exist," Diamond said.

Banks urge judge to throw out Libor lawsuits

By Bernard Vaughan

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Banks facing a barrage of lawsuits from customers accusing them of interest-rate rigging argued on Tuesday that the cases should be dismissed, saying there is no evidence of antitrust or other violations.
Plaintiffs including community banks and local governments have sued Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) and others for allegedly manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, commonly known as Libor.
Libor, which has been the focus of a global investigation by regulators, is used to set interest rates on more than $350 trillion of securities from mortgages to complex derivatives.
At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan, lawyers for the banks urged that the cases be thrown out before trial. The cases include proposed class action lawsuits alleging violations of antitrust law and the Commodities Exchange Act, which regulates the trading of commodity futures in the United States.
The antitrust claims should be dismissed because there is no documented agreement among the banks to keep Libor low, argued Robert Wise, a lawyer for Bank of America.
Further, he told the judge, the banks did not restrain trade because Libor is an estimate they provide on their borrowing costs, not a price for a product they set in a competitive process.
"Libor is not something that is bought, or sold, or traded," said Wise, who also argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the lawsuits. "It is simply a benchmark, an average."
Judge Buchwald questioned the plaintiffs' attorneys on that argument, noting that even if banks suppressed Libor they still competed against each other for business once the rates were set.
Bill Carmody, a lawyer representing the city of Baltimore and other plaintiffs, argued that Libor is an essential component of the price some customers paid for interest-rate swaps and other financial products tied to Libor.
Carmody said that banks don't compete against each other when they submit their Libor rates to the British Bankers' Association each business day, though he later clarified his statement to say that banks compete over products tied to the interest rate that they set.
Wise attacked this argument, saying that the "Plaintiffs are confusing a claim of being deceived ... with a claim for harm to competition."
In the lawsuits, plaintiffs contend that the banks reported artificially low Libor rates starting in August 2007 to play down their borrowing costs and conceal their wavering health while boosting their own returns on trades.
The lawsuits seek potentially billions in damages. The plaintiffs argue they were robbed of more lucrative payouts on financial products tied to Libor because of rate rigging.
Citigroup Inc (NYS:C), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.DE) and UBS AG (UBSN.VX) are also among the banks named as defendants in the various lawsuits.
Three banks have reached settlements with authorities to resolve liability.
Most recently, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS.L) agreed to pay $612 million to U.S. and British authorities. Last year, UBS agreed to pay $1.5 billion in penalties and Barclays Plc agreed to pay $453 million. The scandal led to the resignation of Barclays' (BARC.L) chairman, chief executive and chief operating officer.
The cases are consolidated under In Re: Libor-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-md-2262.
(Reporting By Bernard Vaughan; Editing by Martha Graybow and Steve Orlofsky)

New York's Homelessness Worst Since The Great Depression

Source: Zero Hedge

State and local governments nationwide have struggled to accommodate a homeless population that has changed in recent years - now including large numbers of families with young children. As the WSJ reports, more than 21,000 children - an unprecedented 1% of the city's youth - slept each night in a city shelter in January, an increase of 22% in the past year; as homeless families now spend more than a year in a shelter, on average, for the first time since 1987. New York City has seen one of the steepest increases in homeless families in the past decade, advocates said, growing 73% since 2002, and "is facing a homeless crisis worse than any time since the Great Depression."
Homeless advocates said the Obama administration has focused on more visible problems, such as those sleeping on the streets, taking resources away from families. The steep rise has reignited questions about whether New York's economic turnaround of the past two decades has helped the city's poorest residents as they note (despite today's Dow record highs), "the economy is nowhere near where it was."
The blame apparently lies at the cessation of 'entitlements' as the DHS adds, since the end - in Spring 2011 - of a state-funded program that subsidized rent for people leaving shelters; homeless families have gone up 35%; but they also added that the city was working to find employment for the homeless, "a long-term solution." Boston and Washington DC are also seeing homeless numbers surge.



Via WSJ,

An average of more than 50,000 people slept each night in New York City's homeless shelters for the first time in January, a record that underscores an unsettling national trend: a rising number of families without permanent housing.
Families have become a larger share of the nation's homeless population, growing 1.4% from 2011 to 2012, after their numbers fell as the economy emerged from recession.
...
More than 21,000 children—an unprecedented 1% of the city's youth—slept each night in a city shelter in January, an increase of 22% in the past year, the report said, while homeless families now spend more than a year in a shelter, on average, for the first time since 1987. In January, an average of 11,984 homeless families slept in shelters each night, a rise of 18% from a year earlier.
"New York is facing a homeless crisis worse than any time since the Great Depression," said Mary Brosnahan, president of the Coalition for the Homeless.
...
New York City has seen one of the steepest increases in homeless families in the past decade, advocates said, growing 73% since 2002.
...
The steep rise has reignited questions about whether New York's economic turnaround of the past two decades has helped the city's poorest residents.
...
"The economy is nowhere near where it was," said Seth Diamond, commissioner of the city's Department of Homeless Services. He pointed to the end of a state-funded program that subsidized rent for people leaving shelters, which ended in spring 2011; homeless families have gone up 35% since, according to shelter records.
...