BERLIN (Reuters) – More than 20 countries and territories in Europe have launched or plan smartphone apps that seek to break the chain of coronavirus infection by tracking encounters between people and issuing a warning should one of them test positive.
Source: Explainer: Europe’s coronavirus smartphone contact tracing apps – Reuters
Mr Bootle also made a worrying prediction for the EU economy as a whole. He said: “As and when Italy finally blows up this will cause both a banking crisis that will shake the European economy and a political crisis that will rock the EU to its foundations.” It is now the third time Italy has fallen into recession in a decade. There has been a weakening of growth rates across the eurozone, which led to the EU increasing its GDP by only 0.2% in the final three months of 2018.
Democracy has declined more in Europe than any other region in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Releasing its statistics for the Democracy Index 2018, the EIU noted a “democratic malaise” felt particularly in western Europe, where the state of democracy has declined for a third consecutive year.
Despite the reported “democratic malaise,” countries in Europe still dominated the top of the table globally with Norway in first place, and Iceland and Sweden in second and third places respectively.
Russia was ranked the least democratic country in Europe, reaching 144th place on the global chart, below countries such as Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.
Western Europe features heavily with countries that the report considers to be “full democracies,” whereas Europe’s east fails to achieve even one of these, dominating instead the “flawed democracy” category.
Source: Democracy in Europe ‘has declined more than any other region’ | Euronews
Desperate times lie ahead for the Eurozone as economic growth slows, particularly in countries such as Italy where debt levels are already astronomically high at £2.2trillion. The Centre for Economic and Business Research said in its annual predictions for 2019 “internal contradictions” would force the Eurozone to “integrate economically” or “risk breaking up”. They added: “It is possible to defer the confrontation for a year or two but the boil will have to be lanced at some point since the Italians have clearly reached the point of austerity fatigue.”
The European Union has taken its first step towards disciplinary procedures against Italy over its budget plans.
The bloc’s legislative arm, the European Commission, announced on Wednesday that Italy should face action from the EU to reduce its deficit.
The Commission said the expansionary budget, which raises the deficit to 2.4% of gross domestic product from 1.8% this year was “a particularly serious case of non-compliance” with its recommendations.
The EU executive therefore launched an “excessive deficit procedure” based on the fact that projections showed Italy’s public debt would not come down as required by EU rules.
An “excessive deficit procedure” requires the country in question to present a plan to correct the non-compliance detailing the policies it will follow with deadlines.
“The impact of this budget on growth is likely to be negative in our view. It does not contain significant measures to boost potential growth, possibly the opposite,” European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said.
“With what the Italian government has put on the table, we see a risk of the country sleepwalking into instability.”
The Commission, which checks that draft budgets put forward by EU members comply with limits of deficits and debt before they are voted on by parliaments, reject’s Italy’s argument that by expanding the budget it can boost economic growth and revenues, bringing down the debt as a proportion of GDP.
Italy has said it had no intention of changing its plans, setting up a confrontation that could last months and eventually lead to fines.
The government of Rome’s right-wing League and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement remained defiant.
Source: EU takes first step towards disciplinary procedures against Italy over budget plans | Euronews
The British businessman also suggested the European Union is exploiting the Brexitnegotiations to avoid having to address the “volcanic” threat Italy poses to the bloc.
Rome and Brussels have been engaged in a blistering battle of words since Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovivi rejected Italy’s 2019 budget proposals in October.
Mr Mellon suggested the European Central Bank (ECB) could soon stop being able to “contain” unnerved markets and lead to Italy leaving the euro.
Speaking to CNBC, he said: “There is no way the ECB can contain the Italian situation if it carries on as it is. We know if the BTPs got above 4 percent and yield – and they’re not that far away from it – then Italy has really no option but to leave the euro and take some drastic action.
Italy’s populist government is engaged in a standoff with the European Union over its financial plans which would see the cash-strapped Mediterranean nation increase borrowing instead of attempting to balancing its books.
The European Commission rejected the draft 2019 budget earlier this week for defying EU spending rules and demanded Rome draw up a revised version within three weeks.
But the coalition government at the helm of the EU’s fourth biggest economy, made up of the right-wing League and populist Five Star Movement, has so far refused to budge.
And Alberto Bagnai, an economist and senator for Matteo Salvini’s League, insisted his party has no intention of giving in.
Speaking during a plenary sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the Five Star Movement MEP asked the European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker why France was able to break EU migrant rules without being punished.
Mr Valli said: “As for the position of the Italian government on migration – we took on an explosive situation.
“You would turn Italy into the refugee camp of Europe.
“Europe has not taken responsibility for what needs to be done.”
Mr Oettinger’s remarks were labeled as “disgusting bullying” by Nigel Farage, while even fellow EU bureaucrats Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker distanced themselves from Oettinger’s comments.
Mr Tusk, the European Council President, took to Twitter to urge “all EU institutions” to “please respect the voters”.
Mr Juncker, meanwhile, said in a statement: “Italy’s fate does not lie in the hands of the financial markets.
“Regardless of which political party may be in power, Italy is a founding member of the European Union that has contributed immensely to European integration. President Juncker is convinced that Italy will continue on its European path. The Commission is ready to work with Italy with responsibility and mutual respect. Italy deserves respect.”
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Among the urgent demands of the young protesters was an immediate Italian exit of the EU as well as a departure from the eurozone.
This follows polls yesterday that will alarm officials in Brussels, as eurosceptism remains on the rise in the country and anti-EU parties resurgent.
GETTY
Thousands of anti-EU protesters voiced their fury at Brussels yesterday
GETTY
The large-scale protest voiced opposition to the current Government
Slogans chanted by the crowd included “Break the European Union and euro cage” and “No to the EU mafia”.
This follows a widespread general strike on Friday in Italy, which was orchestrated by key trade unions.
GETTY
The US embassy issued a security alert to tourists in the area
They called for the government to reject the EU’s demand for Italy to cut back on its budget, and also urged politicians to abandon the free trade agreements with the US and Canada.
Source: ‘We will never be your slaves!’ Italy in crisis as THOUSANDS demand EXIT from ‘EU MAFIA’ : Express
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