EU - Economy - EURO: 20th. Anniversary of the EURO

European parliament marks 20th anniversary of euro

Note EU-Digest: A success story - 20 years EURO (€) currency. Remember those days before the EURO when driving by car from Holland to France, via Belgium and Germany, and having to exchange Dutch guilders to Belgian francs, German marks and French francs, paying the bank a percentage for each currency exchange they made, and also stopping at each border for custom controls. It is difficult to understand how some people want to go back to those "old days" before the EU and the € .Yes indeed #LoveTheEuro  and #LoveTheEU

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2019/01/15/european-parliament-marks-20th-anniversary-of-euro

The Netherlands: scores a B in making most of the EURO

Read more at
https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2018/12/the-netherlands-scores-a-b-in-making-most-of-the-euro/

Greek Drama: Après nous, le déluge. "Italy, Spain to follow if Greece exits eurozone", says Greek defense minister

How to glue this old Vase again?

Greece's Defense Minister Panos Kammenos has said his country's exit from the eurozone could be followed by Italy, Spain and even Germany. Kammenos' interview comes amid lack of progress in Greece's bailout plan.

"If Greece explodes, Spain and Italy will be next and then at some point, Germany. We therefore need to find a way within the eurozone, but this way cannot be that the Greeks keep on having to pay," Kammenos told Bild.

Instead of a bailout, Greece needed a debt "haircut" like the one Germany's creditors had to accept in 1953, Kammenos proposed. He also argued that Berlin should pay World War II reparations to Athens. "All European countries have been compensated for crimes committed by Nazis, except for Greece," Kammenos said, referring to the gold Nazi soldiers brought back from Athens during the war.

The defense minister also accused Germany of "interfering" in its domestic affairs. His criticism was aimed at German Finance Minister Schäuble, who earlier warned of a "Grexident" which could push Athens out of the euro.

"I don't understand why he turns against Greece every day in new statements. It's like a psychological war and Schäuble is poisoning the relationship between the two countries through that," he said.

Note EU-Digest: Instead of blaming everyone else Greek officials should realize and admit that the reason they are in trouble is because of their own mismanagement of the country:They lied about their financial figures in order to join the euro-zone, they have out of control corruption, their civil servants are over payed and receive more perks than those in any other EU nation, the Greek tax system does not work and some of the richest people in Greece never pay any taxes, and last but not least, work ethic certainly is not one of the greatest assets of the Greek labor force. .

Read more: Italy, Spain to follow if Greece exits eurozone, says Greek defense minister | News | DW.DE | 14.03.2015

EU-Economy: George Soros says he's a euro believer, looks to invest in Europe banks

Billionaire investor George Soros, the man made famous for breaking the Bank of England by shorting the pound in 1992, reportedly told a German newspaper over the weekend that he’s a euro believer. The full article at Der Spiegel isn’t available without a subscription, so we turned to Reuters for a translation and breakdown.

“I believe in the euro. Therefore my investment team is looking forward to making [sic] a lot of money soon in Europe by, for example, pumping money in banks which urgently need capital,” Soros reportedly said in the interview, adding that the euro zone needs this type of private investment now.

He said his management team was even looking at Greece, given improving economic conditions, but before doing that they need to be assured that money can be earned on a sustainable basis.

Soros also reiterated his view that efforts by Germany to save the single currency have only made things worse. A sustainable recovery for the region still doesn’t exist, even if markets are far from the turmoil of a couple of years ago. “I fear that the euro zone could experience a long phase of economic stagnation similar to Japan’s in the past 25 years.”

Read more: George Soros says he's a euro believer, looks to invest in Europe banks - The Tell - MarketWatch