NSA Spying on Europeans: Specter of US spying looms large in Germany

NSA is always present

When the German version of the FBI needs to share sensitive information these days, it types it up and has it hand-delivered.

This time last year, it would have trusted in the security of email. But last year was before Edward Snowden and the public revelations of the scope of the National Security Agency's PRISM electronic intelligence-gathering program. After Snowden, or post-PRISM, is a new digital world.

"We're now carrying our information to our allies on foot," said Peter Henzler, the vice president of the Bundeskriminalamt, known as the BKA. He was speaking recently at a German Interior Ministry panel on the country's digital future. The focus of the panel was how to counter U.S. surveillance measures and what it will take for Germans to be safe again on the Web. "We're no longer using the open Internet."

The message is clear: The United States no longer can be trusted not to spy on any and every facet of German life and policy. Henzler's concerns might sound extreme, but he was hardly alone on his panel, and the worries appear to be an accurate reflection of the wider German, and even European, concern about the reach of the NSA's surveillance program.

Hardly a week passes here without some new revelation about the dastardly depths to which the American spy program invaded German privacy, or at least a new way in which to react to the scandal.

Last week, for instance, the news broke that the United States had tapped the cellphone of Gerhard Schroeder when he was the German chancellor from 1998 to 2005. Given that it's been four months since news broke that the same American surveillance program was tapping the cellphone of the current chancellor, Angela Merkel, and had been tapping her phone for several years before she was chancellor, the revelation could hardly have been surprising.

Merkel, after all, was seen as an American ally. Schroeder, who sharply criticized U.S. intentions and efforts in Iraq and was visibly uncomfortable in the presence of then-President George W. Bush, was seen as something less than an American booster.

But there are many more examples, beyond the news stories: Thirty-two percent of Germans tell pollsters they've either left or reduced their time on Facebook for fear of spying. German television ads note the peace of mind and freedom that come with email that doesn't leave European servers. Providers very publicly say that they now encrypt all email. Anti-surveillance NSA protests are common in Berlin.

Such thoughts aren't limited to Germany. A $900 million French deal with the United Arab Emirates for two new intelligence satellites appears to be in doubt after the buyers noticed U.S. components in the French satellites that they feared could compromise their data.

Florian Glatzner, a policy officer with the German Federal Consumer Protection Agency, said they were fielding a lot of consumer questions about how to ensure that their communications and data were safe from the electronic spying of the NSA.

"A lot of the trust in the big Internet companies is gone," he said. "And most of the big Internet companies were based in the United States."

Read more at msn news

European Technology: A €63 billion EU app boom. Nearly 5 million jobs in European app sector by 2018, says EU report

Apps=Skills=Jobs

The EU's app sector has gone from zero to digital superhero in less than five years. By 2018 it could employ 4.8 million people and contribute €63 billion to the EU economy according to a report presented in Brussels today.

The study, carried out by GIGAOM and NUI Galway for the European Commission, shows that Europe's app developers are up to the challenge of taking the global lead.

 Currently, EU and North American developers generate the same levels (42% each) of app revenues in crucial EU and US markets. Although the future is bright, developers have raised concerns about the skills gap, connectivity and fragmentation which could put the app boom at risk

Today the app economy employs 1 million developers, and 800,000 people in marketing & support posts.

This could rise to 2.7 million developers + 2.1 million support staff by 2018. EU buyers and advertisers spent €6.1 billion on apps in 2013, 30% of total global app spending, growing to €18.7 billion in 2018. Consumer spending combined with advertising and contract work could lead to €63 billion annual revenue for the app sector within five years.

Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission, said "In the face of increasing youth unemployment, these figures give me new hope. The app sector is one area of the digital economy where Europe can really lead. But we have to address concerns about connectivity and fragmentation – yet another reason to complete the telecom single market!"

28 EU leading companies created 40% of the top 100 grossing apps in the EU and US. Three of the top-five companies are Nordic games developers (1st King.com, 2nd, Supercell, 5th Rovio)with German, French, Spanish and UK app developers also finding success outside their native markets. 

Growing market, growing jobs: In 2013, developers earned €11.5 billion making apps for consumer goods, banking, media, retail and other clients. They can expect to earn up to €46 billion through contracts of this nature in 2018. The app boom is creating jobs, for example contract developers Golden Gekko (London/Barcelona) plans to grow its staff 40-50% next year and London-based Grapple Mobile was a 3-person firm three years ago, employs 120 now, and intends to double next year.

Almere-Digest

THE 2014 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: THIS TIME IT’S DIFFERENT- MORE DEMOCRACY LESS BUREAUCRACY

Vote and let your voice be heard

Elections to the European Parliament will be held in all member states of the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014 (depending on the dates set by the national governments), as decided unanimously by the Council of the European Union.     

It will be the eighth Europe-wide election to the European Parliament since the first direct elections in 1979.

The countdown has started: there are 100 days to go until the first polling stations open for the 2014 European elections. In this second biggest democratic exercise in the world, close to 500 million people can cast their vote for a new European Parliament. The 751 MEPs taking up their seats in July will not only set the course of European policies for the next five years but also elect the leader of the EU's executive body, the European Commission President.

For the first time, the composition of the new European Parliament will determine who will lead the next European Commission, the EU's executive body, which initiates legislation and supervises its implementation. Under the new rules, EU government leaders, who will propose a candidate for the post of the future Commission President, must do so on the basis of the election results.

The European Parliament will elect the new Commission President by a majority of the component members, i.e. at least half of the 751 MEPs to be elected (376). European political parties will therefore, or have already, put forward their candidates for this leading position in the EU before the European elections, thus allowing citizens to have a say over next Commission President.

The new political majority emerging from the elections will also shape European legislation over the next five years in areas from the single market to civil liberties.

The Parliament - the only directly elected EU institution - is now a linchpin of the European decision-making system and has an equal say with national governments on virtually all EU laws. Voters will be more influential than ever. 

If you are an EU national living in another EU country, you have the right to vote and stand as a candidate for the European Parliament elections in that country. Check for details with your Embassy or Consulate.

Vote and let your voice be heard.  The EU Belongs to all of us.

To get a Press kit click here.

EU-Digest

Corruption Worlds most important economic problem - how does your country score?

corruption - a global economic disease

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.

The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem.

The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.

Go to the link below and see how your country scores.

For the complete report go to transparency international

The Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.
The Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious, worldwide corruption problem. Hover on the map above to see how your country fares.
The world urgently needs a renewed effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance, pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public institutions.
- See more at: http://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results#sthash.cP3Rod0A.dpuf

EU-Digest

Britain: Almost as many Brits living in other EU countries than there are EU citizens living in Britain?

Is a British suicide in the making ?

Factcheck EU argues that Graham Watson, a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament, at  a time when the British public is particularly sensitive to issues regarding immigration into the UK, has defended  one of the bastions of the European Union, the principle of free movement, as a reaction to the British Prime Minister's intent to "crack down on European immigration rules."

To support his opinions, Mr. Watson argues that targeting specific nationalities when imposing restrictions on free movement could spark retaliations on British citizens living in other member states of the European Union. Mr. Watson reminds the British public that "there are almost as many Brits living in other European countries than there are other Europeans living in Britain."

Factcheck EU says this statement is not correct and base it on the following arguments.

A report on "Population and Social Conditions" published by Eurostat for the year 2012 states the figure is close to 1 million, which is less than the amount of other EU nationals residing on British soil. Factcheck EU then jumps one year ahead and states the most recent figures from Eurostat indicate that there are now over 2.3 millio European Citizens living in Britain..

Note EU-Digest: Factcheck is comparing Apples with Pears. What they do not describe is that either way the numbers are both substantial and a unilateral move by Britain to step out of the EU would be an economic disaster for Britain and the more than a million plus Brits living in the EU, not to mention the millions of Brits who own vacation homes in the European Union. 

Jim Cowles, Citi chief executive officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa, recently told the British Financial Times that there was "mounting concern" among clients about their ability to use the United Kingdom as a regional hub if the country exits the EU.

Bottom line Britain is far better off in the EU than outside it.

EU-Digest

The Netherlands. Dutch populist eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders wants Netherlands to leave EU

Eurosceptics Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen

In a foretaste of his campaign for European parliamentary elections in May, Dutch populist politician Geert Wilders is making his case that the Netherlands would be better off leaving the European Union.

He claimed Thursday a "NExit" -- Netherlands exit from both the European Union and euro currency zone -- would add nearly 10,000 euros ($13,000) to GDP per capita over two decades, from around 35,000 euros now.

The Dutch government rejects Wilders' views, saying a pullout from the European Union would cause irreparable damage to trade relations in a country heavily reliant on trade, and a euro departure would lead to a new financial crisis.

Wilders' views on leaving the European Union have so far gained little traction in the Netherlands, and are seen as practically unworkable. However, his euro-skeptic stance, like that of other parties elsewhere on the political extremes -- such as France's Marine Le Pen, Greece's Alexis Tsipras and Britain's Nigel Farage, does resonate with a wider public.

A survey published last week by pollster Maurice de Hond found almost as many Dutch would vote for Wilders' Freedom Party as for the two parties in the centrist governing coalition combined -- if national elections were held today. They are not scheduled until 2017. Wilders said he hoped that his faction would be the largest Dutch faction in the European elections.

At the press conference, Wilders presented a study that concluded there would be significant positive economic effects from leaving the EU. He commissioned the study from the London-based think-tank Capital Economics, founded by Wilders Eurosceptic economist friend Roger Bootle.

EU-Digest

Corruption - Banking Industry: U.S. banks can match China’s for corruption any day - by David Weidner

Banking Industry, Favoritism and Corruption

"Tian xià wu ya yi yàng hei." I may not have the translation exactly correct, but in Mandarin, loosely, the expression means “in the whole world, all crows are black.”

The proverb isn’t about crows. Crows are a metaphor for bad guys. And the upshot is this: we may judge different cultures for their failings, but we have failings too. We all have our crows. Everywhere they are black. 

This idea of equanimity in how we are all flawed came to mind as the scandal escalates over banks hiring people connected to China’s political and powerful elite. We tend to look at these transgressions — if they can be called that — and pass judgment. Perhaps we say “look at the awful Chinese political system,” or “look at the terrible behavior of U.S. banks.”

In case you missed it, or are a little fuzzy on the details, several foreign banks are being investigated for hiring well-connected Chinese, or “princelings.” They may be the son, daughter cousin of an official or the official him- or herself. 

On Monday, UBS AG  suspended two executives, including its top IPO banker in Asia, in an internal probe into the hiring of an employee related to the head of a Chinese listing hopeful, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources. UBS declined comment. 

And the same day came revelations that the family friend of an important Chinese regulator — who had say over the bank’s ability to pursue insurance business in the country — was given an audience with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon in June 2012. The friend reportedly received a special internship with the bank and then became a full-time employee. 

“Our CEO played no role in the hiring decision, did not weigh in, and did not follow up,” Joseph Evangelisti, a bank spokesman, said in a statement. “It is his normal practice to pass on referrals without advice to those involved in hiring.” 

The dust-ups at UBS and J.P. Morgan were just the latest in the saga where U.S. financial firms may or may not have used hiring friends or relatives of powerful officials as a way of influencing business decisions in the banks favor. 

OK. Let’s assume they did. So what? This is how business is done in China. And it’s not that different from how it’s done here, even though many of us believe our way is the superior way. 

China is struggling with corruption. It ranks 80th out of 178 countries in Transparency International’s Corruptions Perceptions Index . It is, perhaps, the country’s most pressing problem as it seeks to become the leading global economic power. 

In the same index the U.S. rank is 19th. Maybe it shouldn’t be. After all, this is a perception index. People think the US  is more on the up and up.

In the United States, financial firms use an equally questionable practice of hiring regulators or losing top executives to regulatory roles. 

Consider also that 127 current or former members of the health, education and labor committees in Congress either have worked, or are now working, in the industries they were overseeing as lawmakers, according to OpenSecrets.org. 

The SEC and Congress aren’t the only places where the revolving door swings. Robert Rubin, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary, joined Citigroup Inc.  in 2000 and collected $115 million as the bank took $45 billion in taxpayer-funded bailouts and $300 billion in guarantees on assets. The most recent former Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, left to join the private equity firm Warburg Pincus. as new rules were being crafted on the industry. 

At least China and Europe are doing something about their issues. A report in 2010 by the Anti-Corruption and Governance Research Center at Tsinghua University found that in just 11 months of that year the government’s anti-corruption division investigated 119,000 graft cases, resulting in 113,000 people being punished. 

 Recently the EU Commission  came out with an "Anti-Corruption Report", which showed that corruption is widespread in the EU and costs the taxpayer there around 120 billion euros ($160 billion) per year.

Just because US crows are ours, doesn’t mean they’re not black, just as they are all around the world. 

Read more: U.S. banks can match China’s for corruption any day - David Weidner's Writing on the Wall - MarketWatch