The Commission will send 35 individual requests to 20 Member States of the European Union with a request to fully implement other aspects of Community legislation to create a single market for gas and electricity, said Europe’s energy portal. Legislation in this area tends to increase the capacity and transparency of gas markets and electricity. Effective and fully functioning single European energy market will give consumers a choice between different companies supply gas and electricity, and will provide access to all suppliers, especially smaller ones and those who invest in renewable sources. It will also help the EU to recover from the economic crisis, said Monday. Countries to which the EC has decided to send applications are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden and UK. States have two months to respond. According to the Commission this can avoid cartelization and monopolism, which is the basic afraid of the new governments in the years of crisis.
(more…)

The finance ministers of the countries of the European Union (EU) have reached broad agreement on the need to impose more stringent regulation of the activities of hedge funds and private equity companies. They objected to the claims of the new British Government and the City of London, where they are based 80% of EU funds, announced BBC. Following the unity tonight finance ministers will have to negotiate with the European Parliament to decide what exactly to form the new financial legislation should come into force from 2012. Envisaged changes in the regulation of the activities of hedge funds will affect the complex and high-risk investment strategies and tools that they use for making a profit even when stock market indexes fell. Some European governments, led by France and Germany, have long insisted that hedge funds pose a risk to the stability of the global financial system, and should therefore be subject to more regulation. Hedge funds worldwide controlling assets of about 1,5 trillion. dollars by 300 billion dollars of them are concentrated in the hands of the funds managed within the EU, especially in London. According to experts behind about 50% of all transactions on the London Stock Exchange stay hedge funds, which demonstrates the impact they may have on the market. EU state that new directive for tighter financial control is aimed at implementing the commitments made after the financial crisis. Then the EU promised that all market participants, who represent a risk to the stability of financial system will undergo more vigorous regulation.
(more…)

The Germany’s exports fell by 18.4% in 2009 This is the biggest decline since 1950, according to figures released today. Recently, China officially overtook the lead economy in Europe as the largest exporter in the world, forward Agence France-Press. “According to information from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese exports totaled over 1.2 trillion. dollars, and Germany – to 1.12 trillion. dollars last year, said National Statistical Office of Germany. Germany’s total exports amounted to 803.2 billion euros (1.1 trillion. Dollars), while imports decreased by 17.2 percent to 667.1 billion euros compared to the level of 2008. But the country has seen a trade surplus of 136.1 billion euros in 2009, although it is less than in 2008 when it was 178.3 billion. Germany’s exports increased by 3.4 percent in December over the same period the previous year. This is the first growth on an annual basis from October 2008 onwards.
(more…)

Between 1st and 3rd February this year in the town of Ulm, Germany, the Minister of Regional Development and Public Rosen Plevneliev led by a delegation which included Deputy Minister Liliana Pavlova, Deputy Minister Ekaterina Zechariah, and Valerie Naydenov and Belin Mollov will participate in international conference development of the European Union Strategy for the Danube region, said the regional ministry. This new initiative, coordinated by the European Commission, brings together the efforts of countries in the Danube Basin, to accelerate the processes of economic and social cohesion as well as extending the territorial cooperation. Bulgaria agrees that the partnership between the countries of the Danube region involved in the Strategy is key to successful and purposeful achievement of the priorities for improving competitiveness, the development of innovation, energy efficiency and territorial cohesion. Danube Strategy will be implemented in all regions of the Danube in the period 2014-2020 year. Present in Works has received over 250 proposals related to the development of the Danube region in the field of transport. Some of them will be funded before 2014, says Minister Plevneliev.
(more…)

European companies will remain under pressure to restructure started despite economic recovery, experts warn the restructuring, said on Sunday. Survey of experts conducted by the company Alix Partners, shows that over 50 percent of them expect to double the work of restructuring of companies next year. This year there was a wave of bankruptcies and credit rolled over falling demand. Among the affected were the large chain retail Arcandor the German and British Woolworths, and many companies in the real estate sector and entrepreneurs. According to the survey among those at risk of bankruptcy companies are those companies owned by equity, as they have many loans from the time the credit boom. Earlier this month the credit rating agency Moody’s said that the level of arrears of European companies that have “junk” rating (awarded to high-risk securities) increased to 9% – very sharp increase over last year although lower than initial expectations. By Moody’s predicts that this level will peak in the fourth quarter of this year.
(more…)