European Union

Angela Merkel is again calling for the European Union to create its own army warning that the bloc will not be able to rely on others to guarantee its security any more. She believes that the US and UK are both too weak now that Donald Trump is about to enter the White House and Britain is about to leave the EU The Express reports: The Berlin chief said Brussels will have to take on “more responsibility in the world” as she predicted a cooling in trans-Atlantic ties under the eurosceptic President-elect.

This article by David Haggith was first published on The Great Recession Blog:

I have struggled to understand George Soros because he is a character riddled with contradiction. His push to break down borders by increasing immigration all over the world is undermining his desire to establish a unified Europe and a unified world. By pushing too hard, too fast, he’s creating obvious pushback. So, I decided to work on an article that would help me get a little better sense of what drives him.

Submitted by Constantin Gurdgiev via True Economics blog,

EU's Fiscal Discipline in one table: here is a summary of the EU member states' performance when it comes to 3% deficit ceiling set out as a core fiscal criteria:

Czech inflation spiked in the last two months, hitting the central bank’s target for the first time since 2012, heaping, as The FT reports, additional pressure on the country’s soon to be expired currency regime with the euro.

Along with on-target inflation, the Czech Republic also boasts the lowest rates of unemployment anywhere in the EU at 3.7 per cent.

Submitted by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

A new EU Privacy Ruling proposal would effectively kill all forms of spam unless people opt in.

The privacy ruling would also allow consumers to use ad-blockers, but publishers will be allowed to withhold content from consumers who do.

Please consider EU Proposal on Ad Blockers Welcomed by Publishers.

Media companies will be allowed to ban customers who use ad blockers under new online privacy rules proposed by the European Commission.