European Economics Thread
- Thread starter PiSigma
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Ah Sweden. An IKEA without Russian wood to make furniture. You can kiss that cheap "Finn" wood goodbye. Or all that plywood for that matter. Without cheap wood their whole business model collapses. These Europeons were paying ultra-low energy and raw materials prices to Russia for decades and only now are they starting to figure out. They will be headed into a depression which will make Japan's lost decades seem small in comparison.
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Sounds like they know it.
Sweden, which has assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union for the first half of this year, said it will continue to seek consultations with the European Parliament in pushing forward the ratification of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, or CAI.
China and the EU reached an agreement in principle for the CAI in December 2020 after 35 rounds of talks spanning seven years. The European Commission described the CAI as "the most ambitious agreement that China has ever concluded with a third country" and one that "will ensure EU investors achieve better access to a fast-growing 1.4 billion consumer market, and that they compete on a better level playing field in China".
However, the European Parliament blocked the ratification of the CAI after the EU and China started tit-for-tat sanctions against each other in March 2021.
Lars Danielsson, Sweden's permanent representative to the EU, said on Monday that the council has been ready to move on the CAI, but it has met a different opinion in the European Parliament on the issue, with the lawmakers not allowing it to proceed.
"As residency, we, or I, will continue consultation with the parliament to see whether we can unblock the situation, and see if we can move forward," he told a news conference laying out the priorities of the Swedish presidency. "We like to move forward, but right now we don't see the conditions because of the reasons I mentioned."
Danielsson said he met Fu Cong, the new head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, on Friday and briefed him on the situation.
Michel visit
Fu told the South China Morning Post in a recent interview that European Council President Charles Michel personally raised the issue of the CAI during his visit to Beijing a month ago. The topic was also raised by Bjoern Seibert, head of the cabinet of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, during his meeting with Fu.
Ding Chun, director of the Center for European Studies at Fudan University, said that he is not too optimistic about the prospects for the CAI due to the changing situation following the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the EU's definition of China as a cooperation partner, an economic competitor and a systemic rival.
"The CAI is good for bilateral economic and investment relationship, so it's possible to have some forms of flexibility on issues, but to move forward the agreement as a whole is still a question mark now," he said.
Ding believes that progress on the agreement depends on "opportunity, political wisdom and public sentiment".
In an interview published in the latest edition of Internationale Politik Quarterly, Germany's leading foreign affairs magazine, Sabine Weyand, the European Commission's director-general for trade, said China remains an important partner for the EU.
On the growing argument over the EU's supposed overdependence on China, Weyand said that EU analysis suggests that this kind of dependency affects only about 6 percent of trade and 94 percent is "unproblematic".
"But I want to be very clear: China is not Russia. We do not equate the two countries," she said.
"China remains a large economy which cannot be ignored," said Weyand, who was the EU's chief negotiator during the CAI talks.
Nationalist governments like Sweden's new government tend to focus more on national interests rather than going on a moral crusade like Sweden's governments these past 20 odd years.
That reminds me, what's a good airliner for the long haul between Hong Kong and Europe? Emirates are usually good and they've spoiled me which is why i will never fly KLM ever again (utter crap).
Henrik Hololei, head of the European Commission's transport directorate said that Russia should stop charging foreign airlines for flights over Siberia (if Russian airspace ever reopens).
What’s next? Oil and gas also should be free of charge. This idea is just absolutely ridiculous, they have lost a plot completely. Europe is suffering terribly from Post Power Syndrome, I suppose. They still think they can control the world around them.
What’s next? Oil and gas also should be free of charge. This idea is just absolutely ridiculous, they have lost a plot completely. Europe is suffering terribly from Post Power Syndrome, I suppose. They still think they can control the world around them.
continued German industrial decline
although we are probably hitting recession by this point.
although we are probably hitting recession by this point.
Majority of comment section blames local councils and expensive parking for killing their country
dire figures released last month showed 47 shops closed for good every single day in 2022, in what was the worst 12 months for the high street since 2017.
The double whammy of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis has only added to the Great British High Street's woes - following years of online shopping eroding into its profits and customer base.
Across the country, once bustling shopping districts are seen filled with empty stores and countless closing down sales.
dire figures released last month showed 47 shops closed for good every single day in 2022, in what was the worst 12 months for the high street since 2017.
The double whammy of Covid and the cost-of-living crisis has only added to the Great British High Street's woes - following years of online shopping eroding into its profits and customer base.
Across the country, once bustling shopping districts are seen filled with empty stores and countless closing down sales.
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Reminds of the pictures in the US with fake food posters at groceries stores.