Romania, the European country with the highest drop in IT market during the crisis

The sales of electronic and IT products were last year almost 1,234 million euro, half against the maximum reached in 2008 and with one billion euro less ( 44.4%) against 2007, the best year for the Romanian economy. It is the highest drop recorded by one of the 18 European countries where the GFK company researches the market of long-lasting goods.

How Germany can avoid a two-speed Europe

The “euro crisis” is generally seen as a currency crisis, but it is also a sovereign debt and, even more, a banking crisis. The situation is complex. The complexity has bred confusion, and this has political consequences. Europe’s various member states have formed widely different views and their policies reflect their views rather than their true national interests. The clash of perceptions carries the seeds of serious political conflicts.
The solution that is about to be put in place will, in effect, be dictated by Germany, without whose sovereign credit no solution is possible. France tries to influence the outcome but in the end must yield to Germany because its triple A rating is dependent on being closely allied with Germany.

European leaders boldly decide to carry on muddling through

A BARGAIN, but not a grand one. Euro-zone leaders surprised many on March 12th by agreeing on the main elements of a deal to salve Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. With negotiations becoming fractious and markets unnerved by further ratings downgrades on Greek and Spanish debt, there had been fears that a deal might not be reached by a deadline of March 25th, when Europe’s heads of governments conclude their next meeting in Brussels. In the event, a special summit of euro-area leaders hammered the essentials out two weeks ahead of schedule.

UK banks face euro zone debt restructure risk-FSA

LONDON, March 17 (Reuters) - Britain's banks are in better health than they
were two years ago at the height of the financial crisis but still face risks like a possible debt restructuring in peripheral euro zone states, the Financial Services Authority said on Thursday.

The UK watchdog said in its prudential risk outlook, which shapes how it will spend its budget to supervise banks over the coming year, that lenders are not in the clear yet.

George Kerevan: Achilles' heel could trigger a fresh eurozone crisis

LAST week in this column I anticipated the summit meeting of the 17 heads of the eurozone, held in Brussels on Friday.
This get- together aimed at nothing less than a root-and-branch reform of how the euro currency area operates - which explains why I was sceptical that very much would be achieved.

On the one hand, the summit desperately needed to agree a permanent successor to the European Financial Stability Facility, the temporary bailout mechanism the eurozone introduced last year to keep Greece and Ireland from defaulting on their sovereign debts.