Public sphere

Greece's radical left government was at pains Feb. 21 to put a positive face on an EU compromise deal that is sharply at odds with its anti-austerity ambitions.
 
At a last-ditch meeting on Feb. 20, Europe gave Athens some breathing room to present alternative reforms in a bid to save its crucial financial lifeline.
 

France's Socialist government survived a no-confidence vote initiated by the opposition conservatives over planned economic reforms.

The motion was backed by 234 lawmakers, with 289 votes in favor needed for the no-confidence vote to succeed.

The EC approved on Thursday the Operational Programme Good Governance, which foresees the allocation of EUR 336 M for improving the public administration and transparency of the judiciary in Bulgaria.

The majority of the funds (EUR 286 M) will be provided by the EU budget through the European Social Fund (ESF) for the 2014-2020 programme period.

Romania's centre-left government led by Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Wednesday unveiled plans to cut VAT from 24 to 20 per cent, and reduce taxes on meat, fish, vegetables and fruit to 9 per cent from next January onwards.

The changes are part of the new fiscal code, which is now undergoing public debate.

Turkey?s image in foreign press has not been positive for the last 1.5-2 years, but the country?s turn with the G-20 presidency provides a good opportunity fix this, said Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan Feb. 11.

BELGRADE - The Fiscal Council released on Wednesday that the three-year plan adopted by the Serbian government is good in principle, adding that nevertheless the austerity measures will be needed in 2018 as well, given that the current plan will not ensure reduction of the public debt by the end of 2017, and this was the measures' objective.

related posts

PM declares "no budget deficit in first 40 days of year"

BELGRADE -- Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated on Tuesday that "for the first time in the recent history, Serbia recorded no deficit in the first 40 days of the year."

Vucic expressed expectation at the conference under the title "Belgrade Dialogues" that this year's economic data will be by far better than expected.

The new Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government, true to its pre-election promise, is planning to abolish the unpopular joint property tax (ENFIA) and replace it with a large assets tax (known as FMP in its Greek-language acronym) on accumulated assets worth more than 300,000 euros.

The BMJ Open published a study that links Greek suicides to troika-imposed austerity measures. The research found that more people committed suicides as a result of the financial crisis. The findings were based on reported suicides over a 30-year period, examining the trend of monthly suicides from 1983 to 2012.

The report states: