AFTER BREXIT

Ah yes, of course. I forgot who gets to write history....

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21701756-italys-teetering-banks-will-be-europes-next-crisis-italian-job?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/theitalianjob

Italy is Europe’s fourth-biggest economy and one of its weakest. Public debt stands at 135% of GDP; the adult employment rate is lower than in any EU country bar Greece. The economy has been moribund for years, suffocated by over-regulation and feeble productivity. Amid stagnation and deflation, Italy’s banks are in deep trouble, burdened by some €360 billion ($400 billion) of souring loans, the equivalent of a fifth of the country’s GDP. Collectively they have provisioned for only 45% of that amount. At best, Italy’s weak banks will throttle the country’s growth; at worst, some will go bust.

Not surprisingly, investors have fled. Shares in Italy’s biggest banks have fallen by as much as half since April, a sell-off that has intensified since the Brexit vote. The biggest immediate worry is the solvency of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest bank. Several attempts to clean it up have failed: it is now worth just a tenth of its book value, and could well come up short in a stress test by the European Central Bank later this month (see article).

Size alone makes Italy’s bank mess dangerous. But it is also an exemplar of the euro area’s wider ills: the tension between rules made in Brussels and the exigencies of national politics; and the conflict between creditors and debtors. Both are the consequence of half-baked financial reforms. Handled badly, the Italian job could be the euro zone’s undoing.....etc

That looks stunningly un-inviting....

IMO, giving more power back to member states would be an excellent place to start, LL - and no more of this forced integration of sovereign states.

Ordinary people who voted Leave weren't swayed so much by complicated economic debates, they want power returned to member states.

And as the UK hasn't actually Brexited yet, that might be just the thing to defuse the whole row?

Many people here want the States to have their power returned to them instead of it being from the central government.  Power should be at the local level in most matters?

Yes, I've always believed that, Lily - political power should be DE-centralised, and as near the governed as possible.

Of course it should, Bonny but don't you know, the little people don't know what's good for them.  

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/nicola-sturgeons-brexit-meeting-not-8383711#1lW8FOqXPkjDZBbx.97

Nicola Sturgeon's Brexit meeting is not quite what it seems to be ... and one of the consuls is a rat catcher from Paisley




IN the wake of the Brexit vote, Nicola Sturgeon poses proudly for an official photo at her emergency EU summit.

The picture of the First Minister with consuls and diplomats in the drawing room of her official residence at Bute House looks like a high-powered gathering on Thursday.

And the meeting with representatives of Italy, Poland, France, Romania, Spain and Germany may well help her aim of keeping Scotland in the EU.

Sturgeon had called a summit of EU consuls general to reassure EU citizens living here that they are still welcome. But more than half of those posing with Sturgeon and ministers Angela Constance and Fiona Hyslop in the Scottish Government’s photo are not diplomats at all.

They have only honorary titles, with little power or influence and usually no consular function. Some are Scots who have links to the countries which bestowed the title on them.

In fact, the honorary consul for Estonia is Iain Lawson, a rat catcher from Paisley whose link with the Baltic state began when he visited Tallinn with the Tartan Army in the 90s.....etc


Just more smoke and mirrors. Never mind, Ms Sturgeon got her photie took yet again.

bb1 wrote:Yes, I've always believed that, Lily - political power should be DE-centralised, and as near the governed as possible.

That was the principle of subsidiarity that was written into the Maastricht treaty.

Road, Hell, good intentions?

Jean-Pierre.t50 wrote:

bb1 wrote:Yes, I've always believed that, Lily - political power should be DE-centralised, and as near the governed as possible.

That was the principle of subsidiarity that was written into the Maastricht treaty.  

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/10/brexit-vote-paves-way-for-federal-union-says-all-party-group?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Brexit vote paves way for federal union to save UK, says all-party group
Exclusive: Proposed constitutional reform would give each nation and region of the UK full sovereignty over its own affairs

The governance of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be reinvented within a new voluntary union in a bid to save the UK from disintegration, an independent all-party group of experts will argue this week.

The Constitution Reform Group, convened by former Conservative cabinet minister Lord Salisbury, is to make the the case for radical constitutional change in the UK by claiming the need has been boosted by the vote to leave the European Union.

Their proposals say the existing union should be replaced with fully devolved government in each part of the UK, with each given full sovereignty over its own affairs. The Westminster parliament, the group says, should then be reduced to 146 MPs. The individual nations and regions of the UK would then be encouraged to pool sovereignty to cover the matters they wish to be dealt with on a shared basis.


Click here
The proposals say they “start from the position that each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a unit that both can and should determine its own affairs to the extent that it considers it should; but that each unit should also be free to choose to share, through an efficient and effective United Kingdom, functions which are more effectively exercised on a shared basis.”

The new construction suggests a complete reversal of the UK’s current constitutional arrangement, in which all sovereignty formally rests in the centre and is then devolved to regions on a piecemeal basis.


“The time for radical change has come. This country needs a new act of union,” Salisbury told the Guardian. “We are in a different world following the Brexit vote. The top-down, ad hoc approach to the structure of the United Kingdom needs to be replaced. We believe that our approach based on consent will provide a stronger union than the one that we now have and which is under challenge.”

The Constitution Reform Group includes the former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, the former Labour Northern Ireland and Wales secretary Peter Hain, the former clerk of the House of Commons Lord Lisvane, and the former Ulster Unionist politician David Burnside.

The group claims it has the support of former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major, and from the current chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady. Both senior backers are significant as the Conservative party, which is so dominant in England, has often been reluctant to embrace new constitutional thinking about the union, especially if it involves federalism. .....etc.


Just for once - an excellent idea from politicians.

Hope it comes to pass.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-germany-merkel-idUSKCN0ZQ0PJ

Germany expects Britain to trigger article 50 of the European Union's Lisbon treaty to begin the formal process of leaving the bloc once it has picked a new prime minister, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.

Merkel also told German broadcaster ZDF in an interview that Britain would not be allowed to "cherry pick" what it wants to keep from its EU membership while jettisoning aspects of the relationship that it does not like.

"The decision (of Britons to leave the EU) has been taken .. and the next step is -- and Britain will do this only when they have a new prime minister -- to invoke Article 50," said Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader who will play a key role in shaping London's future relationship with the EU.

"I expect that to happen. I deal with reality and I firmly expect that application will be made," Merkel added when asked if she thought there was a chance that Brexit would not happen.

British voters backed Brexit in a June 23 referendum. Prime Minister David Cameron has announced his intention to step down and has said it will be for his successor to invoke article 50 which will launch two years of divorce negotiations.

Two women, interior minister Theresa May and junior energy minister Andrea Leadsom, are competing to replace Cameron. The new prime minister is expected to be chosen on Sept. 9.

May, the current favorite, has made clear she will not rush to invoke article 50 as the tight timeframe it envisages could weaken London's bargaining hand. But British and EU firms and investors want clarity as soon as possible on future trade ties....etc.

Commenting on the parlous economic state of some euro zone member countries in southern Europe, Merkel repeated her call for structural reforms along with budget discipline, adding that not enough had been done to cut youth unemployment in the EU.

And how does she expect that to happen, when she and her chums have bled countries like Greece dry? She's either bullsh*tting deliberately, or she isn't half as smart as she thinks she is.

I suspect the latter, actually.

Why do I get the impression that these people think that The UK Government are entirely responsible for this Brexit Vote? It was The Electorate in their millions who voted for Leave. And they aren't alone in The EU.

Tis time that The EU got the message. The common herd have had enough.

Sabot wrote:Why do I get the impression that these people think that The UK Government are entirely responsible for this Brexit Vote?  It was The Electorate in their millions who voted for Leave. And they aren't alone in The EU.

Tis time that The EU got the message.  The common herd have had enough.

Given half the chance, I have little doubt that the eurocrats would abolish elections entirely, as they are convinced they know what's best for us plebs, Sabot.

Look at the links LL has posted this morning - discontent is rising all over the EU, which makes the whole 'EU project' a failure.

The report said the region was being held back by ‘crisis legacies of high unemployment, elevated public and private debt, and deep-rooted structural weaknesses’.
It added: ‘The medium-term outlook remains weak and is endangered by a lack of collective action to address common challenges.’ Unemployment in the eurozone is 10.1 per cent, compared to 5 per cent in the UK. The figure is 19.8 per cent in Spain and 24.1 per cent in Greece, where economic turmoil has led to civil unrest.
The IMF warned of ‘banking and financial sector weakness’ – highlighted by the crisis engulfing lenders in Portugal and Italy and a share price collapse at Deutsche Bank. Swedish MEP Gunnar Hokmark said ‘the whole banking system [is] under stress’.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3681077/Eurozone-course-economic-slowdown-Brexit-rising-uncertainty-EU-s-future-says-IMF.html#ixzz4EKPqEmkB
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http://uk.businessinsider.com/italy-is-on-the-brink-of-a-full-blown-banking-crisis-2016-7?r=US&IR=T

'Italy is on the brink of a full-blown banking crisis'

Quick, someone sing Ode to Joy, that'll sort everything out!

Things are slowly unraveling?

Alastair CampbellVerified account
‏@campbellclaret
Tomorrowspaperstoday The New European front page



Seriously? Is that the best they can do?

They are probably thinking it is the bees knees.