Germany May Limit Use of Some Euro Coins, Handelsblatt Says
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The Bundesbank and the German finance ministry are considering plans to minimize the use of 1 euro-cent and 2 euro-cent coins, Handelsblatt said, citing Wolfgang Soeffner, head of the Bundesbank&#39;s cash division.
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Defenders of financial rigour in the European Union attacked German calls for a radical dilution of the eurozone's budget rules at a lively meeting of EU finance chiefs.
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With interest rates on hold, Thursday's European Central Bank meeting will draw scrutiny for President Jean-Claude Trichet's remarks on the euro amid speculation that the bank may intervene in currency markets to halt its rapid climb.
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(InfoWorld) - The European Commission asked the German regulatory authority, the Federal Network Agency, Monday to do more to ensure a level playing field in the market for high-speed optical fiber connections to the home or office. It is asking the regulator to help secure adequate access to the market for competitors to Deutsche Telekom AG. The Commission -- the executive and regulatory branch of the European Union -- also asked the national regulator to complete its market analysis for access to the new super fast networks, dubbed next-generation networks (NGNs). "The Commission is keen to ensure that NGNs can be deployed and made accessible in a consistent and transparent manner across Europe," said Viviane Reding, EU telecom commissioner. "It is vital that we ensure effective competition and the legal certainty necessary for all market players to invest in new products and services that will benefit consumers." In May the Federal Network Agency notified the Commission of rules designed to force Deutsche Telekom to grant competitors access to its copper fixed telephone network. As Deutsche Telekom is upgrading its network by rolling out optical fibre-based connections, these rules also apply during the transition to the new infrastructure. In a letter sent to the national regulator Monday, the Commission did not challenge its market definition of local loop unbundling but raised a number of issues on regulatory remedies. Having examined the rules, the Commission said they were a step in the right direction but ultimately they have failed to ensure fair competition. "There are more issues to be tackled, we want more remedies," said Martin Selmayr, a Commission spokesman in charge of telecom-related issues, at a press conference Monday. The rollout of fiber closer to the customers, normally to the street cabinets, enables the provision of high bandwidth services but it raises important issues regarding the position of alternative operators that currently benefit from access obligations of Deutsche Telekom's existing networks. As alternative operators in Germany roll out their own infrastructure to local exchanges, these operators now need an economic way of reaching the new access points provided in street cabinets. The Commission is asking the German telecom regulator to guarantee that access to Deutsche Telekom's existing copper network by its competitors remains efficient during the rollout of NGNs. In the new networks, the number of access points required by an alternative operator will be many times higher than that for the traditional fixed telephony network. In many cases there would no longer be a business case for alternative operators to extend their network down to the street cabinets, the Commission said. Therefore, the Commission stresses the importance of ensuring appropriate alternative access solutions as NGNs are deployed. The Commission can't force the national regulator to take action but its opinion cannot be ignored, Selmayr said. At the same time, the deployment of NGNs raises questions as to how competitors may continue benefiting from current access obligations, in the future, while maintaining incentives to invest for both the incumbent and new entrants. Deutsche Telekom has begun delivering IP (Internet Protocol) services such as telephony, television and Internet access over VDSL (Very high bit rate DSL) to customers in some German cities. It has asked the regulator to exempt its VDSL service from a requirement that it lease its infrastructure to competitors on reasonable terms, claiming that without the exclusive right to use the infrastructure, it cannot fund the necessary investment.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that she was opposed to an EU legally-binding limit on cars' average carbon dioxide emissions as part of the EU efforts to cut average emissions for new cars.Comment
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Ernst & Young  and Deutsche  Bank (DBKGn.DE) could face monetary sanctions rather than  criminal charges in a U.S. tax shelter probe, The Wall Street  Journal reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
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Germany does not expect to take a direct  stake in aerospace group EADS  via state bank KfW or  other federal or state institutions, a senior government  official told Reuters on Thursday.
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The European Commission is set to step  up legal action against Germany next week for thwarting foreign  competition in the country's gaming markets, sources with  knowledge of the decision said on Thursday.
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Germany does not expect to take a direct stake in aerospace group EADS  via state bank KfW or other federal or state institutions, a senior government official told Reuters on Thursday.
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The European Commission is set to give  Germany a final warning next week over the country's new law  banning online gaming and betting, sources with knowledge of  the decision said on Thursday.
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Germany's economics minister warned on Saturday against slighting his country in the upcoming restructuring of Airbus, a day after a newspaper report on possible factory closings.
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(InfoWorld) - The European Parliament urged the European Commission Tuesday to propose a law that would force the dismantlement of the current method of distributing online copyright fees to songwriters and musicians in Europe. The Commission also wants to change the fee distribution regime to open up the market to greater competition. However, it has said it would be enough for collecting societies, which operate in each European country on behalf of artists and publishers, to reform the way they work online themselves. But in a show of hands rather than an actual vote count at the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg Tuesday, a large majority of parliamentarians said this wasn't enough. "I am not happy with the softer approach taken by the Commission in regulating this area, which is of growing economic importance," said Hungarian Socialist member of the European Parliament, Katalin Levai. "It requires more than just soft law to open up this market. A binding legal instrument is needed," said Federico de Girolamo, a spokesman at the Parliament. At the moment musicians and publishers must choose the collecting society in the country where they are based to handle the collection of the royalties generated from both online and offline music distribution. These collecting societies collect royalties generated from around Europe on behalf of the artists in their countries. They argue that this form of cooperation is sufficient to create a properly functioning, competitive single market across the 27 countries in the EU. The Commission has been examining the way collecting societies operate for many years. It stopped short of proposing a law to pry open the market because it said this might stifle progress in the fast-evolving space. "The Commission wishes to note that the online market is still only in a stage of development -- we need to be especially careful not to limit its potential by adopting an overly inflexible approach," said Vladimir Spidla, the European commissioner for employment, who was standing in for Single Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy at a meeting with members of the European Parliament Monday. Parliamentarians Monday rejected Spidla's fears. "We don't want unrestrained competition at any cost. We feel a law is needed to ensure competition, while at the same time guaranteeing cultural diversity around Europe and protecting the interests of smaller, lesser-known artists who might suffer if competition drove down royalties too far," said de Girolamo. The Commission didn't rule out introducing a proposal for a law along the lines the Parliament is calling for. However, people close to Commission president Jose Mauel Barroso said the Commission -- the EU's executive body -- has no appetite for pursuing a law. "Barroso has been approached by companies in the music industry who have urged him to avoid proposing a law," said one source close to the Commission who asked not to be named. In a separate but related matter concerning copyright levies charged on blank CDs, photocopiers, printers, and the like, Barroso last year ordered McCreevy to abandon a plan to harmonize rules across the EU after he was lobbied heavily both by copyright owners, including record companies, and by the French government. The Parliament stopped short of giving precise instructions to the Commission concerning an online copyright law. "It's not for us to dictate the content of the framework directive we want to see. That's for the Commission to do," de Girolamo said.
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FRANKFURT, Germany -- Top euro zone politicians on Friday voiced mild concern as the euro rose to a record high against the dollar, and a European Central Bank policymaker said quick currency moves were unhelpful.
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Germans on the dole might be forced to  give up anything more than the most modest of cars to help  support themselves if a plan by conservative political leaders  is approved, German media reported on Wednesday.
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Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday he hoped Germany would not issue any more credit-linked notes backed by Russian debt.
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Germany looks set to cut its budget overspending back within EU limits for the first time in five years this year, finance minister Peer Steinbrueck has indicated.
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SCHEVENINGEN, Netherlands - Before the 10 countries that joined the European Union this year can adopt the euro as their currency, they have to spell it correctly.    The new threat to euro-zone stability surfaced unexpectedly Saturday at a meeting of finance ministers from the 25 European Union countries...