EU approves Britain's bank bailout package

www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-15 05:51:35   Print

    BRUSSELS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) gave green light on Tuesday to British package to bail out its struggling banks and stabilize the financial markets.

    The package, worth half 1 trillion pounds (about 880 billion U.S. dollars), will provide new capital to eligible banks and building societies, guarantee short and medium term debt to encourage inter-bank lending and offer liquidity to banks under strict conditions.

    The European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, found the measures to be compatible with EU state aid rules, because they were an appropriate means to remedy a serious disturbance in the British economy while avoiding unnecessary distortions of competition.

    "The package provides for non-discriminatory access, is limited in time and scope and contains safeguards to avoid the abuse of the scheme," the commission said in a statement.

    In a bid to ease the credit crunch amid the financial crisis, the British government announced the ambitious package last week, which would use 50 billion pounds to partly nationalize major banks, make available 200 billion pounds in short-term loans and guarantee a further 250 billion pounds of bank loans.

    (1 U.S. dollar = 0.5682 pound)

Editor: Mu Xuequan

EU leaders discuss financial crisis with social partners

www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-16 04:03:58  

    BRUSSELS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) --

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon met with representatives of the employment and labor to discuss the impact of the financial crisis, in particular on jobs and growth.

    The "tripartite summit" also addressed the impact of climate change and energy policy on employment and social cohesion, including the potential for "green jobs."

    "In the current financial crisis, Europe is showing its capacity to act together to secure a sustainable future of our financial and economic system to protect our citizens. The transformation of Europe into a low-carbon economy is another way in which we are building a more sustainable Europe," said Barroso.

    "I call on member states to adopt the energy and climate package by the end of the year," he said.

    There are fears that the EU's ambitious emissions reduction targets could be a victim of the current financial crisis which has hit EU member states hard.

    Vladimir Spidla, EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, who attended the meeting, also sought to soothe both employment and labor representatives.

    "We understand workers' concerns about their job prospects in these uncertain times ... But we must not let today's uncertainties detract us from the challenges of tomorrow: while jobs might disappear in energy-intensive sectors, those losses can be more than compensated by new 'green jobs.' It would be wrong to think that moving to a green economy is incompatible with an economic downturn," he said.

    The social partners gave their views on how to tackle the turmoil on the world's financial markets and the banking crisis. Participants stressed the need to carefully analyze the impact the financial crisis may have on the job market.

    At the meeting, EU leaders and social partners also discussed the implications of the move to a low-carbon economy on employment and the social situation. 

Editor: Mu Xuequan