European Union

Cox: “China does it” is a bad antitrust argument

23 May 2019

Sheryl Sandberg says Facebook shouldn’t break up since its Middle Kingdom rivals never will. France and Germany pushed hard for an anti-competitive train merger because of a looming Chinese monopoly. Western values should guide competition law, not Beijing’s Communist Party.

Breakdown: Europe’s least irrelevant election

23 May 2019

Voting for the European Parliament is typically a way for a minority of citizens to register dislike of domestic leaders. This year’s poll is no exception. Yet the results will offer clues about national politics, the power of the eurosceptics, and who gets the EU’s top jobs.

Swiss tax reform will earn it EU brownie points

20 May 2019

Voters in the Alpine nation have backed a plan to axe fiscal favours for some 24,000 multinationals. Some companies may now find it less appealing to set up shop in Switzerland. But the move averts the bigger threat of it ending up on a European Union list of tax havens.

Guest view: An EU election that really matters

20 May 2019

The vote that takes place across the European Union this week is, more than ever before, one on the bloc's future, writes Fabrizio Pagani of Muzinich & Co. And the outcome may catalyse change in countries that have an unstable political outlook, such as Italy and Britain.

The Exchange: Margrethe Vestager

7 May 2019

The EU’s antitrust commissioner is famous for imposing multi-billion-dollar fines on Alphabet and Apple. She joins Liam Proud and Peter Thal Larsen to explain why combatting the greed, power and fear that stifles competition is even more crucial in a data-driven world.

Brexit extension lets UK remain in name only

11 Apr 2019

Postponing its EU exit to October 31 avoids a chaotic departure and gives the country more time to find a way out of its impasse. That probably requires a new government or another referendum. While Britain is still an EU member, it has been reduced to the role of a spectator.

ECB sop to banks will only help at the margin

10 Apr 2019

President Mario Draghi is considering ways to ease the pain that negative policy rates inflict on banks, such as tiered deposits in Japan and Sweden. Savings-rich German lenders would benefit most. But any earnings boost would be modest and does nothing to remedy high costs.

Theresa May’s soft-Brexit pivot has three barriers

3 Apr 2019

The prime minister offered to strike a deal with the opposition Labour party to avoid crashing out of the EU. Its leader Jeremy Corbyn may refuse to help, her own party might revolt, and Europe could reject another extension. A chaotic Brexit is less likely, but still possible.

Four lessons of Theresa May’s third Brexit defeat

29 Mar 2019

The prime minister’s deal for leaving the EU is almost certainly dead after parliament rejected it again. A different compromise is feasible but hard to agree. That makes a long delay, and maybe a general election, more likely. But a chaotic departure may still happen.

Brexit extension sharpens Britain’s choices

22 Mar 2019

European Union leaders gave Theresa May two more weeks to agree a plan for leaving the bloc. But they also dangled the possibility of a longer delay. For all the shuffling of dates, Britain’s options remain basically the same as before, including the risk of a chaotic departure.

Google fines make case for tougher antitrust curbs

20 Mar 2019

Europe has hit the Alphabet unit with its third penalty in less than two years, taking the toll to over $9 bln. That sum pales against the $600 bln the firm has added to its market cap since the investigations began in 2010. Both sides are being pushed to a bigger showdown.

RWE’s German carve-up looks better than E.ON’s

14 Mar 2019

A year after a 17 bln euro asset swap, the German utilities’ deal is in Brussels’ antitrust sights. It’s more an issue for E.ON, which may lose out if forced disposals erode hoped-for cost savings. RWE, meanwhile, seems to have chosen the right time to bulk up in renewables.

Brexit tips Ireland into economic purgatory

11 Mar 2019

Ten years after a devastating recession, the Emerald Isle is buoyant again. Banks fleeing London jostle with tech firms for Dublin office space. But the risk of a disorderly Brexit is hurting investment and confidence across the Irish Sea – and fuelling fears of renewed violence.

Delaying tactics could bring Brexit to a head

25 Feb 2019

Theresa May has shunted a vote on her plan to leave the European Union to mid-March. Meanwhile, parliamentarians want to postpone the departure date if no deal is agreed. Threats of procrastination don’t alter Britain’s hard choices, but may help rule out the worst Brexit option.

UK’s centrist group is far from a Macron moment

18 Feb 2019

The defection of seven left-wing Labour politicians invites comparisons with the political shakeup that propelled the French President to power. But Britain’s political system penalises small parties. The split strengthens PM Theresa May, and may help her Brexit deal.

EU risks picking wrong fight with foreign giants

13 Feb 2019

France and Germany want to help companies fend off Chinese and U.S. behemoths by merging. Yet Europe’s fragmented markets and limited state subsidies mean it will never win the size game. Better to double down on strict antitrust rules while blocking unfair foreign buyers.

Derailed train M&A spells poor EU antitrust revamp

6 Feb 2019

Competition tsar Margrethe Vestager blocked Siemens and Alstom’s rail merger in defiance of Franco-German pressure. Paris and Berlin are agitating for rule changes and may back a replacement who will be more willing to create regional champions. That would be a mistake.

Siemens-Alstom is poor advert for EU champions

5 Feb 2019

German and French politicians are annoyed because the rail merger may be blocked. But their argument that the deal is needed to shield Europe from Chinese competition is flawed. The duo’s workers may also suffer. This is the wrong regional standard-bearer to promote.

EU “golden visa” alarm is too little too late

23 Jan 2019

Brussels is right to worry that dodgy tycoons can buy their way into Europe. But national governments are the only ones with the power to close these back doors. Given the benefits that countries such as Cyprus and Malta reap from such schemes, the gates will swing shut slowly.

Franco-German unity is dated gauge of EU progress

22 Jan 2019

The two countries plan to cooperate more on defence and culture. If only harmony extended to issues such as economic governance. And even when the pair speak as one, say on Alstom-Siemens’ rail merger, they don’t always get their way. But that is a sign of success, not failure.