Euro area unemployment remains at 10.1 percent in November

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Friday announced that the unemployment rate in the Euro area remained at 10.1 percent in November 2010.

The rate in Euro area 1 (EA16) is exactly the same as registered in October 2010. The EU27 area registered a 9.6 percent of unemployment which was also the same as the previous month.

EA16 consisted of 16 Member States up to December 31st. These were Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. From January 1st, the EUro area (now dubbed EA17) also includes Estonia.

Greece to build fence on Turkish border to fight illegal immigration

ATHENS, GREECE -- Greece's Citizen's Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis on Saturday announced a plan to build a borderline fence to fight off illegal immigration from Turkey, local media reported on Monday.

Papoutsis on Monday stated that in the past year Greece had around 128,000 illegal immigrants come into the country, Athens News reported, adding that in the last four years, an estimated 512,000 people crossed into the country.

Greece's border is a common entry line to Afghans, Algerians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, and Somalis, among other nations in search of better luck in the European Union (EU). In November, the EU's Frontex external border patrol agency sent 200 agents to Greece to guard its border areas. where 80 percent of EU's illegal immigrants reportedly enter the region.

"From Turkey alone in the first 11 months of 2010 about 50,000 illegal immigrants came in, of whom 43,500 from the Evros prefecture," the minister stated. "This is the tough reality and we have a responsibility towards Greek citizens to deal with it."

On Saturday, Papoutsis said Greek society had "reached its limit in taking in illegal immigrants."

"Cooperation with the other EU states is going well," Papoutsis added, stating that along with the EU, Greece will be constructing a 206-kilometer (128-mile) fence along its border to deal with illegal immigration.

Russia orders Tu-154B aircraft be put out of service after deadly explosion

MOSCOW, RUSSIA -- Following Saturday's Tu-154B passenger jet explosion in Siberia, Russia's transportation watchdog Rostransnadzor on Sunday recommended that all passenger jets of the same type be put out of service until the cause is determined.

The accident happened on New Year's Day when the engine of a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft caught fire at Surgut airport in West Siberia. The fire quickly spread throughout the plane before the entire aircraft exploded, killing three people and injuring 43 others.

Most of the 124 people on board - including passengers and crew - were evacuated safely before the explosion, which completely destroyed the Russia-made plane.

"Rostransnadzor has conducted a rapid assessment of the risks of further operation of this type of aircraft," a statement from the agency said. "In accordance with the analysis, a Rostransnadzor inspector has issued an order in which it is proposed to suspend Tu-154B aircraft of this type until the causes of the aviation incident at Surgut are established. "

Only 14 aircraft of this type are currently in service in Russia, and a spokesman for the aircraft manufacturer said the order to temporarily suspend the use of the aircraft would not affect its business.

Russia has seen several major aviation accidents involving Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft over the past few months. On April 10, 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski was among 96 people killed when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft crashed near the city of Smolensk in Russia. He was visiting Smolensk for the 70th anniversary of the massacre of Polish prisoners of war in the village of Katyn.

And on December 4, three people were killed and around 40 others were injured when a Tupolev Tu-154 Dagestan Airlines passenger plane crash-landed at Moscow's Domodedovo airport while making an emergency landing after it had lost all three engines during the flight. Authorities said 160 passengers, including several children, and eight crew members were on board.

Three EU finance watchdogs begin operations

BRUSSELS -- The European Union on Monday informed that three new European Authorities for the supervision of financial activities began operations on January 1.

The three new EU watchdogs will supervise banks, markets and insurances and pensions respectively. The start of operations came a few days after the launch of the European Systemic Risk Board.

The board will monitor the entire financial sector, to identify potential problems which could contribute to a crisis in the future. It will work in close cooperation with the new European Supervisory Authorities.

The three new authorities were established following the crisis suffered last year which highlighted the limits and failings of the supervision system in Europe. The financial crisis showed that the coordination between national authorities was not optimal when transnational financial institutions faced problems.

The supervision bodies are the new apparatus of surveillance and supervision that will detect problems early and act in time in a coordinated and efficient way. This launch is considered by the EU as a turning point for the European financial sector.

These new authorities will work along others similar bodies around the world to ensure better global supervision. This effort is also intended to enhance consumer protection and to ensure that citizens would be not again the first in line affected by a crisis.

Estonia successfully adopts Euro

BRUSSELS -- The European Commission on Monday informed that Estonia successfully adopted the Euro starting last Saturday as the changeover process is undergoing according to plan.

On January 1, Estonia began a process to replace their previous currency the kroon for the Euro, thus becoming the 17th member of the Euro zone using the Euro as its currency. The adoption process consists in a two-week gradual transition.

By the end of Sunday, about 26 percent of payments in shops and businesses were made in Euros only and more than 90 percent of customers got their change in Euro currency. No major issues were reported in banks or in the retail sector.

Half of Estonian citizens already had Euros two days before the changeover and more than 60 percent had Euro coins from an exchange in a bank or post office, according to recent survey. All ATMs were distributing Euro bank notes as from the first hour of Saturday.

In the same way, POS (point-of-sales) terminals for card payments in shops and businesses were successfully converted to Euro in time for the opening of shops on January 1. The commercial activity was lower than normal due to New Year holidays.

During the first day, most Estonian paid using kroons in order to get euros in change and avoiding having to go to banks to exchange currency. However, at the end of the second day, 26 percent of people paid using euros and 92 percent of businesses were returning euros.

Ahead of the adoption, banks have supplied Euro cash to shops and businesses under contract so they can handle payments and return change in Euro starting on Saturday. With the addition of Estonia to the Euro area, over 330 million people will share the same currency.

"The Euro is a common good, not only for those who already use it on a daily basis, but also for those who, will want to adopt it at some point in the future as well as those who have no such intention. The Euro is both a world currency and one of the pillars of the European Union," said European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek last week.

Opposition presidential candidate freed after being detained in post-election rally

MINSK, BELARUS -- A Belarus' opposition party on Monday announced that presidential candidate Vitaly Rymashevsky was freed after being detained two weeks ago in post-election rally.

According to RIA Novosti, the Belorussian Christian Democrat Party announced that his former presidential candidate was released from the KGB (state security agency) pre-trial detention center on Saturday after pledging not to leave the country.

Rymashevsky, 35, was one of he six opposition candidates who were arrested in Minsk last December 19 after participating in a rally in protest of the controversial election results, which saw President Alexander Lukashenko win a landslide to secure a fourth term in office.

The electoral process was marred with inconsistencies, especially during vote count in which international observers assessed almost half of the vote counts monitored as 'bad' or 'very bad'.

According to official election results, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko won re-election with 79.7 percent of the vote. The number was released after all votes had been counted.

The Belorussian Prosecutor General's Office said that the candidates detained who are currently in custody are healthy, in an attempt to ease rumors that alleged that the detainees were sick and held under poor conditions.

The candidates were beaten and taken by KGB agents to undisclosed facilities until it was recently informed that they were held at a KGB detention center.

The rally was dispersed as some participants attempted to storm he parliament. Approximately, more than 630 people were detained at the rally and some 400, including Russian nationals, have been released.

A spokesman for the police said that two Russian nationals were still in custody as of Monday. One is held at the KGB pre-trial detention center while the other is currently at the Interior Ministry's detention center.

Belarus is expected to release some 150 people who were held during the unsanctioned rally in Minsk in the coming days.

Spain's anti-smoking law comes into force

MADRID, SPAIN -- Spain's new anti-smoking law, which prohibits smoking in all public buildings, bars, restaurants and cafes, as well as some areas where children are present such as parks and school zones, came into force on Sunday.
The law went into effect in the early hours of Sunday - as of 12 a.m. local time - when local bars and clubs were still full of habitual smokers. According to locals, waiters would pass by clients, reminding them of the new law.
Despite being a bit surprised, everyone seemed to catch on quickly as bar managers would be forced to call the police if anyone disregarded the new law. However, simple signs saying "please help us follow the law" were enough for most people to cooperate.
In addition, hefty fines accompany the law as bar and restaurant owners could face fines between €60 ($80) and €100,000 ($133,240) for allowing customers to smoke inside.
In other areas such as public parks, people continued to smoke as many are still unfamiliar with the new law. Several people also ignored the law in sanitary facilities such as hospitals, but officials believe that after the new year's weekend is over, citizens will begin to abide quickly.
Spain's Congress approved the anti-smoking law on December 21, giving little time to inform all citizens.
According to the country's Health Ministry, smoking is Spain's top avoidable cause of death with an estimated 60,000 people dying of smoke-related causes each year, 1,500 of them only being passive smokers.
In 2006, Spain adopted its first anti-tobacco law but restaurant and bar owners were allowed to choose whether to allow or completely ban smoking. As a result, 95 percent of them chose to allow smoking despite 65 percent of Spain's population being non-smokers.

Euro has 'one in five chance to survive'

By Tanya Jefferies

Living standards would have to fall 15% in the weaker economies like Ireland, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy if the euro is to continue as it is, claims the Centre for Economics and Business Research. This would be greater than the fall in consumer spending faced in the UK during World War Two.

To save the euro, the weaker economies would also have to cut government spending by 10% and give up some control over economic policy to the EU, according to the CEBR.

'There is no modern history of falling living standards in peacetime on the scale necessary to keep the euro in its current form. Indeed, the scale of the cuts necessary was only just achieved in wartime,' said CEBR chief executive Douglas McWilliams.

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