Europe and The Battle of the Budgets

It seems like the politicians of the world have entered into a quiet competition whereby whoever takes the seemingly most drastic approach to controlling their finances wins! I'm still recovering from the outcome of the Emergency Budget (although note I am not as disappointed as I thought I would be) however it seems that Croatia's Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor has outdone our cool coalition couple.

The lady in charge has banned her entire cabinate from making use of their summer holiday allowance in a bid to help with the country's financial straits. Being the country's first female PM, Kosor has been dubbed as the 'Croation Maggie' by the press. Much like our beloved ex-PM, she has recently announced deep cuts in all areas of social spending.

Looking at Europe as a whole, almost all of the nation states have made harsh reductions in state spending in an attempt to contain a financial crisis but this is having a negative effect on stocks and the value of the Euro. European Commission president José Manuel Barroso says there is now “an emergency situation from a financial point of view.” Yesterday as he addressed the European Parliament at its monthly plenary session he added:

“What is at stake is the future of the euro and you could say to some extent the future of our European project”

One can only wonder how interested our government will actually be in maintaining the future of the 'European Project' as most Tory candidates favour either a “fundamental” renegotiation of Britain’s EU membership or outright withdrawal.

Anyhoo thats enough money/politics talk for now... I did this because it looks like the rain is returning and if you are not sun-frolicking then you can read through this!

xx