Politics EU Politics and News

[pigmode]

Putin says Russia will restart Nord Stream 1 gas flows 'tomorrow' if it gets turbines, and blames sanctions for the shutdown

"Give us turbines, and we'll turn on Nord Stream tomorrow," Putin said, blaming Western sanctions for the gas pipeline halt, per media reports.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Picanha]

New rules for German companies doing business in China. Investions may not be secured anymore by state guarantees.

Secret services may advise companies before committing to Chinese partners.

Warum Investitionen aus China strenger geprüft werden

China ist wichtigster Handelspartner der deutschen Wirtschaft. Doch Pekings Weltmachtstreben wirft viele Sicherheitsfragen auf. Investitionen werden daher heute deutlich strenger geprüft - mit Hilfe der Geheimdienste. Von M. Bewarder und F. Flade.

www.tagesschau.de

 

[Picanha]

China friends panicking at the prospect of COSCO not getting 35% share of Hamburg Tollerort container terminal.

Sometimes German managers remind me of Russian Oligarch selling all to China which they didn't create. Totally blind about any consequences.

Seems they don't learn so they must get a nanny to watch them.

Their own money they can shove unsecured into China as much as they like.

Chinesische Reederei: Hamburger Hafen warnt vor Verbot von Cosco-Beteiligung

Die chinesische Reederei will sich an einem Container-Terminal in Hamburg beteiligen, doch die Bundesregierung hadert. Der Hafenbetreiber HHLA fürchtet „eine Katstrophe“.

www.handelsblatt.com

 

[Picanha]

Xis last Mohicans in Germany

Xi Jinpings letzte Mohikaner in Deutschland

Chinas Parteiführung feiert die Eröffnung des neuen BASF-Standorts wie einen großen Sieg. Doch künftig wird es solche deutschen Projekte nicht mehr geben

www.capital.de

by Bernd Ziesemer
12.09.2022, 08:00
China's party leadership celebrates the opening of the new BASF site like a great victory. But in the future, there will be no more such German projects

Han Zheng, a member of the seven-member top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, personally attended the inauguration of BASF's new Verbund site in Guangdong Province last week. Although only via video link, but with the most flowery phrases about the "exemplary" 10 billion euro investment of the German corporation. BASF CEO Martin Brudermüller was allowed to enter the Middle Kingdom, also a very rare honor in Covid times, without immediately going into a prison-like quarantine afterwards like other foreigners. The German, of course, also thanked the Chinese with the highest praise. Both were at pains to present the major project as a good example of the flourishing economic relations between the two countries.

In truth, such German billion-euro investments in China are unlikely to happen in the future. The German government is working on new rules for doing business with the communist superpower, which is becoming increasingly aggressive in Asia and posing a growing military threat to the democratic island republic of Taiwan. A restriction, even abolition, of state guarantees for business with China is under discussion in Berlin. Without these aids, projects worth billions, such as BASF's chemical complex, cannot be financed. A clear limitation of the state guarantees should help to slow down the growing dependence on business with China. In doing so, we are drawing the right conclusions from the bitter experience with Vladimir Putin.

But even without changed China rules, large parts of German industry are now rethinking their position. The major risks of unilateral dependence on an increasingly unpredictable revisionist superpower, which expressly wants to enforce its goals by force, are becoming increasingly apparent to most German companies. If BASF and the similarly incorrigible car companies used to move in the mainstream of the German export economy, they now tend to be marginalized. Managers like Martin Brudermüller can be seen as the last Mohicans of the China obsession in Germany.
"Peak China"

Of course, this does not mean that German companies are decoupling from China at a rapid pace. Day-to-day business is still going on - albeit constrained by the steeply declining growth rates in the Middle Kingdom, which are primarily the result of Xi Jinping's completely failed covid strategy. But when it comes to direct investment, most corporations today tend to look elsewhere. India and Southeast Asian countries, in particular, are likely to benefit.

Of course, Chinese leaders certainly see the danger of being left behind economically in the future. That is why they are courting companies like BASF with every conceivable means. And they play off the recalcitrant companies against the good "China friends. But they cannot break the trend. In the Anglo-Saxon world, there is talk of "peak China" - loosely based on the model of oil production, which at some point reaches its natural peak. There is much to suggest that we have already seen "peak China.


Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)


Interestingly their investions get not largely mentioned over here. Its a bit like a dirty friend you like to hide.

BMW wanted to talk more about its factory in Debreczen than that in China. The China managers were a bit disapointed of not getting the big show.

BMWs new factory (not ever in my life going to buy a bimmer from China lol). Whats written then on the plaquard in the door frame "Made in China" but please pay 65000 €s?

They snorted too much coke those managers. Delusional misconceptions and grave errors.

 

[Picanha]

EU Eyes 140 Billion Euros From Power Producer Revenue Cap​

September 14th, 2022, 11:01 AM GMT+0200
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said more than 140 billion euros ($140 billion) could be raised by the bloc to cushion costs for consumers by capping revenues from low-cost power producers. She spoke Wednesday before the European Parliament. (Source: Bloomberg)

EU Energy Proposals Won't Work, Schork Says

Stephen Schork, president of The Schork Group, says Europe absolutely does not have time to delay energy measures but it doesn't matter because the proposals "will ultimately just ensure that the shortage in European energy persists." He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets: European Close." (Source...

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Picanha]

70% of homes in the EU have high-speed internet – but a digital divide persists​

70% of homes in the EU have high-speed internet – but a digital divide persists

A majority of homes in the EU have good connectivity, says Eurostat. But only 37% of rural homes have high-speed internet and some countries are significantly behind.

www.weforum.org

 

[pigmode]

That's a good benchmark, although I run into *so* many who rely strictly on smartphones for everything.

 

[Ivan le Fou]

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[Redav]

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PM has resigned

Years and years of uncontrolled emigration and receiving loads of criminals and rapists has led to this

 

[Musashi]

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Ghettoborg:
Q: why did you vote for Nyans?
A: because other parties have too many Swedish speakers.

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Lol

Pro-Erdoğan Islamist party in Sweden sparks concerns after it receives large number of votes in immigrant districts - Nordic Monitor

Levent Kenez/Stockholm

nordicmonitor.com

 

[BCNTM]

EU Eyes 140 Billion Euros From Power Producer Revenue Cap​

September 14th, 2022, 11:01 AM GMT+0200
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said more than 140 billion euros ($140 billion) could be raised by the bloc to cushion costs for consumers by capping revenues from low-cost power producers. She spoke Wednesday before the European Parliament. (Source: Bloomberg)

EU Energy Proposals Won't Work, Schork Says

Stephen Schork, president of The Schork Group, says Europe absolutely does not have time to delay energy measures but it doesn't matter because the proposals "will ultimately just ensure that the shortage in European energy persists." He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets: European Close." (Source...

www.bloomberg.com

Can we see the figures on that (because most of it will be offshore and not taxable in the EU)

and whilst we are at it can we see the EU's audited accounts......................... ?

 

[Ivan le Fou]

PM has resigned

Years and years of uncontrolled emigration and receiving loads of criminals and rapists has led to this

Took them long enough...

 

[Musashi]

A German county does a simulation about what would happen if there was a power cut due to running out of electricity:

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The result is 400 deaths in 96 hours.

Wikipedia says the county’s population is less than 187,500 people:

Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Musashi]

Took them long enough...

A Polish analyst, who has right-wing views, says it will be impossible fo form a coalition, as Liberasts don’t like SD, while each MP counts. He believes there would be rebels amongst Liberasts if their leadership wanted to form a coalition with SD.

 

[Hiryu2.0]

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[Mike1976]

A member of the Socialist Party, what did they expect

Europe's democratic guardian Tiny Kox denies Russia spy links

Tiny Kox, the Dutch head of a venerable watchdog on European democracy, has denied being a Kremlin fixer after one Russian spy described him as a top contact in leaked files.

euobserver.com

 

[Picanha]

So Germany is the only one left shoving money into China? With all its Dr. Prof. managers?

We already had a physicist...once....

Most European Investments in China Are From a Few Firms, Study Says

www.bloomberg.com

 

[Picanha]

An opposing opinion on the windfall levy

Opinion: EU must shun populist impulse on windfall tax | DW | 15.09.2022

The EU plans to grab a pie of the Ukraine war-fueled supernormal profits of the energy firms. The move might mollify the public reeling from record inflation, but it's an unfair and bad policy, says DW's Ashutosh Pandey.

www.dw.com

I don't follow it.

Because as always those costs like security are never shared by those making the profits. They also profit from standing up to Putin. Just look at entrepreneurs falling out of windows in Russia.

And this price hike is the result of the resistance to Putins war of agression. Its a bit like the Police protecting you from a murderer (With which you actively enaged before, despite warnings) and through complicated legal actions the police officer ends up providing you money because of that protection.

Nobody can be singled out here. Especially as this is a man made crisis, with gas companies not being innocent, and not like Corona which I think nobody wanted even if it was an lab accident.

So an argumentative fallacy exists here.

 

[Musashi]

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Sweden: Four In Five 'Refugees' Have Vacationed In The Country They Fled From | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

 

[tea-drinker]

Too far left is right..... Swedes like all of us in W. Europe are kind of sick of being sh1t on in our own countries.
Being married to a foreigner who works hard I'm 100% in favour of legal immigration. Lots of great workers came here from english and non english speaking areas to contribute and add to our success.
Unfortunately the anti EU citizen stance by the NGO (paid by the governments to lobby themselves) are going to cause a backlash which I expect will result in an over correction and anti foreigner sentiments. Sadly.