Euro Watch

The state of Germany’s consumption of energy has been in discussed in the past week. Analysts are predicting that the country is in for a series of power shortages within the near future.

Even though they use coal powered plants, Germany has started a trend to stay away from using coal to provide energy. Another source of energy for the country is nuclear power. However, it was announced this week that Germany hopes to shutdown all of its nuclear plants by the year 2021.

Yet it is predicted that Germany will might start to experience a shortage of energy power starting this summer, especially when less cool water is available for the nuclear power plants.

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The UK is suffering for the damage of the opening of Terminal 5 has had on its image and reputation. More specifically, the numerous problems with the Terminal’s opening has some people wondering how British Airways can possible improve the situation that has been created.

The terminal was herald to be the latest in building design, at a cost of over eight billion dollars. It took this country at least 5 years to complete it, but after the high profile opening, things at Terminal Five still are not back to normal. British Airways has had to cancel at over three hundred flights, and the “state of the art” baggage machine failed to operate, leaving a lot of people without their bags, and hundreds of volunteers needed to sort through the bags for British Airways.

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Belgium is looking to wind! Belgium – Brussels more specifically, is expected to use the energy created from windmills to power the city. Even the

European Commission is in support of Brussels’ new bid to use wind energy, and developing it from offshore. Wind energy has become popular over the last decade, and is seen as a cleaner way to produce energy instead of using fossil fuels. The EU energy commissioner is hoping to map out a geographical plan to build wind farms, “A maritime grid infrastructure is needed for the development of offshore wind energy. Without it, no offshore wind farms will be built,” Andris Piebalgs stated.

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This week it was announced that two German shipyards had been sold to Russian companies, highlighting the growing trend of many German

companies being purchased by Russia. The Norwegian Aker Yards sold their rights to a shipyard in Warnemunde and in Wismar to a Russian fund

named FLC West. Aker Yards stated they were promised that no changes will be made to the number of staff or pay rates.

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The Financial Supervisory Authority in Iceland and launched an official investigation into allegations against international hedge funds. There are currently rumors circulating of attacks being made against the Icelandic stock market by hedge funds.

Whist this is going on, one of Iceland’s leading banks, Kaupthing, is currently deliberating as to whether they will initiate legal action against one of the U.S.’ leading banks, Bear Stearns, for their part in organizing a trip to Iceland for senior hedge fund employees in January.

According to analysts, these dual moves are indicative of the growing aggravation of Iceland’s government with the ostensible attacks from international banking groups on the Icelandic stock market and currency, the krona.

Authorities are redoubling efforts to educate international investors about the economy in Iceland, using presentations and road shows as tools in their bid to counter the attacks.

The economy in Iceland has recently seen an extraordinary boom, which has resulted in a macroeconomic imbalance. This shows in the current deficit in account of 16% of GDP in 2007. Annual inflation is also showing signs of the imbalance, as it is sitting at 8.7% whilst the central bank’s target is actually 2.5%.

All of these issues are further complicating the current Icelandic economy, which is having to deal with main banks using disruptive leverage techniques which are having adverse effects on the confidence of investors. Stocks are also declining due to these factors, which is raising inflation at the same time as sending the currency lower.

In a bid to aid the current situation, the central banks last week brought in an interest rate rise of 1.25% to help alleviate some of the financial pressure. This brings the interest rate to a record high of 15%.

Regardless of the current tensions in the economy in Iceland, they are still running with a budget surplus and the government managed to reduce the deficit from 26% in 2006. When juxtaposed with other markets and banks internationally, Iceland’s banks are robust and highly capitalised.

Kaupthing is currently being advised legally on the possible misuse of the market by Bear Stearns after they arranged for a trip to Iceland last January which three Bear employees attended and four employees from hedge funds.

The dominant Icelandic bank will be have the ability to subpoena e-mails and telephone records from Bear Sterns and the hedge funds involved, if they do undertake legal action. DA Capital Europe, King Street, Merril Lynch GSRG, and Sandelman Parnters, being the four hedge funds in question.

Friday saw the central bank chief, David Oddsson, say that Iceland was the indented prey of an attack on the Icelandic economy, and that brokers were attempting to destroy the financial system of the country.

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The second largest airline in Australia, Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd, has just issued a new service that will occur between Los Angeles, California, and Sydney. The flights which will start in December will save customers at least sixteen percent off their current travel expenses between these two cities. According to Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group, the new flight route from Australia to the United States is quite an achievement and represents the last “piece of the puzzle”.

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The French spirit company Pernod Ricard was successful in outbidding its competitors to obtain the very popular Absolut vodka brand. Pernod Ricard will purchased the Swedish vodka company at a price tage of $8.34 billion dollars.

Based on this successful, Ricard will also “inherit” the debt that comes along with the company – at a tune of over 346 million Euros. The company was sold by auction by the state, with its outstanding debt being one of the reasons. According to Managing Director Pierre Pringuet, “We wanted to bolster our presence in the U.S. and Absolut, with its 5 million cases will definitely do that,” he stated.

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London is visualizing how it will deal with the growing influx of people into its city. Even though it is less crowded that other cities such as Cairo or Paris, the next fifty years will be a crucial time to try and fit more people into a growing population, but with less amount of land available.

It is already in the forecast to build a large amount of commuter towns that will be strategically placed on the outskirts of the city. These dwellings will lack the width, but make up for it in height. With at least 100,000 people expected to be housed by 2016. It is the belief that one particular building should be created that provides all of these one hundred thousand residents with all the facilities they need – hospitals, schools, parks, etc.

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The Monaco business Wally Yachts has continued to surpise us with its daring designs. Its recent yacht to be unveiled is said to be a monster yacht known as WallyIsland. The specs for this yacht include a size of a least 325 feet. This megayacht can be used as a home, or even a moving exhibit. at one time a large yacht was considered to by around 180 feet and was for very rich owners. Since then yacht builders have been competing to design a yacht well over the 320 feet mark.

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The European Union Commission announced on Friday that they would not be pursuing a ban on Italian mozzarella after it cases were discovered of the cheese being contaminated with dioxins which cause cancer, as the Italian government has taken adequate measures to control the issue,

In a news conference, E.U. heath spokesperson, Nina Papadoulaki, stated that the commission was entirely happy with the measures undertaken by the Italian government and that they would me maintaining continuous involvement authorities in Italy to ensure the issue does not arise again. Papadoulaki stated that with reports they had received from Italy that day, there was no need for further intervention at an E.U. level.

Friday saw Italy make a recall on a batch of mozzarella which was possibly contaminated. This is part of a wide-spread health scare which has had a negative impact on one of the countries most renown culinary products.

News sources from within the country have reported that the issue has been contained and that after all recalls have been completed and testing done, the reputation of Italian mozzarella will bounce back and will again achieve its former status as the ultimate symbol of Italian gastronomy.

Gianpaolo Patta, a senior health ministry official, made a statement to the press that the reported recall of buffalo mozzarella, which came from the foreign minister whilst visiting Naples, was not entirely correct.

All milk which has been scanned on dairy farms since March 3, and those who have been found to be contaminated have had all production shut down with the farms being sequestered to court. Patta also went on to say that any milk which had been used to produce mozzarella before that date will have expired at this stage.

The health minister stated that the E.U. had ordered an extensive systematic analysis of dairy farms, and that they had requested the names of those farms which had dioxin levels above the appropriate amount. Apparently there are 20 such farms, where there was 25 recently. The Italian government is happy to oblige the E.U. on releasing the names of the farms, however will wait until testing is complete so as to be absolutely sure of the data.

France is taking no chances, and the country has banned the sales of all Italian mozzarella cheeses from the Campania region for fear of it being dioxin contaminated.

The agriculture minister from France made a statement to the effect that, as a precautionary measure only, all mozzarella made from buffalo milk will be removed from shelves and subjected to extensive tests.

Italy’s high level food and health officials released a statement on Thursday in which they instructed people to not stop buying mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk, as the dioxin contamination scare had been overestimated and that none of the contaminated cheeses had been sold out of the country.

During a press conference, Italy’s agricultural minister, Paolo de Castro, ate some of the cheese in question to illustrate the governments stance on the safety of the product. Figures have been released which state that, in order to exceed dioxin limits set by the World Health Organisation, a person would have to eat over 7kg of buffalo mozzarella in one day.

This has not stopped Japan holding loads of Italian mozzarella in their customs facilities in two airports to await further testing, as well as South Korea blocking imports on all buffalo mozzarella from Italy, though this fact is contested by Italian officials. A civil protection official, Guido Bertolaso, stated that he believed countries like the U.S. and Australia, who produce their own mozzarella, are taking enjoyment from what he labeled a localised issue.

During his press conference, de Castro stated that the 25 dairies with extreme dioxin levels could face criminal charges, and that at this stage, the 25 dairies along with 83 farms have been sequestered by courts. de Castro believes that there is no doubt that people will be prosecuted, but that contaminated cheese hadn’t actually reached the market because of strict control methods.

Health minister Patta stated that the soil contamination from the burning of tyres and plastic could be the cause of the excessive dioxin levels.

Both investigators and environmentalists have stated that many types of unsanctioned garbage has been burnt within Campania, both by residents wishing to rid themselves of garbage yet to be collected, and by mafia groups attempting to get rid of toxic waste from other regions in Italy.

A dairy manager from Naples, known only as Giovanni as he requested his full name not be disclosed, stated that the mafia had actually infiltrated some dairies and now operated them, and that they used scare tactics and racketeering to avoid health controls. Giovanni went on to say that this dioxin scare was brought to light only a few weeks from parliamentary elections in a bid to gain political power in the region and bring the region to its knees.

Campania region is, along with the city of Naples, under administrations from the centre-left and is allied with the central government in Rome.

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A report surfaced today accusing the supermarket store brand Lidl of spying on its employees. Information released allege that the store uses business practices that are not favourable to its employees.

For instance, in many stores it is alleged that employees are constantly watched by Lidl hiring detectives to keep track of them while working. These detectives are alleged to also monitor employee activities during coffee breaks, or when they go to the bathroom.

The report is part of a government probe after allegations were made against Lidl. The German government is expected to finish its investigation in several weeks.

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In a new situation known as offsourcing, IT firm Wipro is slated to hire hundreds of new people for their offices outside of London. The company is a large employer of over 6,000 people within the European Union, and would like to open one new office within the next two years. The Indian company with its base in Reading already employs three hundred people.

“We want a centre where the general profile of the young girls and boys graduating there is of a nature where they would like to work in that area, they have family roots in that area, they come from a background which is comfortable in that area and don’t necessarily want to migrate to&the larger cities,” stated Azim Premji, Wipro’s Chairman.

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Amid the current international market turmoil, some countries are faring better than others. Germany and France are proving the strength of the continental European economies by weathering the tumultuous markets with business confidence in tact.

Last Wednesday saw Germany’s Ifo institute release figures which showed that the index has risen for the last three months consecutively, bolstering them to the highest level since August 2007.

The Insee statistical office in France reported similar happenings there, with business confidence being at there highest so far this year.

Analysts believe that the heightening of confidence in the two largest economies in the eurozone is indicative of a spurring economic movement.

The president of Ifo, Hans-Werner Sinn, said that the economy in Germany is gaining strength and that even with the euro trading so high, many companies are still expecting high revenues for exports for last month.

Figures are emerging now which seem to indicate that the eurozone has only been obliquely struck by the current international financial crisis. The housing market is still progressing with strength, whilst manufacturing in the region is also healthy, most notably in Germany. Europe’s largest economy is engineering, and according to figures released by the employer’s association, growth within the industry is at an 40 year high.

Whilst the U.S. dollar has been falling and higher interest rates in Europe have somewhat slowed the economy, European financial analysts are not predicting dark skies for the continents outlook. Inflation is at a 14 year high in the Eurozone , however the European Central Bank has left their interest rate at 4% and have not followed the trail left by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

According to the ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, it is the fact that the foundation of the Eurozone economy is so strong, and that they have a better balance, which has left the regions markets in a more stable condition than their counterparts across the Atlantic. Trichet also said that unemployment has fallen to a 25 year low.

The ECB president also went on to talk about the the fact that the euro was trading so well, and the rammifications that would have on trade. He stated that there shouldn’t be a great deal of change in rates or too many market moves as that would lead to a downward trend in economic growth.

A survey conducted by the Ifo showed that business had become more positive about current situations than they had previously been.

In Germany, March saw the index rise to 104.8 for March from 104.1 for February, which is the highest point since August last year. France also saw the business confidence index rise, from 107 in February to 109 now.

Though there are some countries in the eurozone which aren’t doing so well. Business confidence in Italy has fallen to the lowest point in two years.

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The new opening of Heathrow Terminal 5 was marred with many problems such as protesters and a faulty baggage machine. Terminal 5 was built to be the new state of art terminal to move passengers quickly to their destination.

However, after less than an hour, many people were left angry as the baggage machine failed to operate. This created a series of delays. Afterwards, the opening was dampened by a group of protesters who feel that a new runway should not be opened as planned in 2020. All of these factors dampened the excitement of the new terminal opening.

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Cyprus is still a divided island, however the Greek and Turkish leaders of the island have agreed to a series of meetings, set in three months times, to discuss paths to unification, which has held Turkey back from being accepted into European Union.

In a sign of peace, both the Greek leader of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias, and the Turkish leader of Cyprus, Mehmet Ail Talat, have agreed to un-blockade Ledra Street in Nicosia, which has long been a symbolic, as well as physical, depiction of the division.

The U.N. hosted the first meeting between the Cypriot leaders, at a U.N. controlled part of Nicosia, the capital, and have been the ones to make the announcement regarding the scheduled talks and the reopening of Ledra Street

Last month, Christofias was elected to the presidency of the island, which has renewed hopes for unification talks to be established again. In 2004 Greek Cypriots voted against a plan brought by the U.N. for the reunification of Cyprus.

At this stage, tensions are mounting as analysts are predicting these scheduled meetings to be the final chance for clearing the division. Politicians are also concerned as they do not want to see yet another standoff between the communities, as it would have strong negative repercussions for Turkey in their bid to join the E.U.

Cyprus has been divided between Greek and Turkish communities since an invasion by the latter in 1974, which was was a counter to a mainly Greek coup.

The last attempt for unification was in 2004 when a plan was put forth by the U.N., which was accepted by Turkish Cypriots, but rejected by Greek Cypriots who shortly after joined the E.U. by themselves.

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According to Lord Neil Kinnock, a former politician who is now the chair of the British Council, the mounting hostility between Europeans and U.S. citizens could leave long lasting damage to transatlantic relations.

A former vice-president of the European Commission, Lord Kinnock stated that he found the results in the British Council survey that was published on Wednesday to be concerning as 46% of Europeans surveyed agreed that they viewed the overriding influence of the U.S. in the world to be a negative one.

Lord Kinnock believes that these sentiments are increasingly prevalent towards the U.S. and that the opinions of Europeans towards the U.S. became even more dubious when George W. Bush snatched power in 2001. European sentiments took an even worse turn when the U.S. invaded Iraq five years ago.

On the other side of the pond, over 30% of U.S.citizens see Europeans as being aloof; which shows that transatlantic relations aren’t very good on either side and worse than thought before.

The results listed in the poll suggest that the measures taken by European countries and Washington to co-operatively fight climate change, international terrorism and poverty haven’t had a strong impact at all. Nine countries were polled for these results, Britain, Ireland, Poland, Germany, France, Spain,Turkey, Canada, and the U.S.

According to Lord Kinnock, the E.U. has stepped up relations with the U.S., however because there is yet to be much of an impact on issues like climate change and terrorism, citizens from both sides aren’t seeing much come of the co-operation and, understandably, don’t see it as really working.

The survey showed that most people would actually be happy with stronger transatlantic bonds, however there are blocks in that path too. Europeans cite their primary reason for not engaging with the U.S. as being due to Washington’s current foreign policy, and citizens of the U.S. stated that the main roadblock to closer ties is that Europeans are too liberal.

Other polls have shown similar concerns from Europeans towards the U.S.; in a Harris opinion poll which was conducted for the Financial Times and published this week it was shown that Europeans – British, German, and Spanish citizens were polled – consider the largest threat to global stability to be the the U.S., who topped even China, Iran, and North Korea.

Lord Kinnock said that the British Council has embarked on a youth project which is to combat the psychological widening of the Atlantic.

According to the British Council’s head of communications for western Europe and North America, Julian Morgan, the survey indicates the true depth of the breach between Europe and the U.S., which has far exceeded expectations.

Morgan also stated that the survey suggested that cultural stereotypes were still in full swing, with 34% of those polled in the U.S. stating they believed Europeans are snobbish, and 62% of Europeans polled, believe those in the U.S. to be keen consumers and 45% think people from the U.S. are selfish.

The U.S. people polled were apparently happier to take action against environmental or social issues that they cared about, like paying taxes.

There were some strikingly positive views from both sides regarding transatlantic co-operation, which concerned business and trade, and the fighting of global diseases like HIV-Aids and malaria.

A minimum of 500 people participated in the survey in each country, and in the U.K. 1,019 people were polled and 2,001 were polled in the U.S., according to the two companies to perform the polls, GlobeScan and IFF.

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The European Union are set to lead the world once more in the fight against global warming. Within the next 12 months, the E.U. will introduce new laws to ensure they reach the decisive goals they the have outlined for themselves.

Friday should see the E.U., which is comprised of 27 nations from Europe, announce from the culmination of a two-day summit, the new laws to come into effect no later than March 2009 which entail slashing greenhouse gas emissions and raising renewable energy used.

In the overview of the summit, leaders where also to discuss the current financial market crisis which has been ongoing since last year. All of the delegates are expected to completely disclose the extent of the distressed assets, incorrect balance sheets, and losses faced by financial institutions of their country’s.

The E.U. is expected to warn against using sovereign wealth for political investments, but praise the use of sovereign funds for commercially motivated capital and liquidity.

The summit commenced on Friday and was opened with a reaffirmation of the E.U.’s ongoing commitment to reforms inspired by the Lisbon strategy which, since a rocky start when first adopted in 2000, has yielded substantial positive results.

The next subject on the agenda will be to establish a cohesive plan of action against climate change; which according to José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, the E.U. do not have significant credibility in this area yet, though with decisive action will gain it quickly.

At this stage, the E.U. already have a standing commitment to a greener Europe, with a pledge to reduce emissions by 20% and increase renewable energy consumption by 20% by 2020. Also committed to 2020, is the use of at least 10% biofule within vehicle fuels.

The Commission suggested in January that carbon reduction and the inclusion of renewable energy sources should be perhaps based on the wealth of the country, so that the more financially stable countries of the E.U. would be the ones to face the heavier financial burden.

The plan at this stage is for each nation to agree within on national goals by December, and then to have E.U. level legislation passed by March 2009.

The E.U. is looking to ensure that it is fully disclosed, economically equitable and balanced for all countries, whilst still attaining their goal of reducing carbon emissions by 30% by 2020.

Whilst there is still criticism from environmentalists, as they believe the E.U. is being too lenient because of industrial complaints and lobbies, many political leaders have a much different opinion. Some are concerned that they will no longer be economically competitive because some other countries may not impose strictures as regulated as those in Europe.

The E.U. combats these concerns by outlining in the summit statement the action, which is to be in the form of an international agreement, to be taken against those countries who do not take adequate measures against emissions.

The reason for the push for March 2009 is because that is the last month in which legislative session will be held before closures for European elections in June. When parliament reconvenes, they are necessarily going to have to sort administrative tasks and hold hearings for the next set of European Commission delegates.

This legislation needs to be passed by March 2009 and before the newly elected delegates of the Commission sit for autumn sessions; as in December 2009 a conference is to be held in Copenhagen, on global emission cuts, to which China, the U.S., and other powers, are to attend.

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Nine months ago, Yves Leterme, a divisive Flemish, Christian, Democrat was elected to the role of Prime Minister (PM) in Belgium. Next week, his administration actually steps in and takes up leadership of the country.

Since being elected last year, the PM has weathered a severe political deadlock and serious health issues.

Leterme is expected to be fully installed as PM during the Easter period, which will see this tumultuous period in the history of Belgium come to a close, however other dangers are lurking just around the corner for Leterme.

The new PM has been quoted as saying that it was only the King, the national football team, and bear that held the country’s Flemish majority and Francophone minority together in any sort of cohesion, and it is the job of Leterme to now pull these two factions together and create more positive bonds throughout the country.

Leterme is just now moving into the traditional HQ of the PM, a neoclassical office in Brussels, and right away must take steps to resolve the heightening tensions regarding further devolution.

It was these contentious issues which where the key to the embarrassing 192-day political standoff after the election in Belgium, during which time, with the post-poll stalemate lasting the longest in the country’s history, speculations were voiced over whether the country may even have split in two.

The campaign base for Leterme was in Flanders, which is a wealthy predominantly Dutch-speaking area, and his main campaign stratagem was a populist pledge which would bring more self-rule for both tax and employment policies throughout the provinces of the country, however this is shaping up to be a very difficult promise to deliver, and the pressure is on for him to offer, and have it accepted by officials, a new settlement on reform of the state, by July.

Belgium is known to be the most decentralised country in the European Union, with its federal government being purposefully fragmented. The current population of Belgium is 10.5 million.

Due to the decentralised nature of Belgium, the regions of the country are already largely self-sufficient, however a deal that was agreed to by the federal government last month will give provinces even more control over housing, agriculture, and industrial policy.

Whilst there are many in Flanders – the former campaign base of Leterme – who are voicing desires for more autonomy, there are groups of Francophones in the south – who were once economically dominant due to heavy industry, and who are now largely poorer and in need of Flemish support – who are loath to adjust the current situation.

The new five-part government is going to be tested a lot in these early months after the handover, and the current calls for constitutional amendments is just one of the tests before them.

The political ground for Leterme is still quite rocky, as he has been accused of being indecisive and has made made some regrettable comments about his Francophone constituents; though he is in the process of redeeming himself with this part of the population.

A fellow government official has made comments regarding Leterme’s ability to put his metaphorical foot in his mouth, saying that he isn’t a highly emotionally intelligent person and that his verbal faux pas’ aren’t in any way meant to be antagonistic towards the Francophone populace.

There are still those who believe strongly in Leterme, such as Frank Vandenbroucke, the socialist politician who worked with the new PM during the prior Flemish administration, saying that Leterme has always listened to all his advisers; wishing all groups to have a voice, before he makes any decisions.

The chances for Leterme to actually be PM looked rather slim for some time, as he failed to have a government ready to step in after he was elected in June, and his attempts to form that government were seriously hampered by arguments over constitutional reform and language rights. All of this was sorted finally in December when an agreement was reached.

Concerns were raised once again when Leterme was hospitalised for two weeks last month, at which time he was diagnosed with internal bleeding. Leterme is now back at work, and the 47 year old seems to have been humbled during this time.

He has stated that he is going to try to be more wise, calm, and equable, yet still just as enthusiastic and devoted to his responsibilities.

At a glance through Leterme’s records it is obvious that he is well qualified for his new role. Though he is Flemish, his father is Francophone and Leterme speaks perfect French. He has also worked in all levels of government in Belgium, from regional, to federal, to European Union.

The last PM, Guy Verhofstadt, was elected in 1999 and though he lost the election last July, he stayed to oversee a caretaker government until Leterme takes over later next week.

During the stalemate, Verhofstadt held together a three-month administration from December onwards to address urgent reform decisions.

Due to the decentralised nature of the country, most daily services weren’t affected by the political incident, however big-business was ham-stringed by the inability to pass imperative legislation and deep-seeded uncertainty of a unified Belgium in the future arose during this time.

Analysts, such as Marc Swyngedouw, of the Catholic University of Leuven’s social sciences faculty, have stated that to be successful, the new PM is going to have to gain the staunch support of both sides in Belgium. He believes that even with Leterme stepping in, the instability of the country is not at an end.

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Listed below are some of the company’s shares which may have unusual prices alterations in the region of Europe. Stock symbols are in addition following the company names along with the most recent stock prices.
The Index of Dow Jones Stoxx 600 declined to 1.3 % to end at 311.42 while Dow Jones Stoxx 50 fell down to 1.6 % to end at 3,090. On the other hand the Euro Stoxx 50 also dropped to 1.8 % to end at 3,617.68.

Europe’s largest process management and applied engineering company Abengoa SA expected higher demands for its fuel in order to increase prices. This would permit the company to begin production as the plant was halted recently said Amando Sanchez Falcon, the Chief Financial Officer. The shares of this plant dropped to 0.1 % or 2 cents to end at 21.80 euros. Switzerland Based Ciba Specialty Chemicals is the largest producer of paints and coatings organized its annual meeting. Its shares declined to 3.3 % or 1.3 francs to end at 37.7 francs.

Germany’s biggest online bank, COM Direct Bank offers direct banking, financial advisory and brokerage services. Its shares also dropped to 2.4 % or 20 cents to end at 8 euros. While the Dutch based Draka Holding NV which is the third largest cable producer in Europe said that its entire year’s profits quadrupled to 127 million dollars or 82.6 million euros. This happed after it had sold extra cables to the builders in the European region. The shares of this company showed an increase of 1 % to end at 19.45 euros.

Italy’s national lottery operator, Lottomatica SpA said that its earnings had surged from 822,000 euros to 163 million dollars or 106 million euros in 2007. The shares of Rome based company slipped to 1.1 % or 27 cents to end at 23.78euros. On the other hand Telecom Italia, biggest telephone company of Italy scheduled to organize a presentation to discuss the results of 2007 for the investors. This company’s shares also dropped to 3.7 % or 6.1 cents to end at 1.50 euros.

Dutch based multinational company and the largest surveyor of deep water oil fields Fugro NV said its earnings climbed to 53 % to end at 215 million euros in the previous year. This company released its present year earnings before the opening of the financial markets. Its shares had dropped to 0.5 % or 26 cents to end at 49.74 euros. While Stockholm based biggest airline carrier SAS Group’s owner from the Nordic region scheduled to forward the statistics very soon. However, its stocks slipped by 4.1 % to end at 53 kronor.

Thales Group- the biggest producer of military electronics in Europe said its earnings for the year 2007 doubled more than they had anticipated as there was more demand for security and aerospace equipments. Shares of this company dropped to 1.6 % or 64 cents to end at 40.45 euros. However, Italian scooter manufacturer Piaggio & C. SpA planned to present its previous years results. Its profits slipped from 70.3 million euros to 57.9 million euros. The stocks of this company slipped to 3.4 % or 6.1 cents to end at 1.71 euros.

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The European Union Commissioner wants a promotion to work against the usual typecast of the professional women as too technical and boring. Viviane Reding, the Commissioner of European Commission for information media & society and the ambassador against the overcharge roaming charges did set her views on the deflating geeky IT typecasts that she feels are setting women off working in the technology. Very soon Viviane Reding aims to establish a European code of most excellent performance for women in the IT sector in order to address the alleged absorbent channel incident. Whereby most of the females get bored gradually in working in the IT sector as they develop through education and settle on a particular career.
In her statement Reding said that they require to prevail over the usual typecasts that illustrate ICT careers as too technical and uninteresting fro women. Instead should persuade women to succeed in this innovative, multi-faceted and exciting sector. Reding also cautioned that the European region must deal with its deficiency of qualified IT staff as a main concern or threat declining behind the IT competitors in the Asian region. According to the European Commission, the IT sector has also contributed to the quarter of European Union’s entire development and 4 % of its jobs. However, there is a deficiency of about 300,000 qualified IT staff.
Therefore, attracting more women is very much essential in order to assist to seal the talents gap. For the past two years, the European Commission has been running a program for IT work-shadowing that offers females a chance of choosing their careers. Previous researches from the IT sector talents organization, e-skills UK has established several number of computing students in the region had declined to 50 % since the last five years whereas, the number of females working in the IT sector had fallen to one out of five workers.
According to the analysis conducted by European commission in October 2007, from the 150 telecommunication companies in Europe, they found that the average percentage of women working was only 6 %. It is because women are normally under-signified at the senior administrative level in the IT sectors. The European Commission has also published an entire report that looks in the gender balance in the upper levels of the senior administration which entitled men and women decision making 2007. According to the report, men represent almost 10 board members in most of the top companies and the also make 2/3rd of companies bosses.
Talking about the deficiency of women in the IT sector with the silicon.com, Mary Turner CEO of Tiscali UK said that IT is only the part of this bigger outlook, it is not only women in the IT sector it is women in the boardrooms and also in the management. However, Turner was confident of changes in the near future. She said that the technology is distinguished as a geeky field for men; nevertheless they are seeing more women coming forward to work in these sectors. She thinks that it would be exponential since everything in life one needs the first team to come in and then extend in the world and persuade.

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