Commission lays out vision to complete euro

The EU executive is proposing a two-phase calendar to complete the architecture of the economic and monetary union. (Photo: Hannelore Foerster)

 

The European Commission presented on Wednesday (31 May) its proposal to “move forward” on eurozone integration with a treasury, a finance minister and several instruments to make the financial sector less vulnerable to crises.

The document, which is part of an ongoing reflection about the future of the EU, aims to “fill the gaps” in the single currency and to help the eurozone economies to converge.

“We cannot and should not wait for another crisis,” said commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis, who admitted that “doubts remain about the full stability and safety of the system”.

Chinese Army Prepares for Conflict with United States

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China is making significant strides toward developing a global military power large enough to protect its rapidly increasing global economic interests, an author of a new book on China explained Wednesday.

…

“Chinese military planners really seem convinced that their most likely enemy and their greatest potential threat is the United States,” Wortzel said his analysis of PLA journals showed. “Things aren’t great with Russia, and things are a lot worse with Japan, but they focus on us and our technology.”

The transformation began less than a decade ago when in 2004 leader Hu Jintao announced that the PLA’s mission must be to go global in order to safeguard the country’s expanding national interests.