End of the EU? Italian referendum triggers SHOCK ALARMS across the USA and Europe

THE European Union is facing a crunch referendum in Italy which experts have warned could “shock” the troubled bloc to its core.

The Wall Street Journal has said that the outcome of the October referendum on constitutional reforms is “more important than Brexit”, with the future of pro-Brussels PM Matteo Renzi riding on the result.

Other international news organisation have suggested that Italy could become the weak link of European growth and the possible centre of a new political shock ready to weaken the EU.

Right-wing populists win outright majority in Poland

The right-wing Law and Justice party swept back to power in Polish elections on Sunday (25 October), winning an absolute majority of 232 seats in the 460-seat parliament, based on exit polls.

The result marks the end of eight years of rule by the centre-right Civic Platform party.

With Law and Justice having won presidential elections in May, it also marks the first time in Poland’s post-Communist history that the same party controls both levers of state.

It’s time for the EU’s biggest reform, say France and Germany

Push, push, push… Integrate more and more… It is the only solution, regardless of the economic crisis and knowing the cultures, economies and interests vary too much — so they keep saying. The march onward to a United States of Europe is underway courtesy of Germany’s Fourth Reich and its Troika proxy. As was said before, the Euro was designed to fail.

 

The French and German economy ministers have called for a strengthened eurozone with a common budgetary mechanism and tools to avoid the kind of debt problems Greece is suffering.

“It’s time to strengthen the eurozone by way of the EU’s biggest reform,” Emmanuel Macron and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel said in a joint statement in France’s Le Figaro, The Guardian, Germany’s Die Welt, Spain’s El Pais and other European dailies.

The German and French ministers also stressed that “a stronger eurozone should be the core of a deepened EU”.

Top EU diplomat calls for Palestinian state within 5 years

Ahead of her visit Friday, Federica Mogherini says actors in the region ‘need the European Union to be present to make steps forward’

The European Union’s new foreign policy chief called for the creation of a Palestinian state within the five years of her term, and announced that the EU intends to play a more influential role in the Middle East than it has in the past.

“What’s important for me is not whether other countries, be they European or not, recognize Palestine,” Federica Mogherini told the European press in comments published Tuesday, referring to Sweden’s recent recognition of a Palestinian state. “I’d be happy if, during my mandate, the Palestinian state existed.”

…

This weekend, she is scheduled to arrive in Israel and the Palestinian territories for her first official visit. During her two-day trip, she will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, President Reuven Rivlin, opposition leader Isaac Herzog and the chief peace negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. She is also expected to travel to Ramallah and the Gaza Strip, where she will meet with senior Palestinian officials.

Spain to ‘spy’ on 34 million bank accounts

The Spanish Government plans to collect data on all of the country’s 34 million bank accounts in what it calls a bid to crack down on money laundering and terrorist activity. But the move has drawn plenty of fire.

Spain plans to set up a German-style archive of data on the financial activity of Spaniards and residents in Spain, national daily El País reported on Sunday

The move will see banks having to supply details of all the personal and business current accounts, savings accounts and fixed-term accounts they hold to the Secretary of State for the Economy.

Groups including the Tax Office, the military, the General Council of the Judiciary and the secret services will then be able to access that information.

Transactions over €1,000 ($1,370) will be flagged if suspicious, while all transactions over €30,000 can be checked. Transfers of over €3,000 a month will also come under the spotlight, according to the new rules.