"Political leaders should give an answer in principle tomorrow afternoon (the EU)," he told reporters Panos Beglitis, spokesman for the Greek Socialist Party ( PASOK) on Sunday.

They will then discuss the plan of the troika (International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank) at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Lucas Papademos.

"There will be a meeting of political leaders chaired by Papademos tomorrow afternoon," said Beglitis. 

The chief minister said for his part that the various managers of the government coalition have agreed on a reduction in public spending by an amount equivalent to 1.5% of GDP this year.

This includes measures to reduce salaries and benefits costs to make the Greek economy more competitive, he added.

He also confirmed the meeting of heads of coalition parties on Monday to conclude negotiations on the second aid package of 130 billion euros to be implemented by the mid-March to avoid a collapse of public accounts. 

The two main Greek unions called for a 24-hour strike Tuesday to protest against austerity measures and reforms demanded by international creditors.

"We expect one-day strike on Tuesday," said Ilias Iliopoulos, general secretary of the ADEDY representing public sector employees.

"Despite our sacrifices and despite the recognition that this policy mix is ​​bad, they ask even more austerity," he added.

ADEDY and its private counterpart, the GSEE, representing about two million workers in Greece, about half of the workforce. 

BAROIN OPTIMISTIC

Creditors of Greece had requested a reduction in spending worth one percent of GDP, slightly more than two billion euros for 2012.

The negotiations on the restructuring of the Greek debt held by the private sector rose "relatively well", said his side the French Minister of Economy and Finance, Sunday .

"I think it progresses smoothly on the part of private sector involvement to be made on a voluntary basis," said Baroin under the "Grand Rendez-Vous "Europe 1-Le Parisien-i> Télé.

"We would not get away from the level at which one must move the Greek debt in 2020, that is to say around 120%," said the French minister. And "it is because we do not withdraw these objectives that the discussions are difficult," he said.

"Anyway, it's later than February 13," continued Baroin.

February 13 is the deadline posed by the euro area to launch the operation, which should bring the Greek debt around 120% of GDP in 2020 against over 160% today.

The private sector should accept a discount of around 70% of its obligations under the exchange program of the Greek debt. This will help to lower than 100 billion euros of debt of Greece.

In exchange for a loan of at least 130 billion euros by 2015, the troika of institutional creditors requires further structural reform and further reforms of austerity authority to clean up its public accounts.

Troika calls including a lowering of wages in companies and supplementary pension, which measures face many political and union resistance.

In the absence of an agreement, Greece is threatened with failure to pay on 20 March, when mature 14.5 billion euros of bonds.

Beyond its organic levers, the former branch of the Accor group prepaid service, which issues such as meal vouchers, announced during a day dedicated to investors and financial analysts that it will carry out targeted acquisitions.

Edenred also wants to accelerate the transition to digital solutions "paving the way for new growth opportunities," we read in a statement.

The action Edenred closed Monday at 18.4 euros, showing a market capitalization of 4.2 billion euros.

The "blunder" by Standard and Poor's comes almost timely for the European Commission. Brussels Wednesday will unveil a range of measures to regulate rating agencies, and the announcement erroneous degradation of France by S & P should increase the willingness of European regulatory agencies. Details of the measures to be adopted.

Suspend a rating

The Commission will decide to suspend the rating of a State in case of excessive volatility or if the country is under European aid program. The decision can be explained by the previous in Greece.

Attack to justice agencies

Any investor can now sue an agency and ask for damages when it deems necessary. Brussels wants to create "a European framework of liability in case of serious misconduct or gross negligence." A new measure that should appeal to France after the "true-false" degradation Standard and Poor's.

Impose a turnover in the agencies

Brussels wants to put some competition in the "Big Three", Moody's, Standard and Poor's and Fitch Ratings. The idea of ​​creating a European agency was dropped, now Brussels wants to impose a rotation to the actors who are noted. Clearly, companies and states will be required to change agencies every three years, to encourage competition between agencies. But the idea is not only criticized by the rating agencies but also by some of their clients.

The New York Stock Exchange closed up 0.71% Monday, the Dow Jones 30 Industrial winning 85.15 points to 12,068.39 points.

The S & P-500, wider, took 7.89 points, or 0.63% to 1261.12 points.

The Nasdaq Composite was up on its side of 9.10 points (0.34%) to 2695.25 points.

Values, Best Buy has lost 3.11% after announcing it would pay 838 million pounds (977 million) in the UK Carphone Warehouse to buy back its share in their joint venture in mobile phones in the U.S. .

Tekelec has jumped more than 14%. The technology provider networks agreed to be acquired by a consortium of investment funds led by Siris Capital for about $ 780 million.

General Motors has announced the retirement of Nick Reilly, current head of the European activities of the group and its replacement next year by Karl-Friedrich Stracke.

The least we can say is that the end of term Jean-Claude Trichet has not been easy. The French left the European Central Bank (ECB), after eight years of presidency, when the euro area is experiencing a critical step – critical? – Of its crisis. For if the Europe Agreement birth Thursday morning in pain is an important step in the short term, it does not eliminate all long-term risks of contagion from the debt crisis.

We do not worship nor hate Jean-Claude Trichet, as it is more consensual than cleaving – it boasts of never having been outvoted by the Governing Council of the ECB. We respect him.For he succeeded in making the institution of Frankfurt an economic and political front. The markets were suspended in any of his words at monthly conferences of the ECB on interest rates. And since Europe is in crisis, he took part in EU summits as well as leaders and heads of government of member states of Euroland.

The route of Jean-Claude Trichet

1942: Born in Lyon

1969-1971: ENA

1978-1981: Economic Advisor, Valerie Giscard d'Estaing

1986-1987: Director of the Office of Edouard Balladur, Minister of Finance

1987-1993: Director of Treasury

1993-2003: Governor of the Banque de France

2003-2011: President of the European Central Bank

Of the review of eight years as president of the ECB, it can be fierce independence vis-à-vis the Franco-German policies.No sooner did he take the levers of the ECB in November 2003, accusing Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder to gut the Stability Pact. In 2010, he opposed the will of Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel to involve private investors in the rescue of Greece. But we remember also its renewed calls for member states to implement a real economic governance of the euro area. Not to mention his extraordinary responsiveness during the financial crisis in August 2007 first, then in October 2008, noting that the interbank market is frozen, the ECB is the first to lend banks as much liquidity as they wish.

The strong euro, the result of the fight against inflation

Two of his actions, however, are highly controversial.

More than ten hours of meetings were necessary to reach an agreement Saturday on a recapitalization of the banking sector to the tune of 100 billion euros, which was nevertheless widely agreed at the technical level this week.

The work, however, little or no progress on the form that is chosen to leverage the fund to support the euro and to reduce the mountain of Greek debt, even if a discount up to 60% of the shares held by investors Private is under discussion.

On his arrival in Brussels, where he was to dine with Angela Merkel, the ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde and the President of the Commission and the European Council, José Manuel Barroso and Herman van Rompuy, Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his confidence in the outcome of discussions.

"There is progress (…) By Wednesday, we must find a solution, a structural solution, an ambitious solution, a final solution, there is no choice," he said in reference to the date of the second summit will bring together the leaders of the euro area.

The French president spoke by telephone with German Chancellor Saturday afternoon and, says one EU source, they should meet again Sunday morning at their hotel before joining their European counterparts.

Meetings could also take place with the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, while Italy and Spain are under peer pressure to reassure their determination to keep public finances under control.

BANKS

At the end of the agreement reached Saturday, about sixty of the largest European banks need to recapitalize by 30 June 2012 at 100 billion euros to hold at least 9% of equity "hard" core tier one .

Some 38% of this amount, which may not be officially published, should return to the three countries already under the aid program: Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

Banks will also mark their sovereign debt to market value and the institutions that will not comply with this set of rules will be banned from paying dividends to their shareholders and bonuses to their executives.

The bloc have also talked Saturday reactivation of the guarantees offered to banks in the fall of 2008 at the height of the crisis, enabling them to find financing in the medium and long term, said on the same source.

GREECE

Ministers also returned to the long record of Greek and how to make Greek debt sustainable in the long term.

According to a report that will serve as the basis for decisions of the leaders of the euro area, private creditors of Greece may have to accept a loss of up to 60% on their sovereign debt.

The EU finance ministers, however, remain divided on the voluntariness or otherwise of the private sector to the new rescue plan for Greece.

Fearing to trigger a credit event with unforeseeable consequences, France and several other countries are reluctant to go beyond the envelope of 50 billion euros negotiated last July 21 with the banks, as called for Berlin if necessary by forcing them to go the extra mile.

Friday night, Athens received a shot in the arm with the provisional go-ahead European payment by mid-November of the next tranche of international assistance by 8 billion euros, without which Greece would default on its sovereign debt in the coming weeks.

The IMF still has to validate itself as this payment, he conditioned ambitious decisions of Heads of State and Government of the euro area to reduce the mountain of Greek debt.

EFSF

The last part of the discussions – the multiplication of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) – has so far been barely touched by the ministers, that would leave it to decide this question and leaders.

Friday night, Minister of Economy, Baroin, confirmed that France continued to believe that change the cash in bank was the best solution but it did not make "one final point of confrontation."

Granted a banking license in EFSF would allow access to funding from the European Central Bank to increase its capacity for action by a factor of up to five.

But Berlin rejects this possibility, which would be to accept that the institution of Frankfurt finance the countries of the euro area, one of the dogmas explicitly excluded by the European treaties since the creation of the euro.

The other members of the euro area are also divided, Belgium and Spain having voted for a reconciliation BCE-EFSF while Slovakia and Austria have indicated that this solution was not studied.

European leaders are under intense pressure by their international partners to take decisive action against the crisis, less than two weeks of the G20 summit in Cannes, where they planned to hold them accountable.

The government does not expand the new tax on soda beverages containing sweeteners such as the National Assembly proposes to finance the lower cost of agricultural labor, said Thursday the budget minister Valérie Pécresse. Asked by Canal + on the position of the State in this new provision added by the Finance Committee of the Assembly on Wednesday, the spokesman of the government remained unclear. "It is the wishes of the parliament, we will discuss. But it will be to finance the lower cost of agricultural labor," she was merely responding.The aim is to "enable our farmers to sell their products to the same price as Germany and Spain," said Valérie Pécresse.

For about half the tax, revised help reduce the cost of ongoing work in the agricultural sector, which suffers from a lack of competitiveness against many of its competitors such as Germany, Spain or Italy. The rest will include health insurance. Initially, this tax on soft drinks would bring 120 million euros and should not apply to beverages with artificial sweeteners.

The new tax on soft drinks has doubled and extended to beverages containing sweeteners Wednesday in the Committee on Finance of the Assembly, it should yield more than double, or 250 million euros.The surplus revenue to the state expected from the doubling must be used to finance a reduction in the cost of agricultural labor, said a UMP Amendment / New Centre approved in committee in the review of the draft budget 2012.

6.22 euros per hectolitre

Initially, the tax on soft drinks would bring 120 million euros and should not apply to beverages with artificial sweeteners. But "these drinks, which are not basic necessities, benefit from the reduced VAT rate. They must be able to handle the additional load generated by this new contribution," said Michel Diefenbacher (UMP) in a sub-amendment.

Currently, the wine is subject to VAT of 19.6%, while water and soft drinks are taxed at 5.5%.The rate of contribution of soft drinks will be increased to 6.22 euros per hectolitre will be increased from the beginning of 2013, to January 1 of each year, at a rate equal to inflation (excluding tobacco) of the preliminary last year. Sought by the AFP, the National Association of Food Industries (Ania) was not immediately available for comment Wednesday night the decision to expand the tax soda products with sweeteners. The Government will reduce in 2012 to 210 million payroll taxes on permanent farms in order to "improve competitiveness", Nicolas Sarkozy announced Tuesday.

In addition € 130 million from the tax on soft drinks, the exemption of social contributions of farmers on permanent employment will be funded by 80 million euros from a reduction of a tax on heating oil for professional use.The domestic consumption tax (TIC) of heating oil used as diesel fuel for professional use will be increased from 5.66 to 7.20 euros per hectolitre, as a New Centre-UMP amendment also passed Wednesday. Finally, the cost of a farm worker is expected to fall to one euro per hour, as repeatedly promised the Minister of Agriculture, Bruno Le Maire.

The announcement of the creation of the tax, 24 August, as part of the austerity plan Fillon, had angered the industry, outraged that the government justify this contribution in the fight against obesity. The French subsidiary Coca-Cola had even threatened to suspend an investment of 17 million euros in one of its plants, in the Bouches-du-Rhone, before turning back to the outcry from politicians.

Rumors that Moody's had placed the sovereign rating on negative watch Italian Aa2 June 17, could reduce an imminent, also weighed on French banks.

The CAC 40, which had jumped ahead of 3.27% on Thursday and spent most of the session in the green, was down 0.48% to 3031.08 points after three sessions of up to row. Since the beginning of the week, it took 1.9%.Elsewhere in Europe, Frankfurt and London took 1.18% 0.58% while the pan-European Eurofirst 300 index gained 061%.

Rumors that Germany would have postponed discussions on the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSF) also weighed on bank stocks.

Among the French banks, BNP Paribas lost 7.56% to 28.195 euros and Credit Agricole, which leaves the EuroStoxx 50 Monday, 10.97% to 4.917 euros.Natixis, which is outside the CAC 40 Monday, gave up 4.41% to 2.387 euros.

The week was marked by renewed optimism about the willingness of political and monetary authorities to engage in concerted action to contain the crisis of the euro.

The announcement Thursday afternoon by the major central banks of their intention to cooperate to ensure dollar liquidity of European banks had largely confirmed the return to cautious optimism.

"Everybody was worried, thinking that the politicians were not on red alert, and this week we learned that they were.This was the real positive surprise, "said Franz Wenzel, head of investment strategy at Axa Investment Management.

"The market does not expect necessarily a revolution that would change the scenario for the future, but is reassured to see that central banks are there to do what is necessary," he said.

However, this does not solve the central problem of the euro area, the crisis of sovereign debt, noted speakers, who do not expect a resolution of the Greek question at the meeting of finance ministers the Eurogroup in Wroclaw, Poland.

The market remains divided between those who believe in the rescue of Greece and those who think it will not be able to meet the requirements for better management of public finances, said a Paris-based dealer action.

Patrice Pérois, sales trader at Kepler Capital Markets, said that the meeting was disrupted by purely technical factors, with the expiration of futures and options on stock indices and the restructuring and re-weighting of the three indices: Euro Stoxx 50, Stoxx 600 and CAC 40.

The performance of the German government bond (Bund) is relaxed to 10 years of seven basis points to 1.86% while the euro weakened against the greenback and traded around the 1.3780 dollar against 1.38% on Thursday.

The Spanish deputies approved Friday by an overwhelming majority the inclusion in the Constitution a "golden rule" of fiscal stability, despite the growing social and political discontent in the country. The parliamentarians approved, to 316 votes for and 5 against, the text, which includes the Basic Law the principle of limiting the public deficit, allowing the transmission to the Senate next week as part of a procedure emergency.

Spain will become the first country to respond to the call on August 16 by France and Germany, which wanted the 17 countries of the Eurogroup adopted before the summer of 2012 the "golden rule" to a balanced budget.Berlin includes in its constitution since 2009, while Italy and France also have this project.

For Madrid, the reform, which is accompanied by an organic law (passed by June 2012) includes a numerical limit to 0.4% of GDP, should serve as a vaccine against the financial markets still skeptical about the strength of countries.

These leaders, who made a first assessment mission of the Portuguese economy, however, clarified that the most difficult challenges faced in Lisbon still to come, even if the new government in power has moved quickly to introduce economic reforms .

The mission EU / IMF is confident that Portugal will succeed in reducing its budget deficit to reach a ratio of 5.9% of GDP in 2011.

The Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar nevertheless announced new tax increases to achieve the fiscal targets.