http://euobserver.com/9/26775 19.09.2008 @ 09:42 CET The EU's economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, has said Europe should not employ what he called "financial socialism" to solve the ongoing banking crisis by bailing out failing companies. "Socialists like me, we are against financial socialism," he said, alluding to the multi-billion-dollar supports and nationalisations of recent weeks that Washington has engaged in to save a host of financial institutions it argues are "too big to fail." Commissioner Almunia wants greater co-ordination amongst European financial supervisors. The commissioner - a member of Spain's centre-left Socialist Workers Party - speaking at a Madrid conference organised by Spanish bourse regulator CNMV, did nonetheless say such measures were warranted where the financial system as a whole was threatened, however. "No one can say that there won't be anyone in Europe who will have to face a solvency problem that poses a systematic risk to the financial system," he said, according to Dow Jones Newswires. ...
Europeans keep faith out of politics http://euobserver.com/9/26769 18.09.2008 @ 09:31 CET EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Europeans remain strongly religious but like to keep faith out of politics while cultivating an open mind to various forms of spirituality, according to a new survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation. Seventy four percent of people in Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Austria, Poland and Switzerland said they were "religious." Italy (89%) and Poland (87%) topped the German NGO's "Religion Monitor" chart, with France at the lower end on 54 percent. Christian faith still has a strong influence in Europe More than half of Europeans regularly practice their faith and 61 percent pray, with church attendance higher in Poland than in Italy and with Roman Catholics describing themselves as more highly religious than Protestants. "The Christian faith still has a strong influence in Europe," the survey said. "The role which [religion] plays in tying together the countries of the European Union should not be underestimated." ... The survey also found that religion plays a small role in Europeans' political outlook and the most intimate aspects of their personal lives, however. ...