Daily News |

The German E.ON and Hydrocop Concessions, a small group of eight French distributors of energy, announced Monday an alliance to win the hydroelectric concessions that France decided to open to competition.

E.ON seeks to expand its presence in renewable energy since Germany has announced its withdrawal from nuclear. The group plans to spend $ 7 billion in this direction over the next five years.

At the request of Brussels, France is preparing his side to open up to competition dominated field by EDF launching tenders for the renewal of concessions of ten hydropower.

The tenders should initially be made on a case by case basis between 2010 and 2013, and the concessions to be granted between 2013 and 2015. But none of the appeals process for applications has not yet started.

"We are late," said a spokesman for the Department of Ecology, adding that the ministry was trying to recruit consultants to finalize the specifications.

The European Union has asked France to open 20% of its hydroelectric plants to competition. The concessions are to be renewed in the Alps, the Pyrenees and central France.

Hydroelectric capacity of France, which reached about 23,500 MW, is now managed by EDF – which operates 85% of facilities in the country – and GDF Suez, which has said it wants to increase its share market sector.

Cash lenders will loan anything from a couple of hundred dollars to around $1500, which generally must be paid back in full, along with the interest, within two to four weeks.

BBVA, Spain's second largest bank, announced Thursday a 34.8% drop in net profit in 2011 as a result of provisions for impairment of its property assets and exceptional charge .

Its net income amounted to three billion euros, a result set back from the expectations of 3.18 billion, according to a Reuters poll of 11 analysts from financial.

The amount of its bad loans declined slightly to 4% of all of its claims, against 4.1% in September.

The French car market resumed its decline in November after a slight rebound in the previous month, the disappearance of the delayed effects of scrappage scheme imposed in particular on sales of small cars.

The new car registrations fell 7.6% last month to 179,160 units, show statistics released Thursday by the Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA).

They were up 2.8% in October, thanks to commercial offers to individuals.

The figures quoted in November as raw data to comparable number of working days, in November 2011 that counted as 20 business days in November 2010.The decrease primarily relates to small cars. "

Of the first eleven months of the year, the French car market was down 0.3% from the same period in 2010.

And this decline 4.7% only for French manufacturers, whose share of the passenger car market stood at 56.9% over January to November, down 2.6 points compared to last year.

EARLY 2012 will be difficult

Details of sales by manufacturer confirms the continuing difficulties of PSA Peugeot Citroen, whose new car sales to individuals dropped by 15.4%, a decline twice as large as that of the market.

Carrefour Friday categorically denied press reports suggesting the replacement of its CEO Lars Olofsson, but according to a source familiar with the matter, George Plassat, Vivarte boss, has been recently approached and declined the proposal.

Georges Plassat, CEO of owner signs Andre Minelli or Kookai, was approached by the shareholders of Carrefour and declined the offer this month, said the source told Reuters.

"It has been proposed and he said 'no'.It was during November, "said the source.

"There is still no candidate to succeed Lars Olofsson."

Le Figaro wrote in its Friday edition that George Plassat was approached to lead Carrefour.

"It is courted for months by the main shareholders of Carrefour," the newspaper said.

"He refused the post of CEO before the summer because it was hard to find a successor to lead Vivarte (…) More and more interested in a challenge to his position, George Plassat has not closed yet the door to negotiations. On the contrary, "continued the newspaper.

The major shareholders of Carrefour are the fund Colony Capital and Groupe Arnault, the family holding company LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault.

Ryanair said Monday it has increased by 10% its profit forecast for 2011-2012, the high fuel costs to be offset by higher revenue per passenger per kilometer.

The first airline to European low-cost, which reported a quarterly taxable income above expectations, said not having seen virtually no impact of the decline in consumer confidence.

The Irish company added, however, she anticipated a decline in traffic in the coming months due to his decision to nail to the ground some aircraft in response to the high cost of kerosene.

Of the three months to September, the taxable income stood at 404 million euros against an average forecast of six analysts polled by Reuters de393 million.

Lufthansa and International Airline Group (IAG) both announced last week the results strongly affected by rising fuel costs.

Default, return to the drachma, massive devaluation, hyperinflation, recession … out of the euro could well lead the Greek economy to disaster. Demonstration. Of "indignation" burn Greek euro banknotes to the Bank of Greece in Athens, October 17, 2011

The euro area, you love it or leave it. This is essentially the message from Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel George Papandreou yesterday evening after a mini-crisis summit in Cannes. French President and German Chancellor asked their conditions in the referendum decided by the Greek Prime Minister: consultation will not include the bailout of the euro but on the desire to remain or not in the euro area. And it must take place before Christmas.

"It is clear that the question that is posed is that of the European future of Greece.Her outfit is however conditional on the vote of confidence in Parliament of the Greek government policy and the possible holding of early parliamentary elections, but if this referendum does take place, that meet the Greeks? "The Greek people will not come out of the single currency, says political scientist Georges Sefertzis expansion. Com. It is not against the euro than the Protestant population. It is against the decisions of austerity and hard above all very unfair. "

Yes, but in these times of severe political instability and confusion of the population, no one can say that the ras-le-bol massive Greeks will not materialize by a protest vote at the polls. That is to say no to the euro area. In principle, no country can leave the euro area. Neither the release nor the only possible exclusion from the European treaties. However, nothing seems to prevent it if a country so requests.

Several countries have claimed Monday the symbolic birth of seven billionth person on the planet today. The UN took the opportunity to draw attention to the challenges of population growth. In poorer countries, governments will be faced with the difficulty of finding a job in the armada of young people coming onto the labor market.

In Manila and Kaliningrad? Girl or boy? Several countries have claimed Monday the symbolic birth of seven billionth person on the planet today, the opportunity for the UN to call attention to the challenges of population growth.

See also Slide show: That's it, we are 7 billion.

The level of 6 billion was reached in 1999. The United Nations had then chosen Nevic Adnan, a baby born in Sarajevo, as representative of the six billionth human coexist on earth.This time, the UN has refrained from designating a "winner" in advance and many countries have planned to announce the lucky winner was born at home.

A Filipino, Indian or Russian?

In this game, the Philippines has been the fastest. Danica May Camacho, born two minutes before midnight Sunday in one of the poorest countries in the world, is a lovely little girl of 2.5 kg. His parents, Camille and Dalura Florante Camacho, were welcomed by UN officials who had brought a small cake for the occasion. "She is so beautiful. I can not believe it is the seven billionth person on the planet," Camille has moved Dalura in the delivery room of the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, a public hospital in the capital Philippine invaded by journalists.According to the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the Philippines is the 12th most populous country in the world with 94.9 million inhabitants, of whom 54% are under 25 years.

But India, a country-continent with 1.24 billion people and by 2025 should become the most populous country by China, with nearly 1.5 billion people, has in turn announced coming into the world of Nargis. The little girl was born at 7:20 local time (1:50 GMT) for a 23 year old mother and a father of 25 years in the dusty village of Mall, in the State of Uttar Pradesh, told AFP a spokesman for Plan International, an organization caricative based in the UK.

Two Russian regions, the most eastern Kamchatka, and most western Kaliningrad, also dispute the title.

The option of separate market activities and those of major European banks of deposit will be thinking in Europe, announced Thursday the EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, without going so far as to directly question the universal banking model.

This model, championed by French banks BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and Credit Agricole and its major European competitors, is already under pressure in the United States and several European countries, like Great Britain.

"The logic is to identify risks and to face risks at the right level, adequate safeguards," said Michel Barnier at a press conference.

"Is it necessary to go further and move from the segregation of risk and prudential measures to separation, as I see in the report suggest Vickers in the UK or as the Americans wanted to do?"

"I'm not closed to the idea of ​​separation (…) Before going further, I want us to objectively verify all the advantages of separation and the negative effects this could have," he said.

He then observed that the universal banking model, which predominates in Europe, played no role in triggering the financial crisis in 2008 and, in the same way, no model of the Atlantic had not preserved the United States in this crisis.

European officials working on these topics were then clarified that the Commission would not go head on universal banking model but would seek to ensure that the risks inherent in the business market are treated "totally sealed "to protect the activities of deposit.

THE CENTER OF THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

In France, the idea of ​​separation of deposit banks and investment banks – or at least a separation of these types of activities – already among the themes of the presidential campaign.

It is defended not only by the Socialist Party, favorite in the polls, and the left parties but also, on the other side of the political spectrum, the National Front.

The project of the PS in 2012 and states that "we must return to a strict distinction and separation of banking activities of deposit and financial activities," an orientation also defended by the candidate Francois Hollande.

Two of his relatives, former Economy Minister Michel Sapin and the chairman of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, Jérôme Cahuzac, recently told Reuters support the separation of deposit banks and investment..

French banks, supported by the Bank of France, for their part do not want to hear about this separation.

François Villeroy de Galhau, the network manager at BNP Paribas France had declared the end of September that such a separation would have been of no help when the financial crisis of 2008.

He wanted to show that Northern Rock in Britain was a purely retail bank while Lehman Brothers in the United States was only one bank and investment.

The French Banking Federation was not immediately available to comment on what Michel Barnier.

Ecology-The Greens Europe calls for repeal of the 64 oil and gas exploration permit in France after the removal of three allowed by the government. A manifestation of anti-shale gas in the National Assembly, 10 May 2011.

Pascal Durand, spokesman for the European Greens-Ecology (EELV), on Wednesday asked for the repeal of the 64 oil exploration permits in force in France, ironically on the cancellation "surmédiatisée" permit for three gas shale by Nicolas Sarkozy. The head of state said Tuesday, in a speech in Alès (Gard), there would be "no exploitation of shale gas in hydraulic fracturing" in the south of France, as Government had announced the previous day.

"As it stands, clearly we must stop all" even permits aiming of conventional oil or gas, and not just the gas and oil shale and other unconventional gas, told AFP M . Durand. The repeal of all permits would mean the abandonment of all the research for oil and gas in France, including the coast of Guyana where just made a discovery.

Of the 64 permits currently in force in France, 49 relate to conventional oil and gas, and 15 concern the so-called non-conventional oil: the three that will be canceled in the shale, four for oil shale and the eight coal gas, according to the Department of Energy.Yet according to the Government for 61 permit still valid, "the owners have no plans to search for gas and oil shale or have renounced to be limited to conventional fields." On coal gas, the holders have waived all hydraulic fracturing, which is prohibited by law.

But according to Mr. Durand, the holders of licenses, even those who say the conventional target, may have other purposes. "(…) It is likely that there are fictitious applications," he said. "So there is a real danger, it is not at all reassured about the nature of the current permit. We must allow time to investigate and verify," he argued.

Hypothesis rejected at the Ministry: "We can not do anything quietly, either a conventional drilling or a fortiori of hydraulic fracturing.There are statements of work and there is a prefecture government control anyway so it's not possible to do so in secret. "" All the less the sly as hydraulic fracturing, these are very heavy interventions ", argued an expert from Bercy AFP. Mr. Smith nevertheless praised the cancellation of three licenses," illustrates the need for citizen mobilization "and" fieldwork associations " . But "it is far from won," he said.