DETROIT (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Co . (N:F)
have averted a strike at a factory in Kansas City, Mo. that builds the
company's best-selling F-150 pickup trucks, the union said in a Facebook
(NASDAQ:FB) post late on Friday.
The
post by UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles, the union's top negotiator at
Ford, didn't provide details of what he called a "tentative agreement
on their local contract."
Settles said last week the Union local
in Kansas City, representing about 7,000 workers, had been unable to
resolve differences over seniority, staffing and safety issues.
Ford
has made about $1.1 billion investments in the Kansas City facility to
expand production of pickups and commercial vans. The F-150 is a
mainstay of Ford's global profits.
#Free Forex Signal
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Clinton gets endorsement of largest U.S. labor union
By Luciana Lopez
(Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, who has been vying with challenger Bernie Sanders for the support of organized labor, scored a win on Saturday with an endorsement from the National Education Association, a huge teachers union.
The NEA, the largest U.S. labor union with 3 million members, is the latest in a string of unions to support Clinton, including the American Federation of Teachers and the machinists' union.
Clinton's lead in opinion polls has been narrowing against Sanders, a Vermont senator who has rallied progressives with his pledges to tackle income inequality and rein in Wall Street.
NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia praised Clinton as a strong leader who would work for students, teachers and families "because she understands the road to a stronger U.S. economy starts in America's public schools."
Eskelsen Garcia said 75 percent of the 175-member board of directors voted to endorse Clinton.
Clinton issued a statement saying she was honored to get the NEA endorsement.
"As president, I will fight to defend workers' right to organize and unions' right to bargain collectively, and I will ensure that teachers always have a voice and a seat at the table in making decisions that impact their work," she said.
Clinton is trying to win over labor, often a key source of volunteers and funds for Democrats in the effort to build a broad coalition within her party and avoid a potentially damaging, drawn-out primary fight.
In a setback for Clinton, the International Association of Fire Fighters has abandoned its initial plans to endorse her, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Clinton has struggled recently following a stream of news about her use of a private email server while secretary of state.
A rolling five-day Reuters/Ipsos poll dated Sept. 29 found Clinton's support within her party at 44 percent, compared to 28 percent for Sanders. As recently as August she had 56 percent support for the nomination.
The winner of the primary contest will face the Republican nominee in the November 2016 election.
Labor leaders are pressing Clinton on issues ranging from the minimum wage to trade. One flashpoint is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free-trade agreement backed by President Barack Obama but opposed by unions, which see it as bad for U.S. jobs and wages.
Clinton has remained neutral on TPP, saying a final agreement must protect American workers.
(Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, who has been vying with challenger Bernie Sanders for the support of organized labor, scored a win on Saturday with an endorsement from the National Education Association, a huge teachers union.
The NEA, the largest U.S. labor union with 3 million members, is the latest in a string of unions to support Clinton, including the American Federation of Teachers and the machinists' union.
Clinton's lead in opinion polls has been narrowing against Sanders, a Vermont senator who has rallied progressives with his pledges to tackle income inequality and rein in Wall Street.
NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia praised Clinton as a strong leader who would work for students, teachers and families "because she understands the road to a stronger U.S. economy starts in America's public schools."
Eskelsen Garcia said 75 percent of the 175-member board of directors voted to endorse Clinton.
Clinton issued a statement saying she was honored to get the NEA endorsement.
"As president, I will fight to defend workers' right to organize and unions' right to bargain collectively, and I will ensure that teachers always have a voice and a seat at the table in making decisions that impact their work," she said.
Clinton is trying to win over labor, often a key source of volunteers and funds for Democrats in the effort to build a broad coalition within her party and avoid a potentially damaging, drawn-out primary fight.
In a setback for Clinton, the International Association of Fire Fighters has abandoned its initial plans to endorse her, the New York Times reported on Friday.
Clinton has struggled recently following a stream of news about her use of a private email server while secretary of state.
A rolling five-day Reuters/Ipsos poll dated Sept. 29 found Clinton's support within her party at 44 percent, compared to 28 percent for Sanders. As recently as August she had 56 percent support for the nomination.
The winner of the primary contest will face the Republican nominee in the November 2016 election.
Labor leaders are pressing Clinton on issues ranging from the minimum wage to trade. One flashpoint is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free-trade agreement backed by President Barack Obama but opposed by unions, which see it as bad for U.S. jobs and wages.
Clinton has remained neutral on TPP, saying a final agreement must protect American workers.
After VW, Germany needs EU friends to join its party
By Alastair Macdonald, Barbara Lewis and Tom Körkemeier
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Nazi swastikas billowing under the triumphal arch that overlooks Brussels' European Union district drew the odd gasp from guests of Berlin's EU mission at an evening to celebrate 25 years since German reunification.
The image was fleeting, a prologue to a sound-and-light show that was a German 'thank you' for peace and unity with fellow Europeans since the Berlin Wall fell. But as it fetes the merger of East and West on Oct. 3, 1990, that made Germany the Union's dominant power, the flashback was a reminder of its struggles to reassure neighbors who again wonder if Berlin can be trusted.
Today's rows, over refugees, austerity or Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) cars, are a world away from Europe's bloody 20th century. But recent events have raised new questions about German fair play and credibility, putting pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to win back EU allies as a series of crises saps her support at home.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will attend the European Parliament together on Wednesday, symbolically reprising a visit by their predecessors Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand to the Strasbourg assembly after the Wall came down in 1989 and Europe began to fret about a reunited Germany.
"Germany was always the linchpin in compromises," Fabian Zuleeg, who runs the European Policy Centre think-tank, said of the EU's early decades. "Now Germany will closely consider what is our national interest and then act accordingly. It's changing the whole dynamics of decision-making at a European level.
"What we are seeing is Germany behaving much more like other countries. But because it's Germany, it has a different impact."
A reunited population gave Germany clout in Brussels greater than former peers France, Britain and Italy. Economic power in the euro, once seen in Paris as a tool to rein in Berlin, and a new self-confidence have seen Germany eclipse struggling EU co-founder France in a bloc whose center of gravity has shifted firmly eastward with the accession of new ex-communist members.
No one suggests Berlin's EU leverage -- via voting weights, cash and Germans in key posts -- has been put at risk by its handling of crises on Greek debt and migrants or by misdeeds at its flagship Volkswagen car manufacturer that have highlighted single-minded German stonewalling of EU anti-pollution measures.
Yet each of these three dramas over the past few months has been a reminder of the limitations even Merkel faces unless she can build substantial consensus across the 28-nation Union.
CRISES, THEN SCANDAL
In the crisis over Greece's debt, it was Athens which ended up isolated. But Germany's handling of the negotiations, whether in its hard line on austerity measures or even in its occasional hints at compromise, drew plenty of grumbling around the bloc.
Migration has proven even more divisive. Merkel's unilateral suspension of EU rules to offer a welcome to Syrian refugees angered neighbors who accused her of encouraging the migrants' treks across Europe.
A poisonous row in which national quotas for taking refugees -- a key German demand -- were imposed by majority vote has also raised questions about Berlin's will to build EU consensus.
But for some in Brussels the Volkswagen scandal, while its full extent remains unclear, could have most impact by stiffening resistance to Berlin's efforts to shield its key industries from more rapid environmental protection legislation and, more broadly, by calling into question the credibility of German leadership.
The admission last month by Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, that it cheated diesel emissions tests has rocked the global auto industry and the German establishment.
"You can't get more German than Volkswagen," one senior EU diplomat said. "Berlin has thrown its weight about in Brussels to protect these manufacturers and now this. It's very bad. People are angry. They can't get things all their way again."
Privately, diplomats from other states and some EU officials have said the scandal could strengthen their hand against Berlin, though there is also concern that it weakens the EU's collective claim to global leadership on environmental policy.
Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian former IBM (NYSE:IBM) executive who is a leading Greens member of the European Parliament, said cheating by a company so close to the German state showed a degree of hypocrisy and could strengthen resistance to Berlin's interests.
"Germany had a renewed assertiveness that it did not have before reunification. The weight of World War Two was now gone and rightly so," Lamberts said. But he added: "Germany was a hegemon because other member states allowed it to be. Germany was lecturing Greece ... Germany has to stop lecturing."
Pierre Moscovici, a former French finance minister and now economics commissioner on the EU executive, publicly dismissed suggestions the Volkswagen case weakened Germany in the bloc.
"It does damage to the image of the company itself. It raises questions about broader issues," he said in Berlin. "But it will not limit German influence at all in Brussels."
FRIENDS IN NEED
David Marsh of the OMFIF think-tank said a loss of trust in Germany in some areas could dent its authority elsewhere.
"Trust is a valuable commodity," he wrote. "If the Germans disregard their own rules in environmental technology, other people are not likely to heed Germanic strictures in economics.
"In forthcoming discussions about austerity throughout Europe, heads of government and finance ministers will find themselves talking, however improbably, about diesel emissions."
German officials are at pains to stress their reluctance to strong-arm EU partners.
"Germany is in the driver's seat because we're the biggest country, the richest country," Merkel's European affairs minister Michael Roth said in Brussels.
"We have to take responsibility," he said with particular reference to the refugee crisis. But he added: "I don't want to blackmail our partners ... Germany should not be too tough."
Merkel herself will have an opportunity in Strasbourg to talk up that cooperative spirit and partnership with France. Officials say her joint address with Hollande was long planned -- though it was only squeezed into the assembly's public agenda just after the Volkswagen scandal broke two weeks ago.
"Germany is completely committed to defending European unity," the parliament's German speaker, Martin Schulz, assured the crowd at the Brussels reunification party. He singled out Hungary, Merkel's bete noire in the migration crisis, to thank for its role in prizing open the Iron Curtain in summer 1989.
And as Germans celebrate their unity this weekend, they can expect to hear more encouragement to remember their neighbors.
"Germany has to accept that ... it cannot get everything it wants," said the EPC's Zuleeg, warning that a resort to outvoting smaller countries on sensitive issues such as immigration was fuelling a "general breakdown of trust".
"While it may be possible to throw your weight around, in the long run that's not the best way of advancing German interests ... You need friends at the European level."
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Nazi swastikas billowing under the triumphal arch that overlooks Brussels' European Union district drew the odd gasp from guests of Berlin's EU mission at an evening to celebrate 25 years since German reunification.
The image was fleeting, a prologue to a sound-and-light show that was a German 'thank you' for peace and unity with fellow Europeans since the Berlin Wall fell. But as it fetes the merger of East and West on Oct. 3, 1990, that made Germany the Union's dominant power, the flashback was a reminder of its struggles to reassure neighbors who again wonder if Berlin can be trusted.
Today's rows, over refugees, austerity or Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) cars, are a world away from Europe's bloody 20th century. But recent events have raised new questions about German fair play and credibility, putting pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel to win back EU allies as a series of crises saps her support at home.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will attend the European Parliament together on Wednesday, symbolically reprising a visit by their predecessors Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand to the Strasbourg assembly after the Wall came down in 1989 and Europe began to fret about a reunited Germany.
"Germany was always the linchpin in compromises," Fabian Zuleeg, who runs the European Policy Centre think-tank, said of the EU's early decades. "Now Germany will closely consider what is our national interest and then act accordingly. It's changing the whole dynamics of decision-making at a European level.
"What we are seeing is Germany behaving much more like other countries. But because it's Germany, it has a different impact."
A reunited population gave Germany clout in Brussels greater than former peers France, Britain and Italy. Economic power in the euro, once seen in Paris as a tool to rein in Berlin, and a new self-confidence have seen Germany eclipse struggling EU co-founder France in a bloc whose center of gravity has shifted firmly eastward with the accession of new ex-communist members.
No one suggests Berlin's EU leverage -- via voting weights, cash and Germans in key posts -- has been put at risk by its handling of crises on Greek debt and migrants or by misdeeds at its flagship Volkswagen car manufacturer that have highlighted single-minded German stonewalling of EU anti-pollution measures.
Yet each of these three dramas over the past few months has been a reminder of the limitations even Merkel faces unless she can build substantial consensus across the 28-nation Union.
CRISES, THEN SCANDAL
In the crisis over Greece's debt, it was Athens which ended up isolated. But Germany's handling of the negotiations, whether in its hard line on austerity measures or even in its occasional hints at compromise, drew plenty of grumbling around the bloc.
Migration has proven even more divisive. Merkel's unilateral suspension of EU rules to offer a welcome to Syrian refugees angered neighbors who accused her of encouraging the migrants' treks across Europe.
A poisonous row in which national quotas for taking refugees -- a key German demand -- were imposed by majority vote has also raised questions about Berlin's will to build EU consensus.
But for some in Brussels the Volkswagen scandal, while its full extent remains unclear, could have most impact by stiffening resistance to Berlin's efforts to shield its key industries from more rapid environmental protection legislation and, more broadly, by calling into question the credibility of German leadership.
The admission last month by Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, that it cheated diesel emissions tests has rocked the global auto industry and the German establishment.
"You can't get more German than Volkswagen," one senior EU diplomat said. "Berlin has thrown its weight about in Brussels to protect these manufacturers and now this. It's very bad. People are angry. They can't get things all their way again."
Privately, diplomats from other states and some EU officials have said the scandal could strengthen their hand against Berlin, though there is also concern that it weakens the EU's collective claim to global leadership on environmental policy.
Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian former IBM (NYSE:IBM) executive who is a leading Greens member of the European Parliament, said cheating by a company so close to the German state showed a degree of hypocrisy and could strengthen resistance to Berlin's interests.
"Germany had a renewed assertiveness that it did not have before reunification. The weight of World War Two was now gone and rightly so," Lamberts said. But he added: "Germany was a hegemon because other member states allowed it to be. Germany was lecturing Greece ... Germany has to stop lecturing."
Pierre Moscovici, a former French finance minister and now economics commissioner on the EU executive, publicly dismissed suggestions the Volkswagen case weakened Germany in the bloc.
"It does damage to the image of the company itself. It raises questions about broader issues," he said in Berlin. "But it will not limit German influence at all in Brussels."
FRIENDS IN NEED
David Marsh of the OMFIF think-tank said a loss of trust in Germany in some areas could dent its authority elsewhere.
"Trust is a valuable commodity," he wrote. "If the Germans disregard their own rules in environmental technology, other people are not likely to heed Germanic strictures in economics.
"In forthcoming discussions about austerity throughout Europe, heads of government and finance ministers will find themselves talking, however improbably, about diesel emissions."
German officials are at pains to stress their reluctance to strong-arm EU partners.
"Germany is in the driver's seat because we're the biggest country, the richest country," Merkel's European affairs minister Michael Roth said in Brussels.
"We have to take responsibility," he said with particular reference to the refugee crisis. But he added: "I don't want to blackmail our partners ... Germany should not be too tough."
Merkel herself will have an opportunity in Strasbourg to talk up that cooperative spirit and partnership with France. Officials say her joint address with Hollande was long planned -- though it was only squeezed into the assembly's public agenda just after the Volkswagen scandal broke two weeks ago.
"Germany is completely committed to defending European unity," the parliament's German speaker, Martin Schulz, assured the crowd at the Brussels reunification party. He singled out Hungary, Merkel's bete noire in the migration crisis, to thank for its role in prizing open the Iron Curtain in summer 1989.
And as Germans celebrate their unity this weekend, they can expect to hear more encouragement to remember their neighbors.
"Germany has to accept that ... it cannot get everything it wants," said the EPC's Zuleeg, warning that a resort to outvoting smaller countries on sensitive issues such as immigration was fuelling a "general breakdown of trust".
"While it may be possible to throw your weight around, in the long run that's not the best way of advancing German interests ... You need friends at the European level."
Greece must stick to program to exit bailout: PM
By Renee Maltezou
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece must implement its bailout program fast to achieve its main aim of regaining access to market financing and escaping international supervision, re-elected leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday.
Speaking to lawmakers of his Syriza party on the day a new parliament was sworn in, the premier said he aimed to complete the first review of a 86 billion euro bailout agreed in August as soon as possible so Athens could open negotiations with its euro zone partners on debt relief.
To achieve that, Greece is required to enact a swathe of reforms of taxation, pensions, healthcare, the financial sector and public services by Nov. 15 to unlock the next tranche of aid and receive help in recapitalizing its stricken banks.
"Implementing the bailout is not going to be easy. But we are obliged to make these decisions although we don't like them," Tsipras said. "It's necessary, in order to exit this system of surveillance and immediately start the discussion on the debt issue.
"Our main target is to exit this system of supervision, and regain market access. But a necessary condition for that is to return to growth," he added.
Tsipras performed a spectacular U-turn in July after calling a referendum to reject austerity terms for a bailout, only to accept more stringent conditions after Greece was forced to shut its banks, ration cash and impose capital controls.
A hard-left faction broke from Syriza, but Tsipras trounced them in an early election last month, returning to office comfortably with his right-wing nationalist coalition partners.
Tsipras said Syriza, which still spans from social democrats to radical leftists, needed to learn from the errors of its chaotic first seven months in office and avoid past divisions.
"In the end, we must all respect the collective will so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," he said in what sounded like a veiled warning to lawmakers.
He also said Syriza would aim to change the country by fighting "the establishment", corruption and tax evasion, and reforming the justice system, education and social welfare.
DEBT RELIEF DEBATE
European Union officials have cautioned Greece against expecting massive relief on its debt when talks get under away after the completion of the first bailout review by EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund monitors.
Klaus Regling, head of the euro zone's bailout fund, told the Financial Times last week that Greece did not need large-scale debt relief and had already received the most concessionary loan terms "in world history".
EU sources have told Reuters the bloc could reach a consensus on capping Greece's annual gross borrowing costs at 15 percent of its economic output, by extending loan maturities and repayment grace periods as necessary.
An IMF source said the Fund believed Greece needed easier terms closer to the 10 percent annual gross borrowing cost it aims to achieve for developing countries.
The IMF has made Greek compliance with the bailout program and adequate euro zone debt relief conditions for its continued involvement in Greece, which Germany insists is necessary to satisfy its parliament.
Berlin, the euro zone's leading economy with the largest exposure to Greece, has ruled out any "haircut" but agreed to consider longer maturities and grace periods.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece must implement its bailout program fast to achieve its main aim of regaining access to market financing and escaping international supervision, re-elected leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday.
Speaking to lawmakers of his Syriza party on the day a new parliament was sworn in, the premier said he aimed to complete the first review of a 86 billion euro bailout agreed in August as soon as possible so Athens could open negotiations with its euro zone partners on debt relief.
To achieve that, Greece is required to enact a swathe of reforms of taxation, pensions, healthcare, the financial sector and public services by Nov. 15 to unlock the next tranche of aid and receive help in recapitalizing its stricken banks.
"Implementing the bailout is not going to be easy. But we are obliged to make these decisions although we don't like them," Tsipras said. "It's necessary, in order to exit this system of surveillance and immediately start the discussion on the debt issue.
"Our main target is to exit this system of supervision, and regain market access. But a necessary condition for that is to return to growth," he added.
Tsipras performed a spectacular U-turn in July after calling a referendum to reject austerity terms for a bailout, only to accept more stringent conditions after Greece was forced to shut its banks, ration cash and impose capital controls.
A hard-left faction broke from Syriza, but Tsipras trounced them in an early election last month, returning to office comfortably with his right-wing nationalist coalition partners.
Tsipras said Syriza, which still spans from social democrats to radical leftists, needed to learn from the errors of its chaotic first seven months in office and avoid past divisions.
"In the end, we must all respect the collective will so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," he said in what sounded like a veiled warning to lawmakers.
He also said Syriza would aim to change the country by fighting "the establishment", corruption and tax evasion, and reforming the justice system, education and social welfare.
DEBT RELIEF DEBATE
European Union officials have cautioned Greece against expecting massive relief on its debt when talks get under away after the completion of the first bailout review by EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund monitors.
Klaus Regling, head of the euro zone's bailout fund, told the Financial Times last week that Greece did not need large-scale debt relief and had already received the most concessionary loan terms "in world history".
EU sources have told Reuters the bloc could reach a consensus on capping Greece's annual gross borrowing costs at 15 percent of its economic output, by extending loan maturities and repayment grace periods as necessary.
An IMF source said the Fund believed Greece needed easier terms closer to the 10 percent annual gross borrowing cost it aims to achieve for developing countries.
The IMF has made Greek compliance with the bailout program and adequate euro zone debt relief conditions for its continued involvement in Greece, which Germany insists is necessary to satisfy its parliament.
Berlin, the euro zone's leading economy with the largest exposure to Greece, has ruled out any "haircut" but agreed to consider longer maturities and grace periods.
British PM Cameron says will not be rushed on EU referendum date
By Guy Faulconbridge
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said his renegotiation of Britain's ties with the European Union was "bloody hard work" but that he would not be rushed into naming a date for a referendum on membership, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
On the eve of an annual gathering of his ruling Conservative Party, Cameron urged his lawmakers and supporters to show patience over the issue of Europe which is likely to dominate the conference in the northern English city of Manchester.
For at least a generation, Cameron's party has been riven by a conflict over Europe that contributed to the downfall of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, the last two Conservative prime ministers.
Under pressure from lawmakers who feared the electoral success of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, Cameron in 2013 promised a referendum on membership by the end of 2017 though many analysts and campaigners expect it to be called next year.
In what the newspaper said was a signal that the referendum will not be held early next year, Cameron said his EU counterparts will have "plenty of time" to consider his requests for a new relationship with Brussels.
He is demanding EU leaders allow Britain to cut in-work benefits for EU migrants and allow London to prevent euro zone rules that London considers would hurt British interests.
But as many as one in five of Cameron's lawmakers is likely to vote to leave the EU, research from the Open Europe think tank showed on Friday, indicating the scale of the divide over Europe in the ruling Conservative Party.
Cameron will tell his supporters that he can deliver a deal that will give Britain "the best of both worlds", combining "the benefits of the single market" with life outside the Schengen and euro zones, The Sunday Times said.
Cameron favors staying in a reformed EU but has said he will rule nothing out if he cannot secure what he wants.
A new biography of Cameron written by Michael Ashcroft says that Cameron has repeatedly said privately that he does not
want to leave the EU.
The book also said that German leader Angela Merkel believes Cameron has made a series of serious errors in his push for a new EU deal for Britain.
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron said his renegotiation of Britain's ties with the European Union was "bloody hard work" but that he would not be rushed into naming a date for a referendum on membership, The Sunday Telegraph reported.
On the eve of an annual gathering of his ruling Conservative Party, Cameron urged his lawmakers and supporters to show patience over the issue of Europe which is likely to dominate the conference in the northern English city of Manchester.
For at least a generation, Cameron's party has been riven by a conflict over Europe that contributed to the downfall of both Margaret Thatcher and John Major, the last two Conservative prime ministers.
Under pressure from lawmakers who feared the electoral success of the anti-EU UK Independence Party, Cameron in 2013 promised a referendum on membership by the end of 2017 though many analysts and campaigners expect it to be called next year.
In what the newspaper said was a signal that the referendum will not be held early next year, Cameron said his EU counterparts will have "plenty of time" to consider his requests for a new relationship with Brussels.
He is demanding EU leaders allow Britain to cut in-work benefits for EU migrants and allow London to prevent euro zone rules that London considers would hurt British interests.
But as many as one in five of Cameron's lawmakers is likely to vote to leave the EU, research from the Open Europe think tank showed on Friday, indicating the scale of the divide over Europe in the ruling Conservative Party.
Cameron will tell his supporters that he can deliver a deal that will give Britain "the best of both worlds", combining "the benefits of the single market" with life outside the Schengen and euro zones, The Sunday Times said.
Cameron favors staying in a reformed EU but has said he will rule nothing out if he cannot secure what he wants.
A new biography of Cameron written by Michael Ashcroft says that Cameron has repeatedly said privately that he does not
want to leave the EU.
The book also said that German leader Angela Merkel believes Cameron has made a series of serious errors in his push for a new EU deal for Britain.
Portuguese may reelect austerity-minded, center-right government
By Axel Bugge
LISBON (Reuters) - The Portuguese could reelect their center-right government in a general election on Sunday, although it may fall short of winning an absolute majority, bringing less political stability after years of austerity and hardship under a debt crisis.
The election is the first since the Iberian country of 10 million exited a bailout last year. Yet, despite deep spending cuts and the biggest tax hikes in living memory, polls indicate the Portuguese will stick with the government that guided them through the crisis and exited the bailout by international lenders.
The latest polls, released on Friday, gave Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's ruling coalition a lead of between five and 12 points over center-left Socialist opponent Antonio Costa.
But if Passos Coelho fails to pick up more than the around 38 percent that he has polled in recent days, he will fall short of an absolute majority in the 230-seat parliament, leading to a potentially unstable minority government. In the 2011 election his coalition won 50 percent of the vote, ensuring a majority.
There was no campaigning on Saturday nor statements by the candidates, in keeping with a law which sets aside the day before elections as a day of reflection.
Costa had about 33 percent support in the latest polls, making his chances of winning slimmer even though some analysts do not rule out a last-minute upset for either side.
Uncertainty about the outcome is higher still because up to 15 percent of voters are still undecided and there could be a very high abstention rate.
Adelino Maltez, a political analyst at the Lisbon Technical University, said "there is a possibility of confusion on Sunday night," if there is a very close result that gives no strong victory to any side.
If there is a close outcome, it could make the process of creating a stable government difficult, potentially upsetting the consolidation of the country's return to growth after the pain of the debt crisis that led to a three year-recession.
The economy started growing again last year and growth is accelerating this year. Passos Coelho says that only with his stable government can the economy pick up more momentum and investment thanks to widening confidence.
Costa, the former mayor of Lisbon, has promised to ease back on austerity and deliver more disposable income back to families. He urged everyone to vote.
"It is fundamental that every one of us does not waste the opportunity to finally, after four years, use our vote to change the government," Costa said at his last campaign event.
But polls have swung in the government's favor in the last few weeks despite Costa's relentless attacks on the unpopular austerity introduced by the government in the past few years.
A victory for the center-right government goes against the trend seen in other southern European countries, like Spain and Greece, which have tended to punish austerity-minded governments in the past few years.
Still, even if Costa loses, the political hue of the country could switch to the left as the government may win but parliament could have a majority of leftwing members if Socialists and other, smaller leftist parties are included. That could make it hard for a minority center-right government to pass policies.
Minority government has a dismal history in Portugal. None has survived through its full term since the country returned to democracy in 1974. The last Socialist minority government collapsed in 2011 after having to request the bailout.
LISBON (Reuters) - The Portuguese could reelect their center-right government in a general election on Sunday, although it may fall short of winning an absolute majority, bringing less political stability after years of austerity and hardship under a debt crisis.
The election is the first since the Iberian country of 10 million exited a bailout last year. Yet, despite deep spending cuts and the biggest tax hikes in living memory, polls indicate the Portuguese will stick with the government that guided them through the crisis and exited the bailout by international lenders.
The latest polls, released on Friday, gave Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's ruling coalition a lead of between five and 12 points over center-left Socialist opponent Antonio Costa.
But if Passos Coelho fails to pick up more than the around 38 percent that he has polled in recent days, he will fall short of an absolute majority in the 230-seat parliament, leading to a potentially unstable minority government. In the 2011 election his coalition won 50 percent of the vote, ensuring a majority.
There was no campaigning on Saturday nor statements by the candidates, in keeping with a law which sets aside the day before elections as a day of reflection.
Costa had about 33 percent support in the latest polls, making his chances of winning slimmer even though some analysts do not rule out a last-minute upset for either side.
Uncertainty about the outcome is higher still because up to 15 percent of voters are still undecided and there could be a very high abstention rate.
Adelino Maltez, a political analyst at the Lisbon Technical University, said "there is a possibility of confusion on Sunday night," if there is a very close result that gives no strong victory to any side.
If there is a close outcome, it could make the process of creating a stable government difficult, potentially upsetting the consolidation of the country's return to growth after the pain of the debt crisis that led to a three year-recession.
The economy started growing again last year and growth is accelerating this year. Passos Coelho says that only with his stable government can the economy pick up more momentum and investment thanks to widening confidence.
Costa, the former mayor of Lisbon, has promised to ease back on austerity and deliver more disposable income back to families. He urged everyone to vote.
"It is fundamental that every one of us does not waste the opportunity to finally, after four years, use our vote to change the government," Costa said at his last campaign event.
But polls have swung in the government's favor in the last few weeks despite Costa's relentless attacks on the unpopular austerity introduced by the government in the past few years.
A victory for the center-right government goes against the trend seen in other southern European countries, like Spain and Greece, which have tended to punish austerity-minded governments in the past few years.
Still, even if Costa loses, the political hue of the country could switch to the left as the government may win but parliament could have a majority of leftwing members if Socialists and other, smaller leftist parties are included. That could make it hard for a minority center-right government to pass policies.
Minority government has a dismal history in Portugal. None has survived through its full term since the country returned to democracy in 1974. The last Socialist minority government collapsed in 2011 after having to request the bailout.
Britain warns it needs robust reforms to stay in EU
By Kate Holton
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will vote to leave the European Union in a planned referendum if it does not secure "robust, substantial and irreversible" reforms, the foreign secretary has warned, in a marked hardening of language on the issue.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's EU ties ahead of a vote on membership by the end of 2017. He favors staying in a reformed EU but has said he will rule nothing out if he cannot secure reforms, which include curbs on welfare payments to EU migrants.
Most opinion polls show a majority of Britons back staying in the EU, but the gap with those wanting to leave has narrowed in recent months. The migrant crisis has boosted calls for Britain to regain greater control of its own borders.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said European leaders needed to know that Britain was not bluffing over the issue, and said Cameron's ministers would decide how to vote only once they had seen the changes proposed by Brussels.
"If we can't get the commitments we need from our European partners on things like Britain being outside the commitment to ever-closer union, if we can't get these things then as the prime minister has said, we rule nothing out," he told the Telegraph newspaper on Saturday.
"That's why the package will have to be a robust, substantial and irreversible package of change with proper binding legal force. Because if we try to put to the British people a package which is anything less, we will get a raspberry from them," he said, referring to a common gesture of derision.
PARTY DIVIDED
Splits over Europe have long plagued Cameron's right-leaning Conservatives and contributed to the downfall of the party's last two prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
The referendum was designed to end once and for all the matter of whether Britain, a reluctant member of the bloc since it joined in 1973, should remain in the EU.
However, EU leaders' uncertain handling of the migration crisis and their treatment of Greece over its debt woes have galvanized some on both the right and left of Britain's political divide to call for a British departure or "Brexit".
Research from the London-based Open Europe think-tank published on Friday showed that out of Cameron's 330 Conservative lawmakers, 69 are either "firmly out" or "out leaning" while 203 could vote either way.
Only 14 were firmly for staying in the EU, with 44 leaning towards staying in.
Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader and now a senior cabinet minister in charge of work and pensions, said the twin crises of Greece and European migration had hit the EU like an "out of control bulldozer".
But he added that this could work in Britain's favor by prompting EU leaders to think more fundamentally about the right to free movement across the 28-nation bloc.
The crisis "exposes the system to what we have been saying about it. It just does not function. It does not work," he said in an interview in the Guardian newspaper. "It is suddenly becoming clear that actually you cannot paper over the cracks and say ‘it's alright, it's only the British'.
"We still have the crisis over the euro and Greece, and then the rows over Schengen border controls are like nothing I have ever seen. It is massive."
Britain has stayed outside both the euro and the passport-free Schengen travel area.
Cameron and his ministers gather on Sunday for their annual party conference, their first since they won a surprisingly strong election mandate in May and one that is likely to be dominated by Europe.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will vote to leave the European Union in a planned referendum if it does not secure "robust, substantial and irreversible" reforms, the foreign secretary has warned, in a marked hardening of language on the issue.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's EU ties ahead of a vote on membership by the end of 2017. He favors staying in a reformed EU but has said he will rule nothing out if he cannot secure reforms, which include curbs on welfare payments to EU migrants.
Most opinion polls show a majority of Britons back staying in the EU, but the gap with those wanting to leave has narrowed in recent months. The migrant crisis has boosted calls for Britain to regain greater control of its own borders.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said European leaders needed to know that Britain was not bluffing over the issue, and said Cameron's ministers would decide how to vote only once they had seen the changes proposed by Brussels.
"If we can't get the commitments we need from our European partners on things like Britain being outside the commitment to ever-closer union, if we can't get these things then as the prime minister has said, we rule nothing out," he told the Telegraph newspaper on Saturday.
"That's why the package will have to be a robust, substantial and irreversible package of change with proper binding legal force. Because if we try to put to the British people a package which is anything less, we will get a raspberry from them," he said, referring to a common gesture of derision.
PARTY DIVIDED
Splits over Europe have long plagued Cameron's right-leaning Conservatives and contributed to the downfall of the party's last two prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
The referendum was designed to end once and for all the matter of whether Britain, a reluctant member of the bloc since it joined in 1973, should remain in the EU.
However, EU leaders' uncertain handling of the migration crisis and their treatment of Greece over its debt woes have galvanized some on both the right and left of Britain's political divide to call for a British departure or "Brexit".
Research from the London-based Open Europe think-tank published on Friday showed that out of Cameron's 330 Conservative lawmakers, 69 are either "firmly out" or "out leaning" while 203 could vote either way.
Only 14 were firmly for staying in the EU, with 44 leaning towards staying in.
Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader and now a senior cabinet minister in charge of work and pensions, said the twin crises of Greece and European migration had hit the EU like an "out of control bulldozer".
But he added that this could work in Britain's favor by prompting EU leaders to think more fundamentally about the right to free movement across the 28-nation bloc.
The crisis "exposes the system to what we have been saying about it. It just does not function. It does not work," he said in an interview in the Guardian newspaper. "It is suddenly becoming clear that actually you cannot paper over the cracks and say ‘it's alright, it's only the British'.
"We still have the crisis over the euro and Greece, and then the rows over Schengen border controls are like nothing I have ever seen. It is massive."
Britain has stayed outside both the euro and the passport-free Schengen travel area.
Cameron and his ministers gather on Sunday for their annual party conference, their first since they won a surprisingly strong election mandate in May and one that is likely to be dominated by Europe.
Investors brace for stocks to fall again ahead of earnings
By David Randall
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The global market volatility of the past month that sent U.S. stocks to their worst quarter in four years shows no signs of letting up just because the calendar turned to October.
Investors say they are bracing for another leg down in the S&P 500 stock index despite its positive showing last week by increasing cash and other defensive positions in their portfolios.
"Do I think we go into a bear market? No. Can we inch toward it? Absolutely," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
With the backdrop of slowing jobs growth in the U.S. and the collapse of global commodity prices, third quarter corporate results will take on a heightened significance when companies begin reporting them next week, analysts said. Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), traditionally the first company to report its results, is scheduled to announce its third quarter earnings after the market closes on Oct. 8.
Overall, corporate earnings are expected to fall by 4.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That figure is skewed, however, by an expected 65 percent fall in energy sector results.
"The single most determinant variable is going to be earnings at this point," said Mark Freeman, chief investment officer at Dallas-based Westwood Holdings Group. He has been raising his cash levels, and at the same moving more of his portfolio into healthcare and technology companies that show signs of growth.
"The market continues to narrow and narrow. We're not about to fall into a bear market, but I'm starting to think the raging bull market is over," he said.
A weaker than expected U.S. employment report for September on Friday diminished inflation expectations, and the prospects for a dim U.S. corporate earnings season, are all factors fanning worries that the economic recovery could be derailed.
Concerns about the global economy has fueled a series of deep declines and snap-back rallies over the last month, as investors look for surer footing. The S&P index had fallen more than 10 percent from the record high it reached May 20, and after starting with a selloff on Friday, closed up 1.42 percent, still down 8.6 percent from its recent high.
Investors pulled $22 billion out of U.S. equity funds in the third quarter, while putting a record $17 billion into U.S. Treasury funds, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC).
Those investors have had few places to hide. Of the 21 major financial asset benchmarks tracked by Reuters, only two - the U.S. dollar and 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds - have posted positive returns so far this year, leaving investors with the worst financial market returns since the financial crisis in 2008.
The yield of the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell below 2.0 percent on Friday for the first time since late August on concerns about growth in the U.S. economy.
"There are some wicked winds swirling around from a macro perspective and you can't afford to be complacent," said Alan Gayle, head of asset allocation at Atlanta-based RidgeWorth Investments, who said he has been raising the cash levels in his portfolios until the market stabilizes.
The Federal Reserve's decision in September to delay raising interest rates from financial crisis-era levels is exacerbating the uncertainty behind the market's large swings, said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. market strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
"The market wants to see the economic conditions normalize. It's starting to think that something is broken here and it makes them uncomfortable," he said.
Fedwatchers suggest Friday's lackluster jobs report would cause the Fed to further delay raising interest rates until 2016, prolonging market volatility into next year.
To be sure, some investors say that heightened volatility is welcome.
"This can create wonderful opportunities, and we're actively looking to take advantage of egregious pricing," said Connor Browne, managing director of equities at fund manager Thornburg Investment Management.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The global market volatility of the past month that sent U.S. stocks to their worst quarter in four years shows no signs of letting up just because the calendar turned to October.
Investors say they are bracing for another leg down in the S&P 500 stock index despite its positive showing last week by increasing cash and other defensive positions in their portfolios.
"Do I think we go into a bear market? No. Can we inch toward it? Absolutely," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.
With the backdrop of slowing jobs growth in the U.S. and the collapse of global commodity prices, third quarter corporate results will take on a heightened significance when companies begin reporting them next week, analysts said. Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), traditionally the first company to report its results, is scheduled to announce its third quarter earnings after the market closes on Oct. 8.
Overall, corporate earnings are expected to fall by 4.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That figure is skewed, however, by an expected 65 percent fall in energy sector results.
"The single most determinant variable is going to be earnings at this point," said Mark Freeman, chief investment officer at Dallas-based Westwood Holdings Group. He has been raising his cash levels, and at the same moving more of his portfolio into healthcare and technology companies that show signs of growth.
"The market continues to narrow and narrow. We're not about to fall into a bear market, but I'm starting to think the raging bull market is over," he said.
A weaker than expected U.S. employment report for September on Friday diminished inflation expectations, and the prospects for a dim U.S. corporate earnings season, are all factors fanning worries that the economic recovery could be derailed.
Concerns about the global economy has fueled a series of deep declines and snap-back rallies over the last month, as investors look for surer footing. The S&P index had fallen more than 10 percent from the record high it reached May 20, and after starting with a selloff on Friday, closed up 1.42 percent, still down 8.6 percent from its recent high.
Investors pulled $22 billion out of U.S. equity funds in the third quarter, while putting a record $17 billion into U.S. Treasury funds, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC).
Those investors have had few places to hide. Of the 21 major financial asset benchmarks tracked by Reuters, only two - the U.S. dollar and 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds - have posted positive returns so far this year, leaving investors with the worst financial market returns since the financial crisis in 2008.
The yield of the benchmark 10-year Treasury fell below 2.0 percent on Friday for the first time since late August on concerns about growth in the U.S. economy.
"There are some wicked winds swirling around from a macro perspective and you can't afford to be complacent," said Alan Gayle, head of asset allocation at Atlanta-based RidgeWorth Investments, who said he has been raising the cash levels in his portfolios until the market stabilizes.
The Federal Reserve's decision in September to delay raising interest rates from financial crisis-era levels is exacerbating the uncertainty behind the market's large swings, said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. market strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
"The market wants to see the economic conditions normalize. It's starting to think that something is broken here and it makes them uncomfortable," he said.
Fedwatchers suggest Friday's lackluster jobs report would cause the Fed to further delay raising interest rates until 2016, prolonging market volatility into next year.
To be sure, some investors say that heightened volatility is welcome.
"This can create wonderful opportunities, and we're actively looking to take advantage of egregious pricing," said Connor Browne, managing director of equities at fund manager Thornburg Investment Management.
Merkel urges Europe to protect external borders amid refugee crisis
By Michelle Martin
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe needed to protect its external frontiers as it faces the greatest influx of refugees since World War Two - a crisis that she said was "testing Europe's mettle".
Hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe this year from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, many fleeing war or poverty.
Speaking in a weekly video podcast released on Saturday, Merkel said Europe needed to contribute to dealing with this global challenge.
"And for Europe, this means we of course need to, above all, protect our external borders across Europe - and protect them together - so that immigration to Europe is orderly," she said.
"But it also means we must take on more responsibility for countries where the causes for people to flee are, or where there are a lot of refugees, such as in Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey," Merkel added.
Many of those on the move are heading to Germany, which is Europe's largest economy and has relatively liberal asylum laws and a generous system of benefits.
A poll on Thursday showed Merkel's popularity slump to its lowest level in nearly four years, reflecting growing concern about the flood of migrants.
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have arrived in Germany in September alone -- roughly the same as for all of last year -- and the government estimates that 800,000 or more might come over the course of 2015.
In her podcast, Merkel said Germany needed to make clear that those who needed protection would get it but those who were only coming here for economic reasons would have to leave again.
"We need to be even more resolute about that and make that clear," she said.
She also said integrating the new arrivals was a "big task" and people should be able to express their concerns about it.
Merkel said Greece's external border with Turkey - a frontier that many migrants have crossed on perilous boat journeys - was an issue. Talks with Turkey were needed and in fact had already begun, she said.
It will also be necessary to provide more development aid and spend more on refugees via UN programs, she added.
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe needed to protect its external frontiers as it faces the greatest influx of refugees since World War Two - a crisis that she said was "testing Europe's mettle".
Hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants have arrived in Europe this year from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, many fleeing war or poverty.
Speaking in a weekly video podcast released on Saturday, Merkel said Europe needed to contribute to dealing with this global challenge.
"And for Europe, this means we of course need to, above all, protect our external borders across Europe - and protect them together - so that immigration to Europe is orderly," she said.
"But it also means we must take on more responsibility for countries where the causes for people to flee are, or where there are a lot of refugees, such as in Lebanon, Jordan or Turkey," Merkel added.
Many of those on the move are heading to Germany, which is Europe's largest economy and has relatively liberal asylum laws and a generous system of benefits.
A poll on Thursday showed Merkel's popularity slump to its lowest level in nearly four years, reflecting growing concern about the flood of migrants.
More than 200,000 people are estimated to have arrived in Germany in September alone -- roughly the same as for all of last year -- and the government estimates that 800,000 or more might come over the course of 2015.
In her podcast, Merkel said Germany needed to make clear that those who needed protection would get it but those who were only coming here for economic reasons would have to leave again.
"We need to be even more resolute about that and make that clear," she said.
She also said integrating the new arrivals was a "big task" and people should be able to express their concerns about it.
Merkel said Greece's external border with Turkey - a frontier that many migrants have crossed on perilous boat journeys - was an issue. Talks with Turkey were needed and in fact had already begun, she said.
It will also be necessary to provide more development aid and spend more on refugees via UN programs, she added.
New chairman sees emissions scandal as threat to VW's viability: paper
BERLIN (Reuters) - Hans Dieter Poetsch, the incoming chairman of Volkswagen (XETRA:VOWG) (VW) (DE:VOWG_p),
sees the scandal around the rigging of emissions tests as a threat to
the firm's viability albeit a surmountable one, a newspaper quoted him
as saying.
At an internal company meeting this week at the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Poetsch described the situation as an "existence-threatening crisis for the company", Germany's Welt am Sonntag reported in a release ahead of Sunday's publication.
Poetsch also said that he believed VW could overcome the crisis, the newspaper said.
A VW spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Europe's largest carmaker has admitted cheating in diesel emissions tests in the United States and Germany's transport minister says it also manipulated them in Europe, where VW sells about 40 percent of its vehicles.
VW has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to help cover the cost of the scandal, but some analysts think the final bill could be much higher.
Moody's, S&P and Fitch have all put negative outlooks on their credit ratings, meaning they see a risk of downgrades.
Citing an unnamed insider, Welt am Sonntag said VW's planned investment budget of 100 billion euros through to 2018 was under review for cuts. VW declined to comment.
Sources close to the board told Reuters this week the supervisory board was looking at ways to make savings to try to avoid a downgrade in the company's credit ratings, which would lead to higher borrowing costs.
They said, however, it was not talking about asset sales, after calls from some analysts for the firm to sell its trucks business or brands such as Bugatti, Ducati and Lamborghini.
VW has said it will refit up to 11 million diesel vehicles that contain software capable of cheating emission tests. It also faces potential fines from regulators and prosecutors, lawsuits from consumers and investors, and a possible hit to sales from the damage to its reputation.
A survey by German market research firm Puls showed 41 percent of consumers see the brand as damaged for the long term, while 11 percent say they no longer want to buy a VW, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung paper reported.
At an internal company meeting this week at the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Poetsch described the situation as an "existence-threatening crisis for the company", Germany's Welt am Sonntag reported in a release ahead of Sunday's publication.
Poetsch also said that he believed VW could overcome the crisis, the newspaper said.
A VW spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Europe's largest carmaker has admitted cheating in diesel emissions tests in the United States and Germany's transport minister says it also manipulated them in Europe, where VW sells about 40 percent of its vehicles.
VW has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to help cover the cost of the scandal, but some analysts think the final bill could be much higher.
Moody's, S&P and Fitch have all put negative outlooks on their credit ratings, meaning they see a risk of downgrades.
Citing an unnamed insider, Welt am Sonntag said VW's planned investment budget of 100 billion euros through to 2018 was under review for cuts. VW declined to comment.
Sources close to the board told Reuters this week the supervisory board was looking at ways to make savings to try to avoid a downgrade in the company's credit ratings, which would lead to higher borrowing costs.
They said, however, it was not talking about asset sales, after calls from some analysts for the firm to sell its trucks business or brands such as Bugatti, Ducati and Lamborghini.
VW has said it will refit up to 11 million diesel vehicles that contain software capable of cheating emission tests. It also faces potential fines from regulators and prosecutors, lawsuits from consumers and investors, and a possible hit to sales from the damage to its reputation.
A survey by German market research firm Puls showed 41 percent of consumers see the brand as damaged for the long term, while 11 percent say they no longer want to buy a VW, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung paper reported.
Greece must stick to program to exit bailout: PM
By Renee Maltezou
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece must implement its bailout program fast to achieve its main aim of regaining access to market financing and escaping international supervision, re-elected leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday.
Speaking to lawmakers of his Syriza party on the day a new parliament was sworn in, the premier said he aimed to complete the first review of a 86 billion euro bailout agreed in August as soon as possible so Athens could open negotiations with its euro zone partners on debt relief.
To achieve that, Greece is required to enact a swathe of reforms of taxation, pensions, healthcare, the financial sector and public services by Nov. 15 to unlock the next tranche of aid and receive help in recapitalizing its stricken banks.
"Implementing the bailout is not going to be easy. But we are obliged to make these decisions although we don't like them," Tsipras said. "It's necessary, in order to exit this system of surveillance and immediately start the discussion on the debt issue.
"Our main target is to exit this system of supervision, and regain market access. But a necessary condition for that is to return to growth," he added.
Tsipras performed a spectacular U-turn in July after calling a referendum to reject austerity terms for a bailout, only to accept more stringent conditions after Greece was forced to shut its banks, ration cash and impose capital controls.
A hard-left faction broke from Syriza, but Tsipras trounced them in an early election last month, returning to office comfortably with his right-wing nationalist coalition partners.
Tsipras said Syriza, which still spans from social democrats to radical leftists, needed to learn from the errors of its chaotic first seven months in office and avoid past divisions.
"In the end, we must all respect the collective will so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," he said in what sounded like a veiled warning to lawmakers.
He also said Syriza would aim to change the country by fighting "the establishment", corruption and tax evasion, and reforming the justice system, education and social welfare.
DEBT RELIEF DEBATE
European Union officials have cautioned Greece against expecting massive relief on its debt when talks get under away after the completion of the first bailout review by EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund monitors.
Klaus Regling, head of the euro zone's bailout fund, told the Financial Times last week that Greece did not need large-scale debt relief and had already received the most concessionary loan terms "in world history".
EU sources have told Reuters the bloc could reach a consensus on capping Greece's annual gross borrowing costs at 15 percent of its economic output, by extending loan maturities and repayment grace periods as necessary.
An IMF source said the Fund believed Greece needed easier terms closer to the 10 percent annual gross borrowing cost it aims to achieve for developing countries.
The IMF has made Greek compliance with the bailout program and adequate euro zone debt relief conditions for its continued involvement in Greece, which Germany insists is necessary to satisfy its parliament.
Berlin, the euro zone's leading economy with the largest exposure to Greece, has ruled out any "haircut" but agreed to consider longer maturities and grace periods.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece must implement its bailout program fast to achieve its main aim of regaining access to market financing and escaping international supervision, re-elected leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday.
Speaking to lawmakers of his Syriza party on the day a new parliament was sworn in, the premier said he aimed to complete the first review of a 86 billion euro bailout agreed in August as soon as possible so Athens could open negotiations with its euro zone partners on debt relief.
To achieve that, Greece is required to enact a swathe of reforms of taxation, pensions, healthcare, the financial sector and public services by Nov. 15 to unlock the next tranche of aid and receive help in recapitalizing its stricken banks.
"Implementing the bailout is not going to be easy. But we are obliged to make these decisions although we don't like them," Tsipras said. "It's necessary, in order to exit this system of surveillance and immediately start the discussion on the debt issue.
"Our main target is to exit this system of supervision, and regain market access. But a necessary condition for that is to return to growth," he added.
Tsipras performed a spectacular U-turn in July after calling a referendum to reject austerity terms for a bailout, only to accept more stringent conditions after Greece was forced to shut its banks, ration cash and impose capital controls.
A hard-left faction broke from Syriza, but Tsipras trounced them in an early election last month, returning to office comfortably with his right-wing nationalist coalition partners.
Tsipras said Syriza, which still spans from social democrats to radical leftists, needed to learn from the errors of its chaotic first seven months in office and avoid past divisions.
"In the end, we must all respect the collective will so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated," he said in what sounded like a veiled warning to lawmakers.
He also said Syriza would aim to change the country by fighting "the establishment", corruption and tax evasion, and reforming the justice system, education and social welfare.
DEBT RELIEF DEBATE
European Union officials have cautioned Greece against expecting massive relief on its debt when talks get under away after the completion of the first bailout review by EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund monitors.
Klaus Regling, head of the euro zone's bailout fund, told the Financial Times last week that Greece did not need large-scale debt relief and had already received the most concessionary loan terms "in world history".
EU sources have told Reuters the bloc could reach a consensus on capping Greece's annual gross borrowing costs at 15 percent of its economic output, by extending loan maturities and repayment grace periods as necessary.
An IMF source said the Fund believed Greece needed easier terms closer to the 10 percent annual gross borrowing cost it aims to achieve for developing countries.
The IMF has made Greek compliance with the bailout program and adequate euro zone debt relief conditions for its continued involvement in Greece, which Germany insists is necessary to satisfy its parliament.
Berlin, the euro zone's leading economy with the largest exposure to Greece, has ruled out any "haircut" but agreed to consider longer maturities and grace periods.
U.S. a long way from 'macroprudential' safeguards: Fed's Dudley
BOSTON (Reuters) - The United States is a long way from putting
in place rules that will protect the financial system and economy from
broad risks, due in part to regulatory structure and to the difficulties
of predicting the next crisis, a top Federal Reserve official said on
Saturday.
New York Fed President William Dudley, an influential Wall Street supervisor speaking at a conference in Boston, warned against hastily putting in place so-called macroprudential tools, which would go beyond regulating specific banks and firms and focus on the broader financial sector.
"While the use of macroprudential tools holds promise, we are a long way from being able to successfully use such tools in the United States," he said in prepared remarks.
New York Fed President William Dudley, an influential Wall Street supervisor speaking at a conference in Boston, warned against hastily putting in place so-called macroprudential tools, which would go beyond regulating specific banks and firms and focus on the broader financial sector.
"While the use of macroprudential tools holds promise, we are a long way from being able to successfully use such tools in the United States," he said in prepared remarks.
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