1.
Eurogroup
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It exercises political control over the currency and related aspects of the EUs monetary union such as the Stability and Growth Pact. Its current president is former Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the ministers meet in camera a day before a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the Council of the European Union. They communicate their decisions via press and document releases and this group is related to the Council of the European Union and was formalised under the Lisbon Treaty. The December 1997 European Council endorsed its creation and the first meeting was held on 4 June 1998 at Senningen Castle in Luxembourg. In 2004 the ministers decided to elect a president and in 2008 and this became known as the Euro summit and has held meetings irregularly during the financial crisis. Since the beginning of the union, its role has grown in regards to the euros economic governance. The fact the group meets just before the Ecofin council means it can pre-approve all Ecofins decisions on eurozone affairs, in 2009 the Lisbon Treaty formalised the group and its president. The current president of the group, dubbed Mr Euro or the president of the eurozone, is Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in September 2004, the Eurogroup decided it should have a semi-permanent president who would be appointed for a term of two years. Under the Lisbon Treaty, this system was formalised and Juncker was confirmed for another term, the Presidency has helped strengthen the group, since before Junckers appointment the Eurogroup was only accidentally present at meetings in the European Parliament. Since the position of President was created, the president has attended Parliaments committee on Economic, after his reappointment as Eurogroup president in January 2010, Juncker emphasised the need to broaden the scope of the Eurogroups business. In particular in terms of co-ordinating economic policies and representation, Juncker proposed creating a small secretariat consisting of four to five civil servants to prepare the groups meetings. However, although France and Spain support such plans, Germany fears that strengthening the group might undermine the independence of the European Central Bank, in June 2012, the Estonian minister Jürgen Ligi was being considered as a possible successor for Mr. Juncker. However, in January 2013, Juncker hinted that his successor would be Jeroen Dijsselbloem. On 13 July 2015, Dijsselbloem was re-elected, the ECB President, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner and Chairman of the Eurogroup Working Group also attend the meetings. It is worthwhile to note that the members of the EU who choose not to participate in the Euro have been excluded from observer status, for example, IMF personnel such as Christine Lagarde are sometimes allowed to be present at meetings—see Lagarde statement 20130316. What remains unknown about this group is whether they allow observers to speak or speech by the observers is forbidden, a formal legal basis was granted for the first time under the Lisbon Treaty when it came into force on 1 December 2009. Protocol 14 of the treaty lays out just two articles to govern the group, Article 1, The Ministers of the Member States whose currency is the euro shall meet informally. Such meetings shall take place, when necessary, to questions related to the specific responsibilities they share with regard to the single currency
2.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem
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Jeroen René Victor Anton Dijsselbloem is a Dutch politician of the centre-left Labour Party. Dijsselbloem studied agricultural economics at Wageningen University and he served as member of the municipal council of Wageningen and as member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands. In 2007, he led an inquiry on education reform. Jeroen René Victor Anton Dijsselbloem was born on 29 March 1966 in Eindhoven and his parents both worked in education, his father as an English teacher and his mother as schoolteacher. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, Dijsselbloem went to a Roman Catholic primary school in Son en Breugel and the Roman Catholic secondary school Eckartcollege in Eindhoven. Dijsselbloem did research in economics at the University College Cork in Ireland. Dijsselbloem’s interest in politics began in 1983, spurred by the protests against US Pershing cruise missiles that drew hundreds of thousands of Dutch youth into leftwing movements. In 1985, he became a member of the Dutch Labour Party, from 1993 to 1996 he worked for the parliamentary group of the Labour Party. From 1994 to 1996 he was a member of the council of Wageningen. From 1996 to 2000 he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Fishery under Minister Jozias van Aartsen and State Secretary Geke Faber. From 2000 to 2012, Dijsselbloem was a member of parliament for the Labour Party, in 2007, he led a parliamentary inquiry on education reform. He focused on matters of youth care, special education and teachers, since 15 November 2012, Dijsselbloem is the Minister of Finance in the Cabinet Rutte II. From the start, Dijsselbloem emphasised his commitment to fiscal discipline, on 1 February 2013, he nationalized the financial institution SNS Reaal, preventing its bankruptcy. Shareholders and owners of subordinated debt are expropriated with no compensation and others banks of the country have to contribute to the takeover up to one billion euros. By December 2013, Dutch press named Dijsselbloem politician of the year 2013, describing him as “intelligent, balanced and good at finding compromises. ”In a response, he said that he was surprised about winning the prize because he not work on the forefront. ”In the Netherlands, he was later named as a possible European Commissioner following the 2014 European elections. Spain was the country not to back his candidacy, on fears that it is being dictated to by ‘triple A’ countries. Dijsselbloem struggled early in his 2-1/2 year term and faced criticism for his handling of the Cyprus bail-in, on 24 March 2013, the Financial Times and Reuters reported that Dijsselbloem saw the Cyprus bail-in as a template for resolution of a bankruptcy. However, it was the interviewer that had used the word template, on 26 March 2013, Dijsselbloem said explicitly that he did not consider the Cyprus case to be a template
3.
Assembly of the Republic (Portugal)
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The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. According to the Portuguese Constitution, the unicameral Assembly is the assembly of all Portuguese citizens. The constitution names the assembly as one of the organs of supreme authority. It is located in a building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento. The Palácio de São Bento has been the seat of the Portuguese parliaments since 1834, the Assembly of the Republics powers derives from its power to dismiss a government through a vote of no confidence, to change the countrys laws, and to amend the constitution. The assembly also appoints members of important state institutions, such as ten of the thirteen members of the Constitutional Court. The constitution requires the assembly to review and approve an incoming governments program. Parliamentary rules allow the assembly to call for committees of inquiry to examine the governments actions, political opposition represented in the assembly has the power to review the cabinets actions, even though it is unlikely that the actions can be reversed. Party groups can also call for interpellations that require debates about specific government policies, the assembly consisted at first of 250 members, but the constitutional reforms of 1989 reduced its number to between 180 and 230. Constituencies vary greatly in size, from as large as the district of Lisbon, which returns 47 representatives, to as small as the district of Portalegre, according to the constitution, members of the assembly represent the entire country, not the constituency from which they are elected. This directive has been reinforced in practice by the role of political parties in regard to members of the assembly. Party leadership, for example, determines in which candidates are to run for office. Moreover, members of the assembly are expected to vote with their party, party discipline is strong, and insubordinate members can be coerced through a variety of means. A further obstacle to members independence is that their bills first have to be submitted to the parliamentary groups, the President of the Assembly is aided by four vice-presidents, nominated by the other parties represented in the parliament, and is usually the speaker. When he is not present, one of the vice-presidents takes the role of speaker, when the President of the Republic is, for any reason, unable to perform to job, the President of the Assembly of the Republic becomes his substitute. São Bento Palace ARtv Official website
4.
Portugal
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Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
5.
Alma mater
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Alma mater is an allegorical Latin phrase for a university or college. In modern usage, it is a school or university which an individual has attended, the phrase is variously translated as nourishing mother, nursing mother, or fostering mother, suggesting that a school provides intellectual nourishment to its students. Before its modern usage, Alma mater was a title in Latin for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele. The source of its current use is the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum, of the oldest university in continuous operation in the Western world and it is related to the term alumnus, denoting a university graduate, which literally means a nursling or one who is nourished. The phrase can also denote a song or hymn associated with a school, although alma was a common epithet for Ceres, Cybele, Venus, and other mother goddesses, it was not frequently used in conjunction with mater in classical Latin. Alma Redemptoris Mater is a well-known 11th century antiphon devoted to Mary, the earliest documented English use of the term to refer to a university is in 1600, when University of Cambridge printer John Legate began using an emblem for the universitys press. In English etymological reference works, the first university-related usage is often cited in 1710, many historic European universities have adopted Alma Mater as part of the Latin translation of their official name. The University of Bologna Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, refers to its status as the oldest continuously operating university in the world. At least one, the Alma Mater Europaea in Salzburg, Austria, the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, has been called the Alma Mater of the Nation because of its ties to the founding of the United States. At Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, the ancient Roman world had many statues of the Alma Mater, some still extant. Modern sculptures are found in prominent locations on several American university campuses, outside the United States, there is an Alma Mater sculpture on the steps of the monumental entrance to the Universidad de La Habana, in Havana, Cuba. Media related to Alma mater at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of alma mater at Wiktionary Alma Mater Europaea website
6.
Technical University of Lisbon
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The Technical University of Lisbon was a Portuguese public university. On July 25,2013, it merged with the older University of Lisbon and was incorporated in the new University of Lisbon. People who have been awarded a degree by the Technical University of Lisbon or otherwise have attended university, include, Alberto Romão Dias, Researcher. Álvaro Siza Vieira, Architect, university professor, Pritzker Prize 1992, antónio Borges, Vice President of Goldman Sachs International Amílcar Cabral, Guinea-Bissauan independentist, guerrilla, agronomist. António Câmara, Entrepreneur, university professor, civil engineer, aníbal Cavaco Silva, President of Republic, Prime Minister, university professor, economist. António Guterres, Prime Minister, politician, electrical engineer, bento de Jesus Caraça, Antifascist resistance, mathematician and economist. Carlos Carvalhas, Communist leader, politician, economist, carlos Queiroz, Portuguese national teams coach, football manager, physical educator. Dom Duarte, 24th Duke of Braganza, claimant to the throne of Portugal, eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, Socialist leader, politician, economist. Fernando Ulrich, financial manager, banking administrator, francisco Louçã, Left Bloc leader, politician, university professor, economist. Jaime Nogueira Pinto, writer and university professor, jesualdo Ferreira, football manager, physical educator. José Mourinho, football manager, physical educator, manuel Pinho, politician and economist Manuela Ferreira Leite right-wing leader, minister, politician, economist. Maria de Lurdes Pintasilgo, Prime Minister, politician, chemical engineer, mariano Gago, minister, politician, university professor, scientist, electrical engineer. Nelo Vingada, football manager, physical educator, nuno Crato, university professor, researcher, writer, mathematician and economist. Paulo Mendes Da Rocha, Architect, university professor, Pritzker Prize 2006, tim, musician, vocalist of Xutos & Pontapés, agronomist. Vitor Constâncio, Central Bank Governor, politician, economist, list of higher education institutions in Portugal Higher education in Portugal Universidade Técnica de Lisboa
7.
Harvard University
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Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, james Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College, Harvards $34.5 billion financial endowment is the largest of any academic institution. Harvard is a large, highly residential research university, the nominal cost of attendance is high, but the Universitys large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages. Harvards alumni include eight U. S. presidents, several heads of state,62 living billionaires,359 Rhodes Scholars. To date, some 130 Nobel laureates,18 Fields Medalists, Harvard was formed in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1638, it obtained British North Americas first known printing press, in 1639 it was named Harvard College after deceased clergyman John Harvard an alumnus of the University of Cambridge who had left the school £779 and his scholars library of some 400 volumes. The charter creating the Harvard Corporation was granted in 1650 and it offered a classic curriculum on the English university model—many leaders in the colony had attended the University of Cambridge—but conformed to the tenets of Puritanism. It was never affiliated with any denomination, but many of its earliest graduates went on to become clergymen in Congregational. The leading Boston divine Increase Mather served as president from 1685 to 1701, in 1708, John Leverett became the first president who was not also a clergyman, which marked a turning of the college toward intellectual independence from Puritanism. When the Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later, in 1804, in 1846, the natural history lectures of Louis Agassiz were acclaimed both in New York and on the campus at Harvard College. Agassizs approach was distinctly idealist and posited Americans participation in the Divine Nature, agassizs perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that a person can grasp the divine plan in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on an archetype for his evidence. Charles W. Eliot, president 1869–1909, eliminated the position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening it to student self-direction. While Eliot was the most crucial figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated not by a desire to secularize education, during the 20th century, Harvards international reputation grew as a burgeoning endowment and prominent professors expanded the universitys scope. Rapid enrollment growth continued as new schools were begun and the undergraduate College expanded. Radcliffe College, established in 1879 as sister school of Harvard College, Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. In the early 20th century, the student body was predominately old-stock, high-status Protestants, especially Episcopalians, Congregationalists, by the 1970s it was much more diversified
8.
European Stability Mechanism
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It replaces two earlier temporary EU funding programmes, the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism. The remaining state, Estonia, which had only committed 0. 19% of the capital, the ESM commenced its operations after an inaugural meeting on 8 October 2012. The first 40% of the capital was transferred by all ESM member states ahead of a treaty regulated deadline of 12 October 2012. ESM member states can apply for a bailout if they are in difficulty or their financial sector is a stability threat in need of recapitalization. Another precondition for receiving an ESM bailout is that the state must have ratified the European Fiscal Compact. The Cyprus bank recapitalization was funded by converting bank deposits into equity, following the European sovereign debt crisis that resulted in the lending of money to EU states, there has been a drive to reform the functioning of the eurozone in the event of a crisis. This led to the creation, amongst other things, of a mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility. These, together with the International Monetary Fund, would lend money to EU states in trouble, however, the EFSF and EFSM were intended only as a temporary measure, in part due to the lack of a legal basis in the EU treaties. In order to resolve the issue, the German government felt a treaty amendment would be required, after the difficult ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, many states and statesmen opposed reopening treaty amendment and the British government opposes changes affecting the United Kingdom. However, after winning the support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy Germany won support from the European Council in October 2010 for a new treaty and it would be a minimal amendment to strengthen sanctions and create a permanent lending-out mechanism. It would not fulfil the German demand to have the removal of voting rights as a sanction as that would require deeper treaty amendment. In that case, it was to co-exist with the temporary lending-out mechanism for one year, the amendment simply changes the EU treaties to allow for a permanent mechanism to be established. In March of the following year leaders also agreed to a separate eurozone-only treaty that would create the ESM itself, the amendment reads, The amendment authorises the eurozone countries to establish a stability mechanism to protect the common currency, within EU law. The TFEU amendment came into force on 1 May 2013, after the Czech Republic became the last member state to ratify the agreement according to its respective constitutional requirements. The 2012 version was signed by all 17 Eurozone members on 2 February 2012, and was planned to be ratified and enter force by mid-2012, the treaty was concluded exclusively by eurozone states, amongst others because the UK refused to participate in any fiscal integration. The Treaty establishing the ESM entered into force on 27 September 2012 for 16 signatories, Estonia completed their ratification on 3 October 2012, six days after the treaty entered into force. However, the meeting of the ESM didnt occur until 8 October, after the treatys entry into force for Estonia. Latvias adoption of the euro on 1 January 2014 was given approval by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 9 July
9.
Board of directors
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A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a corporation or organization, which can include a non-profit organization or a government agency. A board of directors activities are determined by the powers, duties and responsibilities conferred on it by an authority outside itself and these matters are typically detailed in regulations or in the organizations constitution and bylaws. These authorities may specify the number of members of the board, how they are to be chosen, and how often they are to meet. In an organization with voting members, the board is accountable to, and might be subordinate to, the full membership. In a stock corporation, non-executive directors are voted for by the shareholders, the board of directors appoints the chief executive officer of the corporation and sets out the overall strategic direction. In corporations with dispersed ownership, the identification and nomination of directors are often done by the board itself, in a non-stock corporation with no general voting membership, the board is the supreme governing body of the institution, its members are sometimes chosen by the board itself. Other names include Board of directors and advisors, board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees and it may also be called the executive board and is often simply referred to as the board. For companies with publicly trading stock, these responsibilities are typically much more rigorous, typically, the board chooses one of its members to be the chairman, who holds whatever title is specified in the bylaws or articles of association. However, in organizations, the members elect the president of the organization. The directors of an organization are the persons who are members of its board, several specific terms categorize directors by the presence or absence of their other relationships to the organization. An inside director is a director who is also an employee, officer, chief executive, major shareholder, inside directors represent the interests of the entitys stakeholders, and often have special knowledge of its inner workings, its financial or market position, and so on. Executive directors often have an area of responsibility in the organization, such as finance, marketing, human resources. An outside director is a member of the board who is not otherwise employed by or engaged with the organization, a typical example is a director who is president of a firm in a different industry. Outside directors are not employees of the company or affiliated with it in any other way, outside directors bring outside experience and perspectives to the board. One of the arguments for having outside directors is that they can keep a eye on the inside directors. Outside directors are unlikely to tolerate insider dealing between insider directors, as outside directors do not benefit from the company or organization, outside directors are often useful in handling disputes between inside directors, or between shareholders and the board. They are thought to be advantageous because they can be objective, director - a person appointed to serve on the board of an organization, such as an institution or business. This practice results in an interlocking directorate, where a small number of individuals have significant influence over a large number of important entities
10.
Banco de Portugal
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The Banco de Portugal is the central bank of the Portuguese Republic. The bank issues legal tender that is designated as the national currency – the real until 1911, the escudo from 1911 until 1998, and the euro since 1999. Following its nationalisation in September 1974 and its new Organic Law and it is an integral part of the European System of Central Banks, which was founded in June 1998. The current governor is Carlos Costa, in 2013, the bank announced that it would pay €359 million in dividends, referring to the year of 2012. In 2014, the announced that it would pay €202 million in dividends, referring to the year of 2013. In August 2014, Banco de Portugal announced it was restructuring Portugals second biggest bank, Banco Espirito Santo, during the bank restructure, one of the lenders, Oak Finance, had its loan liabilities remain with Banco Espirito Santo. This triggered a lawsuit from a group of investors including, hedge funds, economy of Portugal Euro Portuguese escudo old currency Alves dos Reis Official website of Banco de Portugal Lista de Bancos em Portugal Banco Central Europeu
11.
Applied mathematics
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Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that deals with mathematical methods that find use in science, engineering, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of science and specialized knowledge. The term applied mathematics also describes the professional specialty in which work on practical problems by formulating and studying mathematical models. The activity of applied mathematics is thus connected with research in pure mathematics. Historically, applied mathematics consisted principally of applied analysis, most notably differential equations, approximation theory, quantitative finance is now taught in mathematics departments across universities and mathematical finance is considered a full branch of applied mathematics. Engineering and computer science departments have made use of applied mathematics. Today, the applied mathematics is used in a broader sense. It includes the areas noted above as well as other areas that have become increasingly important in applications. Even fields such as number theory that are part of mathematics are now important in applications. There is no consensus as to what the various branches of applied mathematics are, such categorizations are made difficult by the way mathematics and science change over time, and also by the way universities organize departments, courses, and degrees. Many mathematicians distinguish between applied mathematics, which is concerned with methods, and the applications of mathematics within science. Mathematicians such as Poincaré and Arnold deny the existence of applied mathematics, similarly, non-mathematicians blend applied mathematics and applications of mathematics. The use and development of mathematics to industrial problems is also called industrial mathematics. Historically, mathematics was most important in the sciences and engineering. Academic institutions are not consistent in the way they group and label courses, programs, at some schools, there is a single mathematics department, whereas others have separate departments for Applied Mathematics and Mathematics. It is very common for Statistics departments to be separated at schools with graduate programs, many applied mathematics programs consist of primarily cross-listed courses and jointly appointed faculty in departments representing applications. Some Ph. D. programs in applied mathematics require little or no coursework outside of mathematics, in some respects this difference reflects the distinction between application of mathematics and applied mathematics. Research universities dividing their mathematics department into pure and applied sections include MIT, brigham Young University also has an Applied and Computational Emphasis, a program that allows student to graduate with a Mathematics degree, with an emphasis in Applied Math
12.
European Commission
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Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate. The Commission operates as a government, with 28 members of the Commission. There is one member per state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 28 is the Commission President proposed by the European Council, the current Commission is the Juncker Commission, which took office in late 2014. The procedural languages of the Commission are English, French and German, the Members of the Commission and their cabinets are based in the Berlaymont building in Brussels. The first Commission originated in 1951 as the nine-member High Authority under President Jean Monnet, the High Authority was the supranational administrative executive of the new European Coal and Steel Community. It took office first on 10 August 1952 in Luxembourg, in 1958 the Treaties of Rome had established two new communities alongside the ECSC, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. However their executives were called Commissions rather than High Authorities, the reason for the change in name was the new relationship between the executives and the Council. Some states such as France expressed reservations over the power of the High Authority, louis Armand led the first Commission of Euratom. Walter Hallstein led the first Commission of the EEC, holding the first formal meeting on 16 January 1958 at the Château of Val-Duchesse, Hallstein notably began the consolidation of European law and started to have a notable impact on national legislation. The three bodies, collectively named the European Executives, co-existed until 1 July 1967 when, under the Merger Treaty, the Rey Commission completed the Communitys customs union in 1968 and campaigned for a more powerful, elected, European Parliament. Despite Rey being the first President of the communities, Hallstein is seen as the first President of the modern Commission. The Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions followed with work on monetary co-operation, with that enlargement the Commissions membership increased to thirteen under the Ortoli Commission, which dealt with the enlarged community during economic and international instability at that time. Following the Jenkins Commission, Gaston Thorns Commission oversaw the Communitys enlargement to the south, the Commission headed by Jacques Delors was seen as giving the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. Delors and his team are considered as the founding fathers of the euro. The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his term in 1992. He arrived when Europessimism was at its worst, although he was a little-known former French finance minister, he breathed life and hope into the EC and into the dispirited Brussels Commission. The successor to Delors was Jacques Santer, the entire Santer Commission was forced to resign in 1999 by the Parliament as result of a fraud and corruption scandal, with a central role played by Édith Cresson
13.
Portuguese legislative election, 2015
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A Portuguese legislative election was held on 4 October 2015. All 230 seats of the Assembly of the Republic were in contention, the centre-right coalition Portugal Ahead, composed of the Social Democratic Party and the Peoples Party, won the single largest vote with 38. 6%, securing 46% of the seats in the Assembly. Compared with 2011, this was a loss of 12% in support, on the electoral map, the coalition won every district in the North and in the Centre except Castelo Branco. They also have won in the districts of Lisbon and Porto, the map shows a clear North-South divide, with the liberal conservative coalition winning almost everything in the North and Centre and the PS winning in the South. The Socialist Party was the second most voted political force, winning 32. 3% of the vote and 37% of the seats in the Parliament. The PS received a share of the vote than in 2011. António Costa, former mayor of Lisbon, was not able to win the city of Lisbon, the Left Bloc, despite predictions by opinion polls, achieved its best result in history, with more than 10% of the vote, becoming the third largest parliamentary group. The CDUs share of the vote increased slightly compared to 2011, receiving 8% of the vote, the People–Animals–Nature also elected one member of parliament becoming the first time since 1999 in which a new party entered the Assembly. Voter turnout reached a new low, with just 55. 8% of the electorate casting their ballot on election day, the government fell after the approval of a motion to bring it down on 10 November. On 24 November, António Costa was appointed by the President of the Republic as Prime Minister-designate, the President of Portugal has the power to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic by his own will. Unlike other countries the President can refuse to dissolve the parliament at the request of the Prime Minister or the Assembly of the Republic, the 2014 Portuguese Socialist Party prime ministerial primary was held on 28 September 2014. It was the first open primary in the history of the party, and of Portugal, there were two candidates running, António José Seguro, General Secretary of the party at the time of the primary, and António Costa, mayor of Lisbon. António Costa won the primary by a landslide with 67. 9% of the vote against the 31. 7% of Antonio José Seguro, resulting in Seguro conceding defeat, Costa was next elected new socialists General Secretary on 22 November 2014. According to the Portuguese Constitution, an election must be called between 14 September and 14 October of the year that the legislature ends, if an election is called in the middle of the legislature it must be held at least in 55 days. Election day is the same in all constituencies, and should fall on a Sunday or national holiday. The next legislative election must, therefore, took place no later than 11 October 2015, after meeting with all of the parties represented in parliament on 21 July 2015, the President Aníbal Cavaco Silva called the election for 4 October. Assembly members represent the country, rather than the constituencies in which they were elected. Each one of Portugals eighteen administrative districts, as well as one of the countrys two autonomous regions – the Azores and Madeira – is an electoral constituency
14.
Econometrics
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Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data and is described as the branch of economics that aims to give empirical content to economic relations. More precisely, it is the analysis of actual economic phenomena based on the concurrent development of theory and observation. An introductory economics textbook describes econometrics as allowing economists to sift through mountains of data to extract simple relationships, the first known use of the term econometrics was by Polish economist Paweł Ciompa in 1910. Ragnar Frisch is credited with coining the term in the sense in which it is used today, the basic tool for econometrics is the multiple linear regression model. Econometric theory uses statistical theory and mathematical statistics to evaluate and develop econometric methods, econometricians try to find estimators that have desirable statistical properties including unbiasedness, efficiency, and consistency. Applied econometrics uses theoretical econometrics and real-world data for assessing economic theories, developing models, analyzing economic history. The basic tool for econometrics is the linear regression model. In modern econometrics, other tools are frequently used. Estimating a linear regression on two variables can be visualized as fitting a line through points representing paired values of the independent and dependent variables. For example, consider Okuns law, which relates GDP growth to the unemployment rate, the unknown parameters β0 and β1 can be estimated. Here β1 is estimated to be −1.77 and β0 is estimated to be 0.83 and this means that if GDP growth increased by one percentage point, the unemployment rate would be predicted to drop by 1.77 points. The model could then be tested for statistical significance as to whether an increase in growth is associated with a decrease in the unemployment, as hypothesized. If the estimate of β1 were not significantly different from 0, the variance in a prediction of the dependent variable as a function of the independent variable is given in polynomial least squares. Econometric theory uses statistical theory and mathematical statistics to evaluate and develop econometric methods, econometricians try to find estimators that have desirable statistical properties including unbiasedness, efficiency, and consistency. Ordinary least squares is used for estimation since it provides the BLUE or best linear unbiased estimator given the Gauss-Markov assumptions. Estimators that incorporate prior beliefs are advocated by those who favor Bayesian statistics over traditional, classical or frequentist approaches, applied econometrics uses theoretical econometrics and real-world data for assessing economic theories, developing econometric models, analyzing economic history, and forecasting. Econometrics may use standard statistical models to study economic questions, but most often they are with observational data, rather than in controlled experiments. In this, the design of studies in econometrics is similar to the design of studies in other observational disciplines, such as astronomy, epidemiology, sociology
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Microeconomics
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One goal of microeconomics is to analyze the market mechanisms that establish relative prices among goods and services and allocate limited resources among alternative uses. Microeconomics shows conditions under which free markets lead to desirable allocations and it also analyzes market failure, where markets fail to produce efficient results. Microeconomics also deals with the effects of economic policies on the aspects of the economy. Particularly in the wake of the Lucas critique, much of modern macroeconomic theory has been built upon microfoundations—i. e, based upon basic assumptions about micro-level behavior. Microeconomic theory typically begins with the study of a single rational, to economists, rationality means an individual possesses stable preferences that are both complete and transitive. The technical assumption that preference relations are continuous is needed to ensure the existence of a utility function, microeconomic theory progresses by defining a competitive budget set which is a subset of the consumption set. It is at point that economists make the technical assumption that preferences are locally non-satiated. Without the assumption of LNS there is no guarantee that an individual would maximize utility. With the necessary tools and assumptions in place the utility maximization problem is developed, the utility maximization problem is the heart of consumer theory. The utility maximization problem attempts to explain the action axiom by imposing rationality axioms on consumer preferences, the utility maximization problem serves not only as the mathematical foundation of consumer theory but as a metaphysical explanation of it as well. That is, the utility maximization problem is used by economists to not only explain what or how individuals make choices, the utility maximization problem is a constrained optimization problem in which an individual seeks to maximize utility subject to a budget constraint. Economists use the extreme value theorem to guarantee that a solution to the utility maximization problem exists and that is, since the budget constraint is both bounded and closed, a solution to the utility maximization problem exists. Economists call the solution to the utility maximization problem a Walrasian demand function or correspondence, the utility maximization problem has so far been developed by taking consumer tastes as the primitive. However, a way to develop microeconomic theory is by taking consumer choice as the primitive. This model of microeconomic theory is referred to as Revealed preference theory, the theory of supply and demand usually assumes that markets are perfectly competitive. This implies that there are buyers and sellers in the market and none of them have the capacity to significantly influence prices of goods. In many real-life transactions, the assumption fails because some individual buyers or sellers have the ability to influence prices, quite often, a sophisticated analysis is required to understand the demand-supply equation of a good model. However, the works well in situations meeting these assumptions
16.
European Fiscal Compact
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The treaty entered into force on 1 January 2013 for the 16 states which completed ratification prior of this date. As of 1 April 2014, it had been ratified and entered into force for all 25 signatories, the Fiscal Compact is the fiscal chapter of the Treaty. It binds 22 Member States, the 19 Member States of the Eurozone plus Bulgaria, Denmark and it is accompanied by a set of common principles. Member states bound by the Fiscal Compact have to transpose into national legal order the provisions of the Fiscal Compact, in particular, national budget has to be in balance or surplus under the treatys definition. An automatic correction mechanism has to be established to correct potential significant deviations, a national independent monitoring institution should be mandated to provide fiscal surveillance. The country-specific MTOs are recalculated every third year and might be set at stricter levels compared to what the treaty allows at most. The treaty also contains a copy of the debt brake criteria outlined in the Stability and Growth Pact. If the budget or estimated fiscal account for any ratifying state is found to be noncompliant with the deficit or debt criteria, should a state suffer a significant recession, it will be exempted from the requirement to deliver a fiscal correction for as long as it lasts. Monetary policy in the Eurozone is determined by the European Central Bank, the EU has a monetary union but not a fiscal union. In October 2007, then ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, emphasised the need for the European Union to pursue further economic, if these fiscal policies were adhered to by all member states, the ECB believed that this would increase their competitiveness. Combined with the EMU, a union would, according to the authors of the Blueprint report. However, the process of building a union is envisaged by them to be a long-term project. In March 2010, Germany presented a series of proposals to address the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis and they emphasised that the intention was not to establish a fiscal union in the short term, but to make the monetary union more resilient to crisis. A call was made to enforce the Coordination of economic policies between eurozone members, so that all states take an active part in each others policymaking. Throughout the following three years, these German proposals materialised into new European agreements or regulations after negotiations with the other EU member states. Implementation of the debt brake was by-itself envisaged to imply much tighter fiscal discipline compared to the existing EU rules requiring deficits not to exceed 3% of GDP. This proposal was adopted as part of both the Fiscal Compact and Twopack regulations. In late 2010, proposals were made to some rules of the Stability
17.
Emmanuel Macron
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Emmanuel Macron is a French politician, senior civil servant, and former investment banker. Born in Amiens, he studied Philosophy at Paris Nanterre University and he went on to become an Inspector of Finances in the Inspectorate General of Finances before becoming an investment banker at Rothschild & Cie Banque. He resigned in August 2016 in order to launch a bid in the 2017 presidential election, in November 2016, Macron declared that he would run in the election under the banner of En Marche. A centrist movement he founded in April 2016, born in Amiens, Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron is the son of Jean-Michel Macron, Professor of Neurology at the University of Picardy, and Françoise Macron-Noguès, a physician. He was educated mostly at the Jésuites de la Providence lycée in Amiens before his parents sent him to finish his last year of school at the high school Lycée Henri-IV in Paris. He studied Philosophy at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense and he obtained a Masters degree in Public Affairs at Sciences Po, before training for a senior civil service career at the École nationale dadministration, graduating in 2004. Macron worked as an Inspector of Finances in the French Ministry of Economy between 2004 and 2008, in 2007, he served as deputy rapporteur for the Commission to improve French growth headed by Jacques Attali. While an investment banker, Macron closed a deal between Nestlé and Pfizer, which in part allowed him to amass a small fortune reportedly in the region of €2,800,000. Macron was a member of the Socialist Party from 2006 to 2009, in 2015, he stated that he was no longer a member of the PS and was now an Independent. From 2012 to 2014, he served as deputy secretary-general of the Élysée and he was appointed Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital Data in the second Valls Cabinet on 26 August 2014, replacing Arnaud Montebourg. As Minister of the Economy, Macron was at the forefront of pushing through business-friendly reforms, in February 2015, he pledged that the government would force through reforms despite opposition from the parliament. On 30 August 2016, Macron resigned from the government ahead of the 2017 presidential election and this came shortly after he founded his own progressive political movement, En Marche. An independent political party, for which he was reprimanded by President Hollande, Macron founded En Marche. in Amiens, the city of his birth. On 16 November 2016, Macron formally declared his candidacy for the French presidency after months of speculation, in his announcement speech, Macron called for a democratic revolution and promised to unblock France. He eventually laid out his 150-page formal program on 2 March, publishing it online, as well as numerous others – many of them from the Socialist Party, but also a significant number of centrist and centre-right politicians. Macron has been described by observers as a social liberal. Macron has notably advocated in favor of the market and reducing the public-finances deficit. He first publicly used the term liberal to describe himself in a 2015 interview with Le Monde and he added that he is neither right nor left and that he advocates a collective solidarity
18.
Angela Merkel
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Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician who is currently Chancellor of Germany. She is also the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Merkel has been described at various times as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and the worlds second most powerful person. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Merkel was appointed as the Minister for Women and Youth in the federal government under Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1991, and became the Minister for the Environment in 1994. In the 2009 federal election, the CDU obtained the largest share of the vote, in 2007, Merkel was President of the European Council and chaired the G8, the second woman to do so. Merkel played a role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon. One of Merkels consistent priorities has been to strengthen economic relations. Merkel played a role in managing the financial crisis at the European and international level. On 26 March 2014, Merkel became the incumbent head of government in the European Union. On 20 November 2016, Merkel announced she would seek re-election to a fourth term and she has two younger siblings, her brother Marcus Kasner, a physicist, and her sister Irene Kasner, an occupational therapist. In her childhood and youth, Merkel was known among her peers by the nickname Kasi, Merkel is of Polish and German descent. Her paternal grandfather Ludwik Kaźmierczak was a German policeman of Polish ethnicity and he married Merkels grandmother Margarethe, a German girl from Berlin, and relocated to her hometown where he worked in the police. In 1930 they Germanized the Polish name Kaźmierczak to Kasner, Merkels maternal grandparents were the Danzig politician Willi Jentzsch and Gertrud Alma née Drange, a daughter of the city clerk of Elbing Emil Drange. Merkel has mentioned her Polish heritage on several occasions, but her Polish roots became better known as a result of a 2013 biography, religion played a key role in the Kasner familys migration from West Germany to East Germany. In 1954, he received a pastorate at the church in Quitzow, the family moved to Templin and Merkel grew up in the countryside 80 km north of East Berlin. Like most young people in the German Democratic Republic, Merkel was a member of the Free German Youth, membership was nominally voluntary, but those who did not join found it difficult to gain admission to higher education. She did not participate in the coming of age ceremony Jugendweihe, however. Later, at the Academy of Sciences, she became a member of the FDJ district board, Merkel claimed that she was secretary for culture. When Merkels one-time FDJ district chairman contradicted her, she insisted that, According to my memory, I believe I wont know anything when Im 80
19.
Luxembourg
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Luxembourg /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east and its culture, people and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and Germanic cultures. It comprises two regions, the Oesling in the north as part of the Ardennes massif. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres, it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, Luxembourg had a population of 524,853 in October 2012, ranking it the 8th least-populous country in Europe. As a representative democracy with a monarch, it is headed by a Grand Duke, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a country, with an advanced economy and the worlds highest GDP per capita. Luxembourg is a member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux, reflecting its political consensus in favour of economic, political. The city of Luxembourg, which is the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions. Luxembourg served on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013 and 2014, around this fort, a town gradually developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value. In the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman Emperors, in the following centuries, Luxembourgs fortress was steadily enlarged and strengthened by its successive occupants, the Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the French. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Luxembourg was disputed between Prussia and the Netherlands and this arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourgs full independence is reckoned. In 1842 Luxembourg joined the German Customs Union, the King of the Netherlands remained Head of State as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, maintaining a personal union between the two countries until 1890. At the death of William III, the throne of the Netherlands passed to his daughter Wilhelmina and this allowed Germany the military advantage of controlling and expanding the railways there. In August 1914, Imperial Germany violated Luxembourgs neutrality in the war by invading it in the war against France and this allowed Germany to use the railway lines, while at the same time denying them to France. Nevertheless, despite the German occupation, Luxembourg was allowed to maintain much of its independence, in 1940, after the outbreak of World War II, Luxembourgs neutrality was again violated when the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany entered the country, entirely without justification. A government in exile based in London supported the Allies, sending a group of volunteers who participated in the Normandy invasion. Luxembourg was liberated in September 1944, and became a member of the United Nations in 1945. Luxembourgs neutral status under the constitution formally ended in 1948, in 2005, a referendum on the EU treaty establishing a constitution for Europe was held
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Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
21.
Dana Reizniece-Ozola
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Dana Reizniece-Ozola is the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Latvia. She is also a player who holds the title of Woman Grandmaster. From 2006 to 2014, Reizniece-Ozola was Advisor to the Board, Board Member, before that, she was the Board Member of a research centre and industrial investment company. She has also worked at Ventspils City Council as the Head of the Investment Division and she is twofold European Junior Chess Champion and World Junior Chess Champion and holds the title of Woman Grandmaster. She won the Latvian Chess Championship for women in 1998,1999,2000, in 1998 and 1999 she won the European Girls Under-18 Chess Championship. In the 4th round of the 42nd Chess Olympiad in 2016, Dana Reizniece-Ozola is the current Minister of Economics of Latvia. Within the ZZS she is a member of For Latvia and Ventspils, Reizniece-Ozola is married to Andris Ozols, director of the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia. Dana Reizniece-Ozola rating card at FIDE Dana Reizniece-Ozola player profile at chessgames. com Dana Reizniece-Ozola player profile at 365chess. com Dana Reizniece-Ozola player profile at chesstempo. com
22.
Latvia
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Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe, one of the three Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2. The country has a seasonal climate. Latvia is a parliamentary republic established in 1918. The capital city is Riga, the European Capital of Culture 2014, Latvia is a unitary state, divided into 119 administrative divisions, of which 110 are municipalities and 9 are cities. Latvians and Livs are the people of Latvia. Latvian and Lithuanian are the two surviving Baltic languages. Despite foreign rule from the 13th to 20th centuries, the Latvian nation maintained its identity throughout the generations via the language, Latvia and Estonia share a long common history. Until World War II, Latvia also had significant minorities of ethnic Germans, Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant Lutheran, except for the Latgale region in the southeast, which has historically been predominantly Roman Catholic. The Russian population has brought a significant portion of Eastern Orthodox Christians. The Republic of Latvia was founded on 18 November 1918, however, its de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II. The peaceful Singing Revolution, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation of Soviet rule and it ended with the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia on 4 May 1990, and restoring de facto independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia is a democratic and developed country and member of the European Union, NATO, the Council of Europe, the United Nations, CBSS, the IMF, NB8, NIB, OECD, OSCE, and WTO. For 2014, Latvia was listed 46th on the Human Development Index and it used the Latvian lats as its currency until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes, henry of Latvia coined the Latinisations of the countrys name, Lettigallia and Lethia, both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the name in Romance languages from Letonia. Around 3000 BC, the ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals, by 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia, Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians, as well as the Livonians speaking a Finnic language
23.
S.L. Benfica
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Sport Lisboa e Benfica, commonly known as Benfica, is a Portuguese sports club based in Lisbon, Portugal. It is best known for the football team playing in the Primeira Liga. Benfica are the current Portuguese champions, having won three league titles. The team is nicknamed Águias for the symbol atop the clubs crest, since 2003, their home ground has been the Estádio da Luz, which replaced the original one. Benfica is the most supported Portuguese club, with a fan base of 14 million supporters worldwide. By August 2015, it had 156,916 paying members, the clubs official anthem, Ser Benfiquista, refers to its supporters who are called Benfiquistas. Benfica is honoured in three Portuguese Orders, those of Christ, of Merit and of Prince Henry. Benfica is the most successful Portuguese club in terms of domestic and overall titles –79 including the Latin Cup – and is the only one to have won all national competitions. They have won a record 35 Primeira Liga titles, a record 25 Taça de Portugal, internationally, Benfica won two consecutive European Cup titles, in 1961 and 1962, a unique feat in Portuguese football. In addition, they were runners-up at the Intercontinental Cup in 1961 and 62, at the European Cup in 1963,65,68,88 and 90 and they have reached ten European finals, which ranks seventh all-time among UEFA clubs and is a domestic record. Furthermore, they hold the European record for the most consecutive wins in domestic league, in the 1972–73 campaign, Benfica became the first undefeated Portuguese champions. In 2000, Benfica was ranked twelfth in the FIFA Club of the Century award, Benficas all-time top goalscorer is Eusébio, who won one Ballon dOr and two European Golden Boots while at the club. On 28 February 1904, a group of students from the Real Casa Pia de Lisboa. Their goal was to form a social and cultural football club, there were a total of 24 people who attended the meeting, including the 18-year-old co-founder and future soul of the club, Cosme Damião. In this meeting, José Rosa Rodrigues was appointed as president, along with Daniel Brito as secretary. It was defined that the colours would be red for bravery. The founders also decided that the crest would be composed of an eagle, the motto E pluribus unum, on 1 January 1905, Benfica played their first match ever, winning 1–0 against Campo de Ourique. Despite important victories in the first few years, the club suffered because of operating conditions
24.
European Investment Bank
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The European Investment Bank is the European Unions nonprofit long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. As a policy-driven bank whose shareholders are the states of the EU. It should not be confused with the European Central Bank, the EIB is a publicly owned international financial institution and its shareholders are the EU member states. Thus the member states set the broad policy goals and oversee the two independent decision-making bodies—the board of governors and the board of directors. It is the worlds largest international public lending institution, in 2009, Caisse des Dépots, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, KfW and European Investment Bank founded the Long-Term Investors Club. The European Investment Bank was founded in Brussels in 1958 when the Treaty of Rome came into force and it relocated to Luxembourg, its current headquarters, in 1968. By 1999, it had more than 1,000 staff members, a figure that had doubled by 2012. The EIB Group was formed in 2000, comprising the EIB and the European Investment Fund, the EIB is the EIFs majority shareholder, with 62% of the shares. The total subscribed capital of the Bank was EUR232 billion in 2012, the capital of the EIB was virtually doubled between 2007 and 2009 in response to the crisis. The EU heads of government agreed to increase paid-in capital by EUR10 billion in June 2012, for the fiscal year 2011, EIB lent EUR61 billion in various loan products, bringing total outstanding loans to EUR395 billion, one-third higher than at the end of 2008. Nearly 90% of these were with EU member states with the remainder dispersed between around 150 partner countries, the bank uses its AAA credit rating and funds itself by raising equivalent amounts on the capital markets. As the Bank of the European Union, the EIBs mission is to make a difference to the future of Europe and its partners by supporting sound investments which further EU policy goals. In the wake of the 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the EIB is governed by the, Board of Governors – usually the Finance Ministers of the Member States. Their mandate is to authorise EIB activities outside the Union, form credit policy guidelines, Board of directors – twenty-eight members. There are eighteen alternates, meaning some of these positions are shared by groups of states. The board also co-opts a maximum of six experts, who participate in the Board meetings in an advisory capacity, the Board has sole power to take decisions in respect of loans, guarantees and borrowings. They are responsible only to the bank, the headquarters is situated at 100 Boulevard Konrad Adenauer in Kirchberg, Luxembourg. The buildings first phase, now the West building, was designed by British architect Sir Denys Lasdun and is one of his few works outside the UK, an extension, the East building, was designed by Ingenhoven Architects, Düsseldorf
25.
Asian Development Bank
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The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The company also maintains 31 field offices around the world to promote social, the bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and non-regional developed countries. From 31 members at its establishment, ADB now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia, the ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members capital subscriptions. ADB releases a report that summarizes its operations, budget. At the end of 2014, Japan holds the largest proportion of shares at 15. 7%, the United States holds 15. 6%, China holds 6. 5%, India holds 6. 4%, and Australia holds 5. 8%. The highest policy-making body of the bank is the Board of Governors, the Board of Governors, in turn, elect among themselves the twelve members of the Board of Directors and their deputies. Eight of the members come from regional members while the others come from non-regional members. The Board of Governors also elect the president, who is the chairperson of the Board of Directors. The president has a term of office lasting five years, traditionally, and because Japan is one of the largest shareholders of the bank, the president has always been Japanese. The current president was Takehiko Nakao, who succeeded Haruhiko Kuroda in 2013, the bank employs about 3,000 people, representing 60 of its 67 members. The United States was initially opposed to the creation of regional development bank following the establishment of the Inter-American Development Bank in 1959. President Johnson pressed retired World Bank President Eugene R. Black, in the process, U. S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk urged that Japan play an important role in the ADB. He argued that the biggest danger to American foreign policy in Asia was Japans inability to integrate into the Asian society of nations following the animosities of World War II, indeed, there was sharp Asian opposition to Japans participation in the institution. After considerable diplomatic effort, Japan was eventually accepted into the organization by the majority of the participating nations, the Presidency was to rotate between the various countries of Asia. He threatened to travel to every Asian capital and scuttle the project. Eugene Black, with the assistance of President Johnson, was able to mollify President Marcos with the promise to locate the ADB in Manila. As a concession to the Japanese, they were given the inaugural Presidency of the institution - a position they have held onto ever since. By the end of 1972, Japan had contributed $173.7 million to the capital resources
26.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies, initially focused on the countries of the former Eastern Bloc it expanded to support development in more than 30 countries from central Europe to central Asia. Besides Europe, member countries of the EBRD are from five continents, with the biggest shareholder being the United States, headquartered in London, the EBRD is owned by 65 countries and two EU institutions. Despite its public shareholders, it invests mainly in private enterprises. The EBRD is not to be confused with the European Investment Bank, EBRD is also distinct from the Council of Europe Development Bank. In 2006, EBRD stated it would cease spending in the Baltic and central European nations by 2010, in 2010, due to the Great Recession, this process was postponed. The EBRD was founded to support countries of the former Eastern Bloc in the process of establishing their private sectors, to that end, it offers project financing for banks, industries and businesses, for new ventures or existing companies. It works with publicly owned companies to support their privatization, as advocated by the WTO since the 1980s, the EBRD mandates to work only in countries that are committed to democratic principles. Some NGOs have criticized the EBRD for financing projects they consider to be environmentally and socially harmful, among the contested projects are the Ombla power plant in Croatia, the Kumtor Gold Mine in Kyrgyzstan, and the Šoštanj lignite power plant in Slovenia. NGOs have criticized the EBRD on the lack of progress the EBRD makes in its mission, the “transition towards open and democratic market economies. ”For example. The EBRD announced on 23 July 2014 that it would suspend new investment projects in Russia, the European Council declaration was made in the context of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. As of 2014 Russia has been the biggest funding recipient of all countries, in 2013, the Russian Federation received 1.8 billion € for investments from the EBRD and 1 billion € from the EIB. Russia employed the funds to finance a variety of projects like pipeline valves, property acquisitions, two Russian projects were awaiting funding from the EBRD, a 300 million € plan for promoting energy efficiency, and a $180 million loan to lease agricultural and forestry equipment. The bank stated that it continue to manage on-going projects in Russia. In 2015, the EBRD invested an amount in the Central Asian region. The total investment in 2015 rose by 75% reaching €1,402.3 billion, Kazakhstan reported the largest total volumes of investment. reaching 790 million euro in 2015. The following presidents have served the EBRD to date, the EBRD publishes its tenders and contracts on its own website and in Development Business. A publication launched in 1978 by the United Nations with the World Bank, direct investments range from €5 million to €230 million
27.
Inter-American Development Bank
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The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. The IDB has four official languages, English, French, Portuguese and its official names in the other three languages are as follows, In all three other languages the Bank uses the acronym BID. At the First Pan-American Conference in 1890, the idea of a development institution for Latin America was first suggested during the earliest efforts to create an inter-American system, the IDB became a reality under an initiative proposed by President Juscelino Kubitshek of Brazil. The Bank was formally created on April 8,1959, when the Organization of American States drafted the Articles of Agreement establishing the Inter-American Development Bank, the Bank is owned by 48 sovereign states, which are its shareholders and members. Only the 26 borrowing countries are able to receive loans, the IDB is the largest multilateral source of financing for the Latin America and the Caribbean region. The IDB is governed by its Board of Governors, a 48-member body who regularly meets once a year, the developing countries that borrow from the IDB are the majority shareholders, and therefore control the majority of the decision-making bodies of the Bank. Each members voting power is determined by its shareholding, its subscription to the Banks ordinary capital. The United States holds 30 percent of the Banks shares, while the countries of Latin America and this arrangement is unique in that the developing member countries, as a group, are the majority shareholders. Though this arrangement was first viewed as risky, it is believed by some that peer pressure prevents the borrowers from defaulting. In March 2015, the Bank updated its Institutional Strategy for 2010-2020, the IDB supports readiness to learn interventions so that children can have access to quality programs within the region. Participating countries include Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, the IDB supports interventions to improve teacher quality in Latin America and the Caribbean and conducts research in the field. It supports the Aligning of Learning Incentives in Mexico, a program that provides monetary incentives to students, faculty. Brazil also supports the program, Multiplying Knowledge, where academically successful students help children in the last years of primary school with mathematics. And the implementation and evaluation of Enseña Chile, a program that attracts outstanding college graduates to teach for two years in vulnerable schools, the Inter-American Development bank focuses on three main areas, incentives, supplies, and administration. The IDB also implemented The Employers’ Survey of Mandatory Skills, that investigated the twenty-first century skills demanded by entrepreneurs for people under 25. The Bank also has interventions in areas that affect children and adolescents in the region, such as education inputs, equity. Climate change threatens both to undermine the efforts of the region to achieve sustainable development and to affect the most vulnerable members of society disproportionally. GCI-9 sets a target of 25 percent of total lending going to a portfolio on climate change, environmental sustainability
28.
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
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The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. Such guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against political and non-commercial risks in developing countries, MIGA is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D. C. It was established in 1988 as an investment insurance facility to encourage confident investment in developing countries, MIGAs stated mission is to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve peoples lives. It targets projects that endeavor to create new jobs, develop infrastructure, generate new tax revenues, MIGA is owned and governed by its member states, but has its own executive leadership and staff which carry out its daily operations. Its shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters and it insures long-term debt and equity investments as well as other assets and contracts with long-term periods. The agency is assessed by the World Banks Independent Evaluation Group each year, in September 1985, the Board of Governors of the World Bank endorsed the Convention establishing the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. MIGA was established and became operational on April 12,1988 under the leadership of then-Executive Vice President Yoshio Terasawa, MIGA initially had $1 billion in capital and 29 member states. All members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development were eligible to become members of the agency, MIGA was established as an effort to complement existing sources of non-commercial risk insurance for investments in developing countries, and thereby improve investor confidence. The agencys mandate to be apolitical has been said to be an advantage over private, by serving as a multilateral guarantor, the agency reduces the likelihood of confrontations among the investors country and the host country. MIGAs inaugural investment guarantees were issued in 1990 to cover $1.04 billion worth of foreign direct investment comprising four individual projects, the agency also issued its first reinsurance contracts signed in collaboration with Export Development Canada and the United States Overseas Private Investment Corporation. That same year, MIGA held a conference in Ghana to promote investment, the agency joined the Berne Union, an international community of export credit and investment insurance providers in 1994. In 1997, MIGA issued the inaugural contract under its Cooperative Underwriting Program to support a project in Indonesia. In collaboration with the European Union Investment Trust Fund for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the agency also established the West Bank and Gaza Investment Guarantee Trust Fund with a capacity of $20 million. In 1998 the Council of Governors of MIGA adopted a resolution establishing a capital increase of $850 million. MIGA exceeded $1 billion in investment guarantees within a year for the first time in 1999. The agency also approved an Environmental Assessment and Disclosure Policy and began attempting to implement such standards for new projects, in 2000 MIGA paid its first insurance claim since the agencys founding. In 2001 MIGAs issuance of new investment guarantees grew to $2 billion, the agency launched its Small Investment Program in 2005 in an effort to promote investment among small and medium enterprises. That same year, MIGA set up its Afghanistan Investment Guarantee Facility in an effort to promote FDI into Afghanistan, in 2007 MIGA issued investment guarantees for a Djibouti port, marking its first support in the form of Islamic finance
29.
World Bank Group
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The World Bank Group is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and most famous development bank in the world and is an observer at the United Nations Development Group. The bank is based in Washington, D. C. and provided around $61 billion in loans and assistance to developing, the banks stated mission is to achieve the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity. Total lending as of 2015 for the last 10 years through Development Policy Financing was approximately $117 billion, the IBRD and IDA provide loans at preferential rates to member countries, as well as grants to the poorest countries. Loans or grants for projects are often linked to wider policy changes in the sector or the countrys economy as a whole. The World Bank has received various criticisms over the years and was tarnished by a scandal with the banks then President Paul Wolfowitz and his aide, Shaha Riza, in 2007. The WBG came into existence on 27 December 1945 following international ratification of the Bretton Woods agreements. It also provided the foundation of the Osiander Committee in 1951, commencing operations on 25 June 1946, it approved its first loan on 9 May 1947. All of the 193 UN members and Kosovo that are WBG members participate at a minimum in the IBRD, as of May 2016, all of them also participate in some of the other 4 organizations, IDA, IFC, MIGA, ICSID. Together with four affiliated agencies created between 1957 and 1988, the IBRD is part of the World Bank Group, the Groups headquarters are in Washington, D. C. It is an organization owned by member governments, although it makes profits. Membership gives certain voting rights that are the same for all countries, the President of the World Bank is nominated by the President of the United States and elected by the Banks Board of Governors. As of 15 November 2009 the United States held 16. 4% of total votes, Japan 7. 9%, Germany 4. 5%, the United Kingdom 4. 3%, and France 4. 3%. As changes to the Banks Charter require an 85% super-majority, the US can block any change in the Banks governing structure. The term World Bank generally refers to just the IBRD and IDA, the World Bank Institute is the capacity development branch of the World Bank, providing learning and other capacity-building programs to member countries. The IBRD has 189 member governments, and the institutions have between 153 and 184 members. The institutions of the World Bank Group are all run by a Board of Governors meeting once a year, each member country appoints a governor, generally its Minister of Finance. On a daily basis the World Bank Group is run by a Board of 25 Executive Directors to whom the governors have delegated certain powers, each Director represents either one country, or a group of countries
30.
World Bank
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The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. It comprises two institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association, the World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, which is part of the United Nations system. The World Banks stated official goal is the reduction of poverty, the president of the World Bank is, traditionally, an American. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D. C. and work closely with each other, although many countries were represented at the Bretton Woods Conference, the United States and United Kingdom were the most powerful in attendance and dominated the negotiations. Before 1974 the reconstruction and development loans provided by the World Bank were relatively small, the Banks staff were aware of the need to instill confidence in the bank. Fiscal conservatism ruled, and loan applications had to meet strict criteria, the first country to receive a World Bank loan was France. The Banks president at the time, John McCloy, chose France over two other applicants, Poland and Chile, the loan was for US$250 million, half the amount requested, and it came with strict conditions. France had to agree to produce a budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments. World Bank staff closely monitored the use of the funds to ensure that the French government met the conditions. In addition, before the loan was approved, the United States State Department told the French government that its members associated with the Communist Party would first have to be removed, the French government complied with this diktat and removed the Communist coalition government - the so-called tripartisme. Within hours, the loan to France was approved, when the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1947, many European countries began receiving aid from other sources. Faced with this competition, the World Bank shifted its focus to non-European countries, in 1960, the International Development Association was formed, providing soft loans to developing countries. From 1974 to 1980 the bank concentrated on meeting the needs of people in the developing world. The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and these changes can be attributed to Robert McNamara, who was appointed to the presidency in 1968 by Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara implored bank treasurer Eugene Rotberg to seek out new sources of capital outside of the banks that had been the primary sources of funding. Rotberg used the bond market to increase the capital available to the bank. One consequence of the period of poverty alleviation lending was the rise of third world debt. From 1976 to 1980 developing world debt rose at an annual rate of 20%
31.
IZA Institute of Labor Economics
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Founded in 1998, IZA is a non-profit limited-liability organization supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation and other national and international sources. As of December 2014, the RePEc ranks IZA second of the top worldwide economic institutions in the field of economics as well as second of the top worldwide think tanks. In Germany it is the one top economic institution. IZAs main focus is the analysis of national and international labor markets within a broad range of research areas. Furthermore IZA provides policy advice on crucial labor market issues for national and international policy institutions, on March 1,2016, the Institute for the Study of Labor was restructured by Klaus Zumwinkel, CEO of the Deutsche Post Stiftung and President of IZA. A new institute on behavior and inequality research was founded while IZA will put more emphasis on policy-relevant research, founding Director Klaus F. Zimmermann, who did not accept these developments, left IZA on the 1st of March 2016. The journals are published since 2012 on IZAs behalf by Springer Science+Business Media, since 2002 IZA awards yearly the IZA Prize in Labor Economics for exceptional academic accomplishments in the field of labor economics. It is endowed with an award of 50,000 euros and is among the most prestigious awards worldwide. In 2006, IZA also established the IZA Young Labor Economist Award to honor an outstanding published paper in labor economics written by researchers under 40 years of age at the time of publication, the prize money of 5,000 Euros is shared between the authors. Winners include,2006, Enrico Moretti, Moretti, Enrico, estimating the Social Return to Higher Education, Evidence from Longitudinal and Repeated Cross-Sectional Data. 2007, Oriana Bandiera, Iwan Barankay, Imran Rasul, Bandiera, O. Barankay, Social Preferences and the Response to Incentives, Evidence from Personnel Data. Labour Unrest and the Quality of Production, Evidence from the Construction Equipment Resale Market, moral Hazard versus Liquidity and Optimal Unemployment Insurance. 2011, Johannes Abeler, Steffen Altmann, Sebastian Kube, Mathias Wibral, Abeler, Johannes, Altmann, Steffen, Kube, Sebastian, Wibral, gift Exchange and Workers Fairness Concerns, When Equality is Unfair. Journal of the European Economic Association,2012, Scott Carrell and Mark Hoekstra, Carrell, Scott E. Hoekstra, Mark L. Externalities in the Classroom, How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyones Kids. 2013, Martha Bailey, Brad Hershbein and Amalia Miller, Bailey, Martha J, Hershbein, Brad, Miller, contraception, Fertility Timing and the Gender Gap in Wages. 2014, Brian K. Kovak, Kovak, Brian K, regional Effects of Trade Reform, What is the Correct Measure of Liberalization. Migration, jobs and integration in Europe, migration Policy Practice, Volume IV, Number 4, October–November 2014, pp. 4–16. Official website IZA Prize Series at OUP GLM LIC DFID Project Research in Labor Economics homepage IZA Journal Series homepage IZA World of Labor homepage
32.
Reuters
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Reuters /ˈrɔɪtərz/ is an international news agency headquartered in London, England. It is a division of Thomson Reuters, until 2008, the Reuters news agency formed part of an independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data. Since the acquisition of Reuters Group by the Thomson Corporation in 2008, Reuters transmits news in English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Urdu, and Chinese. The Reuter agency was established in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter in Britain at the London Royal Exchange, Paul Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions in 1848. Upon moving to England, he founded Reuters Telegram Company in 1851, headquartered in London, the company initially covered commercial news, serving banks, brokerage houses, and business firms. The first newspaper client to subscribe was the London Morning Advertiser in 1858, Reuters agency built a reputation in Europe and the rest of the world as the first to report news scoops from abroad. Reuters was the first to report Abraham Lincolns assassination in Europe, for instance, in 1872, Reuters expanded into the far east, followed by South America in 1874. Both expansions were made possible by advances in overland telegraphs and undersea cables, in 1883, Reuters began transmitting messages electrically to London newspapers. In 1923, Reuters began using radio to transmit news internationally, in 1925, The Press Association of Great Britain acquired a majority interest in Reuters, and full owners some years later. During the world wars, The Guardian reported that Reuters came under pressure from the British government to national interests. In 1941 Reuters deflected the pressure by restructuring itself as a private company, the new owners formed the Reuters Trust. In 1941, the PA sold half of Reuters to the Newspaper Proprieters Association, the Reuters Trust Principles were put in place to maintain the companys independence. At that point, Reuters had become one of the major news agencies. In 1961, Reuters scooped news of the erection of the Berlin Wall, in 1981, Reuters began making electronic transactions on its computer network, and afterwards developed a number of electronic brokerage and trading services. Reuters was floated as a company in 1984, when Reuters Trust was listed on the stock exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange. Reuters published the first story of the Berlin Wall being breached in 1989, share price grew during the dotcom boom, then fell after the banking troubles in 2001. In 2002, Brittanica wrote that most news throughout the world came from three major agencies, the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse, Reuters merged with Thomson Corporation in Canada in 2008, forming Thomson Reuters. In 2009, Thomson Reuters withdrew from the LSE and the NASDAQ, instead listing its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the last surviving member of the Reuters family founders, Marguerite, Baroness de Reuter, died at age 96 on 25 January 2009
33.
Agence France-Presse
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Agence France-Presse is an international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1944, AFP is the third largest news agency in the world, after the Associated Press, journalists of the French Resistance established the AFP in the headquarters of the former Office Français dInformation, a Vichy news agency, following the liberation of Paris. Currently, the CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and the News Director is Michèle Léridon, AFP has regional offices in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong, and Washington, D. C. and bureaux in 150 countries. AFP transmits news in French, English, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, the Agence Havas was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas. Two of his employees, Paul Reuter and Bernhard Wolff, later set up rival news agencies in London and Berlin respectively and this arrangement lasted until the 1930s, when the invention of short-wave wireless improved and cut communications costs. To help Havas extend the scope of its reporting at a time of international tension. Established as an enterprise, AFP devoted the post-war years to developing its network of international correspondents. One of them was the first Western journalist to report the death of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on March 6,1953, AFP was keen to shake off its semi-official status, and on January 10,1957 the French Parliament passed a law establishing its independence. Since that date, the proportion of the revenues generated by subscriptions from government departments has steadily declined. Such subscriptions represented 115 million Euros in 2011, in 1982, the agency began to decentralize its editorial decision-making by setting up the first of its five autonomous regional centres, in Hong Kong, then a British Crown colony. Each region has its own budget, administrative director and chief editor, in September 2007, the AFP Foundation was launched to promote higher standards of journalism worldwide. The Mitrokhin archive identified six agents and two confidential KGB contacts inside Agence France-Presse who were used in Soviet operations in France, in 1991, AFP set up a joint venture with Extel to create a financial news service, AFX News. It was sold in 2006 to Thomson Financial, in October 2008, the Government of France announced moves to change AFPs status, including the involvement of outside investors. On February 24,2010, Pierre Louette unexpectedly announced his intention to resign as CEO by the end of March, AFP is a government-chartered public corporation operating under a 1957 law, but is officially a commercial business independent of the French government. One is named by the minister, another by the minister of finance. The board elects the CEO for a term of three years. The AFP also has a council charged with ensuring that the agency operates according to its statutes, editorially, AFP is governed by a network of senior journalists. The primary client of AFP is the French government, which purchases subscriptions for its various services, in practice, those subscriptions are an indirect subsidy to AFP
34.
Financial Times
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The Financial Times is an English-language international daily newspaper with a special emphasis on business and economic news. The paper, published and owned by Nikkei Inc. in Tokyo, was founded in 1888 by James Sheridan and Horatio Bottomley, and merged in 1945 with its closest rival, the Financial Times has an average daily readership of 2.2 million people worldwide. FT. com has 4.5 million registered users and over 285,000 digital subscribers, FT Chinese has more than 1.7 million registered users. The world editions of the Financial Times newspaper had an average daily circulation of 234,193 copies in January 2014. In February 2014 the combined sale of the editions of the Financial Times was 224,000 copies. In October 2013 the combined print and digital circulation of the Financial Times reached nearly 629,000 copies. In December 2016 print sales for the paper stood at 193,211, on 23 July 2015 Nikkei Inc. agreed to buy the Financial Times from Pearson for £844m. On 30 November 2015 Nikkei completed the acquisition, the FT was launched as the London Financial Guide on 10 January 1888, renaming itself the Financial Times on 13 February the same year. Describing itself as the friend of The Honest Financier, the Bona Fide Investor, the Respectable Broker, the Genuine Director, the readership was the financial community of the City of London, its only rival being the slightly older and more daring Financial News. After 57 years of rivalry the Financial Times and the Financial News were merged in 1945 by Brendan Bracken to form a single six-page newspaper, the Financial Times brought a higher circulation while the Financial News provided much of the editorial talent. The Lex column was introduced from Financial News. Pearson bought the paper in 1957, over the years the paper grew in size, readership and breadth of coverage. It established correspondents in cities around the world, reflecting early moves in the economy towards globalisation. On 1 January 1979 the first FT was printed outside the UK, since then, with increased international coverage, the FT has become a global newspaper, printed in 22 locations with five international editions to serve the UK, continental Europe, the U. S. The European edition is distributed in continental Europe and Africa and it is printed Monday to Saturday at five centres across Europe reporting on matters concerning the European Union, the Euro and European corporate affairs. In 1994 FT launched a lifestyle magazine, How To Spend It. In 2009 it launched a website for the magazine. On 13 May 1995 the Financial Times group made its first foray into the world with the launch of FT. com
35.
Politico Europe
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Politico Europe is a Brussels-based European affairs weekly newspaper. Politico Europe debuted in print on April 23,2015, among the reporters who work for Politico are Ryan Heath, Tara Palmeri, Florian Eder, Alex Spence and Matthew Karnitschnig. European Voice was an English-language newspaper founded by The Economist Group in 1995, in 2013, it was sold to the French company Selectcom owned by Shéhérazade Semsar de Boisséson. The newspaper reports on the activities of the key European Union institutions, the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council of Ministers. The paper is available on subscription or by direct sale from a number of newsstands in Brussels, London, Luxembourg. European Voice maintained an independent stance regarding the affairs of the European Union, the majority of the papers articles cover the day-to-day business of the EU and its interactions in domestic and international affairs. There is also an editorial, a section, and a section for readers letters. Each week, it publishes a roughly 1, 000-word profile of a politician, official or public figure of influence or importance within the EU and particularly within Brussels. It regularly publishes a report on a specific issue, which is usually topical and examines the issue. The paper also has an Entre Nous column, which reports, often in a tone, on the more unusual stories of the week. Web-only material includes news articles and commentaries, sometimes longer and of a broader European character than the pieces within the newspaper. POLITICO organises and hosts series of conferences, seminars, fairs. E. Sharp New Europe EurActiv Euronews EUobserver Official website
36.
Chicago Tribune
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The Chicago Tribune is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by tronc, Inc. formerly Tribune Publishing. The Tribune was founded by James Kelly, John E. Wheeler, forrest, publishing its first edition on June 10,1847. The paper saw numerous changes in ownership and editorship over the eight years. Initially, the Tribune was not politically affiliated but tended to either the Whig or Free Soil parties against the Democrats in elections. By late 1853, it was frequently running xenophobic editorials that criticized foreigners, about this time it also became a strong proponent of temperance. Ray became editor-in-chief, Medill became the editor, and Alfred Cowles, Sr. brother of Edwin Cowles. Each purchased one third of the Tribune, under their leadership the Tribune distanced itself from the Know Nothings and became the main Chicago organ of the Republican Party. However, the continued to print anti-Catholic and anti-Irish editorials. Between 1858 and 1860, the paper was known as the Chicago Press & Tribune, on October 25,1860, it became the Chicago Daily Tribune. Before and during the American Civil War, the new editors pushed an abolitionist agenda and strongly supported Abraham Lincoln, the paper remained a force in Republican politics for years afterwards. In 1861, the Tribune published new lyrics for the song John Browns Body by William W. Patton, Medill served as mayor of Chicago for one term after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Under the 20th-century editorship of Colonel Robert R. Joseph McCarthy, when McCormick assumed the position of co-editor in 1910, the Tribune was the third-best-selling paper among Chicagos eight dailies, with a circulation of only 188,000. At the same time, the Tribune competed with the Hearst paper, by 1914, the cousins succeeded in forcing out Managing Editor William Keeley. By 1918, the Examiner was forced to merge with the Chicago Herald, in 1919, Patterson left the Tribune and moved to New York to launch his own newspaper, the New York Daily News. In a renewed war with Hearsts Herald-Examiner, McCormick and Hearst ran rival lotteries in 1922. The Tribune won the battle, adding 250,000 readers to its ranks, also in 1922, the Chicago Tribune hosted an international design competition for its new headquarters, the Tribune Tower. The competition worked brilliantly as a publicity stunt, and more than 260 entries were received, the winner was a neo-Gothic design by New York architects John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood. The newspaper sponsored an attempt at Arctic aviation in 1929
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