- Injured Russian bobsleigher says thanks in letter to Merkel
- Mayor defends decision to stay in office after Love Parade deaths
- At IFA, Navteq details sat nav based on street photos
- Man dies in car explosion after trying to drown children
- Israeli central bank chief backs handling of German race row case
A selection of the most recently discussed articles by our community
- Universal Health Care Coverage: It's the Law
- Bilingual Kindergartens and Day Care
- Job Hunting in Germany
- The Paper Chase
- Temporary Housing
The European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped up pressure on Germany Wednesday to expedite a bailout for debt-stricken Greece, as signs emerged that Athens may need more money than first thought.
"Every day that is lost, it gets worse in Greece and the eurozone," IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a press conference in Berlin, following a meeting with ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
"If the stability of the eurozone as a whole is in danger, every member state, including Germany of course, feels committed to this stability," Merkel responded later in the day. The Greek debt crisis intensified amid a renewed fall in markets, after the international rating agency Standard and Poor′s (S&P) on Tuesday dramatically downgraded Greek bonds to junk status and cut the credit rating for Portugal, which is also battling to clean up its state finances.
European Union states have the right to prohibit telecoms companies from forcing clients to sign up to services they do not want in order to get the services they do want, the EU's court ruled Thursday in a case brought in Poland.
But they cannot stop such companies offering packages of services as long as the client can choose not to take them, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled.
The judgement comes following a clash in late 2006 between Poland's main phone operator, Telekomunikacja Polska (TP), and the Polish telecoms regulator, UKE.
UKE had ruled that TP's practice of offering clients a high-speed internet link on condition that they also sign up to a telephone connection was illegal.
TP challenged the decision in the Polish courts, which asked the ECJ in Luxembourg to give its opinion on the case.
EU rules "cannot preclude national legislation which, for the purpose of protecting end-users, prohibits an undertaking from making the conclusion of a contract for the provision of telecommunications services contingent on the conclusion, by the end-user, of a contract for the provision of other services," the ECJ decided.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel refused on Wednesday to say when Croatia could join the European Union (EU), after talks in Berlin with Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor.
"When the jointly agreed tasks have been fulfilled, membership will be possible," the chancellor said. Amongst other things, this included a solution to Croatia′s disagreement with Slovenia over their common border.
"We will then ensure with full might that Croatia can become a member," Merkel added.
Kosor in turn said that Croatia was "confident we will be the 28th member," of the EU. The Balkan state hopes to join the EU by 2011.
Merkel lauded Croatia′s efforts to fight corruption, and thanked Kosor for Croatia′s "brave policies" in response to the economic crisis.
The chancellor also praised Croatia for its "key role," in helping to solve problems in Bosnia-Herzegovina and other neighbouring countries.