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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has a new president: the senior official of Indian origin Suma Chakrabarti, currently serving in the Ministry of Justice UK. The candidate endorsed by London was elected last night at the general meeting of the bank on the third ballot, with some 52% of the vote. He was then still opposed to the French Philippe de Fontaine Vive Curtaz (23% of the vote), Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), supported by Paris, and German Thomas Mirow (18% of votes) , the post of chairman since 2008, candidate to succeed him – who had the favor of Berlin.

This is the first time in the history of the EBRD, the presidency of the bank escapes to France or Germany. A result largely due to the impossibility What had the countries of the European Union to agree on an upstream joint application.

The EBRD was created in response to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. While the Soviet bloc fell one by one, Western leaders had been seized by the fear of emptiness. And it took them just six months to organize an international conference at the Elysee, in the month of May 1990, the treaty establishing the EBRD was signed by 40 heads of state or government, plus the European Commission and the EIB .

Expanded mission

Less than a year later, in April 1991, its headquarters was in working in London in a building of marble, with a little too flashy luxury that will require Jacques Attali, its first president, to resign two years later . The latter, as "special adviser" of Mitterrand, will not remain forever under his real designer.

"A third World Bank, two-thirds Lazard," was launched Attali, who wanted to avoid the rigidities of official development assistance. Today, with a capital of 30 billion euros, it never occurs alone but in partnership with private operators, mainly banks. In principle, its participation in financing projects should not exceed 35%.

His second feature, which distinguishes it from all other international financial institutions, its mission is to promote the market economy, but with intervention only in countries that are subject to "democratic principles", according to terms of reference. Its scope is vast, ranging from the restructuring of public enterprises and SME support to nuclear safety and decommissioning of old plants, including the Chernobyl site.

More original still, the EBRD is defined as deliberately "a bank of Transition" (sic). It is not intended to stay on forever, she believes. "Once the mission is to support the market economy accomplished in a country, we close representation," we said Jean Lemierre, who chaired the EBRD from 2001 to 2008. Initially, she had to withdraw in 2010 the countries that joined the EU in 2004, and it may seem paradoxical that the EBRD remains in Slovakia and Slovenia, which joined the euro area. But because of the financial crisis of 2008, it was agreed that she would remain until 2015.

While the volume of its loans reached a cruising speed of 9 billion euros a year (a quarter in favor of Russia), the shift in the South has been the hallmark of the mandate of Thomas Mirow. He believes that the EBRD is now able to "attract 7.5 billion euros of investment per year in North Africa and Jordan."

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The growth figure of France for the first quarter, published this morning, was highly anticipated: it sets the tone of the beginning of the quinquennium the new president. And with sluggish growth in the first three months of the year (after a small increase of 0.1% the last three months of 2011, revised downwards), the least we can say is that the situation will not help Francois Hollande to the implementation of its program. None of the drivers of growth and gives no sign of strength: consumer expenditures of households are "sluggish" (0.2% in the first quarter, after +0.1% the previous one), while investment companies folds (-1.4%), INSEE said. And if imports return to growth, they do not offset the slowdown in exports sufficiently to prevent the trade weighs on growth. As for the production of goods and services, it turns "idle". In total, the growth overhang at the end of March – that is to say, the theoretical progression of GDP if the activity remained stable until the end of the year – amounted to 0.2%.

This stagnation of activity is not a surprise: the National Institute of Statistics had anticipated in March, when it published its quarterly notes on "the fever subsides, recovery will be slow." But the institute did not know then is that this turn of events in Greece could slow it down even further … If the time is not yet at risk of contagion to the Hexagon, "he Avoid the chaotic moments that disturb everyone, Greece is 2% of EU GDP, but this may be part of the little things that become large if not managed properly, "said an official of Bercy.

Dealing with an uncertain

Still, Francois Hollande will have to deal with an uncertain environment low fee cash advance. While the European Commission approved last week forecast growth of 0.5% this year, she expressed doubts about the ability of the new government to reach the figure of 1.7% growth in 2013. However, Francois Hollande believes in his ability to bounce activity. His lieutenant, Michel Sapin, cites as evidence the industrial policy announced by the candidate – more favorable, he said, growth – and European initiatives to materialize before he sees the end of next year, thanks an agreement between France and Germany.

In fact, the new team has no choice if she wants to meet his campaign promises and not be forced to reconsider all of its forecasts. Less growth because it means more unemployment, more deficit and more debt.

To balance its budget equation and honor commitments of public finances – down to 3% of GDP next year – François Hollande planned 29 billion in additional revenue by the end of 2013. But the task is of great magnitude. INSEE has confirmed that the government deficit in France at the end of 2011 stood at 103.1 billion euros, or 5.2% of GDP (decreased by 33.9 billion euros compared to 2010) , "because both the revenue buoyancy and expenditure restraint." It must come down to 4.5% this year. Public debt, it has reached 86% of GDP in 2011. Francois Hollande can not afford any off the road.

Especially since only a few hours meeting with Angela Merkel, Germany has put pressure on France: in the first quarter the economy across the Rhine has seen its GDP grow by 0.5%, bringing its growth on a rolling year to 1.7%. Numbers well above economists' forecasts.

France has not lost fiscal credibility in one night: the election of Francois Hollande suddenly does not make the country less able to finance its debt. While remembering not to take any "political position" is the message that wished to address the rating agency Standard & Poor's Monday morning, issuing a statement saying that the memo from France – "AA +" with perspective negative – was not challenged.

"We still believe there is at least one in three chance that we may need to lower the long-term rating of France this year or in 2013," says S & P, however, with regard to finances public.

Test market 16 May

In its statement, the agency says it will "analyze the choice of new president and new government" and take into account in any future decision on the outcome of the June elections payday advances.

The next auction of debt, which will be held Thursday, May 16, should serve as a real test markets. It is at this moment that we will know if investor demand to fund the French debt is as important as ever.

At the Agence France Trésor (AFT), we simply note that Monday morning, "the 10-year yield continues to relax"

.

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It is a paradox. Michel Combes, the current CEO of Vodafone Europe will become CEO of SFR and board member of Vivendi from August 1, 2012. Jean-Bernard Lévy, Vivendi's chief executive who assumed the interim of Frank Esser arrived in late March, has finally chosen the man who best knows the file. And for good reason! It is precisely Michel Combes, who just last year, sold at high prices to the 44% Vivendi Vodafone's shareholding in SFR. Since 2008 and became head of European operations of British mobile giant, Michel Combes was also a director of SFR. He proceeded to examine every angle SFR.

Shortly after the departure of Frank Esser, Vivendi launched a search to find a replacement. And soon the name of Michel Combes has surfaced. It is a great French telecom specialist for the financial director of France Telecom in 2003 before becoming the right arm of Didier Lombard until 2006. But it is also a leader who has acquired an international dimension to the head of Vodafone Europe since 2008 low fee pay day loans. Meanwhile, the X Telecom 50 years, known for his enthusiasm and hyperactivity, led TDF, the technical broadcaster of television and radio and wireless mobile telecom. His brief tenure as head of TDF was marked by the construction of an ambitious business model that attracted the new shareholders of TDF, the TPG, Axa Private Equity and the CDC.

At the head of SFR, Michel Combes will have to implement the plan to win back customers attracted by offers Free Mobile. It will also improve profitability of the mobile operator heavily affected by the general decline in package prices. In 2012 and 2013, the EBITDA of SFR should decline by 15%. A challenge for Vivendi, who paid € 8 billion to acquire the entire share capital of SFR few months before the arrival of Free Mobile market. The destruction of value for Vivendi would be valued at nearly $ 2 billion.

Very offensive, Eric Leclerc, head of site leparisien.fr, stated flatly: "In 2007 we were in cabbages, with 300,000 unique visitors per month. Today we have peaks at 5.6 million. ".

National information site highly leveraged local info, leparisien.fr is a special case. 74% of its visitors live outside the Ile-de-France. It is therefore the first and by far, in attendance among the sites of the regional daily press, with 38 million total visits, according to OJD. "Our strength is responsiveness, explains Eric Leclerc. Once an event of national scope is identified, it sends reporters then fed into the site every minute. "

The Battle of the hearing, everyone is set. In the footsteps of their fellow Ile, sites in regions learn to boost their traffic, high growth in recent years. Ouestfrance.fr, which generates 45% of its traffic outside its coverage area, also focusing on the hot news, the "breaking news" and the video. The hearing ladepeche.fr out of the Midi-Pyrenees region reached 36%.

The events taking place in regions which detonate hearings fast payday loans. Thus, the case Merah ladepeche.fr allowed to reach over 12 million visits, as many as ouestfrance.fr. And the day after the election of Miss France in Brest, on December 4, the hearing on letelegramme.com reached 290,000 visits.

More services

The next battle is the pay info. Ladepeche.fr is not the only site to clear this minefield. "We do not expect to be profitable to invest," said Fabien Charmetant letelegramme.com support the site, which, as lavoixdunord.fr, began to form bases of loyal readers online and then look to monetize content.

The big question is which. If free access to information is an unavoidable, media groups know that the information value-added will have a future where users have been réhabitués to pay. In the short term, the safest path is to create more services, that, by their proximity to natural, local newspapers are able to do. Even if they have to relearn this role in a highly fluid technological environment.

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France is already the "spoils" of foreign tourists, with 77 million international visitors in 2010, according to World Tourism Organization (WTO). And to remain so, she can count on its approximately 50,000 religious buildings (monasteries, abbeys, cathedrals, churches, synagogues, mosques, etc ….) that attract more and more tourists, especially during holidays such as Easter or All Saints . But not only. "There is definitely a trend in favor of deep spiritual tourism," says Geraldine Bale, president of the association Sanctuaries Cities in France, which includes 15 sites of pilgrimage including Lourdes, Mont Saint-Michel, Chartres, Lisieux or Vézelay ( Yonne). The increase in attendance of these sanctuaries is stable for several years, the range of 5 to 10% per year depending on the site.

The Sanctuary of Lourdes. Photo Credits: Richard VIALERON / Le Figaro

The gas leak that caused the evacuation of 238 people on the platform of Total Elgin in the North Sea, 240 km east of Aberdeen in Scotland, still has a risk of explosion.

The BBC said that the flare used to burn non-exploitable gas was left burning on the Elgin platform, despite the risks involved with all the gas that is brought to the surface. A surprising situation, considering that the oil company has yet taken every precaution to avoid an explosion, especially by cutting the current on the farm. A spokesman for Total, quoted by the BBC, ensures that risks are limited, since the flare is 90 m high and the winds are favorable, causing the gas cloud in the right direction.

Preston Martin, an expert in marine pollution at the University of Liverpool, in turn ensures the BBC that the explosion risks persist and that "nobody will be able to approach the platform as the flare is lit . As it burns, they will have to find a plan B, "he said.

The director of health, safety and environment at Total, David Hainsworth, also acknowledged that a risk of explosion existed.

The flare is not supplied with gas, and had decreased in size Tuesday night. It can not be turned off remotely, but should eventually go out of itself, according to the spokesman for Total television quoted British public.

The evacuation of the platform Elgin has avoided a repeat of the worst disaster in the history of oil, the explosion of the Piper Alpha platform, which had 167 deaths in July 1988 after a gas leak on a similar offshore operations.

According to the British magazine New Scientist, quoting a source at Total, the leak did not come from the main geological reservoir in which natural gas is extracted, but an intermediate layer, closest to the surface. The gas goes back to the surface by the casing surrounding the drill pipe.

This would explain why all the efforts of staff the platform to plug the leaks found Sunday were unsuccessful. Only positive, the amount of gas in the intermediate tank should be smaller, and lower pressure than the main tank, which in turn, was secured.

Total would not confirm or deny this information, providing only that "studies are underway to analyze the causes of the leak." Industry experts estimate it will take several days to positively identify its origin, which is made very complicated by the fact that nobody left on the site.

We already knew: the end of July with the recruitment of the Argentine Javier Pastore, 42 million euros, PSG beat this year's record for the most important transfer window of the history of Ligue 1. More than 80 million euros on the table to secure the services of Kevin Gameiro, Blaise Matuidi or Mohamed Sissoko, in addition to the Argentine star.

But these numbers make you dizzy do not stop there. According to information from Parisiende this Friday, players Parisians would also take the upper hand with regard to wages. If this is the side of the Canebière found the most important emoluments (midfielder Lucho Gonzalez for 360,000 euros gross per month), 11 players received wages in the capital to more than 200,000 euros according to the daily gross , 9 against Olympique de Marseille.Among the better-off PSG, there is the Brazilian Nene, with 335,000 euros a month, the Uruguayan Diego Lugano (330 000 euros per month) and Mamadou Sakho and Mohamed Sissoko with 320,000 euros each. Marseille side, only Andre-Pierre Gignac and Alou Diarra reach 300,000 euros gross, behind Lucho Gonzalez.

Result of what the newspaper called the effect Qatar "for the first time in many years, the Paris payroll exceeds that of the OM, yet most consistent club in its results in recent seasons." Last season the two teams were still tied, with 60% of their budget going to pay their players, according to the site salairede.com.

The biggest salary in the stands

Not really surprising, when Qatar Sports Investments, the buyer in June 70% of the Parisian club is known for his ability to put their hands in the pocket.

"Change Model" has become a leitmotif in the Lyonnaise des Eaux, a subsidiary of world number two services to local authorities, Suez Environnement.

"Our proposals meet the shared view that we must reinvent the governance of water, take into account environmental and social issues and meet the high demand for information from citizens," said Philippe Maillard, the new head of the Lyon water, which presents on Tuesday, the Congress of Mayors of France, the "contract for water security."

After the turn made by Paris in 2010, several cities are planning to remove the water management to private operators to switch to public ownership. Bordeaux switch soon. Evry, Lyon and Lille are wondering.

Moody's brandishing the sword of Damocles. The rating agency, which last week confirmed the AAA rating of the French debt, is now planning to revise its position on the "stable" outlook for this post. "Over the next three months, Moody's will monitor and evaluate this perspective in the light of progress made by the government to implement the measures announced to reduce the budget deficit," she says in a statement.

If the prospect should be revised to "negative", this would imply that Moody's would likely lower the rating over the medium term, most often at a maturity of three to twelve months.And France would become the new big country, after the United States to lose its prestigious rating that allows it to borrow on the current market conditions very favorable.

A budget supervision

In reaching its decision, Moody's analyze the ability of the French government to meet its budget commitments. She stressed that the financial strength of the French government "has weakened since the economic and financial crisis worldwide has led to a deterioration in its debt ratios, which are now among the lowest in AAA." In addition, "France could face a number of challenges in the coming months, such as the need for additional support to other European countries or its own banking system, which could increase significant commitments that must support the country's budget. "The remark came just after the adoption by the members of the guarantees provided by the French in the process of dismantling the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia payday loans for bad credit.

But Moody's does not forget to mention the strengths of the country where the government should build, "the large scale of its economy, high productivity, wide diversification, experience, innovation and a savings companies with high a moderate increase in financial liabilities of households and businesses. "These elements provide" a great capacity for shock absorption by France, as demonstrated by the strength of the demand during the global crisis, "reminds the statement.

France "will do everything possible" to keep the AAA

The rating agency said that the review is part of its annual financial statements for France and it is not yet a decision on the rating of the country.

But after this warning, the marathon budget to the Assembly for consideration of the budget 2012, which begins on Tuesday, should be closely watched.On France 2 last night, Prime Minister Francois Fillon warned it would take "new measures" austerity if France did not record a "minimal growth of 1.5%" in 2012, as the draft budget is "built on a projected 1.75% growth, but it works with a minimal growth of 1.5%."

Already, Tuesday morning, the Minister of Economy, Baroin, indicates that the growth forecast for 2012 is adopted "probably too high." He promised that France "will do everything possible" to maintain its excellent rating.

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