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Three months after British Airways and its Spanish partner, Iberia announced their marriage, the Commission gave its green light to the merger that will create the world's third largest airline. In a statement issued Wednesday, Brussels ruled that the merger would not impede competition in Europe. "The business of British Airways and Iberia overlap in the field of air transport of passengers and cargo and ground handling ASSISTRA and MRO," the statement said. He added: "Passengers will therefore have more choice of appropriate flight on these routes after this merger."

The merger between Iberia and British Airways which will see shareholders of British Airways take 55% of the new group should be completed by the end of the year.It is subject to approval by shareholders of both companies, who need to vote at general meetings scheduled for November.

The two companies will consolidate into a new holding company, which will be named Consolidated Airlines International Group SA, or International Airlines Group for short, and will be listed in London and Madrid.However, the two companies continue to operate independently and continue to operate under their existing brands.

Yes also for the alliance Iberia / BA / American Airlines

One remaining obstacles to the merger had been raised when Brritish Airways announced it had reached an agreement to cover the deficit of 3.7 billion pounds (4.4 billion euros) of its pension scheme.

The European Commission also approved the alliance as British Airways, Iberia and American Airlines want to build on the model of what makes Air France-KLM and Delta, recently associated with Alitalia."Today's decision will allow airlines to set up the transatlantic alliance to which they aspired for a long while allowing some 2.5 million passengers between London and New York as well as other relevant routes of continue to enjoy a range of frequencies and competitive prices, "commented Commissioner Joaquin Almunia competition.

The CAC 40 starts the week without much conviction. At the opening, the benchmark index of the Paris Stock Exchange climbed 0.23% to 3562.70 points. At midterm, the ACC symbolically advance of 0.05% to 3556.08 points.

This morning, Asian markets have chosen a conservative increase in the wake of the positive closing of Wall Street Friday. U.S. markets ended the week on a fourth consecutive session progress (0.57%).

The LSE is also a timid step forward, the Footsie index gaining 0.16% to 5141.10 points. The DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange climbs on his side of 0.14% to 6073.75 points.

In Paris, the stock reached Friday to keep the threshold of 3,500 points, allowing the benchmark index of snatch 6% in five days. On Monday, investors will try to keep this momentum. The meeting, however, looks very calm on the side indicators.The markets have learned before market that current account deficit had settled in France to 4.5 billion euros in May, from 2.9 billion in April, seasonally adjusted data.

The rest of the week will be loaded, the U.S., several interesting publications such as the budget (Tuesday), sales information (Wednesday), registration weekly unemployment (Thursday), or the index of sentiment consumer (Friday).

Caution is also placed on the European stock exchanges should begin when the ball Publications overseas payday loan lenders.From Monday, Alcoa will launch the festivities with the results of its second quarter.

Zodiac rejects the advances of Saffron

As for values, the supervisory board for Zodiac (4.31% to 41.50 euros) announced Sunday that he would not pursue a business combination proposal made by Safran.

Alstom (-0.89% to 38.35 euros) was applying for the construction of four stations on the route high-speed rail that will link Jeddah to Mecca, said Sunday the company to Saudi Railways ORS .

Carrefour (-0.27% to 34.50 euros) is to publish its second quarter results on July 15 after the close of trading.Analysts already expect a turnover of 24, 78 billion euros (+5.7%) including 10.29 billion in France (+1.6%) and 5.18 billion (-0.6% ) in hypermarkets.

Cameo (0.61% to 162 euros) announced Friday for the second quarter decreased by 11.3% of its sales, surface and currency comparable because of the lag of a week of dates on balances as of June July. The turnover for this period amounted to 190.2 million euros, up 1.1% on published data.

Total (-0.42% to 38.14 euros) have launched legal proceedings to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal of Douai to force him to reopen his site Dunkirk.

This is the most reassuring news announced by the U.S. authorities for more than two months. According to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen American to oversee cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico, BP should be able to contain 100% the gap in the well from which oil flows to by Monday. A new funnel, bigger than previous ones, is currently installed by the British oil.

This funnel, called "Top Hat Number 10", should recover up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day (12.7 million liters), against 25,000 now. The authorities are optimistic that based on their assessments, the well lost more than 60,000 barrels per day. The previous dome will be first removed. A large quantity of oil escape so well for 48 hours.But once the new funnel posed, the results will be immediate, promises Thad Allen.

Since April 20, the day of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform off the coast of Louisiana, BP has increased its attempts to clogging, all unsuccessful.

No stop before August

BP was more cautious in its forecasts. Bob Dudley, responsible for managing the disaster, spoke of another scenario where difficulties in installing the new funnel could delay the time from Monday to Thursday.

But authorities are confident: "We have the climate we need," said Thad Allen. The admiral, however, required to calm the enthusiasm that followed the announcement. "I used the word 'contain' and not 'stop'," he commented. According to him, the well would not be closed as well as two-pass will not be completed.These wells, dug deep to inject cement and mud, should not be installed until mid-August. Once the leak stopped, the extensive cleaning and restoration of the ratings will continue.

Anadarko does not pay

On this last point, BP was again struck Friday denied Anadarko Petroleum. The company, which owns 25% of wells responsible for the spill, said she would not pay the $ 272 million that BP is asking her to cover their share of cleanup costs, according to U.S. law known pollution.

On June 18, the tension was raised a notch between the two partners lorsqu'Anadarko stated that the explosion of April 20 on the platform Deepwater Horizon, "was preventable and was a direct result of decisions and actions BP unthinking.

In another e-mail sent Friday, a spokesman for Anadarko, John Christiansen, however, felt that his group remained "committed to working in good faith with BP to reach a satisfactory resolution."

BP is now awaiting the response of Mitsui, which owns 10% of the wells. The British oil giant is claiming $ 112 million for cleanup costs. The company has not yet made its position.

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After the government advertisement To reduce the funds allocated to several departments, Jean-Louis Borloo has described some of the measures envisaged to his ministry, according to Les Echos published on Friday. The Department of Ecology and Sustainable Development is indeed an important concern to put on a diet of government: it gives rise to tax benefits more expensive for the state (15 billion euros after Les Echos) that it would reduce to 8.5 to 10 billion euros. Moreover, these measures increase of 800 million euros annually.

In all, nearly two billion euros would be saved by 2012, including one billion on niches "green" these tax benefits related to work "green". Jean-Louis Borloo has raised the deduction available to individuals who install photovoltaic panels on the roof of their home.The shortfall for the State is estimated at 800 million euros. It could therefore be reduced by at least 50% reserved for existing homes.

The list of works "green" that give rise to tax benefits could also be reduced. The tax cuts themselves could also decrease by 10%. As for renovations "non-green", they could lose their advantage of a VAT at 5.5%.

Finally, the government also calls into question his support for biofuels. They enjoy a double benefit: a reduced fee and the requirement for all distributors to offer for sale.

Accor train just keeps on getting shorter. Just days after it formally separated from his service branch, and renamed Edenred publicly traded hotel group Accor has formalized its withdrawal on Wednesday its subsidiary Compagnie des Wagons-Lits (CWL).

The project had been discussed in our columns, before being denied by Accor. Its position has obviously changed since then. The group sells for an undisclosed fee, 60% of the catering on board trains CWL Newrest its competitor, based in Toulouse. From January 2013, the French group will assign the remaining 40%, for an amount which depends on the valuation of the company at this time.

Last year, Compagnie des Wagons-Lits has achieved a turnover of 248 million euros and operating profit (EBIT) of EUR 3 million. In late 2009, the CWL has lost a major contract in Spain.The impact on turnover in the first quarter of 2010 represents a shortfall of 40 million euros, says it Accor, stressing that the CWL has instead awarded the contract for the TGV East March 7 last. A year earlier she had lost the tender for the provision of bar cars off the TGV North-East.

Other possible assignments

Present within the Accor Group since 1992, the Company has lost its former glory. Founded in 1872 by Belgian Georges Nagelmackers, who built the first sleeping cars and dining cars before embarking on the Orient Express and the Trans-Siberian railway, it has diversified into the hotel chains with Pullman, Etap- Hotel and Arcade (now in the lap of Accor) and in the service on board trains. The latter is now the only one of the Company.Over the past year, the Pullman Orient Express is indeed operated by the SNCF ….

Newrest, the new owner of Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, himself is present in the food on board aircraft, the catering, the basics of life for the oil industry and mining, VIP lounges at airports .. . Last year, its turnover reached 407 million euros. "This joint venture represents a unique opportunity to expand into the catering market on trains and expand into new countries such as Austria and Italy," says one in Newrest. For Accor, which is defined as the first global hotel operator, "This transaction is part of its policy of focusing on his heart craft." This does not preclude other interruptions.Draft assignment of Sofitel and Motel 6 chains have been mentioned by analysts of the market … and denials by the management of Accor.

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The controversy swells daily. After the Europeans, it is now the boss of General Electric to accuse China of putting a spoke in the wheels of foreign companies. "I'm really worried, I am not sure that ultimately they want that we will succeed," he complained to an audience of businessmen from Italy, reported the Financial Times on Friday.

Last Tuesday was a report of the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, which accused China to increase the discriminatory measures. He denounced a "discretionary application of laws and regulations, the registration process unnecessarily complicated and" inconsistencies in the application of national criteria.

In Beijing, many business leaders say the word to cover: it is increasingly difficult to work in China."They understand that they can leave if they are not happy," says a corporate lawyer. Since April, the party newspaper, the China Daily, had sniffed the wind of revolt and was almost threatening."When foreign companies encounter difficulties in their projects (…) if they do nothing but complain that the foreign media and amplify the case without analyzing the merits and slandering the Chinese economy, they will end up delaying the process of improving the investment environment, "he wrote.

Funny way to appease the spirits when President Hu Jintao says it wants to "take concrete steps to reject any form of protectionism and unequivocal support free trade."

The World Trade Organization said in its latest report "Interest in China and its foreign suppliers of more rapid liberalization of China's service industries.But Beijing, which, in a gesture of goodwill, will leave July 15 rebates for export taxes on certain sensitive products, prefer to believe that foreigners "grunt" on account of wages.

Rising labor costs

Demonstration of support to employees of Foxconn, Hong Kong in June Photo credits: AFP

The association UFC – Que Choisir has just published a study on 3G mobile phone plans denouncing "the false promises of unlimited Internet. According to this study, 41% of consumers are not satisfied with the 3G connection on their mobile phone.

The association of consumer advocacy focuses on two points. First, it denounces the bridle in all mobile networks operators and found that the rate (or velocity) is deficient in all mobile operators. "59% of the reported rates do not exceed one megabit per second when the 3G theoretically allows a throughput of 7.2 megabits" said Edouard Barreiro, director of studies at the association of consumer protection.

Second, the study notes that the nature of the packages called "unlimited internet" is often questioned by users.Indeed, how can it be considered an access to the Internet access to a network crippled (no VOIP or P2P for example) and sometimes (eg in some packages of Orange) excludes even download emails?

In this context, concludes UFC-Que Choisir, it is not surprising that 41% of users are dissatisfied with their 3G connection payday loan lenders. And the association calls on governments a regulatory framework in three points. Firstly, the operators use the term "Internet" to refer only to universal access to all content. Secondly, they cease to call 'unlimited' offers subject to a quota of data exchanged.Finally, the operators are required to provide their customers with a clear and accurate information on the characteristics of service (speed, coverage, network saturation, etc..).

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