Whatever the final scope of the Franco-German compromise on a European recovery plan, a point is a virtual consensus: the European Investment Bank (EIB) will be further tapped. During his campaign, Francois Hollande has repeatedly cited the institution, explaining to want to see more funding for innovative projects. Chaired by a German, Werner Hoyer, the EIB has the added advantage of being compatible with the philosophy of Berlin in public finance.

Created after the Treaty of Rome, in 1958, this arm of the European Union acts as a conventional financial institution with its shareholders – the 27 EU member states – and its own funds – 232 billion – which it serves as collateral to raise funds on the market and in return grant funds to the public sector. In other words, an appeal to the EIB does not dig, as such, deficits in the area.

Finance ministers of Twenty-Seven will meet Tuesday morning in Brussels, the Governing Council to start work on the practical modalities of strengthening the institution. An exercise stress: no question that the EIB, currently rated "AAA" by the three major agencies, lose this precious document. Where applicable, the cost of refinancing is found in heavy and interventions become less effective.

Two schemes in the study

Request more loans the EIB is therefore to provide in return the appropriate funds. Two schemes are under consideration. The first is to rely on the EU budget. The idea of ​​bringing the Commission to the capital being strongly opposed by the Member States, the solution that emerges would be to use part of European funds as collateral for loans which would then be granted by the EIB. It is this pattern that has been adopted in Greece, for example where the Bank has committed to lend up to 1 billion euros for innovative SMEs from a guarantee of 500 million EU.

The second scheme – which holds the rope – is a mere increase of the EIB's capital, financed by the 27 shareholders. The magnitude of this increase would be about 10 billion euros, which would allow the EIB to grant 60 billion of loans that can generate around 180 billion investment, thanks to the leverage caused by the co-investment from the private sector. An overall figure on which refuses to engage the side of the EIB, "everything depends on the type of investment, leverage is stronger in the context of public-private partnerships in SME lending" says an official. However, the figure of 10 billion additional capital seems to be confirmed.

The impact is not negligible for the European states. The two main shareholders of the bank, France and Germany, which each own 16.5% stake, will write a check for $ 1.65 billion. And even if it is not, strictly speaking, additional debt, the stress on budgets is important. The talks between finance ministers will continue in the coming weeks, to stop a scheme before the European Council in late June.  

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"Vote and go anyway!" Displays the travel agency Nouvelles Frontieres, "Vote by proxy and win a free night for two nights and get" diffuse the tourist office in Les Sables d'Olonne, "Voting is open its mouth but better "placards at all is a sign of fast food in ten different languages, while the ski resort of Chamrousse proposed his" ski pass citizen "and that the General Council of Essonne offered tickets to a rugby match to persons who have completed their duty to vote. In short, all the slogans that incentives, like ideas, no lack of originality in recent weeks. The objective is twofold: to reduce abstention but also generate additional revenue, or at least ride the wave of presidential elections.  

When the ballot becomes a ski day

The tourist office in Chamrousse (Isère) has understood that he had a vested interest in dragging this track one: "We decided to align the end of the ski season with the day of the first round of presidential elections , by implementing a package to a Euro on presentation of the electoral map duly stamped "says Medhi Kerbati, director of the tourist office. Obviously, he had to get up early to vote at a time and enjoy a sunny day of skiing. The Director welcomes further: "In 2007, we sold between 300 and 350 pass the same day, while on Sunday we have been almost 4,000 packages a day, including 2800 'skipass citizens'." Therefore a boon to the small station with 90 km tracks. It would be even one of the best days of the season.  

Discounts or freebies appreciated

In Roubaix (North), fast food Burger Food Familiy partnered with the association "Brigade civic action" to grant 10% discount for two rounds of elections, upon presentation of the electoral map stamped. The manager, Ahmed Meguedmi, was very satisfied with the effects of operation: "We found that customers who were not usually crossed our doors, especially young people, but our clientele is 80% family time normal. On April 22, traffic on our restaurants increased by 30-40% compared to other Sundays, "he says. An approach more citizen when one remembers that Roubaix had obtained the record abstention in the first round of regional elections in 2010, over 71%. In the first round of this year's presidential, abstention remained high at 31.43%.

In the wake of the fight against abstention, in Arles and Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhone), the taxi company and Co-bikes Taco has offered to the two rounds of elections free transport customers to their polling station. Was free from 8h to 13h, and the operation has been very positive as explained Aldric Monteux, co-manager of the company: "We were able to combine a citizen but also environmentally friendly, while trying to reduce the abstention. We have carried twenty, or forty trips. This was especially the elderly or people then cut transport, which would probably not displaced. "  

Campaigns sometimes left fallow

Another tourist office, that of Les Sables d'Olonne (Vendee), capitalized on an extended operation on the four weekends of presidential and legislative elections, of offering a third night for people who have established an attorney. In agreement with a dozen providers, the business case put forward here is quite as indicated Dixte Mathieu, marketing manager of the site of the tourist office: "We launched the operation on March 28 because not only the elections Presidential is a drag but tourism and more at this time we still see a drop in attendance of around 15-20%. It was a way to both promote our destination, and encourage people to vote. "  

The only cloud on the table: because of bad weather, the impact has been almost nil, although the website of the tourist office in question recorded an increase of nearly 17,000 visits over the same period (March 24 to 23 April) compared to last year. The operation, in turn, drained 1600 visits since the beginning of the operation.

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A helicopter chartered by Total departed Aberdeen on Thursday at 10:35 local time (11:35 Paris) for an initial inspection of the gas leak on the platform Elgin, evacuated March 26. The operation had been delayed so far because of the east wind that beat down the cloud of gas to the landing deck. The winter-like conditions in the north of Scotland where snow whitened the countryside around Aberdeen since the beginning of the week does not facilitate the task.

After about an hour's flight, the helicopter had to land on the platform "PUQ", the residential area of ​​Elgin, 240 km east of Aberdeen in the North Sea. The eight men are to achieve the production platform of Elgin by a walkway 90 meters long. Among them, several employees of the Texas company Wild Well Control, which is illustrated in extinguishing oil wells in Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion of 1991 and during the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Specialists will inspect the wellhead from which escape G4 still about 200,000 m3 of gas per day and measure the pressure in the concentric rings that form the wells. Elgin on the platform, all electricity was cut and the flare died out for lack of gas to be burned. The team's visit remains risky, any heat source is likely to cause a gas explosion.

The reconnaissance team must prepare the ground for the operation of plugging the well. In the coming days or next week, ships carrying "sludge" draw near Elgin. These "sludge" in reality a mixture of fluids removed from wells, water and additives concocted to get a precise density, explains Andrew Hogg, director of communications "Exploration and Production" Total, will be injected into the wells in an attempt to "kill", and finally seal. Wild Well Control, this is an operation "standard," said the spokesman for Total, but with a specific difficulty in Elgin field: its high temperature and high pressure.

If this operation, called "top kill" in the jargon oil, fails, it will drill two wells bypass using two mobile platforms in transit. A job that can take six months, and admits Total cost at least $ 150 million per well, indicated Monday the Chevardière Patrick, CFO of the oil company.

The helicopter and its eight crew members must return to Aberdeen in the day, no question of taking the risk of leaking and a platform that all systems are off.

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What are the strategic oil stocks?

As a state member since 1974 to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEA) – created in response to the first oil shock – France has an obligation to provide oil stocks equivalent to 90 days of net imports or about 17 million tonnes. Member States of the European Union are also required to undergo a similar provision. In early October, the French reservation represented 98.5 days of oil consumption, 60% of processed products and 40% of crude oil.

How are they managed?

This is the Professional Committee of strategic oil stocks (PSSDC) which is responsible for building reserves. All operators who sell oil in France are legally obliged to contribute to their supply. Each of them must provide the equivalent of 27% of quantities released for consumption in the previous year. Some of these quantities is given to manage the limited company inventory management security (SAGESS), which operates under the aegis of PSSDC. The rest is kept available in the repositories of the operators.

The reserves are spread over 235 depots around France. The regulations provide for their distribution in the seven major regions called "defense zones" in administrative and military language, so that each zone has ten days of minimum fuel consumption low fee payday advance. Filing the largest (6 million cubic meters) is located near Manosque in the Alpes de Haute-Provence.

Under what circumstances can they be used?

Strategic stocks are intended solely for civilian use. The Army manages its own reserves separately. In the case of a local crisis of supply, CPSSP may transfer stocks to oil operators, who must agree to make restitution of less than a month. During this time, operators must also make available PSSDC equivalent quantities of products in another place. These punctures are very limited and local.

To really begin three months of compulsory reserve, we need a government decision, taken in cooperation with the IEA and the European Union. Only a severe supply disruption due to a serious international crisis (eg, an oil crisis or boycott a producer), can in theory lead to such a decision.

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Pierre Lescure: Recruiting is a "coitus … Cadremploi by Pierre Lescure is an emotional, as Jean-Pierre Raffarin that we interviewed last week. This is an emotional, that blends culture journalist with the management culture. Listen to them talk about his relationship with Jean-Marie Messier when he was head of Canal Plus, to understand how it has deteriorated. And when Pierre Lescure, who now heads the Theatre Marigny in Paris, compared to the job interview "coitus" and even "penetration" should not be seen as a sign of perversion or the projection of a follower Promotion sofa. Not at all. Pierre Lescure is a mathematician, in his own way for him, recruiting is like a life together. It should be fertile: 1 + 1 will require a little more than 2 so that the recruitment is successful.  

That's why it gives this advice to candidates: make his point of view. Equal competence, which will make the difference for him? Between two lawyers, two controllers, Lescure will choose a woman or man who has a "perspective" free online credit report. The "view", this is nothing more than a way of seeing the world next to his work.

We understand why "I speak under your control," a term servile and bustles (we all used one day), it exits through the eyes. It is also wary of a driver who has practiced on the road the failure to give way to right that driver will be a bad candidate. In short, we must watch this video to understand why a boss Lescure was adored, loved, regretted when he left Canal Plus.

Pierre Lescure just published by Grasset in collaboration with journalist Sabrina Champagne, a book of memoirs entitled In the baba.

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When the VAT hike in early 2011 and the arrival of Free Mobile early 2012, mobile operators have seen their customers from leaving in droves to a competitor in search of a better price. "The price does not explain everything. We underestimated the frustration of customers, "recently confessed an operator. Because, rightly or wrongly, telecom focus the discontent of consumers. The sector holds in the palm of 2011 claims (24%), before the consumer (22%) and computers (12%), as the documentary credit.

Within the family telecoms, mobile internet is back in front in claims: in 2011, 53% of complaints received by the French Association of telecom users (AFUTT) concerned the mobile Internet access 38% and 9% fixed phone. Mobile-related complaints rose 11%, while those related to Internet were down 28%.

In Mobile, the fourth door on the invoice disputes: consumers are left with overruns, mostly due to premium rate calls as the SMS + or spam for users scammed. Also involved, according to AFUTT, misuse of mobile Internet abroad, and the complexity of fee schedules.

Furthermore the bill, disputes also include the termination of the contract. Customers who have purchased a package included with phone and find themselves thus committed 12 or 24 months, resent not being able to cancel without charge, including for reasons considered legitimate: death, moving abroad, loss of employment, etc fast cash without a hassle..

After contacting customer service, then the service consumer of their operator, the aggrieved clients can always resort to the mediator. "When the Ombudsman receives, operators generally find a solution because their desire is to reduce complaints," said Francois Cuinat, mediator of electronic communications. Complaints are more likely among clients of virtual operators (MVNO) than the "big" operators, indicates the AFUTT. "Orange, SFR and Bouygues have an index of conflict less than 1, the Bouygues Telecom is much improved this year. That of MVNOs still significantly higher, "said the AFUTT.

In this context, what impact will the arrival of Free Mobile? "We have nothing to report about Free Mobile. But for the mobile market as a whole, we are very interrogative on the effect of a competition that would be too exclusively based on prices, said Jacques Pomonti, president of the AFUTT. We hope that the price competition will not affect the quality of service or investment in infrastructure, "he concluded.

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Air transportation emits about 3% carbon dioxide (CO2) released by humans into the atmosphere. But according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), its emissions have almost doubled (+98%) between 1990 and 2006 and are expected to increase by 63% by 2020. This is due to the strong growth that the EU wished to include airlines in the industries subject to carbon allowances.

Decided in 2008, this "carbon tax air" has been applicable since 1 January to major airlines transiting through EU airports. According to official documents of the end of 2011, 4291 airlines must be submitted to CO2 quotas, including 28 Chinese companies. Brussels has set an emissions cap for each company, who must buy the equivalent of 15% of its emissions, as carbon credits.

This air tax should bring in 2012 256 million euros to the EU, the Commission said. A pittance compared to $ 3.8 billion represented the German Government, by controlling only Airbus Hong Kong Airlines, threatened. Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for the fight against climate change, repeated his refusal to yield to threats and to revisit the legislation.

The profession particularly hostile

From the earliest discussions on the implementation of these CO2 quotas on airlines, the profession has expressed very hostile. Last November, ICAO, the Organization of International Civil Aviation, adopted a resolution recommending to exempt non-European companies of the carbon tax. 26 of its 36 members including China, the United States and Russia, were signatories. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ICAO call for voluntary measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, implemented worldwide.

In a report published in early 2011, the rating agency Standard & Poor's estimated that the measure Brussels could cost 1.12 billion for airlines in 2012-2013. Since then, the price per tonne of CO2 collapsed on the European market which would reduce the cost to about 700 million euros. But it adds to the severe increase in fuel prices.

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The French are increasingly choosing to sustainable consumption. With the crisis, their new creed is "eat less but eat better." The year 2012 starts elsewhere in the gloom on the front of the consumer. The French have reduced their spending by 0.4% in January, INSEE announced Tuesday. This is despite the sales. A recent survey * Ifop, higher wages and purchasing power is a priority concern for 58% of French people (+ 7 points from August 2011) in the context of the presidential election. In addition to these concerns, the ideals of consumption to find a new green accents echo in these times of crisis. A brief overview of the latest trends in cutting waste.

? Donations from individuals, to stop throwing

"Donation after donation, we change the world." Is the slogan of Freecycle.org, a global network of gifts between individuals born in the United States in 2003, which now has 7 million members in 95 countries. In France, it boasts just over 44,000 members. The principle is simple: users register for free on the site to enter into relationships with other individuals and to make donations and recovery of objects. With over 345,000 members, the site Donnons.org created in 2006 has never experienced the crisis. In February, over 9,000 people registered on the site, after more than 11,000 new members in January. "With the decline in purchasing power, our members are looking for an alternative way to consume, and want to give new life to objects instead of flooding the waste dumps," said Isabella Geist, moderating Donnons.org. For the poorest, this site allows free access to certain equipment. "Unlike associations, we function as a social network. Some people stay in touch after making a donation. "

The "comeback" the most spectacular remains of the knitting. Photo credits: Karine Image / Flickr