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The automatic assignment of social tariffs for electricity is still not effective. And yet, promised by Eric Besson, it should be applied on that January 1. More than one million people could benefit.

While consumption in électricté soaring these days, the automatic assignment of social tariffs for electricity is still conspicuously absent. Yet, the measure should come into force on 1 January. This had been announced in the autumn Eric Besson, Minister of Energy. Indeed, he had promised for this winter complete automation of the procedure for awarding the tariff of primary necessity (TPN), commonly called the social rate of electricity

This delay, which should continue for several more weeks, is because the "last formal consultations" between government and industry must always be held together with a notice of the State Council, said the Ministry of energy, confirming the information of the Parisian …

These special rates are reserved for beneficiaries of the Universal Health Coverage (CMU) or any person whose monthly income is below 634 euros a month (for a single person). Entered into force in 2005 for electricity and for gas in 2008, social tariffs were previously allocated on demand to beneficiaries (the limit is 7800 annual revenues of approximately EUR for a single person and 11,700 for a childless couple, ed), but by lack of information or administrative complexity, many do not demand.

Only 600,000 households currently receive social tariffs so that 1.5 to 2 million are eligible, a situation that had prompted the government to promise its automation. The reduction is estimated by EDF and GDF Suez at about 90 euros per year for electricity and 140 euros for gas.

"The decree is under review by the State Council, it should be able to give its opinion in the coming weeks, as he will have the last formal consultations that are normally involved in early (February Ed.) . The decree will be published in the coming days, "the ministry said in a

. commmuniqué, president of the Syndicat Intercommunal the Outskirts of Paris for Electricity and Communication Networks (Sipperec) Catherine Peyge noted that there was "urgent." Some 3.8 million households, or 14.4% of French households in the metropolis, are currently considered in fuel poverty, c 'ie they spend more than 10% of their budget for their energy bills, says she. "What do the government to publish the decree and to end this anomaly is that a tariff, decided in 2000, implemented in 2005, still unable to protect families who need it? Meanwhile the electricity prices rose 6% in two years, and the bill could rise by 30% by 2016 ", criticized Ms. Peyge

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Cash advance is meant to provide short term relief to borrowers. Since these loans charge high interest rates, rolling over the loan may not be very easy.

The French Parliament has finally adopted Tuesday, majority against opposition, the bill funding the Social Security (PLFSS) for 2012 which includes several measures of the recent savings plan of the government.

The National Assembly, which constitutionally the final word, conducted Tuesday at the final reading of this PLFSS after the Senate, where the left is now the majority, was the once again rejected Thursday.

This bill provides for a reduction to 13.9 billion euros, against 18.2 billion in 2011, the deficit of the general scheme of Social Security in 2012.

Labour Minister Xavier Bertrand warned Sunday that the number of registered employment center, to be released tonight will be up in October. It challenges the crisis. The Minister of Labour and Health Xavier Bertrand

The Minister of Labour Xavier Bertrand said on Sunday that the unemployment figures of the month in October would be "not good", asked the Grand Jury RTL / Le Figaro / LCI. The figures, to be published Monday, "will not be good and everyone knows they can not be good due to a crisis which does not come out yet and even in the field is growing," he the minister said."When we decided to discontinue its business relationship with a subcontractor and that is a very large group, we must notice," he said, adding also want to "support the employees of these subcontractors."

A permanent contract for temporary

Xavier Bertrand was also suggested to create a permanent contract in the agency sector. "I'm going to suggest to all companies in this sector to set up a permanent to temporary," he said, saying it might interest between 15 and 25% of the 500,000 temporary workers. The minister also stressed the need to improve the system's return to work after periods of unemployment.

Referring to the future of 35 hours, including the UMP says it wants "out", Xavier Bertrand said that France was already "out of 35 hours." He ruled out any "revenge" and "ideological approach" that "would penalize employees."

China's economic growth to slow to 8.5% in 2012 due to lower external demand, but this rate of expansion slowed remains "acceptable," said a government economist quoted Friday by the New China News Agency.

Lu Zhongyuan, vice president of the think tank Development Research Centre (DRC) of the Chinese government also believes that inflation will fall to 4.5% next year.

The economic slowdown expected – compared to a rate of over 9% expected this year – is estimated by the economist as "reasonable and acceptable" because, he says, the quality of growth improves.

Panasonic has reduced its forecast for Monday-year results, predicting a net loss of 420 billion yen (3.8 billion euros) over the full year, which he attributes to a strong increase in its costs restructuring and a lowered demand in Europe and the United States.

This loss, which is the highest charged by the Japanese electronics group in ten years, compared with a previous profit forecast that anticipated a net profit of 30 billion yen for the fiscal year to March 2012 and the benefit net 74 billion recorded during the previous year.

From July to September, Panasonic has released an operating profit of 42 billion yen, an amount greater than its own forecast of 4.4 billion yen, but below the 50 billion predicted by the Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S.

Last year, at the same time, he recorded an operating profit of 85.2 billion.

The group now expects an annual operating profit of 130 billion yen, while previously planned 270 billion. Analysts on average had forecast 225 billion yen.

As a number of Japanese exporters, Panasonic is faced with the high yen, which discourages consumers to purchase products made in Japan.

Commerzbank will in the third quarter a depreciation of 750 million euros on its holdings of Greek sovereign debt, told Reuters on Wednesday several people familiar with the matter.

The second German bank has already passed such a depreciation of 760 million euros in the second quarter, more than the 21% discount that international creditors had agreed in July, as part of a new rescue plan for the Greece.

Given the further deterioration of the Greek financial situation in recent months, it is now a discount of 50% which is regularly discussed, which led to the further depreciation of Commerzbank, said a source.

Commerzbank, which is to publish its quarterly November 4, declined to comment.

The residual value of assets of the Commerzbank in Greek sovereign debt is estimated at 2.2 billion euros.

Time for the cons-offensive for the UMP. Ousted from the media spotlight by the success of the Socialist primary, the majority party holds a High Mass on Tuesday to "dismantle" the draft Francois Hollande. Main angle of attack: the cost of its proposals. Francois Hollande won Sunday, October 16 the PS primary for the presidential election with 56.6% of the vote.

Francois Hollande will be the main opponent to Nicolas Sarkozy in the battle of 2012 to the Elysee. The presidential majority, ousted the media for several weeks because of the primary PS, is preparing to make a bitter attack on the Socialist candidate and designated program. The first will be chopping Francois Fillon Prime Minister was the guest log 20 hours tonight on France 2. And tomorrow, the UMP holds a convention on the PS project.The main points on which the tenor of the majority party will attack Francois Hollande.

Tax increases

According to the draft of the PS, François Hollande wants to tackle tax loopholes. Of the 70 billion niches created since 2002 and consists cancel 50 billion, including tax exemption for overtime or reduced VAT in catering. The UMP will not fail to note that with the PS to power, the French will see their taxes increase by $ 50 billion. Unlike Nicolas Sarkozy, who has hammered throughout his five-year that he was not elected to raise taxes, Francois Hollande has already announced that there will be increasing the tax burden .The member from Corrèze is this view more honest than the head of state since the past two years, the main conservation measures taken by the government are deletions, and movement of the plane on tax loopholes. The draft budget for 2012 also provides for the creation of five new taxes. Result: The tax burden in France next year will reach 44.5% of GDP, exceeding the level at the beginning of the quinquennium of Nicolas Sarkozy. The other project in Holland, is a major tax reform: it proposes to merge the income tax and the CSG, to tax capital on a par with the work and to broaden the base of this new tax . For businesses, it supports a higher tax rate on companies that do not invest. We can therefore speak of a general increase of the capital tax, businesses and households. François Hollande will struggle to pretend otherwise.He must convince them that these increases are fair and equitable.

Retirement at age 60

Despite the embarrassment caused by the words of Pascal Terrace, retired adviser, François Hollande promised to restore the legal age of retirement at age 60, against 62 years since the reform of 2010. "The first decision that I will take on the issue of pensions is to allow those who have paid 41 years and have 60 years to leave," he said at the last televised debate against Martine Aubry. Employees who have accumulated 41 years can retire at 60 "but they will have a discount," he said. Still: this is where the majority of the risk to most door overhang, while life expectancy is increasing and all European countries have rejected the legal age of retirement at 65 or 67 years.Especially since the measure would cost about 25 billion euros by 2014, and much more en suite. François Hollande, however, can meet that beyond the boundaries of age, he advocated a systemic reform of the pension system to ensure the long-term funding, which will focus more on wages alone, and its support for an increase the contribution period.

The creation of 60,000 jobs in Education

François Hollande announced its desire to recreate the 60,000 job cuts in Education since 2007. The President of the General Council of Corrèze said that 12,000 jobs would be created per year for an annual cost of 500 million euros, 2.5 billion euros over five years.The faculty, which had partially detached from the PS in 2007 to vote Bayrou, and parents, frustrated with deletions of classes in September, will certainly appreciate this proposal. The UMP for its part will not fail to note the exorbitant cost – 100 billion euros over a period of full activity, or 40 years – this measure, and the question of its funding in times of reduced deficit. And here, Francois Hollande has remained unclear. These new posts will be offset by redundancies in other departments, he said. The member from Corrèze drew a parallel with the plane of 3 billion euros announced by Nicolas Sarkozy for the renovation of prisons.Does it mean that François Hollande give it up, while the number of inmates incarcerated in France reached a record? It is soft to the right stick to be beaten …

Youth employment and contract generation

Francois Hollande supports the proposal dear to Martine Aubry to create 300,000 jobs for the future. He wants the focus on youth in the neighborhoods where unemployment this population exceeds 40%. This represents a cost of three to four billion euros a year. It will be financed by eliminating exemptions on overtime. The UMP will scoff beautiful on the use of old recipes, François Hollande will always remember that the youth employment in 1997 have three-quarters of them to get a firm foothold in the world of work.And do not forget that the government does not hesitate, either, to use the weapon assisted contracts: 500,000 are budgeted in 2011. However, Francois Hollande will be more difficult to defend its contract generation – the possibility for an employer who hires a young and maintains a senior employment in the same position to be exempt from charges for three years. I must say that Martine Aubry has given the right arguments to criticize the measure: during the primary campaign, the mayor of Lille pointed to the cost -8000000000 euros – and windfall – the companies, which in any case need to hire, will turn to the cheap solution for them. Even the unions are not convinced. Francois Hollande wants to fund it by redeploying 25 billion euros of social contribution exemptions provided to enterprises.Jobs few or no qualifications will therefore suffer the consequences. Still give a response argument to Francis Holland exempts the government today to payroll companies that hire young apprentices or alternately.

The nuclear

If Francois Hollande says it wants to free itself of nuclear, he refused to submit commitments total output. The member from Corrèze has however promised to spend 75% of nuclear electricity to 50% by 2025. He says that the plan is financially sustainable: the necessary funds will come from cuts in tax loopholes and the introduction of a carbon tax on industries that emit lots of greenhouse gas emissions. This remains unclear. The UMP retorted that out nuclear power will be very expensive – € 750 billion at least according to the owner of the Atomic Energy Commission.No one would deny that the output of nuclear power has a price. This is a societal choice. The Germans themselves are willing to pay for it. The French, if they elect Francis Holland in 2012, will also.

The European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) could provide guarantees to investors who buy sovereign debt issued by a Member State, on Friday said a European source.

The initiative would encourage investors to buy sovereign debt otherwise considered too risky by providing a form of insurance against potential losses and in fact increase the firepower of the EFSF.

"Instead of buying 100% (of bonds), the EFSF could ensure, for example, 20% of the amount of debt issued to private investors," said the source.

Financial markets are worried that the size of EFSF, currently has 440 billion euros, sufficient to enable both to help a large country in the euro area while bailing out the banks vulnerable to the region.

European leaders are advocating a recapitalization of the continent by some estimates could cost between 100 and 200 billion or more.

Chief Financial Officer EFSF has in turn said Friday that applications to the rescue fund for recapitalization may be limited, the private sector and governments to be asked first.

"You must also take into account the fact that Ireland, Portugal and Greece have already set aside money for recapitalization of banks as part of their programs," he told reporters Christophe Frankel.

He added that the EFSF also looks to the money market, making funding more flexible and diversified.

"We will implement a strategy of short-term financing could be structured around a good program," said Christophe Frankel.

The telecoms operator AT & T announced Saturday it had received more than 200,000 orders for the iPhone 4S in the first 12 hours of marketing the new Apple handset.

The successor to the iPhone 4 unveiled Tuesday, the eve of the death of the co-founder of Steve Jobs, has, according to the second mobile operator in the U.S., an "extraordinary demand", despite no change in design.

The three major U.S. telcos, AT & T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint, have begun taking orders for the iPhone 4S Friday.Apple's flagship handset will be available in stores from October 14.

Comparison with sales of the previous generation is difficult because the iPhone 4 at its output was distributed only by the operator AT & T in the United States. It was then passed to 1.7 million copies during the first three days of its launch.

Some analysts expect Apple sells between 27 and 28 million iPhones for the quarter October to December.

Handsets running the Android operating system from Google, as the Galaxy Samsung, have become formidable competitors of the iPhone while Tim Cook has just taken the reins of Apple and its founder, credited with a strategic vision, has disappeared as a result of cancer.

The meeting of European agriculture ministers failed to convince all Member States to maintain funding of millions of free meals. Update on the issues of the blockage. The European aid to the poor to distribute free meals to some 13 million people in Europe.

It must have the meeting "last chance". However, on Tuesday in Brussels, the European Ministers of Agriculture have failed to agree on the future of food aid to the poor, previously levied on agricultural funds. Six countries of the European Union (EU) refused to hold it in the state, saying its operation denatured for many years.Associations, including the Red Cross and Restos du Coeur in France, fear serious consequences, which could be felt in 2012.

What is the European food aid?

In 1987, in the heart of the cold winter that pushed Coluche to open the "Restos du Coeur", the European Commission created the European program of aid to the poor (PEAD). Backed by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), he plans to give to charity, today nearly 240 – the agricultural surplus of the member countries, then redistributed to the poor. Nineteen of the 27 EU states benefit now headed by Italy, Poland and France, for the preparation of some 13 million meals.

Since 1995, the surplus stocks are supplemented by a budget that allows you to run the program despite the fall in surplus.Between 1988 and 2008, its budget has risen from 97 to 300 million euros, reaching 500 million in 2009.

Why is the program being called into question today?

The current debate has in fact emerged in 2008. That year, "EU Commissioner has proposed to give a stronger legal basis to support plan by assigning two objectives: to reduce farm inventories, but also contribute to food security of the poor, with a social dimension" , said Nadège Chambon, researcher expert on the CAP for the think tank "Notre Europe". With this new legal base, the European Commission would have any legitimacy to buy food in the absence of surplus, or to expand the range of products supplied.

But the refusal of a handful of countries, including Germany, buried the project. These states were opposed to the feeding program is funded by the EU budget.In 2010, the current Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Ciolos, submitted an amended version. "It would increase the share of the envelopes of the EU, but also to open the co-financing private foundations, for example," says Nadège Chambon. The search for a compromise failed again today: Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Sweden continue to oppose the text, forming again a minority of block which makes it impossible to vote.

What are the arguments of the opposing countries?

The strong position of these six countries is based on a jurisdictional issue. "In principle, assistance to the poor is good, but it is the duty of national states," said the German representative, the Secretary of State Robert Kloos, advocating that it be spring " national budgets and not the European agricultural budget. "In Germany, moreover, the associations are very few appeals to the European program, with emphasis on regional governments, municipalities and churches. (Read on the subject: Germany has does not (the restaurants) heart?)

In April, the Court of Justice of the European Union, seized by Germany, has proved him right, by canceling the article to fund the distribution of aid from the budget of the CAP.

And those of his supporters?

The European Commission is in turn firmly attached to the device. Members highlight the growing needs of the poor, still weakened by the recent rise in food prices."In 2006, an estimated 43 million people in the EU-25 were at risk of food poverty," she recalled in a discussion paper.

"The CAP has imposed tariff protection which may themselves have negative consequences on the food purchasing power of citizens. The European Union would have a real legitimacy to helping people by providing food aid to the poor" Nadège Chambon also observed.

Program funds be at risk in the short term?

Yes, largely. The decision of the Court of Justice already prevents the European Commission to use the budget of the CAP to fund the program in 2012, depriving him of more than 80% of its resources. Result, its funds could rise from 480 million euros this year to 113.5 million in 2012, since only the original part of the program, the distribution of the surplus can be maintained."The associations are likely to distribute 130 million meals in less than in 2012," responded Didier Piard, head of advocacy at the Red Cross.

Despite the determination of the Commission and the outrage of European public opinion, "I do not see many positive outcomes, both the position of countries who oppose the program seems strong," said Nadège Chambon. In anticipation of the forthcoming negotiations, the states in favor of maintaining the program should continue intense negotiations to bend the skeptics.