BULGARIA

Bulgaria, Romania Post Lowest GDP/Capita in EU in 2011 Eurostat

Bulgaria and Romania posted the lowest GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) among the European Union member states last year, Eurostat said on Wednesday. Bulgaria's GDP per capita in PPS stood at 45% of the EU average last year, while Romania's was equivalent to 49%, the bloc's statistics office said in a statement. PPS is an artificial currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries. Thus one PPS buys the same volume of goods and services in all countries. This unit allows meaningful volume comparisons of economic indicators across countries. "Based on first preliminary estimates for 2011, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita expressed in PPS varied from 45% [in Bulgaria] to 274% [in Luxembourg] of the EU27 average across the member states," Eurostat said. SeeNews, 20/06/2012 Economie souterraine: Bulgarie et Roumanie en tte de l'UE

En 2011, la Bulgarie et la Roumanie ont figur parmi les membres de l'Union europenne caractriss par les niveaux les plus levs d'conomie souterraine, a annonc mardi la radio bulgare Darik News, citant un rapport du centre d'tudes "Economie transparente". Selon le rapport, la part de l'conomie non dclare en Bulgarie et en Roumanie dpasse 30%, contre 10% en Allemagne, 12% au Danemark et 17% en moyenne pour l'ensemble de l'UE. Seule la Grce, o cet indicateur atteint prs de 30%, est en mesure de rivaliser avec Sofia et Bucarest. En Bulgarie, les activits de l'ombre sont particulirement importantes dans l'industrie du btiment, l'assistance mdicale et le tourisme. Leur part dans ces secteurs se situe entre 50% et 60%, indique le rapport. RIA Novosti, 19/06/2012

Poll: Incumbents See Steady Support Institutionally, But Falling Rating Party-Wise

The Bulgarian incumbents enjoy steady public support for the institutions they run, as strong as three months ago, but voter backing for the ruling GERB party continues to slide gradually, according to a survey conducted by the Alpha Research polling agency. Public approval for President Rosen Plevneliev in early June remains more than double the level of disapproval: 39 to 15 per cent. Some 46 per cent of respondents have no definite opinion about him. The government of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has retained an approval rating of 22 per cent, while disapproval for it has slightly decreased to 33 per cent from 36 per cent three months ago, the survey shows. However, this does not imply an upturn in public support for the government, as

45 per cent of those polled refrained from expressing an opinion, Alpha Research said. Parliament still suffers from a deficit of public confidence. Its approval rating is 9 per cent, and that of its leader Tsetska Tsacheva, 14 per cent. The Prime Minister's balance as an individual politician remains positive, at 36 per cent approval to 33 per cent disapproval. Public confidence in him, however, is less stabilizing for the overall standing of the incumbents than before. The ruling GERB party is supported by 22.3 per cent of Bulgarian voters in early June, which is approximately as much as the approval rating of the government, Alpha Research said. The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has added 1 percentage point to its rating, which now stands at 18.0 per cent. The Bulgaria for the Citizens association is backed by 5.5 per cent of voters, most of them former supporters of the NMSS (former SNM), the GERB and the Blue Coalition. The association's leader, Meglena Kuneva, former European Commissioner and unsuccessful presidential candidate last autumn, enjoys much higher support as an individual politician, at 27.0 per cent. The survey shows that the effect of the split between the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB), collectively known as the Blue Coalition, is negative rather than positive for the two former partners. Support for the UDF stands at 2.1 per cent, compared with 1.7 per cent for the DSB. The electoral potential of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) remains at around 5 per cent. Voter support for the Ataka party has fallen further to 1.5 per cent, and for its leader Volen Siderov it has declined to 4.0 per cent. The survey was conducted between May 31 and June 7 among 1,025 respondents. BTA, 14/06/2012 Survey Registers Twofold Decline of People Ready to Vote for New Party in a Month

The people ready to vote for a new party in May (15 per cent) were twice less than in April (30 per cent), a national representative survey conducted among 1,000 respondents between May 23 and 30 showed. The survey was conducted by the National Public Opinion Centre (NPOC). According to the survey, mainly people at active employable age, highly educated citizens of the capital and regional centres would vote for a new political formation. At this point, the new parties still fail to attract the interest of politically apathetic Bulgarians - only 18 per cent of the non-voters would support a new formation. By tradition, Bulgarian politicians consider it easier and more effective to "withdraw" politically active voters from their opponents, instead of incorporating in political life the people who persistently refuse to take part in it. According to the survey, one-third of those ready to support the future party of former EU commissioner Meglena Kuneva defined their political views as centrist. Equal 13 per cent shares of those approving of the new formation determined themselves as left or right. Kuneva's Bulgaria for the Citizens would get the vote of people mainly aged between 40 and 50, highly educated and affluent. According to NPOC, such a profile places it in the niche of the electorate of the National Movement for Surge and Stability (NMSS) from 2001 and 2005, as well as in that of the GERB

electorate in 2009. Over the past ten years in politics Kuneva has preserved a rating of approval higher than the disapproval of her work, social scientists recalled. In their opinion, her positive public image, as well as the results from the presidential elections in 2011 contribute to attracting approval for the Bulgaria for the Citizens project. NPOC specialists note that there isn't a polling agency or a political analyst to doubt GERB's leadership as a political force in Bulgaria. Over two-thirds of Bulgarians are not convinced in the need of GERB's entering into partnership with any other political formation. BTA, 12/06/2012

ROMANIA

Roumanie : verdict historique contre l'ex-Premier ministre Adrian Nastase

L'ancien Premier ministre roumain Adrian Nastase a t condamn dfinitivement mercredi deux ans de prison ferme pour corruption, un jugement rare en Europe contre un ex-chef de gouvernement et qui marque un "tournant important" dans la lutte contre la corruption, selon des experts. "La Cour maintient la peine de deux ans de prison ferme", a dclar la magistrate Marcela Radu en lisant le jugement, fruit de six heures de dlibrations par cinq juges, a constat une journaliste de l'AFP. M. Nastase, 61 ans, Premier ministre social-dmocrate entre 2000 et 2004, tait accus d'avoir dtourn en 2004 vers sa campagne lectorale environ 1,5 million d'euros recueilli auprs de socits et d'hommes d'affaires invits participer un symposium, baptis le "Trophe de la qualit". AFP, 20/06/2012

President Basescu ratifies European Fiscal Treaty

The Romanian President signed, on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, the Decree on the promulgation of the Law for the ratification of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance within the Economic and Monetary Union. Cotidianul, 14/06/2012

About 75 pct of countryside population live in precarious circumstances (survey)

Round 75 percent of Romania's rural population live in precarious circumstances, and more than one million of them till and work the land, but receive no salary and are not paid in kind, either, reads the first representative survey, which the Institute for Social Economy (IES) in partnership with the Romanian Academy's Life Quality Research Institute (ICCV) conducted, at the associations of owners of farms, of forests, and composesorates, nationwide. According to the same survey, 0.80 percent of the farming exploitations

own 44 percent of Romania's cropland. And the foreign investors already own about 8 percent of Romania's cropland, namely 700,000 ha, and after Romania's joining the EU, the farming associations considerably dwindled, reads the release the Social Society Development Foundation (FDSC) sent to Agerpres. The survey was carried out on the representatives of 794 farming entities, in Romania, late in 2011. They also cautioned against the crop land's fragmentation, Romania numbering over 3.8 million farms, most of them less than 1 ha. Thus, Romania is the country having the largest number of farming exploitations of the EU. In their turn the IES officials said that 99.2 percent of the farming exploitations are individual subsistence farms. AGERPRES, 14/06/2012

Official results confirm clear victory of USL in local elections

Yesterday evening, the Central Electoral Bureau presented the official partial results of the local elections in 2012, after the centralisation of 95.7% of the voting sections. USL (Social Liberal Union) obtained 49.68% of the votes of the County Councils, while PDL (Democrat Liberal Party) 15.24%, while PP-DD (Dan Diaconescu People Party) received 8.95%. Out of the votes for the County Council presidents, USL obtained 49.71%, PDL 14.8%, while PP-DD 9.18%. In respect to mayors, USL obtained 41.39% out of the mayor mandates, PDL 15.63%, while PSD (Social Democrat Party) 11.95%. Cotidianul, 13/06/2012 SLOVAKIA

La Slovaquie rehausse sa prvision de croissance

Dans les annes 1990, la Slovaquie tait le mouton noir de l'Europe. La voil consacre meilleure lve de la zone euro, alors qu'elle n'en fait partie que depuis 2009. Bratislava s'offre mme le luxe de rviser sa croissance la hausse. En 2012, son produit intrieur brut (PIB) devrait progresser de 2,5 %, contre 2,3 % prvus auparavant, a annonc, vendredi 15 juin, le ministre slovaque des finances. L'conomie slovaque dpend essentiellement de deux secteurs : l'automobile et les crans plats. " Rapporte sa population, la Slovaquie est le premier producteur de voitures du monde : on compte presque un vhicule pour cinq habitants ! ", sourit Martin Suster, directeur du dpartement recherches la Banque centrale, rappelant que 90 % du PIB slovaque provient de ses exportations. En 2011, ajoute cet expert, la Slovaquie a mme russi avoir une balance des comptes courants positive, " ce que nous n'avions pas connu depuis longtemps ". La force et la faiblesse de la Slovaquie, c'est sa dpendance au march europen : 80 % de ses exportations partent vers l'Union. Si la crise internationale ne l'a pas pargn, faisant basculer son taux de croissance de + 6 % en 2008 - 4,9 % en 2009, le pays s'est redress une vitesse tonnante. " Dbut 2011, nous avions dj retrouv notre niveau d'avant la crise. Nous sommes sortis

de l'ornire et nouveau en pleine expansion ", estime Renata Konecna, directrice gnrale du dpartement de la politique montaire la Banque centrale. " Monnaie stable " Si la crise de la dette dans la zone euro inquite les Slovaques, l'immense majorit d'entre eux ne regrette pas d'avoir opt pour la monnaie unique. " En novembre 2011, ils taient 70 % se dire heureux d'avoir fait ce choix, contre 80 % en mars 2009. Si l'enthousiasme a un peu baiss, il demeure ", indique Martin Suster. L'impression gnrale est que, sans l'euro, le pays ne s'en serait pas si bien sorti. " En 2010, l'industrie slovaque a prospr deux fois plus vite que l'industrie tchque et hongroise. La raison ? L'euro ! Parce que les investisseurs savent pouvoir compter sur une monnaie stable ", affirme Vladimir Vlano, analyste financier la Volksbank. Il souligne que, mme en 2009, anne de crise, la Slovaquie a reu pas moins de 1 milliard d'euros d'investissements directs trangers. Pour se rendre attractif, le pays a adopt une taxation unique 19 % pour les socits comme pour les particuliers. Arriv au pouvoir en avril, le gouvernement social-dmocrate de Robert Fico envisage de relever ce taux pour rduire le dficit public (4,8 % du PIB en 2011). Ce n'est l qu'un des soucis de la Slovaquie. Le principal point noir reste le taux de chmage : presque 14 %. Mais il est largement plus lev dans les rgions dshrites de l'est du pays. Le Monde, 16/06/2012

Opposition Demands Postponement of ESM Vote /Opozcia iada odloi euroval

The Opposition is demanding that the vote on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) be postponed from the parliamentary session until German Bundestag decides on the issue. They failed to persuade the Speaker of the Parliament Pavol Paska on the postponement on Wednesday. Therefore, they want to turn with the same request to Prime Minister Robert Fico during his meeting with opposition leaders due to take place on Thursday. Nevertheless, opposition parties are not united in the question as to how would they vote on the ESM. Pravda, 14/06/2012

Slovakia hikes 2012 growth forecast to 2.5%

Slovakia's finance ministry on Friday hiked its 2012 economic growth outlook to 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent, a rate of expansion which could see it top the troubled 17-member eurozone. Slovakia's leftist government, in office since April, wants to slash the public deficit to 4.6 percent of GDP this year from 4.8 percent in 2011, and to less than the 3.0 percent mandated by the EU in 2013. Slovakia's NBS central bank raised its 2012 forecast from 2.1 to 2.5 percent on Tuesday, adding it expected the eurozone country's economy to grow by 3.1 percent in 2013 and pick up further to 4.3 percent in 2014. Like the ministry, the bank said the revision was due to better-than-expected first quarter data, when the economy grew by 3.0 percent on an annual basis and by 0.7 percent on the quarter. The European Commission has forecast Slovak output to expand by 1.8 percent this year, a result

that would still make it the fastest-growing economy in the debtridden 17-member eurozone. An ex-communist country of 5.4 million people that joined the European Union in 2004 and the eurozone in 2009, Slovakia grew 3.3 percent last year after expanding by 4.2 percent in 2010. AFP, 15/06/2012

Slovaquie: pas de raison d'ajourner la ratification du fonds MES (Fico)

La Slovaquie, membre de la zone euro depuis 2009, est prte ratifier prochainement le mcanisme europen de stabilit (MES), structure commune permanente pour financer les pays en difficult de la zone euro, a dclar mardi le Premier ministre Robert Fico. La Slovaquie va galement poursuivre sa propre consolidation budgtaire, a-t-il ajout aprs un entretien avec le prsident de l'UE Herman Van Rompuy. "Il n'y aucune raison pour que la Slovaquie reporte la ratification du fonds permanent (MES)", a dclar M. Fico. La ratification du fonds figure l'ordre du jour d'une session du Parlement qui s'ouvre le 19 juin, a prcis le chef du gouvernement slovaque, dont le parti de gauche Smer-SD bnficie d'une confortable majorit de 83 des 150 siges au Parlement. De son ct, M. van Rompuy a salu "l'engagement du gouvernement slovaque pour finaliser dans les plus brefs dlais le processus de ratification" au moment o certains pays de la zone euro, tels que la Grce et l'Espagne, se trouvent au bord de l'abme de la dette. Cr pour allger la pression du march sur les pays gravement endetts et pour viter la contagion travers la zone euro, le fonds MES sera lanc en juillet et fonctionnera pendant un an en parallle avec le Fonds europen de Stabilit Financire (FESF) temporaire. Pays relativement pauvre, la Slovaquie est cense participer au fonds MES par 659,2 millions d'euros, chelonns sur cinq ans. AFP, 12/06/2012

SLOVENIA

Poll Shows Strong Lead for Trk in Presidential Race

The latest Politbarometer poll shows incumbent President Danilo Trk in a strong lead for the upcoming presidential election at 42%. Trk is followed by former Prime Minister Borut Pahor at 25% and MEP Milan Zver at 12%. In a possible second round, Pahor would win over Zver, but Trk would defeat both Pahor and Zver, according to the telephone poll conducted by the polling centre of the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences between 11 and 13 June on 911 respondents. Polled about a general election, 60% of the respondents said they would cast a vote, most of them (around 20%) for the senior coalition Democrats (SDS), while over a third of them were undecided. Opposition Social Democrats (SD) and

Positive Slovenia (PS) polled at 13% and junior coalition New Slovenia (NSi) and People's Party (SLS) at 6% and 4% respectively. The coalition Citizens' List (DL) got 3%, the non-parliamentary National Party (SNS) 2%, and the coalition Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the non-parliamentary Sustainable Development Party (TRS) polled at 1% each. While the previous government of Borut Pahor was only supported by 18% of respondents a year ago, the current cabinet of Janez Jana enjoys approval from 26% of the respondents against 62% who disapprove of it. The respondents were split on the omnibus austerity act passed a month ago, with 51% opposing the law and 42% supporting it. STA, 19/06/2012 Delo Poll: SDS Back in Lead, Jana Gains Six Spots

The ruling Democrats (SDS) are back in the lead in party rankings after a month they were forced to watch the opposition Positive Slovenia (PS) in the back, shows a poll released by the daily Delo on Monday. The SDS, which gained 0.7 percentage points to 20.1%, and the PS, which lost 4.2 points to 18.5%, were followed by the opposition Social Democrats (SD), which was down 3.7 points to 15.4%. The three leading parties are far ahead as the junior coalition People's Party (SLS) lags behind with 6.9%, up 1.7 points, and the Citizens' List (DL) got 4.7%, up 0.3 points. The remaining two coalition parties, the New Slovenia (NSi) and the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), would even fail to make the 4% parliament threshold, with 3.5% (+1 pp) and 1.8% (+0.2 pp), respectively. The shift in party rankings was mirrored in the rankings of popular politicians, as PS head Zoran Jankovi lost five places to land in tenth, while SDS president Janez Jana gained six spots to rise to eighth. President Danilo Trk remained in the lead, followed by former PM Borut Pahor and Economic Development and Technology Minister Radovan erjav, decided the 710 respondents of the poll conducted by the paper's in-house pollster Delo Stik on 11 and 12 June. The respondents moreover gave the government a grade of 2.56 (on a 1-5 scale), which is slightly up from May, but far more respondents evaluated the government's work as negative (56.2%) than positive (33.2%). STA, 18/06/2012

ESTONIA

Estonia's Reform Party sees support grow in June despite funding scandal

Support for Estonia's governing Reform Party increased in June by one percentage point despite the financing scandal that hit the party last month, a survey conducted for BNS by TNS Emor pollsters showed. Support for Reform climbed to 31 percent in June from 30 percent in May. The opposition Center Party saw its backing grow to 23 percent from 19

percent last month. The Social Democratic Party (SDE) suffered the biggest decline with support dropping from 29 percent to 24 percent. The junior coalition partner, Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL), saw its rating decline by three percentage points, from 17 percent to 14 percent. The poll revealed a marked increase in the share of people with no party preference. In May 30 percent of respondents returned a "Cannot say" answer but in June their share was already 38 percent. The poll sample consisted of 801 voting-age citizens who were interviewed between May 23 and June 13. The Reform Party financing scandal broke on May 22 with former MP Silver Meikar coming clean about donating to the party money whose origin he did not know. In the poll outcome "Cannot say" answers are eliminated from the final score. BNS, 15/06/2012

Bank of Estonia: Estonia's GDP up 2.6 percent this year

It appears form the recent Bank of Estonia economic forecast that the Estonian gross domestic product (GDP) will grow 3.6 percent in stable prices this year, 3.6 percent next year and 4.1 percent in 2014. As an absolute figure the Estonian GDP would be 17 billion euros this year, 18.1 billion next year and 19.4 billion in 2014, the central bank said. On the basis of the Bank of Estonia forecast the adjusted consumer price index will grow 3.9 percent this year but next year the growth will slow down to 3.2 percent and to 2.7 percent in the next year but one. In accordance with the eurosystem forecast the eurozone inflation will remain in the range of 2.3 to 2.5 percent this year and in the range of 1 to 2.2. percent next year.Looking ahead, the Bank of Estonia presumes that the government keeps the growth of its expenditures lower than that of revenues and once again achieves a surplus of the budget. Uncertain external environment is appealing to caution in constant growth in budget expenditures and demands from the government sector readiness for constant changes in case the economic situation significantly deteriorates. BNS, 13/06/2012

SWEDEN

Euro Scepticism Remains Firm in Sweden

A large majority of Swedes remain opposed to the prospect of Sweden joining the euro, according to a poll by Sweden's statistics office published Monday. Only 14% of Swedes are in favor of the country joining the euro, replacing Sweden's krona, the poll by Statistics Sweden shows. Meanwhile, 78% of Swedes prefer to keep the krona. While support for Sweden joining the euro has increased slightly

since the previous reading in November last year, it has fallen from 24% a year ago. Even if opposition against Sweden joining the euro remains firm, most Swedes remain in favor of Sweden's membership of the European Union. According to the poll, 47% of Swedish voters support Sweden's EU membership, while 24% of voters are against it. Support for Sweden's EU membership has fallen from 52% a year ago. The survey was conducted in May this year, and is based on interviews with 5,500 Swedish voters. Sweden is obliged under the Maastricht Treaty to adopt the euro at some point, though in 2003 a majority of Swedes voted against doing so in a referendum, a position successive governments have honored. Sweden's center-right government and its Finance Minister Anders Borg say the country should join the single currency eventually. Dow Jones, 11/06/2012

CZECH REPUBLIC

CSSD would win elections, but harmed by Rath scandal - poll

The preferences of the Czech senior opposition party, the Social Democrats (CSSD), further decreased due to the corruption affair of David Rath who was taken into custody in May and had to leave the post of a CSSD regional governor, according to the latest STEM poll released today. The Social Democrats would be supported by 21.9 percent of the respondents if elections were held now, compared to 23.3 percent in May and 26.1 percent in April, the poll showed. The CSSD nevertheless remains the most popular party in the country, with a clear lead over the ruling Civic Democrats (ODS) who gained 14.9 percent now, or slightly more than in May. The Communists (KSCM) won 12.6 percent, TOP 09 9.5 percent and the extra-parliamentary Christian Democrats (KDUCSL) 4.5 percent. The Greens and the Party of Citizens' Rights of Milos Zeman (SPOZ) each won over 3 percent. Public Affairs (opposition VV) gained 1.2 percent, slightly less than Sovereignty of Jana Bobosikova. Three newly founded parties won approximately 1 percent each: LIDEM of Deputy PM Karolina Peake, which splintered off the VV, the leftist party of Jiri Paroubek (NS-LEV 21) and ANO 2011 of businessman Andrej Babis. According to the STEM election model, the left-wing opposition would have a clear majority of 115 mandates, or 74 plus 41, in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. The CSSD and the KSCM would not have a constitutional majority anymore, however. The ODS would have 50 seats, TOP 09 26 seats and KDU-CSL 9 seats, the pollsters said. The STEM poll was conducted on 1112 people in early June. CTK, 19/06/2012

GDP adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar effects declined by 0.7%

GDP adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar effects declined by

0.7% year on year in 2012 Q1, as per the CZSOs estimate. GDP declined by 0.8% in quarter-on-quarter terms,. Versus the current CNB forecast, the change in economic activity recorded in 2012 Q1 is 0.7 percentage point lower in both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter terms. The expenditure structure of economic activity in 2012 Q1 also recorded deviations from the CNB forecast. The decline in household consumption was more pronounced than expected by the CNB. Year-on-year growth in fixed investment lagged well behind the CNB forecast. In the area of domestic economic activity, the published data represent a downside risk for the CNB forecast, although they are also partly influenced by some oneoff factors. As per the baseline scenario of the current forecast, the Czech economy will stagnate this year. The subdued economic activity will reflect a substantial slowdown of external demand and continued domestic fiscal consolidation. GDP will grow again in 2013 (by 1.9%) as external demand recovers. In the alternative scenario of the CNB forecast, which incorporates the impacts of additional budgetary consolidation measures recently adopted by the government, GDP growth in 2013 is around 0.8 percentage point lower than in the baseline scenario. The decrease in inventories was also slightly stronger than forecasted by the CNB. Owing to the above developments, total gross capital formation recorded a year-onyear fall rather than the expected stagnation. PAKBNK, 18/06/2012

La Rpublique tchque en rcession: -0,8% au 1er trimestre

L'conomie tchque s'est contracte de 0,8% au premier trimestre 2012 compar aux trois mois prcdents, selon les chiffres rviss publis vendredi par l'Office national des statistiques (CSU). Elle affiche ainsi une deuxime contraction trimestrielle, rpondant aux critres de rcession. Une premire estimation publie par CSU le 15 mai tablait sur une contraction de 1,0% du PIB tchque. Au quatrime trimestre 2011, le PIB tchque avait diminu de 0,2% par rapport au trimestre prcdent, aprs une stagnation entre les deuxime et troisime trimestres de l'an dernier, selon la mme source. En comparaison annuelle, il a recul de 0,7%, aprs une hausse de 0,6% enregistre au quatrime trimestre de 2011. Fort de 10,5 millions d'habitants, ce pays d'Europe centrale membre de l'UE mais non de la zone euro, a affich en 2011 une hausse du PIB de 1,7%. La banque centrale tchque (CNB) s'attend ce que l'conomie fortement dpendante de l'industrie automobile montre une croissance nulle pour cette anne. Par ailleurs, le taux de chmage dans ce pays a recul de 0,2 point en mai pour s'tablir 8,2% de la population active, a annonc vendredi le ministre du Travail et des Affaires sociales. ATS, 09/06/2012

POLAND

Eurostat: Poland's GDP Per Capita Ratio Improving

According to the Eurostat, in 2011 Poland's GDP per capita totalled 65 percent of the EU average. While Poland is still far behind the wealthier EU countries in that aspect, it has already overtaken Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia and Lithuania, and is closing in on Hungary and Estonia. Only three years ago, Poland's GDP per capita stood at 56 percent of the EU average. If the Polish economy maintains its current growth rate, it may soon catch up with Greece or Portugal, both of which saw a drop in GDP per capita last year. Eurostat economists note that actual individual consumption (AIC) has also improved in Poland and currently stands at 70 percent of the EU average, which places the country higher in an EU-wide ranking than all of the aforementioned other EU member states. The AIC is a better indicator of prosperity in a country and the differences between the citizens of EU states are smaller than in the case of GDP per capita, Eurostat analysts explain. PNB, 21/06/2012

Moody's Sees Pension Reform Positive for Poland's Rating

Moody's Investors Service appraises the new pension law, which has been approved by President Bronislaw Komorowski, as it interprets the move as a sign of the government's commitment to sustain the economic growth and run "responsible" fiscal policy. Analyst Jaime Reusche says the ruling coalition proved its dedication to structural reforms, which is positive for Poland's credit rating. Still, Moody's points at the need of further reforms on the labour market and in the education system. Reusche also criticizes the fact that less than half of Poles aged between 50 and 64 work, while the real age of retiring is lower than the legal limit, as it blocks the economy's production potential and will become even bigger burden with ageing society. He adds that "while the government may be tired of reforms, investing into them vast part of its political capital," conducting an unpopular pension reform is positive. PNB, 12/06/2012

HUNGARY

Crisis-weary Hungarians lose faith in government

According to a survey by pollster Median, Fidesz' support dropped to its lowest in a decade at 22 percent last month, even though it still has a lead over the opposition Socialists, who stand at 16 percent. Far-right Jobbik hovers around 11 percent. The survey showed 76 percent of the people are pessimistic about the country's outlook while another recent poll by Ipsos showed this rate even higher, at 81 percent. Half of Hungary's 8 million electorate is undecided or would not vote if parliamentary elections were held now, although the next election is not due until 2014. Hungary's economy shrank by 1.2 percent in

the first quarter, posting the biggest quarterly drop in the whole of the 27member EU. Analysts project only modest, 1.1 percent growth for next year according to a recent Reuters poll.. Reuters, 17/06/2012

POLL - Nearly half of decided voters continue to support ruling parties - Nezopont

Forty-eight percent of Hungary'svoters with a clear party preference declared their support for the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democratic party alliance, a recent poll by the Nezopont Institute published on Friday found. Out of that group -- an estimated 4.5 million people, or 57 percent of the electorate -- 24 percent backed the opposition Socialist Party, 17 percent radical nationalist Jobbik, and 7 percent LMP, the report said. With a 3-percent drop in support since last month, Fidesz seems to have bottomed out, Nezopont said, while the opposition parties have failed to recoup their losses, it added. Nezopont conducted its survey by phone with a randomly selected group of 1,000 eligible voters between June 4 and 8. MTI, 15/06/2012

Hungary economy to stagnate in full-year 2012

The Hungarian economy willstagnate in 2012 based on first-quarter growth data, Gyorgy Matolcsy, the economy minister, said on Thursday. The government expects a contraction in the first half of 2012 and uptick in the second half, Matolcsy told a news conference. Economic growth in 2013 is expected at 1.6 percent, he said. The budget deficit is targeted at 2.2 percent of GDP and state debt is expected to decline to 76 percent next year, he said. The budget is calculated with a forint rate of 299.4 per euro in 2013, he added. Inflation is expected to be 4.2 percent next year. MTI, 14/06/2012

Government fighting circumstances

for

Cohesion

Funds

under

difficult

The planning of the EU budget for the period 2014-2020 is still in progress. According to the proposal by the European Commission, the amounts allocated for Cohesion Funds would be cut significantly which would mean painful consequences for Hungary. Not only the amount allocated for Cohesion Funds would be reduced by 4% but also the distribution of the resources would be modified as a result of which Hungary would lose about 20% of the resources from the Cohesion Funds. Earlier, the European Parliament proposed an increased financing in the field of R+D, education, energy policy and foreign relations; however, the amounts allocated for the Common Agricultural Policy, Cohesion Policy and for home affairs and justice should not be reduced, either. Npszabadsg, 11/06/2012

Hongrie: les socialistes veulent s'inspirer de la gauche franaise pour 2014

Les socialistes hongrois, ports par des sondages flatteurs ces derniers jours, ont arrt leur stratgie de reconqute et comptent s'inspirer de la victoire de la gauche franaise la prsidentielle pour l'emporter en 2014, a expliqu lundi une porte-parole du parti socialiste. "La nouvelle stratgie du parti est prte. Elle est ancre gauche et veut toucher tous les lecteurs dus par (le Premier ministre conservateur hongrois) Viktor Orban", a indiqu l'AFP une porte-parole du MSZP, le parti socialiste hongrois. La stratgie, qui n'a pas encore t dvoile, "fera preuve de renouveau dans le style et le caractre". "Elle ne s'inspirera pas de notre pass, mais de l'idologie moderne europenne, comme celle de la gauche franaise", a ajout la porte-parole. Le parti socialiste a commenc rattraper au mois de mai son retard sur le Fidesz, parti de Viktor Orban, une premire depuis la victoire des conservateurs aux lections de 2010. Dans les sondages publis dbut juin, Tarqi (Institut de recherches sociales) et Sonda Ipsos, deux des quatre grands instituts hongrois de sondages, situent les socialistes 15% des intentions de vote, talonnant le Fidesz, qui recueille entre 16% et 17% d'intentions de votes. En revanche, la mme date, les deux autres instituts Median et Szazadveg, ce dernier proche du gouvernement, prvoient toujours un cart plus important entre le MSZP (entre 15% et 16%) et le Fidesz (entre 22% et 24%). Face cette pousse, les socialistes ont annonc travailler un nouveau programme pour crer une alternative relle au Fidesz pour les lections lgislatives prvues au printemps 2014. En avril 2010, le Fidesz avait remport les lgislatives avec une majorit des deux-tiers au Parlement. AFP, 11/06/2012