Brazil reiterated opposition to a French plan to impose regulation on commodity prices, saying it could have negative effects on major suppliers such as itself. Brazil is totally opposed to a mechanism of control or regulation of commodity prices, Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters, reiterating a position he gave last week.
France warned Tuesday that it is following closely European Union/Mercosur trade talks to ensure that farmers from both blocks are strictly subjected to the same rules.
France and the U.N. food agency FAO warned on Friday about the risk of a new global food crisis and ensuing riots, calling for greater regulation to curb speculation on commodities markets.
After years of political division, Europe's two biggest military powers have come together to sign a historic defence-sharing agreement.
Deceased French president Francois Mitterrand in 1989 gave his approval to German unification on condition that then Chancellor Helmut Kohl opened the way for the creation of an only currency in the European Union.
French Agriculture minister Bruno Le Maire reiterated Paris ‘strong rejection’ of European Union trade talks with Mercosur and said that Europe “is no dumping ground for Mercosur agriculture produce”.
Banks operating in the UK will be hit with a levy in a move set to raise more than £8bn over four years, the chancellor has announced -The levy is part of a joint move between the UK, France and Germany.
European Union finance ministers have agreed to introduce tougher regulation of the hedge fund industry. Ministers overrode objections by the new UK government and the City of London, where 80% of European funds are based.
The French navy has located the black box flight recorders from the Air France (EPA:AF) jet which plunged into the Atlantic killing 228 people last summer. However, officials said there was still no guarantee the recorders—that could explain the cause of the crash—would ever be brought to the surface.
France's government demanded “fair and prompt” compensation from Bolivia for the nationalization of a power plant half-owned by French utility GDF Suez (EPA:GSZ).