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The fishing industry is the backbone of Iceland’s economyBut the country is at loggerheads with EU members over its mackerel fishingIreland has called for the EU to impose sanctions against Iceland for over-fishingIceland minister: Dispute is making country question pitch for EU membership The fishing industry is the backbone of Iceland’s economy, but a row over quotas is threatening the country’s application to join the European Union.It’s a quarrel reminiscent of the Iceland Cod Wars of the 1950s and 1970s, but this time it’s over mackerel.The country is at loggerheads with Ireland, Norway and EU members over how much mackerel [...]

DUBLIN Europe is still some way from severing the vicious link between troubled banks and states despite a landmark deal anointing the European Central Bank as supervisor-in-chief. Persuading national governments to cede responsibility for their biggest lenders to Frankfurt was a major first step towards banking union but it was arguably the easiest bit. Getting agreement on sharing the burden when one of those banks goes belly-up, the key component of a euro zone firewall, could take years yet to be agreed, with German elections late next year likely to rule out any meaningful discussion of bold policy moves beforehand. [...]

LONDON/BRUSSELS The European Union is close to a deal over tougher capital rules for banks after officials struck a series of preliminary agreements, including to introduce the rules in January 2014 and to cap bankers’ bonuses. EU states and the European Parliament met in Strasbourg, France, on Thursday and failed to agree an overall deal on a law to implement so-called Basel III rules, which require banks to hold more capital as a buffer against business setbacks. However, progress was made and a spokeswoman for the parliament said there would be a further meeting on Tuesday to iron out remaining [...]

BRUSSELS The European Union reached a landmark deal on Thursday to make the European Central Bank the bloc’s top banking supervisor, giving EU leaders greater confidence that they are gaining the upper hand over the euro zone’s debt crisis. EU finance ministers forged a deal on the single supervisor in the early hours of Thursday after marathon talks. Leaders will give their stamp of approval at a summit starting later in the day, their last of 2012, and also discuss closer fiscal ties for their troubled currency area. {id:nL5E8ND057] After a hectic year of crisis management, during which Greece had [...]

BRUSSELS The European Union reached a landmark deal on Thursday to make the European Central Bank the bloc’s top banking supervisor, giving EU leaders greater confidence that they are gaining the upper hand over the euro zone’s debt crisis. EU finance ministers forged a deal on the single supervisor in the early hours of Thursday after marathon talks. Leaders will give their stamp of approval at a summit starting later in the day, their last of 2012, and also discuss closer fiscal ties for their troubled currency area. {id:nL5E8ND057] After a hectic year of crisis management, during which Greece had [...]

LOS ANGELES European Union financial ministers struck an agreement early Thursday to move the bloc closer to banking union by bringing the region’s largest lenders under a single supervisory authorities, reports from the region said. Under the deal announced after midnight, the European Central Bank will be given oversight over all banks with either more than 30 billion euros ($ 39 billion) in assets or which have a large presence within a member economy, the Associated Press reported. The agreement followed more than 14 hours of talks — and months of discussion after the idea was first broached — with [...]

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pleaded with Congress and the White House on Wednesday to reach a “sensible agreement” on the fiscal cliff before the looming batch of spending cuts and tax hikes derails the economic recovery.  In a press conference in Washington after the Fed unveiled new monetary policy thresholds and an extension of a Treasury-buying program, Bernanke also sought to explain the central bank’s efforts to keep the U.S. economy float and drive down unemployment. He warned that the $ 600 billion combination of tax hikes and spending cuts contained in the fiscal cliff “could have a very [...]

BRUSSELS/BERLIN Germany signaled on Wednesday it was ready to back plans for the European Central Bank to be made the chief supervisor of banks, raising the prospect of a breakthrough on the European Union’s most ambitious financial reform. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German cabinet he was “optimistic” about a deal ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, a German official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We hope for major progress and perhaps a breakthrough (in the talks),” he said. “We have some questions but if they can be resolved by finance ministers [...]

BRUSSELS/BERLIN Germany signaled on Wednesday it was ready to back plans for the European Central Bank to be made the chief supervisor of banks, raising the prospect of a breakthrough on the European Union’s most ambitious financial reform. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told the German cabinet he was “optimistic” about a deal ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, a German official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We hope for major progress and perhaps a breakthrough (in the talks),” he said. “We have some questions but if they can be resolved by finance ministers [...]

U.S. regulators are near a settlement with Google Inc in a dispute over the search giant’s efforts to stop the sale of products it says infringe essential patents, according to two sources close to the probe. But the Federal Trade Commission is not expected to reach a deal soon on the larger, more contentious issue of whether Google tweaks its search results to disadvantage rivals in travel, shopping and other specialized searches. Its rivals say Google fears the specialized sites will siphon away its most lucrative advertising and the revenue that goes with it. Under the expected settlement, which could [...]