02/06 – Today’s headlines from across the EU

EUROPEAN HEADLINES

FT – US deal making smashes records set in dotcom and debt booms. Cheap credit and bullish boardrooms fuel M&A. Value amounts to $243bn in May.

WSJE – Rivals rush to combine in Telecom. Europe’s telecommunications companies are on a mission: build scale before it is too late.

INYT – Beijing tries, once again, to ban smoking. Officials vow to enforce latest drive to clear air in capital’s public spaces.

FRANCE

Le Soir – Ségolène Royal warns of a failure on climate action. Six months from the Paris summit, the Minister urges the Head of State to take back the negotiations from the UN.

Les Echos – Valls facing the failure of the fight against unemployment. The number of unemployed people rose by 26,200 in April to reach new highs. The government creates 100,000 additional State-aided contracts and prepares measures to help SMEs.

GERMANY

Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) – Readiness to donate organs increases again. Eighty percent consider donation positively, however only one in two has a donor card.

Suedeutsche Zeitung – England calls for a World Cup boycott. The English sports association appeals to Germany and other nations not to play in Russia in 2018. The German DFB considers it to be a “bad weapon”; the Netherlands suggest a new organisation set to compete with the FIFA.

ITALY

La Repubblica – Renzi: “It went well”. Confrontation within the PD party. Salvini to Berlusconi: I am now the leader. Grillo answers: never flirt with the left-wing. Matarella: abstention is caused by internal fights. Venice, Casson is in strong position.

Il Sole 24 Ore – Taxes, construction and labour, the tests of the new governors. Emiliano sets restrictions on Ilva and on the Tap pipeline. Marche and Umbria: digital plan. De Luca, Severino law at risk, looks for the vice governor. Toti, margin of a vote.

POLAND

Gazeta – Poles do not like African immigrants. The latest opinion polls show that 29% Poles accepts immigrants from Africa and the same percentage rejects them. Poles say they fear terrorism and think that the country cannot afford to accept refugees.

SPAIN

El Pais – New parties’ demands put electoral pacts at stake. The PSOE struggles to reach the presidency in Valencia and Aragon and the PP is fighting to keep Madrid.

Expansion – El Corte Inglés refinances its debt and saves €200 million. The group will cut its rate from 4% to 3.25% and its annual financial costs by €27 million.

The Times – Tories split as Cameron refuses to cut benefits. Black hole in £12 billion welfare saving plans.

The Guardian – Shoot to kill: a US horror story. 464 dead this year. 102 unarmed. Big disparity between numbers of black and white victims.