The year 2003, the world economics is still uncertain.

G7 puts brave face on world economy
Slovenia votes on entry into EU and NATO
Nations seek strengthened European defense union
World leaders expected to tackle range of global issues
European Union sees flat growth in 2Q
Italian, German leaders meet
Swedes to vote on euro
Scandinavian country opts not to adopt euro
Ex-Soviet state votes to join European Union
Latvians vote to join EU, government goes into crisis
Nations seek effort to lift global economy
Group of 7 criticizes currency policies of Japan, China
EU leaders meet on constitution
European Union threatens to withhold aid
Tennessee avoids U.S.-EU trade dispute fallout
EU and allies delay imposing sanctions on U.S. in steel dispute
Europeans near deal on defense plan
Dollar hits an all-time low against euro


• 2/24/2003 - G7 puts brave face on world economy.
      Finance chiefs of the world's top economies put a brave face on poor growth rates and war worries when they met in Paris over the weekend to assess what could be done to shore up sagging investor confidence and business activity.    Finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrial powers got what appeared to be a signal that the European Central Bank was ready to cut interest rates in the euro zone if needed to help shore up growth in uncertain times.    It was said that the G7 remained confident despite slow economic growth rates.
• 3/24/2003 - Slovenia votes on entry into EU and NATO.
      Ljubljana, Slovenia -- A majority of the 2 million ex-Yugoslav Slovene voters approved membership in both the European Union at 93 percent for and NATO 60 percent for in a twin referendum, exit polls showed, even after the buildup and breakout of war in Iraq.
• 4/30/2003 - Nations seek strengthened European defense union by Paul Ames, The Associated Press.
      Brussels, Belgium -- The leaders of France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg -- all critics of the U.S.-led war on Iraq -- agreed to beef up their military cooperation in an effort to make Europe's defense less reliant on the United States.    This will not weaken the Atlantic alliance and would strengthen NATO by sharpening Europe's military edge.    Britain, Spain, Italy and other European nations who supported the war in Iraq opposed the meeting, fearing it would aggravate the divisions the war opened within NATO and the European Union.
      To ease concerns, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker issued a statement stressing "the trans-Atlantic partnership remains an essential strategic priority for Europe."
      However, their plans included setting up a military planning "nucleus" based in Brussels "for operational planning and command of EU-led operations without recourse to NATO assets."
      NATO officials warned that could lead to a wasteful duplication of the work of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium and erode alliance cohesion.
      Other proposals they agreed to:
  
  • A rapid reaction unit with Belgian special operations troops and a Luxembourg reconnaissance team to integrate into NATO and EU response forces.
  • A European command for strategic air transport, with shared planes to fly troops to trouble spots.
  • A joint European unit to counter chemical, biological or nuclear threats.
  • A disaster response system able to deploy civil and military assets within 24 hours.
  • European military training centers.
  • A procurement agency to coordinate arms purchases.
      The plans will be presented to the 11 other EU nations in the next foreign minister meeting in Greece.
• 6/1/2003 - World leaders expected to tackle range of global issues by Martin Crutsinger, The Associated Press.
      Evian, France -- The world's seven richest industrial countries and Russia struggled to reach common ground on a range of global issues in advance of an economic summit that was likely to be remembered more for the gulf separating the countries than for any modest achievements on combating AIDS or jump-starting global growth.
      Bush and other leaders of the Group of Eight summit countries were scheduled to arrive after helping Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrate the 300^th anniversary of Putin's hometown, St. Petersburg, Russia -- a warmup for 2006, when Russia for the first time will serve as host for the annual summit.
      A diverse group of anti-globalization protesters were being kept far away from the meeting site by police and military units.
      Bush and other leaders insisted that the G-8 still will be able to reach consensus on global issues despite the deep divisions in the group exposed by the Iraq war, which saw France, Russia, Germany and Canada refuse to join Britain, Japan and Italy in supporting the U.S.-led war.
      Bush's relations grew bitter with French President Jacques Chirac, who actively led the opposition to the Iraq war,and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who won re-election with what the White House viewed as an anti-American as well as anti-war campaign.
      Global anti-poverty groups held out hope that the G-8 leaders would try harder to show progress on such issues as fighting poverty and AIDS in Africa in an effort to demonstrate a return to cooperation.
      Bush challenged other G-8 members to match a $15 billion, five-year U.S. boost in AIDS funding that Bush pushed through Congress in time for this year's summit.
      Also Bush proposed to double spending on foreign assistance to poor nations and to create a new famine relief fund, to help poor nations that agree to pursue democratic and free-market reforms.
• 8/15/2003 - European Union sees flat growth in 2Q.
      Brussels, Belgium - European Union growth was flat in the second quarter of 2003, with not much of a pickup seen for the rest of the year.    Germany, the EU's biggest economy and traditional engine of growth, actually slid into a shallow recession this year, with a forecast of zero growth for 2003 as a whole.
      This will put pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates again this fall to help lift the continent out of its economic doldrums.    The 12-country euro-zone basically is showing zero growth during this period.
• 8/24/2003 - Italian, German leaders meet by The Associated Press.
      Rome - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (president of the EU) and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany met in Verona and said relations between their countries were "excellent," putting aside a summer of polemics that prompted the German leader to cancel an Italian vacation.    Berlusconi had previously remarked that the German was a comic version of a Nazi concentration camp guard.
• 8/31/2003 - Swedes to vote on euro by Tennessean News Services.
      Stockholm, Sweden - Sweden faces a fateful decision Sept. 14.    A referendum will decide whether Sweden adopts the euro, the common currency of the 15-nation European Union.
      Opponents say Sweden, like Britain and Denmark, is better off staying out.    Joining the euro, they say, is another step toward a European superstate that will tie Sweden's hands in setting tax rates and maintaining its welfare system.
      The government maintains that by snubbing the euro, the nation of 9 million risks becoming a marginal force in the new, borderless European giant.
• 9/15/2003 - Scandinavian country opts not to adopt euro.
      Stockholm, Sweden - Prime Minister Goeran Persson said Swedes rejected adopting the European common currency in a referendum overshadowed by the slaying of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, the ardent euro supporter.
      The Swedish rejection of the euro is a blow to the common currency and European integration.    It also provides a boost for euro opponents in Britain (voting not approved) and Denmark (rejected in 2000), which still use their own currencies.
      The Swedish currency the krona, will still replace the euro.
• 9/15/2003 - Ex-Soviet state votes to join European Union.
      Tallinn, Estonia - Estonians voted with 67% to join the European Union, fulfilling what once seemed an unattainable dream for the small Baltic State.    EU entry has been a top priority for every government since Estonia regained independence amid the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
• 9/21/2003 - Latvians vote to join EU, government goes into crisis.
      Riga, Latvia - Latvians voted overwhelmingly at 70% to join the European Union, but the government was thrown into turmoil when one party (Latvia First) bolted the ruling coalition.   
• 9/21/2003 - Nations seek effort to lift global economy.
      Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Facing uneven economic expansion, finance ministers from wealthy nations urged a quick resumption in global trade talks, after they fell apart last week amid sharp divisions with poor nations.
      The Finance ministers pledged fixes in their own economies - like reducing costly state benefits in Europe and "frivolous" lawsuits in the United States - in hopes of pushing the global economy ahead.
      "Promoting growth and job creation is the single best way we can help developing countries," U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow stated.
      Poorer countries are accusing the rich West of not facing down its powerful agricultural lobbies over protectionist measures the Third World wants eliminated so its farmers can better compete.
• 9/21/2003 - Group of 7 criticizes currency policies of Japan, China by Timothy L. Obrien, New York Times News Service.
      Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Discussions ranging from terrorist financing to public funds of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, representatives of the Group of Seven richest nations called for the resumption of world trade talks and a global commitment to market-based exchange rates for currencies.    The Group of 7 said it "reaffirms that exchange rates should reflect economic fundamentals," a statement that was a barely disguised criticism of the currency policies of China and Japan.    Central bankers throughout the globe have routinely criticized both countries for intervening in currency markets to keep their currencies artifically low, policies that lower their export prices and thus boost their share of international trade.
      China which has long protected its currency against the vicissitudes of global economic swings, weathered the currency panics that beset many of its Asian neighbors during the late 1990s and is unlikely to change its policy to appease the Group of 7.
      Japan is something of a wild card.    The yen rose to a 2 1/2-year high against the dollar in anticipation that the Bank of Japan would start buying yen to comply with the group's wishes, currency traders might be overestimating how collegial Japan truly is.    In the past, Japan has voiced its commitment to Group of 7 directives only to do the exact opposite.
      The Group of 7, which consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, gathered during the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund meeting.
• 10/5/2003 - EU leaders meet on constitution - Pact highlights tension between small, big nations - by Ed Johnson, The Associated Press.
      Rome - European Union leaders said they hoped to endorse their new constitution in mid-December, setting a tight deadline for overcoming a power struggle between small and large nations.    They promise the constitution will take effect in 2005, by then, 10 more nations will have joined the bloc, raising the EU membership to 25.
      The constitution foresees an EU president, a Foreign minister, a structured defense policy and provisions to make it more difficult to wield vetoes that cause bureaucratic gridlock.    It also calls for an EU executive of only 15 members denying each state the automatic right to one European Commissioner.
      Austria, Finland and those set to join the club next year - Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Malta and Lithuania, are demanding that the charter "respects the principles of equality" of nations large and small.
      Poland, Spain and Italy want the constitution to refer to God and Judeo-Christian values as a vital part of European heritage, something opposed by France.    Britain insist foreign issues, taxation, social security and defense matters remain subject to national vetoes.
• 11/14/2003 - European Union threatens to withhold aid.
      Abidjan, Ivory Coast - The European Union will withhold $469 million in aid promised in January's peace talks for Ivory Coast's rebuilding until combatants in the civil war comply with a stalled peace accord, EU Commission President Romano Prodi warned.
• 11/16/2003 - Tennessee avoids U.S.-EU trade dispute fallout by Keith Russell.
      New tariffs are being threatened by the European Union on fishing and other boats in light of its recent victory in a trade dispute with the Bush administration over U.S. steel tariffs.    The World Trade Organization upheld an earlier decision that rule tariffs on foreign steel instituted by the United States in 2002 violated global trade rules.
      The decision will require President Bush to either remove the steel tariffs, which have been viewed as a political nod to workers in states considered key to his 2004 re-election bid, or face retaliatory sanctions from Europe, Japan and other large trading countries.
      The EU is so far the only trade partner to provide details of the sanctions it could implement as early as next month if there is no change in U.S. steel policy.    The list includes tariffs as high as 30% on more than $2 billion of U.S. exports.
      Tennessee was not affected by the sanctions since Europe makes up a small fraction of exports.
• 11/29/2003 - EU and allies delay imposing sanctions on U.S. in steel dispute by The Associated Press.
      Geneva - The European Union and its allies have agreed to a nine-day delay (Dec. 15) before imposing billions of dollars in trade sanctions against the United States over illegal steel tariffs, World Trade Organization officials said.    The 15-nation EU tariffs could be on imports ranging from orange juice to pajamas.
      The EU, Japan and Norway had threatened to impose import duties on U.S. goods beginning Dec. 6 unless Washington dropped tariffs of up to 30 percent on imported steel.    Korea, China, Switzerland, New Zealand and Brazil would have also joined in the sanctions.
      President Bush's administration said the tariffs, imposed last year, are needed to bolster the beleaguered U.S. steel industry.
• 11/30/2003 - Europeans near deal on defense plan - Union still stuck on reference to God in constitution - by Robert Wieland, The Associated Press.
      Naples, Italy - France, Britain and Germany won broad support for a plan to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities, but European Union countries failed to reach agreement on the emotionally charged issue of whether the union's constitution should mention God or include a reference to Europe's Christian heritage.
      Foreign ministers welcomed the defense plan as a major achievement in efforts to map out an independent military role for the European Union while keeping NATO as the continent's primary defender.    The United States has long been wary of European's eroding NATO, in existence since World War II.
      Secular France opposes a mention of Christianity, as do Denmark and Belgium.    Predominantly Roman Catholic nations, such as Ireland, Italy, Spain and Poland, want such a reference.
      Even if European Union nations manage to adopt a constitution in December, it will have to be ratified by parliaments and referendums, with the aim of having the new charter take effect starting Jan. 1, 2005.
• 12/30/2003 - Dollar hits an all-time low against euro - British pound goes to 11-year high - by Anusha Shrivastava, The Associate Press.
      New York - The dollar's decline is just the continuation of an ongoing trend, and it showed no bounce at the end of the year as expected.    The dollar is endemically weak, and the euro, introduced Jan. 1, 1999, has risen 19 percent against the dollar since the beginning of 2003.    They claim the weak dollar can aid the U.S. economy by making U.S. goods more competitive on price.
  
  

Last updated January 31, 2004.