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From our correspondent in Brussels The European economy is showing signs of continued weakness. The Brussels Commission anticipates the continuation of a "mild recession" throughout the first half of 2012, in its latest forecast released Friday. She was pushed to the slow recovery, driven by global growth and trade. But the burst also requires the continued recovery: "If we do not undertake new efforts resolutely, growth could remain weak," says Olli Rehn, Commissioner for the Economy. The warning is aimed, among others, in Paris.

The European Commission confirms that it indeed does not believe in the commitment of France to return to a deficit of 3% of GDP: it believes that the path leads instead to 4.2%, but policy change in the meantime . What complicates the situation for Francois Hollande and, perhaps, weaken some of its most expensive promises.

Under the scrutiny of experts, Europe – and particularly the eurozone – is a group exposed to "great disparities", if not serious tensions. In Germany, the first class out of reach of any material, opposes Spain, the fourth economy of the euro, which never ceases to plunge into the red whether the activity, unemployment or public accounts. Within Euroland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland also miss the fiscal trial run. Clearly, the debate austerity-growth is not about to be extinguished. Not to mention the Greek hopeless case …

The fiscal covenant "is not stupid."

Madrid promises to return to 3% deficit next year? The Commission corrects and provides 6.3%. Realistic to Brussels, Conservative Mariano Rajoy could be the first to benefit from a late May deadline pushed back to 2014, even dent the official code of collective discipline. Commissioner Rehn dodged the question. But he raised the possibility of treatment "differentiated" because, he said, the fiscal pact "is not stupid."

For France, the hypothesis of a loosening of the stranglehold of 3% next year, however, is not on the shelves. "We expect that the French authorities specify the measures planned for 2013," Olli Rehn impatient setting out for the first time at the podium a request already heard behind the scenes in Europe, chaired by Sarkozy. The Commission will make its recommendations on May 31 Sanctions against Paris would intervene only after several years of deficits observed.

"We're not there yet," they say in Brussels. But France would have no mitigating circumstance – unlike Spain, Greece or Ireland. In keeping with German and domestic demand, which resists the Hexagon would grow by 0.5% this year and 1.3% in 2013. Unemployment, though rising steadily (10.3% next year), would remain below 11% of euro area average.

In comparison, France's President Holland is not the worst off and she still has to restore its margin accounts.

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The current shortage threatens Japan with the approach of summer heat when all the nuclear reactors of the Archipelago are at a standstill since Sunday. Uncertainty in the restart of nuclear power plants that supplied nearly 30% of electricity before the disaster of Fukushima, the Japanese are multiplying initiatives. The radius anecdotal include the "Super Cool Bra" bra refreshing presented Wednesday by the Triumph, which recalls the "heated jacket" high profile during the first summer post-Fukushima, last year.

Harbinger of a turn more energy, Canadian Solar, Canadian manufacturer of solar panels, has committed, also Wednesday, to locate a plant in the Tohoku region, devastated by the tsunami payday advance lenders. Photovoltaic electricity is still marginal in Japan: about 1% of production.

Unlike France, for example, which experienced its peak in winter, Japan, peak demand occurs in summer, air forces, when the sun is the most generous. The Japanese government has not presented its new energy strategy, but leaders of Canadian Solar anticipate an expansion of renewable energies. More durable than the bra, prototype to communicate on energy, which will not be marketed.

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1. What is Growth Pact?

The objective of a growth pact is offset, at European level, the negative effects of austerity policies. As defined by the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi, it's about finding ways to enhance the productive potential of each country. Clearly, to carry out structural reforms such as to "facilitate the activities of entrepreneurs," because "the creation of new businesses and job creation are critical."

It is less in the spirit of Francis Holland, throw out the treaty negotiated in early 2012 that hard to add to it a component for growth. The new President is especially set up "infrastructure projects", such as the development of broadband networks, funded by the fundraising market at European level ("Eurobonds"). "But we will not revive a policy of public works and begin to build bridges across if it is useless for the business," says his entourage.

The new head of state also wants to increase the funds of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is already being negotiated in Brussels. This state development bank invests primarily in long-term infrastructure projects. "It would take that money from structural funds, little-used today as states must co-invest and they do not afford to be as-redirected to finance growth," insists on the PS.

A tax on financial transactions at European level, without having a negative impact on activity, would also serve to finance projects.

2. What are the countries that have an interest in negotiating Growth Pact?

Some countries differ on the recipes that can boost activity. But "in principle, it is difficult for a country to say it is against growth, Cinzia Alcidi notes, study center CEPS in Brussels. We must hope. "Portugal, Spain, Greece, but also the Netherlands, that is to say the euro zone countries now in recession, welcome to welcome this breath of oxygen. Germany itself, which begins to see its exports stalling due to the effects of rigor in these countries is changing.

It's not because everyone agrees on the principle that negotiations will take place smoothly. "Although Italy and Spain have recognized the need for measures supporting growth in the short and medium term, both countries will not let this happen without the implementation of structural reforms (labor market reforms and wage moderation) analysis Beffy Pierre-Olivier, chief economist at Exane BNP Paribas. The political strategy of François Hollande on the French labor market and the protection of purchasing power could become a sticking point in negotiations. "

3. Germany thinks?

Berlin has traditionally focused on the reforms called "structural". "Germany is committed to a thing, said Cinzia Alcidi: she does not want growth to be boosted at the expense of balanced public finances, through stimulus packages as we saw in 2009." This position is cultural: our neighbor across the Rhine refuses to weaken its economy and its credibility in the debt market by expenditure. Monday, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel was categorical: "it is not possible to renegotiate the fiscal pact", which has already been "signed by 25 of the 27 Member States of the European Union" and must allow to strengthen discipline in public finance management.

4. What consequences Growth Pact can be to the French and the Europeans?

"If a European decision is taken at the European Summit of Heads of State and Government on 30 June, we should not expect to see the effect from 1 July!" Warns Jean-Christophe Caffet, economist at Natixis. One can imagine further that the funds are intended primarily for countries with the greatest difficulty, at least in France. Nevertheless, initiatives on the EIB or the Structural Funds "should not have any significant impact on the growth of the European Union", economists consider Societe Generale CIB. They recall that the 350 billion allocated to Structural Funds and the EIB have represented, spread over 5 years, only 0.3% of gross domestic product (GDP) of the area.

5. The European Central Bank could she participate in the revival?

French socialists would like the ECB plays a greater role to revive the economy. "Right now, the European Central Bank will do nothing special, Judge Clemente de Lucia, economist at BNP Paribas. It could simply continue to conduct an expansionary monetary policy to boost demand. " This will help provide banks with aplomb, allowing them to lend more to households or businesses. Problem, they have no confidence in the economy and therefore do not claim little credit.

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We waited up to 100 billion for the valuation of Facebook at the New York Stock Exchange. It will be less: social network, which could make its debut on the Nasdaq on May 18, intends to sell 180 million shares at a price between 28 and 35 dollars in its IPO. This would allow the community to raise mastodon 5 to $ 6.3 billion. "We have no specific intended use for these recipes," says the site. Thus, the market capitalization of Facebook should approach the $ 80 billion.

Besides these 180 million shares, existing shareholders will sell 157.4 million shares, the proceeds of their return. In total, the sale of more than 337.4 million shares represent an operation to 10 no fax cash loans.63 billion dollars (the average price of 31.50 dollars per share), the largest entry of an enterprise of the net economy.

The estimated valuation for Facebook is the business of the net economy with the highest capitalization at the time of its IPO, largely eclipsing the $ 23 billion that Google was worth when he made his first steps as listed company in 2004. And yet, the figures released by Facebook could be deliberately modest in order to better announce higher and create a buzz.

With AFP

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Note: Nicolas Sarkozy aims to balance public finances in 2016, Francois Hollande in 2017.

Roman Lucazeau, Chargé de Mission in the Business Institute, details the mechanisms at work in the test programs.

THE FIGARO.FR. – Why submit programs of candidates for this test?

Roman Lucazeau. – Although, compared to the 2007 presidential campaign, the programs of the two main candidates are more accurate, they still gray areas and are based on slightly different economic scenarios. This makes comparison difficult. So we tried to apply the same economic variables: growth rate, inflation, unemployment rate, by 2017. We also wanted to discover what happened to the public finances if the programs were implemented with, notably, lower growth than that provided by the candidates, for example, that France has known, on average, over the past decade.

Originally, this type of exercise is applied by the financial authorities to banks. These are subject to economic scenarios degraded to assess their strength in case of economic crisis. We use a similar method to test the ability of candidates to achieve their stated goal (zero deficit in 2016 for Nicolas Sarkozy in 2017 for Francis Holland).

But in a crisis, a candidate can always abandon its initial program

guaranteed high risk personal loans.

Absolutely. We test the strength of their roadmap, as defined during the election campaign, in a worse position than they anticipate. We evaluate today's promises and do not prejudge the future president of the reactions in case of contingencies.

How does this model?

We leave the bases nominee programs (eg growth rate, the level of taxes and public spending …) and against which they built their proposals. These assumptions are public and have been developed by their campaign teams. We determine how the deficit and debt change if we change some parameters on the basis of data and public reporting, the INSEE, the Court of Auditors and of Bercy. The details of our methodology is available on our website.  

How do you ensure objectivity of your approach?

We submitted the candidates' platforms to the same constraints: same inflation, even growth, even drift government spending or health insurance, etc.. The differences between results are explained by the differences between the programs themselves. Debt strategy of the two candidates based on both on growth, tax increases and budget savings. But Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande do not intend to use these levers to the same extent. Their programs do not react the same way a change of parameters.

Presidential in major cities Paris | Leeds | Lyons | Toulouse | Leeds | Sheffield | Liverpool | Bordeaux | Lille

The Bourdonnec: "The butcher recruits … by Cadremploi

Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec is the ambassador of charm of a sector that needs workers. The butcher in Paris is quite a vocation. 300 entrants in its various training centers for 100 outbound. While the sector would need, just in Paris, to recruit a thousand young.

Then the butcher star, one that snapped the magazine, is looking elsewhere. Among his collaborators? A criminologist, a former entertainer or an intermittent former marketing manager. This may be anecdotal, but the trend is there: the skilled crafts are attracting more and more graduates who had a priori nothing to do. Universities are creating pathways that guide to small business under the guise of entrepreneurship. And recruitment side, Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec has his technique: he breakfasts. "We see how to eat a candidate if he is smart, he will be friendly with customers, he likes the food trade." And if he does not eat the fat of the steak? It will not pass the qualifications …

In short, crisis effect or impact Top Chef, become craftsman is no longer the symbol of a downgrade for the tray 3 and Bourdonnec has understood. He communicates as if it had launched a start-up and works his personal branding as a leader. The man knows how to talk to the media, but there's a reason. "When very young I started my business in Asnieres-sur-Seine, three days later, opened a butcher shop next door. To survive, I were to suggest something different. "

Then the butcher decided to settle in the landscape. Meat long matured, offset pictures in the shop, the butcher parts shown in Japanese, hanging meat as if it were exhibits in an art gallery. He recounts with relish the Russian client came to buy his steak as if it were the windows of jewelers

. Place Vendome

That's why the butcher, who just opened a second shop at 172 Avenue Victor Hugo in Paris, seduces. And we made a business of his storytelling that could serve many entrepreneur.

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A small sentence is enough to ignite the Web. The scoop carelessly launched Friday morning by designer Philippe Starck on France Info enough to wake all the fantasies about what could be the revolutionary new product from Apple. For all fans of the brand are convinced, after the iPhone and the iPad, the Cupertino firm should upset a new domain. But which one?

Citing the "cult of secrecy" dear to Apple, Philippe Starck has obviously meant nothing more. He just confessed that he met Steve Jobs, Apple founder has now disappeared, "once a month," and said he would return Monday (April 15) "see the wife of Steve Jobs" .

The care that the Apple brand brings to the design of its products is a sign of his gratitude. And Philippe Starck would not be at his first attempt in the high-tech. He was in New York this week to launch the headphones Zik, French Parrot.

Apple TV

Among the objects that the French could have drawn face on TV, this beautiful Arles Apple. The arrival on the market of ultra-thin OLED screens or flexible opens the field of possibilities in design. Only problem, the two major suppliers of screens are LG and Samsung. They are not necessarily willing to let the U.S. access to their latest technologies. Unless Sharp

.

Another track, the digital table. Samsung has also made a nice demonstration in Paris Thursday, April 12. This table, which resembles a TV a bit thick, is actually a large touch screen that can accept almost any application. A

Thus, the restaurant touch'In is the first to have equipped with the "size" of Samsung, including the ability to choose their cocktails, to prepare the menu and send the order directly to the bar. A London bar has even developed a message function to communicate with neighboring tables. More seriously, the Paris airports have ordered 300 to equip the waiting rooms of Orly and Roissy. But as usual "Apple does not comment on rumors."

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The homes of the French shrink. According to a joint network and broker Meilleursagents.com Empruntis.com, the surface that can be acquired with average incomes fell by 20M2 between 2000 and 2011. Eleven years ago, and could buy only 50 and 70 M2 M2 today.

Soaring property prices is responsible for this situation, which affects all French but not with equal force. For more than income disparities, it is the location of purchasers who will play on their purchasing power. Thus, although holders of the highest average income (4710 euros a month by households according to INSEE), Parisians can not afford that 31 m2, two rooms is a small or a large studio in a city where the m2 reached 8500 euros! In comparison the Rennes and Strasbourg, whose average income is lower by more than 40% (2665 euros a month) than in the capital, however, can lay claim to 62 m2 of housing low rates payday advance. Twice!

Nantes is ranked second among cities in the real purchasing power stronger. With the average income for the city one can acquire 58 m2. In Toulouse and Bordeaux, are accessible 55 m2, 51 m2 in Marseille, Lille and 46 m2 to 38 m2 only Nice.Cependant buying power tends to melt everywhere. In one year, Rennes lost 4 m2, 3 m2 of Lille, Lyon 2m2, m2 and one for Bordeaux and Nantes.  

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How will change employment in France in the second quarter of 2012? A little better than the first quarter 2012 but a little worse than the second quarter 2011, according to the latest Manpower employment outlook released Tuesday.

"For the second quarter 2012, the companies surveyed by Manpower Group in France expect a slight increase in employment opportunities. The net employment stood at 2%, one percentage point increase over the first quarter of 2012, but down one point compared to second quarter 2011, "said the giant temporary employment and recruitment. The general trend is still a huge wait because, for the period between April and June 2012, 88% of employers surveyed do not foresee any changes in their workforce, while only 6% anticipate an increase in their numbers.

These results compare employment opportunities in the world, where the results are generally much more positive. "Employers in 32 of 41 countries and territories surveyed expect to increase their workforce in varying proportions for the second quarter of 2012," says the barometer Manpower.

In Europe, the most optimistic outlook are observed in Turkey (26%), Israel (17%), Romania (13%), Norway (11%), Germany (9%), Sweden (9 %), Slovenia (9%), Bulgaria (8%), Poland (6%) and Austria (6%), Manpower said. In the "Americas", the ten countries studied show a positive net balance in the quarter. This is Brazil, with a positive net balance of 39%, which remains the most optimistic countries in the area. Finally in Asia-Pacific, eight countries in the region show a positive net employment for the second quarter, but on the previous year, the trend is towards degradation since six of the eight countries are reducing their net. According to Manpower, the recruitment programs the most important will be located in India (44%), Taiwan (+31%), China (+21%) and Singapore (20%).

The West and the South of France most dynamic

All French regions are not as dynamic in terms of jobs and recruitment. For Manpower, only employers in South and West show a net positive employment for the second quarter 2012 compared to the first, 7% and 8% respectively. However, the North and the Ile de France display a net negative employment of -3%.

The record is darker on a yearly basis for comparison: three of the five regions studied announce a reduction in employment opportunities, with a decline of 6 points in the East, by 3 points in the Ile-de-France 2 points in the North.

The manufacturing sector will be the less buoyant

To which sectors should be directed to hope to get a job? The Manpower emphasizes that for the second quarter, employers in seven sectors of the ten surveyed anticipate an increase in their numbers. These are public services, hotels and restaurants (3%), transport-logistic (3%) and trade (3%). Conversely, employers in the sector of manufacturing and the extractive industries project a decrease in their numbers. From one year to another, only five out of ten sectors are seeing improvement in their net employment (trade, transport and logistics, utilities, hospitality industries, extractive industries). Manufacturing is the sector with the largest decrease, with -7 points over one year.

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