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Published on 14 December 2012 at 11:12

On December 13, the Eurogroup authorised the transfer of a €34.3bn tranche of aid, which is set to take place next week. This will be followed by a loan of €14.8bn in the first quarter of 2013. At the same time, the recent success of Greece’s debt buyback will enable the country to take advantage of a €3.4bn IMF loan. However, Antonis Samaras’ government will remain under close scrutiny from the country’s creditors, who want to make sure that the Greek prime minister pushes through reforms that he has promised to implement.

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There is money (now), but... – Ta Nea

In the wake of the agreement concluded by EU leaders in Brussels, the European banking supervisor will be given direct control of the 200 biggest banks in the eurozone in March of 2014. Some 95 per cent of Spanish banks will be involved in the change. This is the “first step" towards the creation of a banking union, notes the business daily.

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ECB to supervise all of Spain’s banks – Expansión

The daily has coined a new term “Dominoeffektverhinderungsmechanismus”, to describe the single banking supervisor for the eurozone, which has been agreed by the finance ministers of the EU’s 27 member states. The mechanism will enable the ECB to closely monitor very large “systemic” banks, whose bankruptcy would have a major impact on the entire financial sector.

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Mechanism to avoid the domino effect – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

While discussions continue on a bailout for the Republic of Cyprus, which needs to shore up its ailing banks, President Dimitris Christofias has deplored the “backstabbing remarks” made by other partners in the negotiations. In particular, he took issue with insinuations about the island’s involvement in money laundering, and a loan obtained from Russia, which has been described as a means for Nicosia to avoid assuming its responsibilities.

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Shady country – Politis

At a meeting of the European People’s Party which preceded the European Council, European conservative leaders voiced their support for the leader of Italy’s technocratic government, indicating that he would have their backing in general elections slated for February 2013. Having announced that he would be a candidate, Silvio Berlusconi has now said that he is ready to withdraw from the election if Monti decides to take part in the contest.

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Europe puts pressure on Monti – La Stampa

In 2013, the main newspaper publishers are planning to launch a common payment platform for online content. Not all of them are planning to set up paywalls on their websites, however, they will all be shareholders in the new system. The publishers participating in the plan include De Persgroep (the proprietor of De Morgen, Het Laatste Nieuws, and De Volkskrant), Corelio (which owns De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad), Concentra (Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg), Mediafin (De Tijd and L'Echo), Sanoma (Story and Flair) Roularta (Knack and Trends), Rossel (Le Soir) and IPM (La Libre Belgique and La Dernière Heure).

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News websites launch pay scheme – De Morgen

Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was a spy for the British overseas intelligence service MI6 and the Spain’s secret service when he was murdered in London in 2006 after being fed radioactive polonium-210, an inquest heard yesterday. Evidence suggests he was killed by Russian spies acting on behalf of the state and was about to travel to Spain to provide information on Russian mafia links to the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin.

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Poisoned Litvinenko was working for MI6 – The Times

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