Today's front pages

According to the German daily Bild, the head of the German central bank Jens Weidmann is willing to resign if the European Central Bank launches a sovereign debt programme. The chancellor, for her part, has stayed away from such radical positions even if she is sceptical of such a proposal.

The President of the Bundesbank puts Merkel on the ropes – El Economista

During German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Beijing, the Chinese authorities have announced plans to buy European government bonds, including those of the most indebted countries "under specific conditions". The conditions include a "speeding up of the effort to save the euro."

China wants to help the euro out of the crisis – Die Welt

The Andalusian President, José Antonio Griñán, reported yesterday that financial institutions are no longer willing to continue to provide credit to autonomous regions. The banks are lending €8bn to the central government for the creation of the Autonomous Liquidity Fund (FLA), which will have €18bn in total and which is intended to bail out indebted Spanish regions, and want the regions to turn instead to the FLA for cash.

Andalusia heading for bailout as bank credit dries up – El País

“Goodbye, Mr Edison,” bids the Prague daily in a farewell to 25W and 40W light bulbs, whose production and importation in the EU ends today. This follows the phasing out 100W bulbs in 2009 and 60W in 2011. Only 5 to 8 per cent of the energy used in these traditional bulbs is converted into light with the rest becoming heat.

Classic bulbs end for good – Mladá Fronta DNES

Poland’s economy is shrinking faster than most economists predicted. In the second quarter of the year, GDP rose by a mere 2.4 per cent and shrank by a third compared to the first three months of the year. “It is a slide without control,” writes the daily, warning that unemployment will rise without real salaries increasing for the first time since 1989.

The slowdown will be painful – Rzeczpospolita

During the first half of 2012, German exports of goods and services to Spain, Italy and Greece fell by 8 to 9 per cent, and even 14 per cent to Portugal. This trend was also observed in Austria. Overall, German exports, however, increased by 5 per cent.

German exports fall in southern EU – Der Standard

The Italian government has set out its “new national energy strategy” targets for 2020. These include boosting energy investment to €180bn, a 19 per cent cut in greenhouse gases compared to 1990, a total of 23 per cent of energy consumption coming from renewable sources and energy sourced from abroad falling from 82 per cent to 65 per cent. The plan will undergo public consultation.

Energy, the new plan – Il Sole-24 Ore