The agreement, which is subject to approval of regulatory authorities telecom and competition, will take effect in mid-2012, the conglomerate said in a statement ;.

Orange Austria's capital is currently divided between France Telecom and the investment fund Mid Europa Partners.

The French operator, which has launched a review of its assets, has already beaten its subsidiary Orange Switzerland, sold at the end of December to fund Apax Partners for 1.6 billion euros. 

January 23, Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, told the BFM Business microphone that selling the group's business in Austria was "a matter of days ".

Hutchison 3G, a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, is already present on the Austrian market through the brand "3".

Most European stock markets ended the week in the red, worried Berlin's refusal to use the European Central Bank (ECB) to reduce fears about fragile states. Paris has lost 0.4%, from under 3000 points, Frankfurt (-0.8%) and London (-1.11%) also won. Madrid and Milan have instead ended in the green (0.5% and 0.2% respectively). In the line of sight of the markets, the refusal to Berlin to call for the ECB to contain the crisis.Political pressures are becoming more numerous and demanding that the central bank relaxed its position to let him play the role of lender of last resort against Europe's most indebted. And put an end to soaring interest rates on debt. The spread between Germany and Spain has exceeded 500 basis points Friday. "As the savior of Italy but also in other countries precarious, there is that the ECB," said analyst Robert Halver Germany, Baader Bank, adding that "it is the only one who can fight against nuclear explosion in the euro area. "

Germany and the ECB opposed to an intervention

Germany, the only country ruled by the strong market is the focus of all eyes. Chancellor Angela Merkel refuses steadfastly calls to relax the policy of the ECB.

The London Stock Exchange began informal discussions in this direction, said Xavier Rolet, adding he had no deadline for now.

"We were contacted by French companies, which were probably disappointed by the abandonment of the SME market by the incumbent operator, Euronext," said the leader.

Greece was paralyzed Wednesday by a new general strike in two days the call of public service unions and the private sector who hope to reduce the government faces a new set of austerity before Parliament. The fifth general strike since the beginning of the year – the second 48 hours since late June – comes as the country is already disturbed by categorical stops working like scavengers against which the government plans to use the army.

Few professional groups have not called to stop work, from government officials, tax officials, doctors and teachers to the sailors, taxi drivers, traders and managers of gas stations. Even the bakers should join the movement. Public transport idling Wednesday morning. Bus drivers stayed at home but the metro was operating from 6am this morning. Air traffic controllers have decided to stop working 12 hours.

The two main unions in the country, the private sector GSEE and ADEDY for the public, have called for demonstrations in the capital Athens at midday.This show of force aimed at reducing the government, which decided to further austerity measures to meet the demands of creditors of the country, which make it a condition to payment of a new tranche of aid necessary to prevent Greece bankruptcy altogether.

Countries of the European Union could agree Sunday on a new debt reduction Greek more important than that which was decided on July 21 in agreement with the banks, hoping to stem the debt crisis in the euro area that threatens Italy and Spain. In addition to lay-off of 30,000 public sector employees by the end of 2011 and a single wage grid for the officials, the bill under discussion in Parliament provides for a freeze on collective agreements, paving the way for cuts wages in enterprises in the private sector.

"This means that our employers will be able to impose any salary, though we can not oppose it. It is a serious challenge to the rights of employees", judged Tuesday night Irene, an architect of a thirty year will be on the street Wednesday.

The French are quite happy in their lives, and they are all the more as their incomes rise, according to a study released Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE). "In France in 2010, when we ask people to indicate their level of satisfaction in life, they meet an average of 7.3 on a scale of 0 to 10", is the INSEE.

This study was conducted following the report presented in 2009 by Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz.This report commissioned by President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested to complete the measurement of economic growth, currently estimated by the gross domestic product (GDP), indicators of "well being" taking into account the non-market activities (housework, leisure …) or inequality.

The money buys happiness

According to INSEE, 92% of respondents said a satisfaction greater than or equal to 5, and 60% even give themselves a score between 7 and 9. "The satisfaction increases systematically with the standard of living," said he: it rose from an average of 6 to 10% of the most modest at 7.8 for the 10% most affluent.Similarly, the French have more difficulties, to make ends meet month to pay their bills or have adequate housing, more dissatisfaction is high.

However, most high-income, "plus gain satisfaction is low and other dimensions that the income involved," said INSEE. "The money buys happiness, but only to a certain extent," he told AFP Fabrice Lenglart, Director of Demographic and Social Statistics at INSEE. "This is the first time that we assess subjective indicators. The main interest is to be correlated with objective data that we used to collect," he added.

After the material living conditions, health problems have a strong impact on the well-being felt.Other factors include age (45-49 years are the least satisfied) and the situation vis-à-vis employment (the unemployed are significantly more dissatisfied than assets). Residents of rural communities say they are on their side slightly more satisfied than city dwellers.

The study was conducted in May and June 2010 with a panel of 10,000 households representative of the so-called ordinary French metropolitan population over 16 years, interviewed face to face.

The European aircraft manufacturer, a subsidiary of EADS, has seen its gross orders reach 1,156 units in eight months, and canceled orders was $ 141.

The manufacturer also announced it has delivered 334 aircraft since the beginning of the year.

By comparison, the U.S. manufacturer had received 370 net orders at the end of August.

However, Boeing hopes to catch up with her future MAX 737 for which it said it had received commitments for 496 aircraft orders.

Airbus had already struck his great American rival to the air show in June

Sign of the deep concern of world leaders, they have stepped up phone calls Friday and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called a meeting of G7 finance ministers.

Markets are less and less confidence in Spain and Italy to honor their debts and the scenario of a domino effect in the euro area continues to unfold.The fear of tipping the U.S. into recession has also fueled the drop in global financial markets, who lost 2500 billion in one week.

After the close of Wall Street, the United States for the first time lost their precious AAA.Sovereign debt is now rated AA + by rating agency Standard & Poor's, which raises the specter of a further deterioration in a year.

This decision, rather expected, reflecting the deteriorating global economic climate and could have implications on the status of reserve currency the U.S. dollar.

China asks in a comment to Xinhua news agency that the international community to reflect a new reserve currency, "stable and secure."

Beijing, the first creditor of the United States, attacks in this dispatch to the U.S. government, demanding that it "faces the problem of structural debt."

BERLUSCONI TRANSFERS

The impact on the financial markets Monday may be minimal because the degradation is not unexpected but the consequences for long-term status of the United States and the dollar will be much more important.

"The global system must now adapt to the many implications and uncertainties induced by the loss, once unthinkable, the American Aaa," said Mohamed El-Erian, the investment company Pacific Investment Management.

This new development in the debt crisis increased my pressure on governments.In its analysis, S & P said the deterioration by the lack of fiscal consolidation plan adopted by Congress and the failure of leading Democrats and Republicans to govern together.

European markets also expect a rapid and effective government too indebted to their liking.

After Greece, Ireland and Portugal, investors fear that it is the turn of Italy and Spain, third and fourth economies in the euro area, have to seek a rescue.

Silvio Berlusconi bowed to international pressure by promising to accelerate the implementation of austerity measures and social reforms.

CALLS FOR COORDINATION

Source familiar with the matter, it is stated that the European Central Bank (ECB) has requested that the Italian government agrees to return to a balanced budget by 2013 instead of 2014, before buying Italian bonds and liberate Rome of market pressure.

Thursday, investors did not appreciate that the ECB does not buy Spanish and Italian bonds, limited to the sovereign Irish and Portuguese, while the yield of securities issued by Rome and Madrid exceeded 6%.

Two days later, it seems that it was a maneuver to push Silvio Berlusconi to act.

"In principle, we can say that the ECB could start to buy bonds if Spain and Italy (both countries) made an extra effort in terms of fiscal and structural reforms," ​​said a senior official told Reuters the euro area.

The Governor of the Bank of Spain, Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said he expected new government announcements on August 19.

China and Japan, the two largest foreign creditors of the United States, called for international cooperation, joined by the European Union.

"The international policy coordination across the G7 and the G20 is crucial," said the Commissioner of Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, who interrupted his vacation to return to Brussels.

Silvio Berlusconi announced a G7 finance ministers "in the next few days" but his spokesman later explained that this was simply a desire to Rome and it was not yet agreed with the other member countries.

Britain, also affected by the volatility of markets, called "a concerted international effort" to avoid another global financial crisis, three years after the collapse of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers.

On the occasion of its annual conference, the National Association of Directors of Human Resources (ANDRH) made a proposal shock Friday: create a single labor contract (CTU). The idea, already repeatedly emerged from the boxes of economists and politicians, is still much debate.

Proposed by the HR department?

The idea is to create a contract merging CDI, CDD, contracts, assignments and seasonal contracts currently in force, in a single contract without reference to time. The employee would be hired for a position or function.The reasons for failure are, as a permanent present, a fault of the employee or the end of the activity to which he was assigned. Notice and severance pay would be proportional to the time spent in the company. For the president of the ANDRH, Jean-Christophe Sciberras, this version of CTU "is closer than the current CDI CDD".

What's the point?

The ANDRH sees this contract a way to fight against the precariousness of employment, through the excessive use of temporary and CDD, and especially to solve the difficult problem of integrating young people into the labor market. "We must end this dual system between two categories of workers, injecting drug users on the one hand, and insecure on the other, explains Jean-Christophe Sciberras.This will also end the social exclusion suffered by employees or temporary CDD – lack of access to housing and credit. "Furthermore, says the president of the ANDRH," this enormously simplify the CTU work of human resources, labor law because the CSD is very complex. "

Is this a new proposal?

No. The idea of ​​creating a single employment contract had been suggested in 2004 by economists Pierre Cahuc and Francis Kramarz. Since then, she comes up regularly on the carpet. Former IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus had proposed such a contract in 2004. The same year, the idea is echoed by Michel Camdessus. The former director of the Treasury and former head of the IMF prepared a report on the subject at the request of Nicolas Sarkozy, then Minister of Economy. The creation of a CTU will be also one of the highlights of the proposed electoral head of state in 2007.But it never came, because unions are hostile.

Why unions are they hostile?

"The single employment contract is a false good idea. Under cover to all employees on permanent contracts, we will generalize the CSD and facilitate the procedures for dismissal," summarizes Maurad Rabhi, confederal secretary of the CGT. In fact, the version of the CTU ANDRH provides that holders of such a contract for less than 18 months are outside the scope of a plan to safeguard employment (PSE). Yet companies currently have an obligation to set up a SEP – plan to avoid layoffs or to limit the number and to facilitate the redeployment of staff – when the number of dismissals is less than 10 in a period of 30 days.

"Of course, we must ensure that a company like EADS, which is present in military activities and develops advanced technologies, is made free from any hostile takeover," he says in an interview published by the Welt am Sonntag.

Asked about the idea of ​​a "golden share" that would give France and Germany a veto over strategic decisions, Enders said: "This is a true subject of reflection."

German carmaker Daimler is in talks to reduce its 15% share in EADS.

Daimler also operates a 7.5% stake owned by a consortium of German banks, which gives the same weight as the French shareholders.

The French state (15%) and Lagardère (7.5%) together hold 22.5% of EADS.

"For our internationalization to be successful we need not more but less public participation in EADS," says Thomas Enders.

"I do not agree that we should strike a balance between shareholders."

Daimler announced its intention to withdraw, at least partially, EADS medium term, while Lagardere, whose strategy is to sell its minority holdings, said it would not yield its share in the group before the next year.

The Economy Minister German Rainer Bruederle said in late February that the creation of a "golden share" that would give Paris and Berlin a veto on strategic decisions of the group, could be a solution if Daimler decided withdraw from the capital of EADS.

In a statement, the regulator said that trading will remain suspended until Dexia publishes "relevant information", a term traditionally used when a group about to release sensitive information in the next few hours.

Dexia, which escaped bankruptcy in the fall of 2008 thanks to the bailout carried out by the Belgian, French and Luxembourg, was forced last year by the European authorities to divest some of its activities in exchange for aid received during the crisis.

Dexia declined to comment on the reasons for the suspension of trading.

The Franco-Belgian bank said last week to be in constant dialogue with the Commission and stated that it would seize all opportunities presenting themselves to it to speed up transfers.

Dexia has a particular yield-Deniz Emeklilik, its Turkish subsidiary of insurance.According to press reports, five candidates are still in contention, with French AXA and CNP Assurances.

The Belgian insurer Ethias looking for his side to divest 5.04% stake in Dexia, but he said this month the Belgian newspaper De Tijd it has no plans to put on the market.

Dexia shares was suspended while she was 3.24% at 2.514 euro, lost 3.3% since the beginning of the year after dropping 38.9% in 2010.