European Democracy - Professor Joseph Weiler speaks at the European Parliament

Et Voila. Summit Done. Dave's Out To Lunch..

That's it, it's over, done, dusted, almost, almost. There wasn't much dust to settle, there wasn't much of a mariachi band kicking about this time, it was almost beer and sandwiches, with a spot of brie for Dave Camembert, the big cheese from across the canal. Europe isn't as big a place as it used to be. 

As Dave said, bouncing off the podium, like Tigger, though Tigger would deny it: "There's another one [summit] in November and then December, we wont have time to miss each other..." And there's the truth of it before lunch, Dave is part of the team. He's playing goal keeper at the moment, the bit-part nobody else wants unless they're feeling a bit queasy or they forgot their trainers.

The detail if you want it, you can read a little later, but so as not to cause undue indigestion at this time of the day, here's the Euro-Summit Canape.

There will be a banking union, the details will be sorted by the end of the year and it'll roll out like a flat tortilla during 2013. Dave really, really supports the idea, he supports the Euro, the Eurozone, the banking union and will not stand in it's way. A few details to be sorted but nothing to worry about. Angela was in the room down the hall, they were all laughing as I passed by... Passos Coelho gave a good impression of a man in control - Best Actor.

And into the lifts we all trundled. To lunch. Keep the seats warm, it's the budget stuff next.

George Soros - The current course is pushing euroland into a "lasting depression, and it is entirely self-created".

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes: www.telegraph.co.uk 

The residual euro would fall to a level that better reflected economic fundamentals in Southern Europe. Competitiveness would largely be restored at a stroke, without the need for debt-deflation. There would be no further risk of large sovereign defaults.

Mr Soros said — as he has many times before — that the current course is pushing euroland into a "lasting depression, and it is entirely self-created".

Indeed. "Entirely self-created". Repeat that a hundred times. There is nothing seriously wrong with Europe's underlying economy. It has magnificent companies, great creative skills, a global current account surplus and relatively low debt. (That is not a misprint. Europe does not have a debt crisis. It has a political crisis. It is so badly structured and so badly run that moderate debt has been allowed to mushroom into a crisis).

Female Entrepreneurship In The USA

"Women entrepreneurs in the USA have come a long way over the last 40 years. Before 1974, banks could require women borrowers to guarantee their loans with co-signatures from husbands, fathers or male business partners," said a spokesperson for the 'Online Business Degree'.

"Today, women aren’t only starting small businesses faster than men, but they’re also creating more jobs. And the types of businesses and jobs they’re starting are diversifying workplaces in big ways. Women-owned firms are more likely to be smaller and also more likely to offer workers benefits like venture profit-sharing and tuition reimbursement. Making employee enrichment more of a priority is only one of many positive changes female leaders are bringing to business."

"Of course, the glass ceiling isn’t falling just yet. Women founders still receive very little of the annual seed capital handed over to investors each year. And the number of tech start-ups with female co-founders is still very low. Female-focused incubators and networking organizations are looking to change all this. Check out the graphic below to see how far women entrepreneurs have come and where they’re going next."

Source: Online Business Degrees

The Soft Landing Contines. German Confidence Unsteady

Soft landing continues. The German ZEW index increased in October on the back of fading short-term tensions in the euro crisis. Nevertheless, the ZEW index which measures investors' confidence still stands in negative territory, now -11.5, from -18.2 in September. At the same time, investors have become somewhat more negative on the current economic situation. The current assessment component dropped for the fifth consecutive month.

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New EU Human Rights Envoy Faces Big Expectations

The EU's new strategy for promoting human rights must be duly implemented, scrutinized and given proper visibility, Foreign Affairs and Human Rights MEPs told EU Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis on his first day in office on Monday.

"I am delighted that this new office has been introduced," said Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Elmar Brok (EPP, DE), underlining that the strategic framework for human rights, agreed by the Council over the summer, should provide its substance. The fact that Mr Lambrinidis, himself a former MEP and Vice-President of the Parliament, met MEPs on his first day in office raises hopes for "a demonstration of accountability of our human rights policy", he added.

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The Bundesbank Doctrine. The End.

The ECB meets on Thursday, it will discuss the details of its new bond purchasing programme. For some, the new plan marks the final end of the Bundesbank doctrine; for others, it is a necessary evil to calm the crisis. It is obvious to us that Mario Draghi’s congeniality and some vague words alone will not have the same calming effect as in August. In our view, the ECB might eventually present targets for short-term bond yields linked to the refi rate.

However, not all the detail might be revealed this week, perhaps because there is not yet full agreement within the Governing Council, but maybe also to keep pressure on peripheral governments.

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