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Operation siphoning. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways increasing flights to Europe. Their goal? Bringing their clients to their hubs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, before sending them to distant destinations, more and more numerous.

Emirates has increased its frequency this year in Nice and open lines on Amsterdam, Madrid and Prague, Qatar Airways has launched Barcelona and has strengthened Paris, Athens and Madrid; Ethiad has multiplied its rotations on Dublin, Frankfurt and Athens.

Meanwhile, 12 new international destinations outside Europe appeared in the list of three companies of the Gulf, including Tokyo, Seoul, Melbourne, Goa and Bangalore.To go to Japan, a client of Lufthansa or Air France has a choice between going through Paris or Frankfurt and transit through Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

In this battle, Gulf companies have strong points to make: their hubs have the best possible geographical position between the U.S. and Asia, and have unit costs of staff 50% lower than those of Air France, Lufthansa and British Airways. "They also have a very good product recognizes a part of an EU airline. They all have strengths to further participate in industry growth than we are. "

Orders for Airbus A380 should also provide them with an armada of large aircraft instant payday loan .While Air France and Lufthansa 27 total orders for the new jumbo Airbus, the three companies in the Gulf will eventually 72.

Competitors very annoying

The subject is considered sensitive by European airlines. It has even been mentioned before Tuesday elected staff at the surveillance committee of the CCE Air France. Lufthansa said that its offer seat on intercontinental flights the group should grow by 4% from 2009 to 2012, against 12% for companies in the Gulf.

These competitors are now considered more annoying than low-costs addressing some profitable lines. This time, it is a battle between European airports to those in the Gulf."For now, we have a better mesh of Europe they, believes the framework of an EU airline, but they are very difficult to prevent, where they arrive."

This competition, hitherto confined to flights to Asia and the United States extends to Africa, far backyard of Air France and Lufthansa. Emirates already offers 16 destinations in Africa, 7 Etihad and Qatar Airways 13. "Gulf companies are even more threatening than their owners are not obsessed with profitability, said a European competitor. They invest a lot and are a showcase for the UAE. "

AOL announced the color in late November. On 6 900 employees, 2 500 people were invited to take voluntary departure, otherwise there would be layoffs. Having only received 1 100 applications for voluntary departure, the Internet group has begun to deploy, yesterday, a comprehensive plan layoffs. In France, management presented a plan to close the staff representatives. One hundred employees are concerned. Germany is also poised to close shop. The AOL offices in Sweden and Spain will close early. The first redundancies notified on Monday, will take effect on Wednesday. AOL, which has left the fold of Time Warner in early December, having provisioned for 200 million dollars in charges.

The meeting had yet begun in a friendly atmosphere, around a few cakes of kings. Tuesday morning, the eighth floor of the MEDEF, after an hour of quiet trade on the carbon tax and social negotiations, the clash occurred without anyone waiting on the highly technical issue tenders Association fund management integration of persons with disabilities. Clash between the two numbers 2 "tie" of the organization, Jean-Charles Simon and Helen Molinari, whose disagreement was notorious. For some, Jean-Charles Simon had treated Helen Molinari of "idiot" and "incompetent" before slamming the door. The person himself, swears that he kept his composure. "I said what she said was false then I left the meeting," he promises, that confirms a witness.

What does not yet know the participants is that they will never again see Jean-Charles Simon.For him, this incident is the straw that broke a vase too full for several weeks. The evidence was that Laurence Parisot, despite assurances that he swears that he obtained in December, no desire to change the allocation of tasks with Helen Molinari. Back down in his office, he sends his resignation by email to the president of MEDEF, asking not to his notice three months, and leaves the building. Definitely. This email, Laurence Parisot discovered in the early afternoon and will act without a call to his ex-delegate-general to understand the decision or seek to hold him.

Things might have stayed there and the MEDEF, after the resignation proved by Le Figaro, could minimize the event. But Wednesday morning, the machine goes.In a statement to AFP, Jean-Charles Simon recalls failures "in decision-making and organizational roles, ranging up to criticize" the professionalism of the leadership "of MEDEF. The employers' organization responds by accusing him, in a statement at your unusually steep "having conducted his own end after a spectacular incident," and provides "support to internal teams Medef that have been proven these unusual methods. " The break was complete.

Denis Kessler Photo credits: Le Figaro

The number of overtime-exempt expenses remained virtually unchanged in the third quarter 2009 compared to the previous one, according to latest statistics from the ACOSS, the federation Urssaf. It now stands at 166.8 million hours, equivalent to 300 000 more than the second quarter. On a year because of the crisis requires, however, it drops by 9.2% but with very strong variations by sector of activity.

In industry, traditionally strong consumer of overtime, and the decline exceeds 20% a year, particularly in the metals and fabricated metal products (- 30.6%).

The downturn is intensifying in the construction, it also adept overtime, since the decline reached 9.1% year, four points lower than the second quarter.

The decline was however more moderate in services, – 5.5% a year, mainly because of reduced degradation in the interim (- 30.3%, after – 47% in the second quarter).

Small firms resist

The amount of overtime was ultimately declined less in very small (- 0.2% in one year) than in large (-12.1%) companies "because of the very small proportion of which remained 39 hours, have a structural use of overtime ", says ACOSS in its statement.

The annual decline is also evident in all departments. To the north and east of the hexagon that the decline is greater (less than – 13%) while the Ile-de-France and most departments of the South experiencing moderate declines in the number overtime (between 0 and – 13%).

Only a few departments, Corsica and the Mediterranean (Languedoc-Roussillon, Gard, Var …) actually experience a slight increase of about 10%.

In total, nearly 40% of companies today continue to seek exemptions from overtime, the lowest rate recorded since the entry into force of the measure contained in legislation Tepa in summer 2007. The more companies are consuming less than 10 employees have benefited from 29.5% to 673.1 million euros granted in the third quarter. The larger the company, the less the volume of aid is therefore the more than 2 000 employees affecting only 8.6% of the total.

This is Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris, which has reignited the debate. In a letter to Eric Woerth November 17, he "drew attention" of the budget minister on charges that the state charges the communities for the collection of local taxes and he wants to be "put an end to a situation unsound. "

To understand what it is exactly, we must consider the complex relationships that are formed between the state and municipalities, counties and regions in the field of taxation. The tax, at Bercy, is responsible for the communities of calculation and collection of the housing tax, property tax and business tax (TP). In exchange, the state gets a share of local taxes paid by households and firms, namely 4.4% of the amount for "cost of assessment and recovery.Moreover, the State takes a second "commission", set at 3.6% local tax (excluding tax housing the primary residence). These "adjustment costs and non-values". By what justification does it? By the fact that when a taxpayer pays a tax less burdensome than the regular rate because, for example, its low-income (and therefore entitled to relief), the State compensates for this shortfall to municipalities, counties or regions. Overall, with these two committees, 5 billion leave the funds in the state and communities and beyond. In a region like the Côtes-d'Armor, costs were 12.24 million in 2008 out of local taxes of 169 million, a levy of 7.2%.

Inextricable relationship

In Paris, the bill reached 185 million in 2008 and 215 in 2009, a levy of 6.4%.And most importantly, after its mayor, "the total amount collected from taxpayers Parisian clearly exceeds the costs actually incurred by the State for these operations." Bertrand Delanoë supports its contention on the last annual report of the Court of Auditors, which denounces billing on the first commission. At 4.4%, the costs of assessment and recovery are very remote from the actual costs of administration for the State, the Court amounts to 1.75% on property taxes. In 2006, an audit report of modernization precisely estimated these costs at 1.9% for property taxes to 3.86% for the housing tax and 0.9% for TP. "The State communities overcharged 1.3 billion euros a year," says rebels on the Assembly of departments of France (ADF).

Nevertheless, the Court of Auditors in its report explains that the Second Committee, on the rebates … is it under-billed.At Bercy, it says the same thing and adds that overall, the balance is negative: "The state pays 16 billion of relief to communities and supports 2 billion cost management. But it only pulls 5 billion of total costs. "

On the community side, this argument makes leap. "The government will decide on tax concessions. It is normal that the state compensates us! "Storm-t-on to the Association of Mayors of France (AMF).

Reforming the business tax may resolve this dispute. To compensate for the loss of revenue, local governments should recover 2.1 billion cost of assessment and recovery. The cursor could even climb to the Senate. Finally, the only gain nothing will … taxpayers.

"Sarkozy denounces the" fiscal insanity "in regions

The European car still recovering. In a statement released Monday, the rating agency Fitch believes that 2010 will be a "transition year" for the sector, despite the appearance of "early signs of stabilization." But the number of bankruptcies in the sector should also remain high in 2009, provides for the rating agency.

Fitch anticipates that the impact vehicle sales in Western Europe will shrink in 2010, and that this decline could reach 6 or 8%. The rating agency predicts that by 2009 the decline in sales will reach 5%, and that production will open in fall of 20% over the same period.

The rating agency gives such a negative outlook because of the gradual but planned, the premium breaks that currently boosts sales.The impact of the disruption of these measures remains difficult to quantify, especially in Germany, "the largest car market in Europe where about one million vehicles were sold under these incentives," says Fitch. Emmanuel Bulle, Director in Fitch motor, said that uncertainty: "Based on sales growth and the actual ability of manufacturers to meet all these challenges, a stabilization of the ratings outlook could arise in the first half of 2010."

Increased pressures on cash

The sales momentum is indeed not the only challenge facing the sector. The issue of financial strength will also return to the front of the stage, including OEMs, Fitch said in another note."In the absence of specific operations, such as increases in capital or asset sales, abandonment of leverage will be a slow process for companies falling into recession with a substantial financial debt, as Renault, "the statement said. The manufacturer is rated "BB with negative outlook" when rival SAP is rated "BB +, B, with negative outlook."

Given these financial pressures, "the agency expects the trend to selective alliances and partnerships will continue into 2010, as well as downsizing discrete and gradual, which are necessary to support a structure lower cost, more in line with forecasts of declining sales.

Automakers will also adapt to new consumer needs.Fitch notes that "the trend towards smaller cars is another challenge for manufacturers of Western Europe, focused on technology, while margins are generally larger segments for vehicles and premium sedans. "No matter the size! Some prefer to bet on another emerging trend of consumption, mindful of its impact on the environment: Renault intends to become the largest producer of electric cars, since the launch of its first four models of its kind in 2011.

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In the lounge Actionaria, individual shareholders are smiling again. This Friday, November 20, the jostling in the aisles of the exhibition of the Exchange is open until tomorrow evening. The event, held at the Palais des Congres de Paris, Porte Maillot, meets all the financial players: listed companies, banks, brokers, financial media and individual investors.

The companies explain their latest results and present their strategy. On this occasion, small shareholders can meet with leaders of companies. Thierry Le Henaff, CEO of Arkema, goes every year on the show: "This is a very privileged that we can dialogue with our shareholders, and raise their expectations," says he.

Banks, home management and Internet brokers have their products and services.Some offer free training to enable individuals to master the new financial tools (eg CFD) and to discover new markets (such as Forex, the foreign exchange market), with the opportunities and risks of their own.

Individual shareholders Actionaria come to find explanations for technical information on a specific company or even counseling. The appointment creates the most opportunity to take the pulse of the market. "Among the questions we are asked most often, there are particular questions about the soundness of banks, and the prospects of the market," explains Benjamin Villegas, broker trading room at IG Markets in London. Regarding prospects for the CAC 40, the expectations are shared: