AFP

Meta is expected to face another large fine after Europe’s data watchdog on Tuesday imposed binding decisions concerning the treatment of personal data by the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. 

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) said in a statement that the rulings concerned Meta’s use of data for targeted advertising, but did not give details of its ruling or recommended fines. 

Authorities in Ireland, where Meta has its European headquarters, have a month to impose the ruling.

Previous interventions by the EDPS have led to large fines on tech platforms, including a 405-million-euro fine on Instagram in September over a breach in the handling of children’s data.

The latest case follows complaints by privacy campaigning group Noyb that Meta’s three apps fail to meet Europe’s strict rules on data protection. 

Noyb says they flouted the landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into force in May 2018 by failing to give users the option of holding back their personal data and blocking targeted advertising.

Facebook argues these are vital to its functioning.

In October 2021, the Irish Data Protection Authority (DPC) recommended a fine of just 28 to 36 million euros for lack of transparency. 

But this was rejected as far too low by France’s CNIL (the National Commission for Technology and Freedoms) and other regional watchdogs, who asked the EDPS to investigate the case. 

Meta did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.  

According to the Politico news site, internal documents show that Meta earmarked three billion euros for possible European fines in 2022 and 2023.

As well as the Instagram fine in September, Meta was fined a further 265 million euros last month over a data leak that saw half a billion users’ details published on a hacking website.

That adds to a 60-million-euro fine in France in January over its use of “cookies”, the digital trackers used to target advertising.

European Union leaders vowed on Tuesday to strengthen ties with the Western Balkans, a drive reinvigorated by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The war has underscored the importance for the EU of bringing the Balkans into its orbit, to stabilise the region and counter the influence there of both Russia and China.

“The future of our children will be safe and more prosperous with the Western Balkans within the EU, and we are working very hard in order to make progress,” EU Council president Charles Michel told reporters as he arrived at a meeting in Tirana of EU and Balkan leaders.

The summit was called to discuss requests by six states — Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia — to join the 27-nation EU and examine areas where they can cooperate. 

The Balkan bids to join the EU “have gained momentum again”, said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive arm, the European Commission.

She urged the Balkan nations to choose camps.

“Russia is trying to exert influence (in the Western Balkans). China tries to influence”, von der Leyen said. 

“We (the EU) are the largest investor. We are the closest partner and that is why the discussion is also about you having to decide which side you are on, the side of democracy,” von der Leyen stressed.

Balkan countries have been stuck in the EU waiting room for years. 

They have regularly expressed frustration at the long and demanding membership process, especially since the EU moved so rapidly this year to accept Ukraine and Moldova as official candidates to join the bloc.

The EU was expected on Tuesday to confirm its “commitment to the European Union membership (prospects) of the Western Balkans” and call for negotiations to be speeded up.

– ‘Stick together’ –

Expanding the EU has again become a priority, European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi noted on Friday. 

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte echoed that, saying EU and Balkan nations needed “to stick together and work together” in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

In July Brussels finally began membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania, which applied in 2005 and 2014 respectively. 

Negotiations have been underway for several years with Montenegro and Serbia, while in October Brussels recommended making Bosnia an official candidate.

Kosovo, the sixth would-be member, faces challenges on its path to joining the EU. 

It split from Serbia in 2008 but Belgrade has not recognised its declaration of independence. 

Neither, crucially, do five EU member countries — Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain. 

– Solidarity and migration –

Pro-European sentiment in the Balkans could do with a boost, noted Lukas Macek of the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris.

“The pro-European camp is getting a little desperate,” he said. A show of support from Brussels could help sway public opinion.

“There is a window of opportunity to reverse the trend but it will not necessarily last very long and it must be fleshed out with something tangible,” he said.

The EU is expected in Tirana to confirm a package of subsidies worth around one billion euros (dollars) to help the Balkans weather the energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine war.

The subsidies should help attract public and private investments and raise at least 2.5 billion euros in total.

The EU is also due to sign a deal with the region’s telecom operators to reduce roaming charges between the bloc and the Balkan states in 2023 and phase them out by 2027.

And it will also examine ways of cooperating on security issues, particularly on preventing the kind of cyber attacks that have plagued the Balkans.

Illegal migration remains a key concern. 

The dangerous “Balkans route” is one of the main conduits used by millions of would-be asylum seekers, many from conflict zones, to try and reach Western Europe.

The numbers arriving by this route rose by almost 170 percent in the first 10 months of 2022 compared to last year. That spike prompted the Commission on Monday to propose sending the EU border force Frontex to help police the Balkan borders.

The EU, for its part, wants Balkan countries to align their visa policies with its own. 

Serbia has been accused of contributing to an increase in the number of migrants from Cuba, Burundi, India and Tunisia entering the EU. 

These nationals can arrive at Belgrade airport without a visa and then continue their journey to the bloc by land. 

Under EU pressure, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has announced an end to visa exemptions for Tunisians and Burundians.

Niger’s finance minister says lack of support from rich countries makes it impossible for his impoverished nation to abandon revenue from oil.

The landlocked Sahel state has launched a scheme to build Africa’s longest pipeline, shuttling crude oil over nearly 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) to a port in Benin.

Environmental campaigners are dismayed about initiatives that perpetuate the use of climate-damaging fossil fuels.

But in an interview with AFP, Finance Minister Ahmat Jidoud said Niger had no alternative.

“Right now it’s not possible,” he said.

“It is important for us to be able to exploit our own resources until the conditions are there for the climate transition to unfold,” he said.

Niger’s 26 million people are the poorest in the world, according to the benchmark of the UN’s Human Development Index.

The population is also one of the fast-growing in the world, expanding by 3.7 percent annually.

Without income from oil, “our development is compromised,” Jidoud said, warning of a “social (time-) bomb.”

Niger became an oil producer in 2011, with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) sending crude by pipeline to refineries in Zinder in the south-centre of the country.

The new $6-billion pipeline will connect wells in the eastern region of Agadem with the Beninese port of Seme.

Launched in 2019, the project was supposed to be completed in 2022, but was hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 600 km of pipeline has already been laid, and Niger is on track to sell crude on the international market from next July, according to the ministry of petroleum and energy.

Jidoud spoke to AFP on the sidelines of a conference in Paris aimed at mustering public and private funds to support Niger’s 2022-26 $29.6-billion development plan.

The blueprint, unveiled on Monday by President Mohamed Bazoum, aims to reduce the poverty rate from 43 percent to 35 percent.

It says the state can count on $13.35 billion from its own resources, a figure that is crucially dependent on oil exports.

Thanks to the new pipeline, oil sales by the end of 2023 should rise from 20,000 barrels per day to 110,000, according to his plan.

Under this scenario, oil income would account for half of the country’s fiscal revenue and a quarter of GDP.

Income from oil compares starkly with the funds channelled by rich countries to help poorer nations move to a climate-friendlier path, said Jidoud.

“You can’t talk to us about the energy transition if the support promised by the G20 countries doesn’t show up,” he said.

He pointed to a promise, first made by rich economies at the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, to muster $100 billion a year in support — a vow that remains unfulfilled.

In addition to entrenched poverty, Niger is battling climate extremes in a deeply arid region, and struggling with two jihadist insurgencies.

Jidoud said that in early commitments on Monday, the African Development Bank (AfDB) had promised 2.4 billion euros (dollars), the West African Development Bank (WADB) 680 million euros and France — Niger’s former colonial power and ally — 550 million.

Stock markets fell on Tuesday as investors were split between fears that the US Federal Reserve will maintain its aggressive anti-inflation measures and growing optimism over China’s economic reopening.

London, Frankfurt and Paris were down in afternoon trades after Asia mostly fell.

Wall Street extended losses as it opened lower following a sell-off the previous day.

Data showing a forecast-busting jump in activity in the US services sector last month raised the prospect that the Fed will not back down from sharp rate increases when it meets next week.

Monday’s data followed robust jobs figures last week and a jump in wages that give the central bank more room to cool the US economy, fuelling investor concerns that the Fed’s actions could cause a deep recession.

“Worries that the Fed could unwrap an unwelcome present of another super-sized rate hike when policymakers meet next week are sprinkling Christmas fear on indices,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Speculation is swirling that central banks will have to be more Scrooge-like and make borrowing even more expensive to rein in inflation,” she said.

Markets had been running higher ahead of the jobs figures after a surprise drop in inflation and comments from Fed boss Jerome Powell that the bank was likely to raise rates at a slower pace.

Bets have increased on borrowing costs rising higher than five percent next year — from the current range of 3.75-4.0 percent — before the bank pauses, with no cuts seen until 2024.

“There is a prominent undercurrent of concern that the Fed is going to overtighten and trigger a deeper economic setback,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

Analysts said concerns over the Fed have overshadowed China’s easing of zero-Covid policies following nationwide protests over the measures, which have hammered the world’s second biggest economy.

Despite the prospect of higher Chinese demand for oil as the economy reopens, crude prices fell as an EU embargo on Russian oil and a G7-EU price cap on the country’s exports came into force on Monday.

“It seems that the only thing guaranteed in the oil market for now is volatility,” said OANDA trading platform analyst Craig Erlam.

The dollar lost ground against other major currencies after gains on Monday.

– Key figures around 1445 GMT –

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 33,837.66 points

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 7,545.95 

Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 14,379.00

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,683.24

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,944.32

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 27,885.87 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 19,441.18 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,212.53 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0510 from $1.0495 on Monday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 136.49 yen from 136.78 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2193 from $1.2186

Euro/pound: UP at 86.19 pence from 86.06 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $76.40 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $82.08 per barrel

Airlines are expected to return to profit next year for the first time since 2019 despite slowing global growth as they recover from a Covid-induced crisis, an industry group said Tuesday.

After cutting losses this year, airlines are forecast to make $4.7 billion in net profits in 2023, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This is still far off the $26.4 billion profit the industry reported in 2019, before Covid prompted countries to enact travel restrictions that have since been eased in most nations.

“Resilience has been the hallmark for airlines in the Covid-19 crisis,” IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement.

“As we look to 2023, the financial recovery will take shape with a first industry profit since 2019. That is a great achievement considering the scale of the financial and economic damage caused by government imposed pandemic restrictions,” he said.

Governments in numerous countries had to bail out airlines as travel was brought to a halt to slow the spread of the virus, and the industry suffered $137.7 billion in losses in 2020 at the height of the restrictions.

Airlines are expected to post $779 billion in revenues in 2023, meaning the $4.7 billion profit constitutes a razor-thin net profit margin of just 0.6 percent. 

Walsh said many airlines are “sufficiently profitable” to attract capital as the industry seeks to decarbonise its operations.

But many others are struggling due to “onerous regulation, high costs, inconsistent government policies, inefficient infrastructure and a value chain where the rewards of connecting the world are not equitably distributed,” he said.

Passenger traffic was slightly lower than forecast in 2022 due to slowing economies and China’s zero-Covid restrictions. 

– ‘Optimistic about 2023’ –

But the IATA expects passenger traffic to return to 85.5 percent of its pre-crisis level in 2023.

And that expected improvement comes as global GDP growth slows, according to IATA’s forecast, to 1.3 percent from 2.9 percent in 2022. 

“Despite the economic uncertainties, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about 2023,” said Walsh.

Airlines should not be as affected by rising jet fuel prices as they were in 2022, while continuing to benefit from pent-up travel demand.

A recent IATA poll found that more than two-thirds of travellers surveyed in 11 global markets are travelling as much or more than before the pandemic. 

And while 85 percent said they are concerned about the economic situation, 57 percent said have no intention to curb their travel habits.

But Walsh also warned that with such thin margins, “even an insignificant shift in any one of these variables has the potential to shift the balance into negative territory.”

IATA sees airlines squeaking out a profit thanks to revenues growing faster than costs next year. 

While rising interest rates may crimp demand for travel, IATA sees that as likely leading to lower oil prices, thus reducing costs for airlines.

– Help for green transition –

On a regional level, airlines in North America are expected to post $9.9 billion in profits this year, thanks to carriers benefitting from fewer and shorter-lasting travel restrictions in the region. For 2023, profits are seen as climbing to $11.4 billion.

European carriers are forecast to post $3.1 billion in losses as some airlines had to curtail operations due to Russia’s war in Ukraine while others faced limitations imposed by airports. IATA sees European airlines posting $621 million in profit in 2023.

Asia-Pacific airlines are expected to suffer $10 billion in losses this year, primarily due to China’s zero Covid policy. In 2023, they are expected to narrow that to $6.6 billion. 

But IATA noted it expects “strong pent-up demand to fuel a quick rebound in the wake of any” relaxation in Covid travel restrictions by China.

Walsh said that the airline industry remains committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but given its thin profit margins, pleaded for government help. 

“We’ll need all the resources we can muster, including government incentives, to finance this enormous energy transition,” said Walsh.

“More taxes and higher charges would be counter-productive,” he added.