European Union politicians are mulling using an obscure treaty article to curb financial speculation, in an attempt to force down oil and food prices and counter the influence of hedge funds, The Telegraph reports.
After scouring through the EU's legal base, a team led by the Italian government has fixed on Article 81. It covers "anti-competitive agreements" affecting trade between EU states or dealings between companies in the same state, if there are repercussions for the rest of the EU. Giulio Tremonti, Italy's finance minister, has called for a united European front to tackle alleged abuses, describing speculators as the "plague of the 21st Century", according to Italy's financial newspaper Il Sole. THE US TREASURY Secretary, Henry Paulson, signalled yesterday that the worst may soon be over...
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