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Europe
Cameron vows to push for Turkey's EU membership;
"We know what it's like to be shut out of the club"
On a visit to Turkey today, David Cameron is due to say: "When I think about what Turkey has done to defend Europe as a Nato ally, and what Turkey is doing today in Afghanistan, alongside our European allies, it makes me angry that your progress towards EU membership can be frustrated in the way it has been. My view is clear. I believe it is just wrong to say that Turkey can guard the camp but not be allowed to sit in the tent. So I will remain your strongest possible advocate for EU membership and greater influence at the top table of European diplomacy."
Turkish daily Hurriyet notes that Cameron will also say that those who oppose Turkey's membership are driven by protectionism, nationalism or prejudice. He will also say that Britain "know[s] what it's like to be shut out of the club. But we also know that these things can change."
Speaking on the BBC Today programme, Europe correspondent Jonny Dymond said: "I think if negotiations go on like this, Turkey will never join. It's a desperate situation, the negotiations at the moment...the energy has gone [for the reform process]".
Meanwhile, Die Welt notes that German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that Turkey "can help constructively in the solution of many conflicts", but "if the question was to be resolved today, then Turkey would be seen as not able to enter, and the EU as not able to accept."
Welt Le Figaro Focus Sun Times Telegraph FT BBC BBC: Today programme Telegraph: Hannan blog Hurriyet Mail Conservative Home Independent AFP Times 2 EurActiv Guardian FT: Westminster blog
EU foreign ministers give the go-ahead for the EEAS
It is widely reported that EU foreign ministers yesterday endorsed the launch of the European External Action Service (EEAS) - the new diplomatic corps to be headed up by EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton. Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere - whose country holds the rotating Presidency - promised that it would be operational from 1 December and that "all appointments" would be made by that date.
Le Monde quotes French Europe Minister Pierre Lellouche saying that the organisation chart unveiled yesterday by Baroness Ashton, "complies with our wishes, with a Secretary-General and two deputy Secretaries-General". The post of Secretary-General will almost certainly be assigned to Pierre Vimont, who is currently serving as French Ambassador to the US.
Writing in the WSJ, Cathy Ashton says that the creation of the EEAS "is not, as some critics say, a grab for power; but it is, unashamedly, a grab for effectiveness". However, EurActiv Deutschland quotes German MEP Ingeborg Grässle - who sits on the EP's Budget Committee - arguing: "While member states are saving and jobs are being cut - for example over 10,000 in the [German] federal administration, an increase of top officials is taking place in the EU".
WSJ: Ashton Euractiv EUobserver Coulisses de Bruxelles Le Monde Presse Stern El Mundo ABC OE blog
Stress tests: Spanish banks rewarded by markets but German banks' lack of transparency causes concern
In the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard notes that, while Spain was rewarded by the markets for the high quality and transparency of its banking stress tests, the refusal of some German banks and lenders to reveal their exposure to sovereign debt "has raised suspicions that they have something to hide." The IHT notes that Deutsche Bank shares fell in early trading after the bank's failure to publish its holdings of Greek and other debt. Shares rose again when the bank said it would publish details today.
Meanwhile, the FT notes that global banking regulators have reached a breakthrough agreement on the so called Basel III rules to tighten capital requirements and impose new worldwide liquidity and leverage standards.
Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard FT: Leader EurActiv IHT WSJ Guardian City AM City AM 2 FT Welt Handelsblatt El Pais El Mundo
Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe is quoted in Czech daily MFDnes, saying: "It seems that the new [Czech] coalition is going to be less critical towards the EU than it was during the period of the country's EU presidency, even though the ODS is in the government. Minister Schwarzenberg will also possibly give up a few Czech embassies in favour of EU ones."
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Serbian EU accession may speed up following ICJ Kosovo ruling
Following last week's ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found that Kosovo had not violated international law by declaring independence in 2008, EUobserver reports that a number of EU states are in favour of speeding up Serbian EU accession. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini is quoted in the article, saying: "Belgrade deserves a message of encouragement, such as the European path remaining open with no further preconditions". Slovakia and Austria also supported the call, made in yesterday's EU foreign ministers' meeting.
It is widely reported that accession talks between the EU and Iceland are to start formally today, after EU foreign ministers gave the green light yesterday.
FT EUobserver Stern Sueddeutsche Focus Deutsche Welle Presse
An opinion poll conducted by the Norwegian statistics institute Norstat has showed that 66.9 percent of citizens polled are opposed to Norway's accession to the EU.
The EU yesterday approved new sanctions on Iran, the scale of which Foreign Secretary William Hague described as "unprecedented".
Times Telegraph FT Irish Times BBC European Voice Le Figaro Focus Presse Welt WSJ Hufvudstadsbladet Guardian
City AM reports that a WTO panel has ruled that the EU was wrong to impose duties on three types of electronic products from the US and other countries.
The Irish Times features a review of EU leaders' years so far, and suggests that, "For the new boy in class, Herman Van Rompuy, it was a chaotic and bruising baptism... No one in class doubts his brain power, but he has developed little by way of a public profile for his important new position."
In an op-ed in the Mail entitled "Will stopping safety checks on overseas nurses put us at risk?", journalist Rachel Ellis suggests that EU free movement rules "mean basic safety checks are to be scrapped for EU nurses and midwives wanting to work here because they could theoretically restrict their movement."
PA reports that green campaigners are urging the Government to allow local councils to set carbon budgets in an effort to encourage community-scale renewable power. Friends of the Earth said that without a greater focus on medium-scale renewable energy sources, the UK risked missing EU targets to produce 15% of energy from renewables by 2020.
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The Commission has launched two competition inquiries to decide whether IBM abused its market position in mainframe computers.
FT BBC European Voice IHT Handelsblatt Sueddeutsche WSJ Guardian
The Bracknell Forest Standard reports that British MEP Sharon Bowles has been named the most influential woman in European finance, in a survey published by Financial News.
The FT reports that an IMF mission arrived in Romania yesterday to review the country's progress in implementing austerity measures.
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