FTD: 100bn bail-out package being prepared for
Olli Rehn: We should “review all options for the size and scope” of eurozone bail-out fund
FTD reports that “word in
The Telegraph quotes Portuguese Finance minister Fernando Texeira dos
Eurozone finance ministers are expected to discuss plans to increase the €750bn rescue fund next week. In an opinion piece in the FT, EU Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn argues “we need to review all options for the size and scope of our financial backstops - not only for the current ones but also for the permanent European stability mechanism too".
Otmar Issing, former chief economist of the European Central Bank, is due to publish an essay this week warning that the euro’s future is under threat. He argues that the Greek and Irish bail-outs made a move towards a transfer union which will give highly indebted countries “the potential to blackmail more solid member states”, which may prove fatal for the euro.
AFP Independent Independent: O'Grady Mail: Duke Telegraph Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard blog FT FT 2 FT: Rehn FT: Leader FT 3 FT: Peel Reuters: Saft El Pais: Sureda WSJ: editorial Jornal de Negócios Diário Económico FTD BBC Today BBC Today 2 IHT IHT IHT 2 EUobserver Euractiv Il Sole 24 Ore Le Figaro WSJ WSJ 2 El Pais El Pais 2 El Pais 3 El Pais 4 El Pais 5 Expansion Expansion 2 Expansion 3 Expansion 4 WSJ 3 Irish Times 2 Handelsblatt Banco de Portugal Diario de Noticias Público Público 2
Amendments to EU Bill’s ‘sovereignty clause’ fail to win support;
Open
Despite a revolt by 27 of David Cameron’s backbench MPs, Conservative MP Bill Cash’s proposed amendment to the EU Bill’s ‘sovereignty clause’ was defeated in the House of Commons last night by 314 votes to 39, with a Government majority of 275. Europe Minister David Lidington did however agree yesterday to rewrite the explanatory notes to the Bill to make clear that the Government “does not endorse the opinion that Parliament derives its authority from common law” – the source of much of the criticism of the Bill.
On the Spectator Coffee House blog, Open Europe Director Mats Persson argues, the debate surrounding the ‘common law principle’ should not draw attention away from the Bill’s more important aspect for UK-EU relations – the ‘referendum lock’, which “seeks to identify where the EU may extend its power and introduce some controls to stop that march.” MPs should “focus their full efforts on making the referendum lock as strong and watertight as possible,” he concludes.
Open Europe research Spectator: Persson Open Europe blog Mail FT Conservative Home Spectator: Coffee House blog John Redwood's diary BBC EUobserver Express Times: Finkelstein
EUobserver reports that yesterday the Danish Supreme Court ruled admissible a lawsuit filed by 28 citizens against Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen for allowing the Lisbon Treaty to go through without a referendum, in a possible violation of Article 20 of the Danish Constitution.
EUobserver EUbusiness Politiken Berlingske Tidende
The Government was on collision course with
The Telegraph reports on the revelations made by Maarten Engwirda, a former Dutch member of the European Court of Auditors, about the covering up of irregularities and fraud of EU funds. Open
BBC Telegraph Telegraph: Singleton blog Express
EU funded news agency to open eleven new offices this year
AFP reports that the multilingual news television channel dedicated to EU affairs Euronews will open eleven new offices across the world this year. The IHT notes that the European Commission has tripled its contributions to Euronews over the last three years to an annual €15m. However, it only secures 2.6m viewers per week.
Michel Barnier: “I would see quite favourably a single European responsible for economy and finance”
In an interview with Le Figaro, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier has noted that, in the light of the ongoing debt crisis, “we can think of evolutions” of EU institutions. He argues: “In my personal capacity, I would see quite favourably a single European responsible for economy and finance […] In a much longer term, one could also imagine that the [European] Council President and the Commission President become the same person. Moreover, the Lisbon Treaty does not forbid that.” Barnier also said that a new round of stress tests for European banks will start in February or March and added: “We need a European methodology to make sure that these tests are equally rigorous for each country and each bank.”
The Telegraph reports that the Association of British Insurers has written to EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier warning that plans for contingent capital or bail-in bonds “will restrict banks' access to finance, with consequential reductions in banks' capacity to finance the recovery.”
The Express notes that David Cameron will meet EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy in
The European Parliament's Liberal group outlined its pla
ns for reforming the EU budget yesterday, proposing that certain EU institutions be restructured and that the EU’s Economic and Social Committee be scrapped.
EUobserver Open Europe research
The Irish government has informed the European Commission of its opposition to imminent moves to introduce pan-European rules on the taxation of business profits, including a common European formula for the calculation of corporation tax.
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