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Portugal in talks over short term EU loans;
Portuguese banks call for loans from EU bail-out fund which involves all 27 member states
The FT reports that Portugal has held talks with the EU after the Portuguese banking sector applied pressure for Portugal to seek a bridge loan, in order to cover its financing needs until a new government is formed. The biggest Portuguese banks are holding significant amounts of Portuguese government debt and refuse to take on any more. In an interview with Portuguese TVI, the President of Portugal’s largest bank – Portuguese Commercial Bank – Carlos Santos Ferreira, said it’s "indispensable that the country seeks an interim short-term loan from the Commission, which has €60bn available" for these type of problems before the next government seeks a formal bail-out from the European Financial Stability Facility. “In my estimation over €10bn [is necessary]”, he added.

However, the WSJ reports that European Commission sources have denied the possibility of a short term bridge loan. A spokesman said that “the Commission doesn’t give loans like this”. Francisco Assis, leader of the Portuguese Socialist party, yesterday signalled a change in position saying, “An emergency situation demands emergency solutions…with a caretaker government, we cannot ignore this situation in the two months until the elections”, reports i Informação. Portugal will hold an auction of up to €2bn in short term government debt today, the results will give a key indication of market sentiment.

Greek daily Ta Nea reports that the informal meeting of EU finance ministers taking place in Budapest over the coming days will examine the possibility of a “joint, concurrent and co-ordinated” debt restructuring for Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. Meanwhile, FT Deutschland reports that Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou is considering the possibility of a debt restructuring, however a Finance Ministry source suggested that before pressing ahead with such a solution it would need to know the results from the next round of EU bank stress tests.
FT WSJ Guardian Diário Económico i Informaçãoi Informação 2 TVI La Tribune Jornal de Negocios Standard Irish Independent Irish Times El Pais 2 FT 2 City AMTelegraph Independent FT 3 WSJ 2 WSJ 3 FT Editorial City AM 2 WSJ 4 WSJ 5 Irish Independent 2 Irish Independent 3 Irish Times 2 Irish Independent: McWilliams Irish Independent 4 EUobserver Nea FTD

New German poll figures: record high for Greens, FDP in “freefall”
An opinion poll commissioned by Stern and RTL puts the German Green party on a record high of 28%, only 2% behind the governing CDU, making it the country’s largest opposition party ahead of the Social Democratic Party (23%). The liberal FDP, the coalition’s junior partner, is on 3%, below the 5% threshold necessary to secure parliamentary representation. The FDP yesterday appointed Health Minister Philipp Rösler to take over as leader following the resignation of Guido Westerwelle.
Stern Focus FAZ Wirtschaftswoche FT Deutschland

True Finns leader: Finnish elections might become a referendum on the euro
In an opinion poll published yesterday, the populist, eurosceptic True Finns party dropped to fourth place, at 16.2%, down from second in a poll published last week. The National Coalition Party is leading with 19.9%. However, the race is still wide open with four parties polling at between 16% and 20%, reports Finnish television Yle. In a debate last week, True Finns leader Timo Soini argued that the election could evolve into the referendum which the Finnish people were not given when the country joined the euro.
Yle Yle2

Conservative peer says he is “ashamed” of planned EU ‘referendum lock’
The House of Lords yesterday debated the Government’s EU Bill, which contains the proposed ‘referendum lock’ on future transfers of power to the EU. Conservative peer Lord Deben said that he was “ashamed” of the Government’s plans to hold referendums on whether to approve new EU treaties or major changes to existing ones and promised to vote against the legislation “again and again and again” unless changes were made. The Bill returns to the House of Lords on April 26.
Hansard Open Europe research

Romanian prosecutors ask the European Parliament to remove immunity for MEP involved in cash-for-amendments scandal
EUobserver reports that Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors and the Justice Ministry have asked the European Parliament to lift the immunity of Socialist MEP Adrian Severin, one of the four MEPs involved in the bribery scandal disclosed by the Sunday Times.

Meanwhile, commenting on the scandal on Public Service Europe, Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe suggests that, as a first step to enhance transparency in the European Parliament, MEPs should "publish a list of all the lobbyists or members of pressure groups that they have met…As a second measure, there should be better application of the current duty to fill in a ‘declaration of financial interests’."
EUobserver Public Service Europe: Cleppe

An opinion poll shows that the support amongst Swedish small businesses for joining the euro has dropped from 70% in 2009, to 43% today. 39% of small businesses are against the country joining.
Europaportalen

Herman Van Rompuy claims credit for Libyan operation
In a surprising declaration yesterday, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy said: "From the beginning of the crisis, the European Union was at the forefront: the first to impose tough sanctions; the first to impose a travel ban on leading figures in the regime; the first to freeze Libyan assets; the first to recognise the Interim Transitional National Council as a valid interlocutor…Without European leadership there would have been massacres...We acted in time and without Europe nothing would have been done at the global level or at the UN level."

Meanwhile, speaking in the European Parliament, UKIP leader Nigel Farage noted that "hardman" Van Rompuy had "made it clear" that the aim of the Lybian military intervention was "regime change", or the removal of Gaddafi, while EU Foreign Minister Baroness Catherine Ashton, he said, had "contradicted" this point in later statements. "Here we have two big EU chiefs who, when it comes to the policy on Libya and Gaddafi, are in direct contradiction with each other," he argued.
The Parliament Magazine EUobserver FT

The Independent notes that the European Commission’s Green Paper on corporate governance includes a so-called ‘say on pay’ proposal, giving shareholders the right to vote on management remuneration. In Germany, shareholders do not get the chance to vote specifically on management pay, whereas in Britain, they typically do.
Guardian Independent EurActiv Irish Times

The House of Lords EU Committee has called for more EU judges to be appointed because it fears that EU courts face a “crisis of workload”. The report notes that the Lisbon Treaty’s extension of the European Court of Justice’s powers, particularly over justice and home affairs, will result in more cases coming before EU judges.
House of Lords report

The Telegraph reports that a study commissioned by the UK’s health regulator, the General Medical Council, has found that 4% of doctors trained in the EU are suspended or struck from the register following patient complaints, compared with 1% of UK trained doctors.
Telegraph British Medical Journal

UK Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has allocated an additional £5m aimed at tackling London's pollution "hot spots" and achieving air quality improvements, necessary to avoid EU-imposed fines for pollution of up to £300m.
Evening Standard

On his Telegraph blog, Shane Richmond notes that the EU has appointed the former head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s legal department, Maria Martin-Prat, to take over its intellectual property unit.
Telegraph Blogs: Richmond Telegraaf

EUobserver reports that the EU is considering tougher radiation limits on food and animal feed imports from Japan.
EUobserver Focus Deutsche Welle

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s trial over allegations of abuse of power and aiding and abetting underage prostitution kicked off this morning in Milan. Berlusconi will not attend the first hearing due to earlier institutional commitments.
Corriere della Sera BBC: Hewitt BBC: Today Le Monde ANSA

The BBC reports that the European Commission has asked the EU's 27 member states to submit national strategies by the end of this year aimed at raising the living standards of Roma (Gypsies).
BBC Straneuropa EUobserver Le Monde Stern RPonline Irish Times

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