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Hague: Any attempt to conduct a single EU foreign policy “would end in embarrassing failure”
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague discussed the UK’s strategic priorities on Wednesday, noting that the US comes first, the EU second, Brazil third and Turkey fourth, reports EUobserver. "I have never believed that the EU could or should act as if it were a nation state with a national foreign policy. Any attempt by EU institutions to do so would end in embarrassing failure…Over the last year we have placed a renewed emphasis on bilateral relations, alongside Britain's role in multilateral institutions", he said.
EUobserver
Iceland’s Finance Minister Steingrimur Sigfusson has voiced opposition to Iceland’s bid for EU accession saying, “Iceland is probably better off with other forms of agreement and connections with the EU than full membership…I am still very sceptical when it comes to the overall benefits of membership”, reports the WSJ.
WSJ
Danish daily Politiken reports that the leader of the anti-immigrant Danish People’s Party – king-makers in the Danish Parliament – Pia Kjærsgaard has said that “there will definitely be borders controls [within the Schengen area]. The government wants to remain inside Schengen but we’ll see far stronger and detailed border controls in future.”
Politiken
ECB holds interest rates steady and hints at delays in future increases
The ECB yesterday held interest rates and also signalled that the next increase will likely be in July or August, rather than June as expected. City AM reports that the IMF will charge an interest rate of between 3.25% - 4.25% on its €26bn portion of the Portuguese bailout. In an interview with Diário Económico, Head of the IMF Delegation responsible for the Portuguese bailout, Poul Thomsen, suggested that Portugal would be given 13 years to pay back its bailout, longer than Ireland or Greece. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the leaders of the main Finnish Parliamentary groups are meeting again today in an attempt to find a consensus on Finland’s role in the Portuguese bailout, with an agreement expected in the near future.
András Szigetvari, an editor of Austrian daily Der Standard, argues that the Portuguese bailout is "the last Fado of the euro", noting that "without reforms a common currency for Portugal & co. doesn't make sense.” He notes: "Does a common currency function in such a heterogeneous Community? With Greece one could argue that budgetary tricks were responsible for the disaster. In Ireland the misery was due to the banks. In Portugal's case, this excuse doesn't exist.”
Standard: Szigetvari Presseurop FT WSJ European Voice Les Echos IHT FT 2 WSJ 2 EurActiv El Pais El Pais 2 El Pais 3 CityAM CityAM 2 CityAM 3 Diario Económico Jornal de Negocios BBC EUobserver Le Figaro IHT SVD FT 3 Vima Bloomberg Yle Yle2 Bloomberg 2 BBC Radio 4 Irish Examiner rish Independent Irish Times Irish Independent 2 FT: Blejer FT Letters: Whittaker WSJ: Fidler Helsingin Sanomat Helsingin Sanomat2 Helsingin Sanomat3 Irish Independent Irish Times Irish Independent 2 FT: Blejer FT Letters: Whittaker WSJ: Fidler Helsingin Sanomat Helsingin Sanomat2 Helsingin Sanomat3
EU unveils plans to pay fishermen to catch plastic detritus
The Guardian reports that under a trial project, fishermen will be paid to catch plastic detritus, rather than fish. The new plans, unveiled by EU Commissioner for Fisheries Maria Damanaki, aim to provide an alternative source of income for fishermen to reduce pressure on fish stocks. Damanaki also announced that the Commission will consider introducing laws to ban imports of fish products – such as fish oils and fish meal – from countries that do not meet environmental standards.
Guardian
On her BBC blog, Stephanie Flanders looks at the likely appointment of Italy’s Central Bank Governor Mario Draghi as the next ECB President and notes: “If you’re sitting in Spain and Portugal, you might well wonder whether you would have been better off with a German in charge, trying to show off his inner Italian – than an Italian desperate to prove he’s German underneath.”
BBC: Flanders
EurActiv France reports that the French Senate has adopted a resolution calling for EU institutions to avoid any reconsideration of the European Parliament’s second seat in Strasbourg.
EurActiv France
The Economist’s Bagehot blog notesthat Britain should be “proud” of opening its labour market to eastern European workers in 2004, arguing that Britain attracted “the best-educated who wished to work legally, while pushing lower-skilled migrants into legal, taxable work.”
Economist: Bagehot
The BBC reports that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed that the UK government can withhold the mobility part of disability benefit from British citizens living in the rest of the EU.
BBC
South Korea’s Parliament has ratified a free trade deal with the EU, clearing the way for the agreement to enter into force in July, reports the BBC.
BBC Times European Voice
EUobserver reports that the European Commission has sent member states new proposals to increase the security of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), following the theft of carbon permits worth around €50m earlier this year.
EUobserver
Die Zeit reports that Germany’s SDP foreign policy expert Rolf Mützenich has warned that disagreements between France and Germany over whether to recognise an autonomous Palestinian state against Israel’s will “threaten the common foreign and security policy of the EU.”
Schweizer Radio Focus Zeit
The BBC reports that a new European Commission regulation will make rail operators across Europe use standard ticket and timetabling systems, in a bid to enable railways to better compete with airlines.
BBC
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