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UK attacks Ashton over “ludicrous” budget proposal for EU foreign service;
Hague warns UK ambassadors to combat EU “competence creep”
PA quotes the UK’s Europe Minister David Lidington describing EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton’s demands for a higher budget for the EU’s diplomatic service as “ludicrous”. “They’ve got to get real as far as the budget is concerned,” Lidington said. “The idea that they should be asking for more than the EU as a whole...is somewhat ludicrous,” he added. Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports that Foreign Secretary William Hague has ordered British ambassadors around the world to fight off what he believes are attempts by the EU’s foreign service, the European External Action Service (EEAS), to usurp their positions. “William has sent out instructions to all our posts around the world to be vigilant about any risk of competence creep,” Lidington said.

Meanwhile, EUobserver reports that, during her visit in Benghazi, Libyan rebels’ leaders in the Transitional National Council have asked Ashton to help them get EU financing to pay for staff and basic services.
FT Times EUobserver Les Echos Telegraph IHT Guardian EUobserver Economist: Charlemagne

Greek crisis puts increased pressure on Belgium, Italy and Spain;
Rehn: Greece cannot meet its privatisation targets
The Greek crisis threatened to spread to bigger eurozone countries yesterday as the Greek, Italian and Spanish cost of borrowing increased while the euro fell significantly. The crushing defeat for the Spanish government in regional elections and fears over a potential Italian downgrade were the main drivers of concern. Furthermore, Fitch placed Belgium’s credit rating on a negative outlook, citing the lack of progress on debt reduction and the ongoing political stalemate. Moody’s warned this morning that any form of Greek restructuring would hurt the credit ratings of other eurozone economies as well.

Het Financieele Dagblad reports that EU officials have secretly started technical preparations for prolonging maturities on Greek state bonds. This so-called "re-profiling" of debt is still being opposed by the ECB. Expansión reports that Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou has said that if Greece does not receive the fifth installment of the EU/IMF bail-out loan, due on June 26, the government “will be forced to put up the shutters”. Yle reports that the Finnish parliament will today vote to approve the Portuguese bail-out.

Meanwhile, Olli Rehn, EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, has cast doubt over the renewed Greek privatisation programme, saying, "We estimate that meaningfully Greece cannot privatise €50bn worth of its assets in the course of the coming years”, as is planned. The frontpage of Handelsblatt notes that "the capital flight from Greece is starting" and cites data showing that around €280bn has so far been sent to Switzerland alone.
FT CityAM WSJ WSJ 2 Telegraph Irish Independent Irish Times Express EurActiv Zero Hedge IHT SVD ReutersIndependentEl PaísIl Sole 24 OreFT 2WSJ 3FT 3FT 4FT 5WSJ 4BBCEUobserverLe MondeReuters 2 Expansión BBC: Hewitt BBC: Flanders Le Figaro: Rousselin El País: Krugman IHT blogs: Krugman Times WSJ: Hannon FT Editorial WSJ Editorial FT Lex FD Naftemporiki Eleftherotypia Reuters 3SpiegelKathimerini YleHelsingin SanomatHelsingin Sanomat2 Handelsblatt Handelsblatt 2

Poll: Greek question creates electoral shifts in the Netherlands
An opinion poll reported by Elsevier shows that support for Geert Wilders’ PVV party continues to increase “as a result of the Greek question” according to pollster Maurice de Hond. The poll gives Wilders’ party 26 out of 150 seats in the Dutch Parliament's lower house if there was a general election now, three more than in the previous poll, while the ruling VVD party would fall by two seats to 32. Meanwhile, NOS reports that Dutch Senate elections have dealt a blow to the Dutch minority coalition government, composed of the liberal VVD and the Christian Democrats, which now has to rely on Geert Wilders’ party and the strongly conservative Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij (SGP) – both critical of the eurozone bail-outs – to get its policies through. Dutch Senators are not directly elected by citizens.
NOS Elsevier Dutchnews.nl

German Professor Markus Kerber, who is challenging eurozone bail-outs at the German Constitutional Court, questions in a press release why, after six weeks, the German Constitutional Court has not yet answered his urgent application for an injunction against a Portuguese bail-out.
Europolis Group Europolis Press Release

Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe appeared in a documentary on Belgian TV channel RTL-TVI, looking at examples of fraud and waste involving MEPs. Pieter mentioned the case of the €5.25m spent on a fleet of limousines for MEPs in Strasbourg.
Open Europe research RTL: Investigations

Backbench Conservative MPs to put pressure on Government over eurozone bail-outs
The Express reports that around 20 backbench Conservative MPs are expected to defy the Government by calling for Ministers to block UK involvement in eurozone bail-outs. The motion, tabled by Conservative MP Mark Reckless, focuses on the UK’s participation in the €60bn European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, which the outgoing Labour Government signed up to in 2010.
Express Express: Leader

EU to launch long-awaited Galileo satellites in October
Reuters reports that the EU has set the date of 20 October to launch the first of its two Galileo satellites – 30 are planned in total by 2019 to complete the project, which is designed to provide global positioning data for cars, ships, aircraft, and mobile phone users, among others. The Commission has announced that it has dropped its January request for a further €1.9bn to complete the programme, but the project still remains hugely over budget compared to the original estimates. The Commission expects Galileo to deliver €60bn to the European economy over 20 years, but experts have questioned whether the system can deliver all the benefits and cost savings that its planners envisage.
Open Europe research Reuters EurActiv France

MEP David Campbell Bannerman has defected from the UK Independence Party back to the Conservatives, according to PA. Mr. Campbell Bannerman had quit the Conservatives in 2004.
No link

Austrian daily Kronen Zeitung reports that EU Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn has been accused of plagiarism for at least 17.2% of his doctoral thesis.
Kronen Zeitung

The Telegraph reports that, according to a study published by the Bank of England, “foreign nationalised banks seem to have engaged in financial protectionism, which British nationalised banks have not.”
Telegraph

EUobserver reports that a group of EU member states headed by France has proposed that Croatia be subject to a series of additional checks during the period between the end of accession talks and eventual EU membership.
EUobserver ABC

EU foreign ministers yesterday agreed to impose travel bans and an asset freeze on Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and nine other government officials in his inner circle. Similar sanctions were imposed on 13 other Syrian officials earlier this month.
Telegraph Irish Times WSJ Sydsvenskan Politiken

The European Court of Justice has ruled against laws in Belgium, Germany, France, and three other EU member states restricting the profession of notary to these countries’ nationals, reports Het Belang van Limburg.
HBVL

UK

In an op-ed in the Times, US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron reiterate the close bond between the US and the UK, and promise continued strong co-operation in areas of economics and security.
Times: Cameron & Obama

World

Les Echos reports that French Budget Minister François Baroin has said that China supports French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde’s candidacy for the post of IMF Chief.
Les Echos BBCLe Figaro: BouilhetEl País: Vaquer Times

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