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Europe
Juncker: IMF may not pay out next instalment of Greek bailout;
Statements fuel fears of a Greek default
Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg and Head of the Eurogroup, confirmed yesterday that the IMF could withhold its share of the next instalment of financial aid to Greece. Juncker added that he expected the next progress report on Greece, due next week, to show that Greece cannot finance itself over the next year. FAZ reports that an IMF spokesperson confirmed that Juncker’s statements were correct in regards to the operation of the IMF. Juncker also suggested that the EU may not automatically cover the IMF’s share, saying: “The expectation of the IMF is that the Europeans would step in for the IMF and take upon themselves the IMF’s portion of the financing… That won’t work, because in certain parliaments – Germany, Finland and the Netherlands and others too – there is no preparedness to do so”, which has cast doubts over whether Greece will receive any of the next instalment of bailout funds to cover its financing needs.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, said: "We are looking very carefully at what the IMF does ... and if they don't say a new tranche in loans should go the Greeks, then we won't either." Kathimerini reports that the Greek President, Karolos Papoulias, will hold another meeting of party leaders in an attempt to reach a consensus on austerity measures. If one is not reached there could be cabinet reshuffle, a referendum, or even a snap general election.
FTD reports that Fitch has suggested that under a Greek debt restructuring, German banks could face losses of around €12bn. The FT reports that Peter Fisher, head of fixed income for BlackRock, has warned that the EU must recapitalise European banks before any form of debt restructuring.
Telegraph El País Irish Independent FT Alphaville CityAM CityAM 2 FAZ WSJ Kathimerini Vima Nea Eleftherotypia Capital Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 Keep Talking Greece Seeking Alpha: Hugh FAZ 2 Querschuesse.de EUobserver EUobserver 2 FT FTD Zeit FT 2 FTD 2 FTD 3 FTD 4 Economist Economist 2 Economist 3 Irish Independent 2 Reuters: Briancon and Unmack WSJ: Fidler FT: Betts Le Figaro: Robin Independent: Prosser WSJ 2
German Finance Minister joins critics of Baroness Ashton
The Times quotes German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble saying that EU Foreign Minister Catherine Ashton’s response to the revolutions across North Africa and the Middle East show that she “does not have the power to portray Europe” as an actor on the world stage. He is the first senior German official to publicly criticise her.
Times Times: Charter
EU auditors find fault with EU aid channelled through the UN
European Voice reports that the EU’s Court of Auditors has found major shortcomings in the way that close to a billion euros in EU aid is channelled through the United Nations every year. The ECA found “frequent weaknesses” in the design of projects funded by the EU through the UN, unrealistic timelines for implementation, and insufficient reporting by the UN.
Open Europe research European Voice
EU’s new rules on bank capital provide loophole from international standards
The FT reports that draft EU legislation may evade part of the tighter Basel III capital requirements for banks by allowing them to issues hybrid capital for longer than specified under the global rules and allowing them to count additional capital from insurance subsidiaries, something the global rules move to limit. A regulator involved in the Basel process said that if the two exceptions stand “it would be a violation of the global agreement” and would undermine the international effort to make banks safer.
FT City AM Irish Times Zeit CEMFI
Clarke defends EU deal with US to store air passenger data for 15 years
The Guardian reports that UK Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has defended a joint US-European agreement to store the personal data, including credit card details, of millions of transatlantic air passengers for up to 15 years. Labour MEP Claude Moraes pointed out that this compares with 5-and-a-half years for a similar agreement with Australia, and five years for the EU's own airline data collection plans.
Guardian
General Ratko Mladic, charged with genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the war in the former Yugoslavia, was arrested yesterday. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said his arrest will help Serbia come closer to EU membership, reports EUobserver.
EUobserver Telegraph Irish Times: Beesley Welt Tagesspiegel
Euractiv.de reports that the European Commission is stepping up its plans for a ‘European Public Prosecutor’, which would be charged with fighting fraud involving EU funds. Currently the EU Treaty allows for Eurojust, the EU’s judicial body, to take on the role of prosecutor.
Euractiv.de Sueddeutsche AFP
The Telegraph reports that new figures from the Office for National Statistics show that net migration to the UK has hit its highest level since 2005 last year, dealing a major blow to the Government’s pledge to reduce the flow of migrants. According to the article, much of the rise is down to the influx workers from Eastern Europe.
Telegraph
Il Sole 24 Ore reports that Italy risks losing around €7bn of EU funds allocated to Southern Italian regions, noting that if the money remains unspent by the end of the year it will have to be given back to the European Commission.
Il Sole 24 Ore
On her BBC blog, Stephanie Flanders looks at the race for the post of IMF Chief and argues: “If [French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde] does come in there will be a lot of bad blood around, which the Europeans may come to regret.”Meanwhile, the WSJ reports that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that, “unofficially”, the US supports women in top jobs within big international organisations.
BBC Today: Lagarde BBC: Flanders Le FigaroFT WSJ Economist Simon Johnson’s blog
Handelsblatt reports that German regional governments are facing a cost of billions of euros in lost taxation as a result of the EU's emission trading system according to a study by the Zentrums für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung.
Handelsblatt
The Times argues that, “The suggestion that Lord Mandelson of Foy in the County of Herefordshire and of Hartlepool in the County of Durham should be the next Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), when the vacancy arises next year, is an excellent idea.”
Times: Leader
The Telegraph reports that UK Fisheries Minister Richard Benyon has said he wants to stop the “disastrous” practice of throwing discarded fish overboard as a result of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. He said up to 90% of fish can be thrown overboard due to EU quotas.
No link
UK
Conservative Home’s Tim Montgomerie argues that “Euroscepticism will triumph in the Conservative Party. It's just a matter of time.”
Conservative Home: Montgomerie
The Mail notes that the UK spends more on foreign aid as a proportion of GDP than any other country in the world.
Mail
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