Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said over the weekend that, "Greece, de facto, is in bankruptcy". Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German Finance Minister, revealed that Europe is preparing "for the worst", suggesting that EU officials are coming up with a plan for dealing with a Greek default. Over the weekend Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to continue purchasing euro-denominated debt and offered strong support to the eurozone. A meeting will be held today in Rome involving some of the largest European banks as well as representatives from the EU, IMF and the EC, in an attempt to negotiate a viable plan for private sector involvement in the second Greek bailout. French banks proposed a plan over the weekend which involves agreeing to rollover half of their expiring Greek debt into new 30 year Greek bonds. Importantly, the credit rating agencies will not be present at the meeting so any conclusions could still be judged as an effective default, meaning it would not be a viable plan. Meanwhile, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King warned on Friday that the eurozone crisis presents the most immediate threat to the UK’s economic stability, but that the crisis was one of solvency not liquidity, suggesting another bailout will not help. Saturday’s Mail quoted Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel saying: “The Government gives the impression that it’s happy standing on the side-lines of negotiations to deal with the crisis...but the UK must now push for a long-term solution.” Prime Minister David Cameron joined King in urging banks to fully declare their exposure to Greek debt and encouraged them to recapitalise as a buffer against the eurozone crisis. Group of 100 MPs to challenge Cameron on EU European Commission likely to propose financial transactions tax to fund EU budget from 2014 Prime Minister David Cameron has strongly criticised the construction of a new Brussels building which will host future European summits. The new ‘Europa’ building, due for completion in 2014, will cost £280 million and is expected to land the British taxpayer a bill for £25million. At an EU summit in Brussels, Cameron said it was “immensely frustrating at a time of cuts” and questioned if “these institutions actually get what every country and every member of public has to go through”. The verdict from Europe: What do they say about the euro? Cameron and the bail-outs King vs. the ECB – and Cameron’s salient pointOpen Europe Europe
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Monday, 27 June 2011
Greek Central Bank Governor hits out at austerity measures ahead of crucial week in Greek crisis;
German Finance Minister: EU is preparing “for the worst”
Greek Central Bank Governor, George Provopoulos, hit out at the latest round of austerity measures yesterday, warning that the pressure on the country’s citizens had reached its limits. Provopoulos warned that the current measures do not “put enough emphasis on cutting expenditure” and called for a crackdown on tax evasion, according to the FT. The Greek parliament will now vote on the austerity package on Wednesday, with a further vote on an enabling law on Thursday to push the package along swiftly. The first vote is expected to pass, despite warnings from at least four governing party MPs that they will vote against it, however the second vote is less clear. Greek Finance Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, said the package was “in many respects unfair”, but the only way to guarantee a second bailout. FTD reports that Finland is threatening to not participate in the second Greek bailout, demanding that €140bn in assets be privatised rather than the €50bn as currently suggested.
Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson appeared on BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight discussing what the eurozone crisis means for democracy in Europe, while Raoul Ruparel appeared on Russia Today. Open Europe’s research on the ECB’s exposure to the eurozone crisis was cited in Portuguese magazine Sol and Open Europe’s briefing on the second Greek bailout was featured by theTelegraph,CNN Expansion, Czech daily E15, and various financial websites.
FT FT 2 BBC Les Echos Sunday Telegraph Telegraph Express Express 2 Express 3 WSJ Le Figaro WSJ 2 WSJ 3 WSJ 4 Reuters Kathimerini Reuters 2Reuters 3 Bild FTD Reuters 4 Ta Nea Independent on Sunday Mail on Sunday: Forsyth La Tribune Independent WSJ 5 Bloomberg EUobserver BBC: Peston BBC: Today Express Daily Mail Sunday Telegraph 2 Independent Le Monde Irish Independent Irish Times Irish Times 2 Saturday's Mail Saturday's Times Saturday's Times 2 Saturdays' Guardian Saturday's Express Observer Saturday's Independent Saturday's Express RT Sol Isotimía CNN Expansión Informador VanguardiaE15 BBC 4: the World Tonight FT: Munchau WSJ: Stelzer WSJ: Heard on the Street WSJ: Jenkins BBC: Mason BBC: Peston BBC: Flanders Economist: Charlemagne’s blog El País: Estefanía Irish Independent: Arnold Irish Independent: Dineen Saturday's Telegraph: Moore FT Weekend: Barber Saturday's Mail: Malone Independent on Sunday: McRae Independent on Sunday: Knight Observer: Helm Observer: Keegan Sunday Telegraph: Booker Sunday Telegraph: HalliganSunday Telegraph: O’Neill Sunday Times: Liddle Sunday Times: Stelzer
The Independent on Sunday reported that 100 “moderate Eurosceptic” backbench Conservative MPs are to challenge David Cameron to take a tougher stance on Europe. The group's co-founder George Eustice MP, former press secretary to Mr Cameron, said: “We need to break the power of the centralised institutions of the EU and streamline the project so that it does less and does what it does better.”
The FT reports that an EU-wide tax on financial transactions or activity is the main option being considered by European Commission officials working on the introduction of new instruments to fund the EU budget directly from 2014, when the next long-term EU budget starts. The Commission is due to unveil its proposal for the 2014-2020 EU budget later this week.EurActiv reports that the overall size of the next seven-year budget is expected to remain close to current levels.The biggest increases are expected in home affairs and migration policy.
BBC BBC: Hewitt EUobserver EurActiv Independent Saturday's Telegraph Saturday's Sun Saturday's Express Saturday’s Independent Saturday's Guardian FT Weekend
The WSJ reports that international bank regulators agreed over the weekend to that the world’s largest banks should hold thicker capital cushions than other financial institutions, in a move which should allow them to absorb unexpected losses in future without threatening the stability of the global financial system. The FT notes that the agreement represents a victory for the UK and the US.
FAZ reports that a poll conducted by Allensbach has shown that 71% of Germans have lost trust in the common currency, which is 5% higher than in April and up from 50% three years ago. Additionally, a Forsa poll showed that 55% of Germans are now against further aid to the eurozone, up from 48% in May.
The Belgian Constitutional Court has rejected a challenge of the Belgian law approving the EFSF on the grounds that the arguments used to make the challenge were inadmissible and that the Court lacks the competence to rule on it.
The Sunday Express reported that the EU fuel quality directive, due to be adopted around winter this year, might classify Canadian oil sands as high polluters and demand equally high taxes on its import, a measure that is controversial as the oil sands might be the only alternative to Middle eastern oil in the coming years.
Les Echos reports that after the Council’s summit last Friday, in response to a question on the possible creation of a European Finance Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy declared: “A European Finance Minister to compete with the Commission? For now the Commission is in charge of the budget. Unless you think there aren’t enough people intervening already? We need actions, decisions, self-control, calm and a bit less creativity for now.”
The Weekend FT reported that at last week’s summit, EU leaders asked the Commission to present proposals by September on how countries could reimpose border checks within the passport-free Schengen zone. It remains uncertain who would decide the circumstances under which border controls could be used, amid fears that they could undermine free movement.
The Sunday Times reported that the Commission is readying plans to remove the high prices charged for using mobile phones and tablet computers overseas. The plan, which is expected to come into force next July, should ensure greater transparency for consumers.
Reuters reports that - European Union leaders gave a conditional go-ahead for Croatia to enter the EU in July 2013. Croatia's hopes of joining could still be jeopardized if reform slip-ups persuade some of the EU's national parliaments to delay ratifying the accession treaty. "Now it is important to ensure that Croatia's reforms are sustainable and irreversible," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is quoted saying.
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