The Open Europe team would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The press summary will return on 3 January. Mr Cameron “deserves the full support of the business community,” the business people write.“Those who would portray Mr Cameron’s use of the veto as bad for jobs and growth or as leaving the UK ‘isolated’ are mistaken. The real threat to employment is the euro crisis, which was unaffected by his veto and which the recent summit did little to address. Britain has great potential to compete across the globe, if freed from badly targeted and trade-hampering government intrusions, whether from London or Brussels.” The signatories, writing in personal capacities, include Sir Anthony Bamford, JCB Chairman; Lord Wolfson, Next Chief Executive; Tim Martin, JD Wetherspoon Chairman, Roger Bootle of Capital Economics and Open Europe Chairman Lord Leach. Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson is quoted in the paper saying that it was “surprisingly easy” to find signatories prepared to endorse Mr Cameron’s veto and to encourage him to push the EU in a more liberal direction. The letter is also cited by Sky News, the Guardian, the Mail and on Conservative Home. FAZ reports that banks from Italy and Spain made large requests at the ECB’s first three year long term lending operation earlier this week. Citing figures fromReuters, the article suggests Italian banks borrowed €116bn. One of the main reasons for this may have been that Italian banks were short of collateral to post in exchange for ECB loans, limiting the amount they could request until the ECB loosened its requirements during its 8 December meeting.Open Europe Europe
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Friday, 23 December 2011
20 leading business people express support for Cameron's EU veto and willingness “to stand up for an outward-looking and competitive Britain”
Writing in a letter to the FT, 20 leading business figures have expressed their support for David Cameron’s decision to veto EU Treaty change at this month’s Brussels summit, congratulating him for standing up for “an outward-looking and competitive Britain.” The letter, orchestrated by Open Europe, says “It is impossible to know just how European politics or economics will develop at this juncture. However, since the UK Prime Minister’s recent veto of a new European Union treaty, one major point of principle is clear: Britain does not want, or intend, to be dragged deeper into a more centralised and over-regulated EU with ambitions to become a political union.”
Meanwhile, a new survey of over 1,000 members of the Institute of Directors, conducted after the EU summit, found that 77% agree with the PM’s use of the veto, with only 19% disagreeing. The survey found that 63% of IoD members would like to see the UK in a looser relationship with the EU, including 42% who would like to see a repatriation of some powers. The Mail cites Open Europe’s recent poll of financial services professionals which found that 69% would support a British veto on EU financial rules even if it reduced access to the Single Market.
FT FT: Letters Sky news Mail City AM Guardian Mail 2 Mail: Editorial Conservative Home IoD Open Europe: Financial services poll
New Open Europe briefing: The ten lessons the UK Government should draw from Cameron’s EU veto
Open Europe has published a new briefing setting out the ten lessons that should be learnt from David Cameron’s EU veto. The broadly positive public reaction to Cameron’s veto should give him the confidence to set out what the UK wants from its relationship with Europe. But to make this vision a reality, it is vital that the UK uses the experience of this month’s summit to learn the lessons needed for future EU talks. Open Europe’s Christopher Howarth said, “David Cameron’s use of the veto illustrates that the UK is now serious about defending its interests – and the importance of financial services made it a sensible priority. However, there are lessons to learn that would improve the UK’s chances of getting a better deal in future EU negotiations. The UK’s tactics suffered from poorly communicated objectives and a failure to set the agenda early enough. Ultimately though, what the UK needs is a coherent and well-understood long-term European strategy.”
ECB board member: “No reason” why quantitative easing could not be used in the eurozone
ECB Governing Council member Lorenzo Bini-Smaghi, who is stepping down at the end of the year, said in an interview with the FT, “I do not understand the quasi-religious discussions about quantitative easing (QE)…I would see no reason why such an instrument, tailor-made for the specific characteristics of the euro area, should not be used,” if the ECB saw a risk of deflation in the eurozone. This is the first time a member of the ECB has openly supported the use of QE. Bini-Smaghi also said that the ECB has a “duty of action” to ensure effective monetary policy and should not “hide behind lawyers to avoid taking action,” in what appeared to be a reference to Bundesbank opposition to increasing bond purchases. He was also critical of the UK’s approach to the eurozone crisis, saying, “The EU, and ECB, would certainly contribute to help Britain if London was in difficulty. I would thus expect a reciprocal attitude.”
The Italian senate yesterday approved the latest emergency austerity budget in a vote of confidence on the new government. The package which includes spending cuts, tax increases and pension reforms can now begin to be implemented. The WSJ reports that German consumer spending continues to be resilient and offer a boost to economic growth amid threats the export driven economy from the eurozone crisis and global slowdown.
FT FT 2 FT 3 IHT CityAM Telegraph WSJ CityAM 2 WSJ 2 IHT 2 WSJ: Fidler WSJ Review&Outlook FT: Mackintosh Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
French Foreign Minister attempts to soothe relations with UK but says veto was a “moment of truth”
The FT reports that French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé has reached out to Britain in an attempt to smooth Anglo-French relations, telling British journalists in Paris yesterday that “our relations will become excellent again because we have too much in common to allow them to deteriorate”. Juppé made it clear that there was a “deep difference of approach” between the two countries over the EU, and that David Cameron’s veto at this month’s EU summit had been a “moment of truth”. He added that France “should do everything we can to keep Britain on board” in talks concerning the new inter-governmental treaty on new budget rules for the eurozone, but that he did not believe that the UK would eventually take part in the agreement. Yesterday’s Evening Standard quoted Downing Street officials playing down reports that the UK may be offered a new deal on the treaty.
Britain’s EU ambassador warns that he will struggle in 2012 to protect City from regulation
The Times reports that Sir Jon Cunliffe, the new British ambassador to the EU, has privately warned the City that 2012 will be a difficult year as he will struggle to protect it from being outvoted on key legislation. The paper reports that Sir Jon has promised to concentrate on two things: the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and preventing the European Securities and Markets Authority becoming too powerful.
In an interview with the Independent, Liberal Democrat Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne has said, “Of course the EU is not perfect. It's too bureaucratic and it needs reform [however this is] better argued from a position where you passionately believe in the benefits that can arise from EU membership than if your counterparts believe you have a hidden agenda which is essentially to destroy the EU and all its works."
Die Welt reports that amid the eurzone crisis, immigration to Germany from other EU member states, and from Mediterranean states in particular, significantly increased in the first half of the year; immigration from Greece increased by 84% and immigration from Spain increased by 49%.
EUobserver reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday accused French President Nicolas Sarkozy of "racism, discrimination, xenophobia” after a draft bill, which would create an offence of “denial or gross trivialisation" of the Armenian genocide, was voted through the French Parliament. Erdogan has described the bill as "an irreparable wound" to bilateral relations between the two countries, with Turkey imposing a number of sanctions against France and recalling its ambassador from Paris.
Business support for Cameron's EU veto loud and clear
Ten Lessons David Cameron needs to learn from the EU veto
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