Britannia Radio

Follow us on:	Home About Us €uro-Zone Research Media Centre Make a Donation
New on the Open Europe Blog What does an oil drum with elephant manure tell us about EU subsidies? Open Europe Blog Hollande takes on London Open Europe Blog Spain's deficit: "Brussels, we have a problem" Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Eurozone finance ministers unblock part of second Greek bailout, delay final decision to next week; Spain fails to secure revision of deficit targets Eurozone finance ministers yesterday agreed to unblock only the share of the second Greek bailout needed to underpin the swap of €206bn of Greek debt held by private creditors. The ministers will make their final decision on the remaining funds (€71.5bn) in a conference call on 9 March, after the bond swap is completed and the EU/IMF/ECB Troika submits its final assessment of Greece’s implementation of the 38 ‘prior actions’ required to get the second bailout. Meanwhile, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) yesterday ruled that the process of the Greek restructuring so far, including protecting the ECB from suffering losses, did not constitute a credit event, meaning that Credit Default Swaps taken out against the risk of a Greek bankruptcy will not be paid out. However the committee did leave the door open for potential future challenges once the process has been completed. In an op-ed in the WSJ, Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson argues that Greece is likely to default even with the help of a second bailout, and that “by 2015, following the Greek debt restructuring and the second bailout, taxpayers' total share [of Greek debt] could increase to as much as 85%...All this points to one painful conclusion: Europe is probably on course for a major political fallout. Taxpayers in Germany, Finland and the Netherlands will resent having to pay as Greek loan guarantees turn into Greek losses. And the Greek people will feel cheated that they suffered years of tough austerity only to see their country fall of its debt cliff anyway.” Mats also discussed the flaws of the second Greek bailout on his Telegraph blog. Open Europe’s briefing, which showed that only 57% of the total amount entailed in the second Greek bailout will actually go to Greece itself, featured on the FT and the Telegraph’s live blogs, and is covered by AFP, Italian politics magazine Panorama, Greek news sites SKAI and Isotimía, Polish business daily Puls Biznesu, Finnish daily Kauppalehti, and by Le Figaro’s Cyrille Lachèvre on his blog. Separately, Expansión reports that Spain yesterday failed to secure a revision of its deficit reduction targets. Spanish daily ABC reports that the Spanish government is also working on a new austerity package, which would cut Spain’s deficit to around 5.5% of GDP by the end of the year – currently still above the 4.4% target agreed with the Commission. Le Figaro reports that the Netherlands has drawn criticism from the European Commission over new estimates showing that Dutch public deficit will increase to 4.5% of GDP at the end of the year, and is expected to reach the 3% threshold established by the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact only in 2015. A Commission spokesman noted that the Dutch government had been “most vocal” about other eurozone countries sticking to EU deficit rules in the past, reports EUobserver. EUobserver IHT Kathimerini WSJ: Persson Telegraph blogs: Persson Le Figaro blogs: Lachèvre Puls Biznesu SKAI Isotimía Kauppalehti Panorama Telegraph: Live blog FT: Live blog Kathimerini Le FigaroEUobserver EUobserver El Mundo Expansión El País El Mundo 2 Cinco Días Expansión 2 ABC FT CityAMBBC Times Telegraph WSJ Irish Independent Times Irish Independent BBC Telegraph Irish Independent FT 2 CityAM 2 WSJ 3 La Tribune FT 3 Telegraph Telegraph 2 FT 4 Irish Times FT 5 WSJ 4 CityAM 3Telegraph WSJ 5 AFP Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on BBC Five Live this morning discussing the impact of the eurozone crisis on UK financial services as well as the potential burden of future EU regulation on the sector. BBC Radio 5 Live 25 EU member states sign new ‘fiscal treaty’; Cameron “frustrated” after UK proposals on boosting jobs and growth ignored at EU summit At a ceremony preceding today’s summit of EU leaders, all EU member states with the exception of the UK and the Czech Republic officially signed up to the new intergovernmental ‘fiscal treaty’ championed by German Angela Merkel, who described it as “a milestone in the history of the EU”. The treaty will now have to be ratified by individual parliaments and, in the case of Ireland, a referendum. Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson appeared on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, noting that though fairly limited in scope at the moment, the fiscal treaty could be a prelude to a much closer integrated eurozone, there remained a risk that the EU institutions will be used to enforce eurozone-specific decisions and policies, to which UK interests are secondary. Meanwhile, the Irish Times reports that the Irish Government has moved to deny suggestions from one of its own ministers that the EU ought to cut the cost of Ireland’s debt burden resulting from the bailout of Anglo-Irish bank in order to boost support for a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that: “These are entirely separate matters, in other words, the Irish people are not going to be bribed by anybody”. Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday voiced his frustration after a series of liberalising measures aimed at boosting jobs and growth in the EU, championed by Britain and eleven other EU member states, was left off the agenda for today’s summit in favour of a “watered-down” Franco-German growth plan. Cameron’s concerns were echoed by Dutch PM Mark Rutte and Italian PM Mario Monti, who also signed the letter ahead of the summit. The "Plan for Growth in Europe" called for the easing of the regulatory burden on businesses and the opening of EU markets in services, digital industries, energy and other sectors. FT BBC Mail Times Sun Guardian Independent Spectator: Coffee House blog Irish Times EUobserver WeltFAZ El País La Tribune Economist Economist: Charlemagne Independent: Hamilton BBC Today: Persson Die Welt reports that FDP leader and Economy Minister Philipp Rösler described Greek opposition to an EU-appointed commissioner to oversee Greece’s economic reconstruction as “incomprehensible”, while Germany’s EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger has said that the EU needs to assist Greece to reconstruct its economy in the way West Germany did in the case of East Germany. Welt Le Monde Welt 2 Writing in FAZ, Hendrik Kafsack argues that the inability of the EU to exercise restraint when it comes to the salaries of its 45,000 officials “hurts not only the credibility of all savings claims, but the reputation of the EU as a whole”. El País: Reding WSJ: Fidler Irish Independent: Quinn Economist Economist 2 Economist 3 Times: ClarkFAZ: Kafsack Herman van Rompuy has been confirmed as EU Council President for a further two and a half years. EUobserver European Voice Le Monde In a debate in the House of Commons yesterday, George Eustice MP cited Open Europe’s report on reform of the EU’s farm policy, which proposed replacing the current system of farm subsidies with transferable environmental obligations for farmers. Open Europe Research Hansard The FT reports that insurance companies have warned the Treasury that the EU’s Solvency II arrangements will make it harder for them to hold infrastructure projects and other alternative assets on their balance sheets, hindering attempts to boost investment in UK infrastructure. FT Serbia has now been granted official EU candidate status after Romania dropped its last minute objections, having reached a compromise with Belgrade on protection for Serbia's Romanian minority. FT BBC European Voice EurActiv Le Monde EUobserver FTD EurActiv reports that the Czech Republic’s application for €1.9bn of free allowances under the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme has come under heavy criticism as officials claim the grant would do little to combat emissions. EurActiv