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Daily Press SummaryGerman growth exceeds expectations as Greece contracts further New legal challenge risks delaying German Constitutional Court verdict on ESM and fiscal treaty An Angus Reid poll on the UK’s EU membership has found that 46% of respondents would vote to leave, 29% would vote to stay, with the remainder undecided. According to Spanish Economy Ministry sources quoted by La Vanguardia, Spain could make a formal request for the early disbursement of €30bn from its bank rescue package as early as Thursday or Friday. The money will be used to help Bankia and other nationalised savings banks. Italian news agency AGI reports that the Lega Nord party has organised a rally for next weekend, at which the Italian lira will be used as the official currency. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has been officially invited to attend. La Repubblica reports that, according to new figures published by the Italian Central Bank, Italy’s public debt reached a record €1,972bn in June. Meanwhile, Italy sold €8bn of one-year bills yesterday, with slightly higher interest rates but also stronger demand than in the previous auction. Austrian billionaire Frank Stronach has said that he will set up a new political party to run in the 2013 Austrian elections. The party’s main goal will be fighting against the euro in favour of a return to national currencies, reports German magazine Focus. Open Europe Director Mats Persson is quoted by Polish daily Rzeczpospolita as saying that the risk of the UK leaving the EU would increase drastically if the EU were to push ahead with further integration, for example an EU-wide banking union which would hit the City disproportionately hard. Mats argues that for the UK to remain in the EU, renegotiated membership terms are essential. The Mail reports that senior Conservative MPs have told David Cameron that he should replace ‘moderate’ Europe Minister David Lidington with a more ‘eurosceptic’ politician. Those cited as possible replacements include senior whip and former shadow Europe minister Mark Francois, who led the party’s opposition to the Lisbon Treaty in the House of Commons, and the creation of the ECR group in the European Parliament. Following a fatal attack on an Iraqi immigrant, Antonis Roupakiotis, the Greek Minister for Justice, Transparency and Human Rights warned that “The rise in hate attacks against foreigners is starting to take a dangerous direction”, reports Kathimerini. The WSJ reports that, according to a TNS NIPO poll, anti-austerity parties could secure over a third of the seats in the Dutch parliament at next month’s elections, with the Socialist Party emerging as the front-runner. However, given the fragmented nature of Dutch politics, it is still possible that a variety of governing coalitions could be formed, including one led by the current Prime Minister Mark Rutte. EUobserver reports that Iceland’s Left Green party wants to reconsider its coalition deal with the Social Democratic Alliance on the country’s EU membership bid, in light of the worsening eurozone crisis. The Express reports that the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee has drafted plans obliging firms considering redundancies to monitor the “psycho-social health” of their staff. | |
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Tuesday, 14 August 2012
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