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New on the Open Europe Blog Three things Cameron should say on Europe and three things he should not Open Europe Blog Another cold front on the way from Europe? Open Europe Blog The next EU summit: Everyone is a winner...for now Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Open Europe will be holding three fringe events at the 2012 Conservative Party Conference. Speakers will include: David Lidington MP (Europe Minister), Andrea Leadsom MP, Chris Heaton-Harris MP and George Eustice MP. A conference pass is required to attend. For further details, check our events page. Open Europe Events Cameron: “I’ll say no” to vast increases in EU budget; EU and eurozone may need separate budgets in the futureDavid Cameron said yesterday that he would prepare to block the on-going talks over the 2014-2020 EU budget if there were demands for a “massive increase”. He added that the EU budget was a “classic example of where we should probably start to draw new lines” suggesting “two European budgets – one for the single currency…and perhaps a wider budget for everybody else.” FT Deutschland reports that the German government could be open to such an arrangement, although it has not yet said so publicly. Meanwhile, in an interview with Saturday’s Telegraph, William Hague indicated that an “in-out referendum” is likely to be rejected by the Government in favour of an election manifesto pledge to return powers to Britain. “There’s likely to come the time that a fresh settlement will require fresh consent either in a general election or a referendum,” the Foreign Secretary said – comments repeated by Cameron on Sunday. Writing on Conservative Home, Open Europe’s Chris Howarth argued that Cameron should use the party conference to “set out an overall vision of the UK in the EU post-eurozone crisis” which would include “re-emphasising that the UK will use its right to opt out of 130 crime and policing measures” and setting out the case for “a new EU budget that recognises the need for fiscal responsibility.” Open Europe’s Mats Persson appeared on LBC this morning discussing Cameron’s comments. Open Europe research Conservative Home: Howarth Sunday Telegraph Telegraph BBC Sunday Telegraph: Booker Saturday's Telegraph Times Express Express 2 Mail FT Weekend FT Weekend Saturday's ExpressSaturday's Express Sun: Kavanagh Guardian Le Figaro FT Deutschland Theresa May: EU free movement rules should be reviewedIn an interview with the Sunday Times, Home Secretary Theresa May said “We are looking at this whole area of the abuse of the [EU’s] freedom of movement. But we will go further on this,” and the issue of free movement will be part of the Government’s strategic review of the UK’s relationship with the EU, she said. May declined to identify countries, but they are understood to include Romania and Bulgaria. “It basically means that the government is looking at the case for restrictions on the free movement of people across the EU,” said one source. “We could have incredibly open arrangements for some countries and visas for others.” The Guardian cited Open Europe’s recent report on EU free movement, which noted that the evidence suggests that the vast majority of migrants from EU countries have come to the UK in search of work but argued that member states need more discretion in enacting safeguards against undue strains on their public finances and welfare systems. Open Europe research Sunday Times FT Sun Anti-austerity marches in 57 Spanish cities; New poll shows shrinking support for Rajoy’s partyThousands of people took to the streets in 57 Spanish cities yesterday, in protest against the latest austerity measures adopted by the Spanish government. Meanwhile, according to a new Metroscopia poll for El País, only 29.9% of respondents would vote for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Partido Popular if elections were to take place now. The party won 44.6% of votes in the general elections last November. The Socialist party is currently polling at 23.9%, down from 28.7% in the elections. Separately, the Canary Islands regional government has said that it will seek a €757m bailout from the Spanish government. Andalusia will tomorrow make the formal request for its €4.9bn bailout. El País El Mundo Expansión RTVE David Cameron must block the £30bn BAE-EADS merger unless France and Germany give up their stake in the deal, Conservative MPs have warned.Express Mail FT Weekend Saturday's Telegraph Saturday's Telegraph: Reece The board of the eurozone’s new permanent bailout fund – the European Stability Mechanism – will hold its first meeting in connection with today’s eurogroup meeting.Le Figaro Le Figaro 2 Sole 24 Ore A new OpinionWay poll has found that for the first time, the proportion of French people who are dissatisfied with the performance of President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has exceeded the number who are satisfied; 49% compared with 42% for Hollande and 45% compared with 40% for Ayrault.Le Monde Liberation Ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s upcoming visit to Greece, SPD budgetary spokesman Carsten Schneider is quoted in Die Welt as saying that “If Merkel does not want to burn taxpayers’ money, she has to keep Greece in the Eurozone”. At the same time, CDU politicians have demand that she deliver a “clear warning” to Athens. FAZ reports that 7,000 policemen have been drafted from around Greece to provide additional security given the planned demonstrations.Times Welt FAZ FT Weekend In an interview with Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, Markus Kerber, managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), argues that nations with more market orientated economies such as Germany, the Netherlands and the UK will be better-off than those that over-regulate, adding that “this is possibly the struggle that will have to be fought within the Eurozone and the EU over the next ten years”.DWN: Kerber Writing in the Times, Timo Soini, leader of the Finns Party, argues that “politically well-connected banks that cut their exposures and keep the profits from erroneous risk-taking” are the only ones that benefit from the eurozone bailouts.Times: Soini Speaking to Saturday’s Guardian, EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik warned that the Commission would take a hard line over London’s inability to meet EU air quality standards – with the capital having received a series of exemptions since 2005 – a move which could potentially leave the UK Government liable for a fine running into hundreds of millions.Saturday's Guardian