Britannia Radio

Follow us on:	Home   About Us   €uro-Zone   Research   Media Centre   Make a Donation
New on the Open Europe Blog The long queue of potential EU budget vetoes: Who will join next?  Open Europe Blog The 'Mario Monti paradox' couldn't last forever Open Europe Blog Dieu save the baguette! The French government far from happy with the Economist's front cover Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary New Open Europe analysis: EU cannot ‘circumvent’ UK’s budget vetoAhead of this week’s summit in Brussels, Open Europe has published a new flash analysis looking at continuing EU budget negotiations and the different options proposed so far. The analysis notes that contrary to media reports the EU could not ‘circumvent’ the UK’s veto. Instead, if there is no deal, the EU would need to roll over the 2013 spending ceilings adjusted to inflation with up to 55 individual spending items decided by Qualified Majority Voting. This would be extremely messy and, therefore, the UK’s veto remains powerful. The net contributor that stands to lose the most in absolute terms under the various budget proposals on the table is Germany with €18bn difference in contributions between a real-terms freeze and the Commission’s proposal. For different reasons, at least seven countries have threatened to veto the on-going talks and an agreement at this week’s summit therefore looks unlikely. Open Europe’s note is cited by City AM and Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki is cited in Polish daily Rzeczpospolita detailing other member states’ objections to the various budget proposals, and noting that the UK Government will not accept a cut to its rebate proposed by Herman van Rompuy. Meanwhile, Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Portas said yesterday that Van Rompuy’s compromise proposal for the 2014-2020 EU budget is “unacceptable for Portugal”. Separately, Austrian daily Die Presse reports that, according to a new poll, only 13% of Austrians would be willing to accept a higher contribution to the EU budget over the 2014-2020 period. Open Europe analysis City AM Rzeczpospolita FT WSJ FT: Editorial Mail Sun Mirror Público Le Figaro: Le Foll Die Presse New Open Europe Berlin report: Restructuring of EU regional policy could save Germany up to €3.5bn over seven years Ahead of Thursday’s EU budget summit, Open Europe Berlin has published a new report showing that limiting the funds to EU member states with income levels at 90% or below the EU average would save Germany up to €3.5bn net and around €30bn gross over seven years. This money could then be used in a better targeted and tailored domestic regional scheme. At the same time, Germany would remain committed to funding Europe’s poorest regions, allowing the funds to go where they can have the most comparative impact. The report also finds that some relatively poor German regions lose out under the current scheme. Berlin, for example, pays in €1.71 for every €1 it gets back from the structural funds.  Open Europe Berlin report Open Europe Berlin press release David Lidington: We want to see more money from EU budget going to poorer member statesIn a letter to the Guardian responding to Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Europe Minister David Lidington writes, “We are not isolated in our position…We are one of the strongest supporters of structural and cohesion funds for Poland. We want to see payments to richer member states reduced so that the share going to the poorer members of the union will rise.” Guardian: Letters Open Europe research: EU Regional policy Gideon Rachman: “Idea that British demands can never be met is simply wrong” Writing in the FT, Gideon Rachman argues, “Britain might well suffer if it leaves the union. But so would the EU itself. The idea that British demands are so unreasonable that they can never be met is simply wrong…Beyond the [EU] budget, the basic British objection is that the EU is involved in all sorts of things that are better left to nation-states…A repatriation of some powers from Europe…would give the British government the arguments it needs to win a referendum to stay in Europe.” Guardian Independent FT CityAM FT: Rachman Telegraph: Brogan Telegraph: Warner Independent: Richards Eurozone looking for political agreement to release Greek funds; 63% of Greeks want to stay in the eurozoneEurozone finance ministers meet in Brussels today with the aim of reaching a political decision on dispersing the next two tranches of Greek bailout funds, worth €44bn, after Greece said it had met all the requirements for the release of the aid. However, Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen said yesterday that this may not be possible. Even if this is agreed the disbursement will still need approval from some national parliaments including Germany, the Netherlands and Finland. It is also hoped that a tentative agreement can be reached on how to fund a two-year extension of the Greek bailout despite the eurozone and IMF being at odds over how best to do this. Reuters reported yesterday that Germany had floated the idea of a buyback, where Greece purchases half of its outstanding debt held by the private sector at a discount and then retires it. However, options such as interest rate cuts and extension of loan length still look more likely. Meanwhile, local government workers in Greece staged takeovers of over half of the country’s 270 town halls to protest austerity. Separately, the BBC reports on a Mega TV Poll which shows that 63% of Greeks want to stay in the euro. FT CityAM Kathimerini Times Le Figaro Kathimerini 2 Reuters WSJ IHT FT 2 Kathimerini 3 FT 3 Kathimerini 4 EUobserver Süddeutsche Handelsblatt Handelsblatt 2 BBC New banking union proposals include significant concessions to non-euro statesThe FT reports on the latest draft banking union plans which includes plans to end the ‘one member, one vote’ on the ECB board – giving states with larger banking sectors a greater say. It also sees proposals put forward to give the UK and other non-banking union countries more clout at the European Banking Authority (EBA) and a route for non-eurozone countries within the banking union to ignore ECB decisions if the ECB Governing Council overrules the supervisory board. Furthermore, it also removes the ECB’s responsibility to coordinate the positions of eurozone supervisors at the EBA, allowing them to vote how they wish. Open Europe research FT Welt FT 2 WSJ: Mayer Times: Djankov Moody’s yesterday became the second ratings agency to strip France of its Triple-A credit rating. The agency downgraded France by one notch and maintained its negative outlook.Times La Tribune La Tribune 2 Reuters Guardian EUobserver FT FT Alphaville CityAM WSJ SüddeutscheFAZ The UK and a dozen other EU countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden, have issued a joint letter which says that cutting the EU “regulatory burden” must be a key part of the EU growth and competitiveness strategy.Open Europe research Telegraph The EU/IMF/ECB Troika yesterday gave the green light to the disbursement of the next tranche of the Portuguese bailout, but revised its growth forecasts for 2014 downwards from 1.2% to only 0.8% of GDP, Jornal de Negócios reports.Jornal de Negócios Jornal de Negócios 2 El País The Spanish government is considering a plan to grant residence permits to foreigners who buy a property worth at least €160,000, reports Expansión. Meanwhile, Spain will this week try to sell up to €8bn of debt – despite having already covered all its financing needs for 2012, notes El Economista.El País Expansión Telegraph Expansión 2 El Economista Guardian: Mas La Vanguardia The former speaker of the French National Assembly, Jean-François Copé, has been elected as the new leader of Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party. He beat former Prime Minister François Fillon by only 98 votes, in an election marred by allegations of vote-rigging.Le Monde Le Figaro The Belgian government has agreed on a new set of measures to meet EU deficit targets for 2013, De Standaard reports. Standaard European Voice reports that the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee will vote on the latest compromise proposal for a single European patent today. MEPs have so far held up the agreement due to divergences with member states over the ECJ’s role in the new system.European Voice Europolitics Open Europe blog

---