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New on the Open Europe Blog Some more (draft) bad news for the Spanish government Open Europe Blog A big week for Greece - but still few answers  Open Europe Blog Open Europe Berlin: One to watch! Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary EU spending not signed off for 18th year in a row The EU’s Court of Auditors has today published its annual report on the discharge of the EU budget, concluding that the overall error rate within the 2011 budget was 3.9%, up from 3.7% in 2010. Overall, controls on 86% of EU spending were deemed to be only partially effective. The Telegraph cites Vitor Caldeira, the ECA's chairman, as saying that the auditors had "found too many cases of EU money not hitting the target or being used sub-optimally”. Court of Auditors report Telegraph EUobserver Euractiv BBC: Hewitt Rzeczpospolita Open Europe research: Reforming the EU budget Eurozone leaders and ECB at loggerheads over who should finance Greek extension; Strikes bring Athens to a halt ahead of vote on latest round of reforms Reuters reports that, according to unnamed EU officials, there is unlikely to be an agreement on extending the Greek bailout at the meeting of eurozone finance ministers on 12 November. However, AFPreports that EU Economics Commissioner Olli Rehn dismissed such concerns, saying an agreement was “on track”. Rehn called for the EU/IMF/ECB to find a “common view” on how to reduce Greek debt, adding that plans such as a debt buyback had not been ruled out. The WSJ reports that the ECB and eurozone leaders are at loggerheads over who should finance an extension to the Greek bailout. Meanwhile, Greek MPs will today begin to debate the package of structural reforms ahead of tomorrow’s vote on the proposals. The Democratic Left has softened its stance, stating that its MPs will abstain from tomorrow’s vote but will support the government in Sunday’s vote on the new budget – meaning both votes are expected to pass. The two main Greek unions have launched a widespread two day strike and a series of protests against the latest round of austerity which is likely to bring Athens to a halt. WSJ Capital.gr Reuters AFP Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 CityAM WSJ Kathimerini 3 Kathimerini 4 Guardian Le Monde BBC Le Monde Sueddeutsche FTD Handelsblatt Les Echos Le Figaro L'Express On Conservative Home, Andrea Leadsom MP urges the Government to press for three things in EU negotiations on banking union: legal safeguards for the single market; an emergency brake for the UK in financial services; and, a commitment to new free-trade agreements in services with fast growing developing markets. Conservative Home: Leadsom European Commission to confirm Spanish government’s growth forecasts were overoptimistic; Bailout fund for Spanish regions to be extended until end of 2013 El País has seen a draft of the European Commission’s autumn economic forecasts, due to be unveiled on Friday. According to the Commission, Spanish GDP will shrink by 1.5% next year – three times the 0.5% the Spanish government based its 2013 budget on. The document also shows that Spain is set to miss all the deficit targets agreed with the Commission until 2014. Meanwhile, Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told reporters yesterday, “We have almost closed our financing needs for this year. We have a relatively comfortable liquidity situation” – suggesting that Spain will not make a request for ESM/ECB bond-buying in what remains of 2012. Guindos also has an op-ed in the WSJ, taking stock of the measures adopted by the Spanish government since it took office last year. Separately, Spanish Treasury Minister Cristóbal Montoro said yesterday that the Spanish government’s bailout fund for regions will remain in place until the end of next year. El País El País 2 El Mundo El Mundo 2 Expansión Expansión 2 El Economista Welt AFP La Vanguardia WSJ: De Guindos In his report submitted to the French government yesterday, Louis Gallois – the former CEO of EADS – set out 22 proposals to improve the competitiveness of the French economy, including some €30bn cuts in payroll taxes. Meanwhile, the IMF has warned that France’s loss of competitiveness “risks becoming even more severe if the French economy does not adapt along with its major trading partners in Europe, notably Italy and Spain.” FT Telegraph Irish Times EUobserver IMF: Annual Country Review Times Independent Les Echos Le Figaro Le Figaro 2 La Tribune Le Monde Le Monde 2 Le Monde Le Monde: Gallois Report Liberation WSJ The Netherlands has sworn in a new VVD-PvdA coalition government led by Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, a Social Democrat, is the new Dutch Finance Minister. NRC NRC 2 EUobserver BBC Spain has blocked the prompt appointment of Luxembourg’s Yves Mersch to the Executive Doard of the ECB – meaning the decision will be delayed until the summit of EU leaders taking place on the 22 and 23 November. IHT EUobserver Euractiv European Voice El Pais Les Echos El País Coulisses de Bruxelles La Tribune UK Chancellor George Osborne and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble yesterday agreed a joint position on cracking down on international tax avoidance by large multinational companies. Guardian FAZ The New York Times reports that Mugur Isarescu, the Governor of the Central Bank of Romania, has said that maintaining its own currency has been an advantage for the country, allowing it greater flexibility over interest rates, more space to depreciate its currency and a tighter control on liquidity. New York Times