Monday, 10 December 2012

Open Europe
Follow us on:  Home   About Us   €uro-Zone   Research   Media Centre   Make a Donation  

New on the Open Europe Blog

Silvio is back, Mario is out: What lies ahead for Italy?
Open Europe Blog

The Four Presidents' Report?
Open Europe Blog

Berlusconi's senators fire warning shot across Monti's bow
Open Europe Blog


Daily Press Summary

Today Open Europe and the Royal United Services Institute are hosting a discussion entitled, “The EU – An Emerging British Consensus?”, with a keynote speech from Rt. Hon Dr Liam Fox MP. Check out our events page for further details. Places are limited. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Alex@openeurope.org.uk. Follow us on Twitter @OpenEurope for live coverage of the event.

Liam Fox MP: I, for one, hope to see “back to a common market” as the Conservative slogan on Europe at the next general election.The Sunday Telegraph reports on a speech former Defence Secretary the Rt. Hon Dr Liam Fox MP will give to an Open Europe and RUSI later today. The paper reports that Fox will say that there is close to “a new consensus, at least in the Conservative party” on forming a new EU relationship and that he hopes to see “back to a common market” as the Conservative slogan on Europe at the next general election. He concludes “If Conservatives are to have credibility on the European issue in the eyes of voters, then we must have a settled position that is clear, concise and consistent.” Iain Martin in theTelegraph writes that “While Dr Fox is using the term ‘Back to the Common Market’, other Tory MPs and ministers are saying privately that the Prime Minister should tell his fellow EU leaders that for Britain it’s “Common Market or Quit”.

Meanwhile Owen Paterson, Secretary of State for the DEFRA , has told Saturday’s Telegraph that “We’d do a lot better if we made a lot more laws locally in our own Parliament” 

Sunday Telegraph Telegraph 2 Saturday’s Telegraph: Paterson Telegraph: Martin Open Europe Events
Cameron to make his speech on the EU next week
The FT reports that David Cameron will this week begin work on a declaration on Britain’s future in Europe he is hoping to make next week. The Express reports that Mayor of London Boris Johnson has predicted that David Cameron’s speech will promise an in/out referendum. 
FT Daily Express Daily Mail Telegraph 

Monti to step down after new budget law is passed;
Early elections possible in February
 

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti announced over the weekend that he is going to step down as soon as the 2013-15 budget law is passed by the Italian parliament. 17 or 24 February are widely mentioned by the Italian press as possible dates for the general elections. Following Monti’s announcement, Italy’s borrowing costs have increased further this morning, with the interest rate on ten-year bonds now close to 5%. Meanwhile, in an interview with the WSJ, centre-left candidate for Italian Prime Minister Pier Luigi Bersani said that, in case of victory, “We will respect the very stringent commitments taken [with the EU]…and we will take them on as our own.”

Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta appeared on Al-Jazeera English’s Inside Story discussing Italy’s political situation and its implications for the future of the eurozone crisis. Open Europe’s new blog poston what lies ahead for Italy following Monti’s announced resignation features on the Telegraph andGuardian’s live blogs. 
Telegraph: Live blog Guardian: Live blog Open Europe blog Repubblica Il Sole 24 Ore Corriere della SeraCorriere della Sera 2 FT FT 2 CityAM Times FT: Munchau Times Editorial Süddeutsche Welt IndependentTelegraph FAZ FAZ 2 DWN Bild Zeit WSJ: Bersani WSJ Irish Independent IHT IHT 2 

Germany willing to compromise on parts of banking union; 
Howarth: UK must secure a fair deal for voting within the European Banking Authority 
Reuters reports that Germany could be willing to compromise on the issue of a single financial supervisor, allowing it to be located in Paris rather than in Frankfurt with the ECB, although it would still formally be part of the ECB. Germany is said to be keen on the idea since it could aid the separation between the supervision and monetary policy. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann told Die Welt, "I cannot see how with the current legal framework we can transfer supervisory duties to the ECB. A clean legal solution would require a change to the constitution."
Writing on Conservative Home Open Europe’s Christopher Howarth argues that “If the UK allows the eurozone to go ahead with Banking Union without getting a fair deal on voting weights in the [European Banking Authority] EBA, the UK will be faced with a permanent eurozone majority voting the same way within the EBA.”
FT CityAM Reuters Independent Euractiv Conservative Home: Howarth Telegraph: Evans-PritchardTelegraph: Bootle 

The EU's three presidents – Jose Manuel Barroso of the Commission, Herman Van Rompuy of the Council, Martin Schulz of the Parliament – will jointly receive the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony which will start at 12:00 GMT in the Oslo City Hall.Le Monde France 24 Le Nouvel ObservateurLe PointLe Currier International Die Presse VG IHT: David Miliband & Nicolai Wammen Telegraph Telegraph: Editorial 

Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten cites Open Europe’s analysis which shows that Spain’s funding needs stand at €542bn between now and mid-2015.Open Europe press release Open Europe research DWN 

Greece extends bond buyback deadline as participation of Greek banks falls short of expectationsGreece announced this morning that it has extended the deadline for its bond buyback programme to 12pm Tuesday 11 December. Kathimerini reports that hedge funds submitted up to €16bn worth of bonds, while Greek banks put up around €11bn although this is expected to increase to around €16bn with the extension. Under the extension, bonds already submitted cannot be withdrawn.

Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was in Bavaria over the weekend in an attempt to improve relations with the CSU, part of the governing CDU party which has been critical of Greece’s approach to the crisis. Head of CSU, Horst Seehofer, promised a “more open, sensitive and sensible tone” to the debate on Greece’s membership of the euro in future. Head of the ESM, Klaus Regling has said that the rates on loans to Greece through the eurozone bailout funds cannot be reduced further, according to Die Welt.

Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 WSJ FAZ Süddeutsche DWN Welt Süddeutsche Welt 

DPA reports that deputy EU Commission President Viviane Reding has said "I consider it to be likely that the eurozone states by 2020, then including the Baltic states and Poland - together will found the United States of Europe, while Great Britain in a looser association continues to take part to economic integration". 
RP FAZ

The Dutch government has denied that Dutch PM Mark Rutte is in the running to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as Chairman of the Eurogroup, reports BNR.BNR 

Germany’s opposition Social Democrats have nominated Peer Steinbrück with 93% to take on Angela Merkel for the Chancellorship in next September’s election, while Steinbrück said he is "not available for a grand coalition" and signalled instead his preference for a coalition with the Greens. In his speech, Steinbrück criticized Merkel’s stance on Europe, “my main accusation is that Ms Merkel has [led] Germany into isolation in Europe”, reports the FT.
FAZ Süddeutsche FT Euractiv

Cecilia Malmström, EU Justice Commissioner has said Britain might be forced to rejoin some parts of the EU justice package it disagrees with in order to retain the rules it considered valuable reports the FT. 
FT

© Open Europe 2005 - 2012