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New on the Open Europe Blog Dutch PM reiterates his desire for flexible Europe  Open Europe Blog Ken Clarke's loose talk illustrates Government's predicament on EU crime and policing  Open Europe Blog Spain: An untimely scandal in the making for PM Rajoy? Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Dutch PM: Countries should be allowed to opt out of euro, Schengen and the EUIn a joint letter to the Dutch Parliament, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem have reiterated that the Government’s coalition agreement calls for countries to be given the formal right to opt out of individual EU policy areas such as Schengen or the eurozone, or from the EU altogether. The letter notes that such options would require changing the existing EU Treaties. Rutte and Dijsselbloem Letter AP Spiegel Deutschlandradio DWN Welt Dagelijkse Standaard Washington Post Open Europe blog Spain’s ruling party will take El País to court over slush fund allegationsSpain’s ruling Partido Popular (PP) has said it will take legal action against El País following the publication of documents alleging that Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and other senior members of his party were handed illegal cash bonuses by the party’s former treasurer, Luis Bárcenas. The paper today reports that 70% of the donations to PP contained in the documents are in breach of Spain’s rules on the financing of political parties. Hundreds of Spaniards protested outside the party’s headquarters in Madrid yesterday, calling for Rajoy and his cabinet to resign. Open Europe blog El País El País 2 El Mundo Le Figaro La Tribune Central bank experts warn City would be at greater threat from regulatory arbitrage outside EUThe Telegraph reports that Athanasios Orphanides, a former member of the European Central Bank’s governing council, has warned that, “The UK would lose the protection it currently enjoys as the eurozone’s major financial centre,” if it were to leave the EU. Dino Kos, a former head of markets at the New York Fed, said “Governments have the power to control where clearing happens, and therefore where trading happens. Central banks can say businesses must have an onshore presence.” The UK is already fighting the ECB’s attempts to limit euro transactions by clearing houses if they take place outside the eurozone. Open Europe Director Mats Persson is quoted as saying the ECB’s action “is a very real threat.” Open Europe research: financial services Telegraph Mail Independent: Dejevsky Express Guardian Following Ken Clarke’s comments yesterday that the Government is planning to invoke its block opt-out from over 130 EU crime and policing laws, but seek to opt back into 30 “essential” measures, the Guardian suggests that Coalition talks are close to breakdown over the issue.Open Europe blog EUobserver Guardian 2 Open Europe research: crime and justice Open Europe research: crime and justice 2 Austria and Italy raise concerns over EU budget but Merkel “optimistic” deal can be struck next weekAhead of next week’s resumption of talks between EU leaders over the EU’s long term budget, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said that it would not be “the right idea” for Austria to be the only country to give up its rebate. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “very optimistic” that a deal could be struck next week. The Guardian’s live blog cites Open Europe’s blog post on Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti’s threat to veto the 2014-2020 EU budget and Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta’s Twitter coverage of Monti’s joint press conference with Angela Merkel yesterday. Meanwhile, following the announcement that the EU was freezing up to £3bn in development aid for Polish road and highways construction programme following three incidences of price-fixing, Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki is quoted in the Telegraph as saying that “With public opinion in the UK and other net contributing states strongly in favour of cutting EU spending, this announcement could not have come at a worse time”. Bundeskanzleramt Österreich Spiegel Stern Open Europe blog Guardian: Live blog Telegraph A new SWG poll on the Italian elections puts the centre-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani on 32.8% (but -1.3% from last week’s poll), the centre-right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi on 27.8% (+1.2%), and Mario Monti’s centrist bloc third on 14.2% (+1.4%).FT Repubblica SWG poll Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that Germany's Federal Social Court has ruled that a Bulgarian immigrant without work permit is entitled to social benefits. The ruling may now set a precedent for immigrants from other EU states claiming welfare benefits in Germany.Süddeutsche Ruling of Federal Social Court In an opinion piece on Conservative Home, Open Europe’s Christopher Howarth argues that “The Conservative policy of renegotiating a better EU deal, which could allow the UK to stay in the EU on terms the people are happy with, also has its plus-points for those wishing to preserve the UK… If the UK negotiates for itself a better EU deal an independent Scotland would not get the benefit of it.”Conservative Home: Howarth A new Infratest Dimap poll for ARD/Die Welt has found that in a direct head-to-head contest, 33% of SPD voters would vote for German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), with only 59% opting for the party’s own Chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück.Welt Cypriot Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said yesterday that junior bondholders in Cypriot banks could face write-downs under a bailout programme, prompting protests outside the Bank of Cyprus. Cyprus is also considering a haircut on the €25bn in Russian deposits held by Cypriot banks.FT Eurozone house prices fell by 2.5% in the third quarter of 2012, although house prices in Spain fell by 15.2% compared to the same period in 2011.WSJ CityAM The IMF Executive Board last night failed to agree new voting weights to reduce the influence of European countries in the fund. Further negotiations will now take place in January 2014.FT The Latvian parliament yesterday voted to approve legislation setting out the path for Latvia to join the euro at the start of 2014.EUobserver Les Echos Expansión reports that the Catalan government has written to EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn asking him to urge the Spanish government to share the burden of deficit reduction with regions “in a fairer and more proportionate way” if Spain is given more time to meet its targets.Expansión The Economist’s Charlemagne argues that the EU-US free trade talks have “a new, unspoken objective: to cement the EU itself. Now that Britain is talking of holding a referendum on its membership by 2017, a successful agreement with America could demonstrate that the British do better bargaining collectively through the EU than alone”.Economist: Charlemagne