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New on the Open Europe Blog Another tricky morning for the eurozone Open Europe Blog Will German anti-Berlusconi rethoric actually boost Silvio's chances? Open Europe Blog ECB publishes details of its debt purchases  Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary First day of Italian elections sees sharp decline in turnout; Beppe Grillo’s final election rally draws a crowd of around 800,000The first day of the Italian general elections yesterday saw low turnout with only 55% voting – a 7.4% decline compared with the previous general elections in 2008. Turnout was generally much higher in the north than in the south of the country. Polling stations will close this afternoon at 3pm (CET), and the first exit polls will be released immediately after that. At his last campaign rally in Rome on Friday, which reportedly drew a crowd of around 800,000, comedian Beppe Grillo said, “I never said that I want to leave the euro. I’ve asked for a referendum, and it will be for the Italian people to decide whether to leave or not.” In a letter to Saturday’s Guardian, Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta argued, “Grillo’s Five-Star Movement looks set to win a significant number of seats in both chambers of the Italian parliament…making it a strong anti-austerity and anti-euro opposition force, and a constant populist thorn in the side of the next Italian government.” Vincenzo was also quoted by Saturday’s Independent. Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson wrote about the significance of Beppe Grillo’s poll rise on his Telegraph blog.     Open Europe’s briefing outlining a number of post-election scenarios was reproduced by ZeroHedge and cited by the Associated Press. Prof. Michael Wohlgemuth, the Director of Open Europe Berlin, Open Europe’s German-based partner organisation, was interviewed by Spanish daily La Razón. Open Europe briefing Saturday’s Guardian Letters: Scarpetta Saturday’s Independent Telegraph blogs: Persson ZeroHedge Associated Press La Razón: Wohlgemuth FT FT 2 WSJ FT 3 FT 4 Telegraph BBC Irish Times EurActiv FAZ Süddeutsche DWN Spiegel Bild  Il Sole 24 Ore 2 Il Sole 24 Ore: D’Alimonte Il Sole 24 Ore ADNKronos Saturday’s Telegraph FT Weekend EUobserver Saturday’s Independent: Fornero FT Weekend: Leader Independent Le Figaro Le Figaro: Pagnoncelli Cypriot bailout moves closer as centre-right candidate wins runoff election; DPA poll: 63% of Germans are against a Cypriot bailoutNicos Anastasiades, the centre-right candidate, was yesterday elected President of Cyprus winning 57.5% of the vote in the runoff election – the highest vote share in 30 years. Following his election, Anastasiades warned that Cyprus is “a systemic risk for the eurozone” but promised to “restore the credibility of Cyprus in Europe and internationally”. The new government is looking to finalise a deal on a eurozone bailout as soon as possible, with talks set to take place at the mid-March EU summit and meeting of eurozone finance ministers, and a deal expected by the end of March. Ahead of the election Anastasiades did warn that he may seek to delay sweeping privatisations for “perhaps three years”, according to the FT. A YouGov poll for DPA shows that 63% of Germans are opposed to a Cypriot bailout whereas only 16% are in favour. 60% of the respondents said that this is an important issue for the upcoming general elections in September and 72% think that the general approach of the different parties to the eurozone crisis will influence their voting decision. Kathimerini FT CityAM WSJ EurActiv FAZ Süddeutsche FAZ EUobserver Telegraph Irish Times EuractivExpansión Tagesspiegel German Interior Minister: Abuse of free movement could be “explosive” for European solidarityIn an interview with Saturday’s Rheinische Post, German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said that he was worried that, after the expiry of transitional controls on the free movement of Bulgarian and Romanian workers next year, “Organisations that specialise in helping citizens from poorer countries to illegally access German social services will spring up like mushrooms.” Friedrich added that abuse of free movement “could be explosive for European solidarity. If people in Germany feel that their solidarity and openness is being abused and our welfare system is looted then there will be legitimate anger. The message for the EU Commission is clear: Brussels has to take stronger account of situation of the local population in its decision making process.” Friedrich added that more must also be done to ensure that EU spending via the European Social Fund in poorer member states is effective to prevent large-scale migration in the first place. Writing in today’s Times, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta argues that “I was rather perplexed by the recent uproar in the British media regarding the imminent Romanian “invasion” of the UK. Because there will be no such thing — and because Romania really is not something to fear.” Saturday's Rheinische Post Handelsblatt Times: Ponta Open Europe research: Free Movement On Friday evening Moody’s downgraded the UK’s credit rating by one notch from Aaa to Aa1. Open Europe’s Mats Persson appeared on BBC Newsnight discussing the issue and eurozone growth forecasts.FT Weekend FT Weekend 2 Saturday’s Guardian Saturday’s Times Saturday’s Independent Saturday’s Sun Saturday’s Mail Reuters Guardian FT Weekend: Posen Guardian Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe is quoted by Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten warning that Spain’s political and economic challenges are far from over, with the country needing to find €548bn over the next three years to finance its central government and regions.DWN The Federation of German Banks (BdB) has warned against overly strict EU rules on bankers’ bonuses with the general manager Michael Kemmer saying that "the proposal of the European Parliament goes too far."Handelsblatt FAZ France will need new measures to increase tax revenue by €6bn in 2014French Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac announced on Europe 1 this morning that France will need to raise a further €6bn in tax revenue next year to keep its tax take stable from 2013, which features a number of one-off measures. Les Echos notes that on Friday EU Economic Commissioner Olli Rehn hinted that he may be willing to delay France’s deficit target for this year. La Tribune Les Echos FT Weekend FT Weekend 2 De Volkskrant reported over the weekend that the European Commission looks likely to give the Netherlands more time to meet its 3% budget deficit target due to the number of structural reforms which the government has undertaken.Volkskrant In a speech on Friday, German President Joachim Gauck addressed the issue of the UK’s EU membership, arguing that “We would like you to stay with us. We need your experience as the oldest parliamentary democracy, we need your traditions, your pragmatism and your courage”. Gauck also suggested that English should be the EU’s main language.Saturday’s Independent Saturday’s Guardian Saturday's Mail During a weekend visit to Turkey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has backed the renewed talks over Turkey’s membership with the EU, saying that “a long negotiating stretch lies ahead of us. In spite of the fact that I am sceptical, I have voted for continuation of the accession negotiations. I am in favour of opening another chapter in these negotiations, so that we can make more progress.”Open Europe events: Turkey, the UK & the EU Reuters FAZ FAZ 2 FAZ: Hermann Süddeutsche FTDeutsche Welle Welt Bild IHT EUobserver The BBC reports that all NHS doctors, including those from the EU, will have to prove they can speak a "necessary level of English" before they are allowed to practise.BBC Guardian Telegraph Kathimerini reports that Greece will enter discussions with the EU/IMF/ECB Troika today, over the possibility of encouraging Greeks with deposits abroad to return them to Greece. The Greek government is keen to avoid the move being labelled as a ‘tax amnesty’ however. The troika rejected a similar proposal in November.Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 Bild reports that the German Bundesbank is set to make less than €1bn profits in 2013, whereas the German budget envisaged €1.5bn in revenues from the Bundesbank.Welt Focus In a speech today BIS Minister Michael Fallon will announce plans to audit all EU directives issued over the past 15 years to look for ‘gold plating’. He will say the UK will in future aim to do no more than the “minimum necessary” when implementing EU laws, according to the Mail on Sunday.Mail on Sunday Over the weekend it was reported that UKIP MEP Marta Andreasen has defected to the Conservative Party.Saturday’s Times  Saturday’s Express Saturday’s Telegraph Saturday’s Mail EU agriculture ministers will meet today to discuss the horsemeat scandal including the labelling and traceability of meat.BBC