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Daily Press Summary New Open Europe briefing: Agreement to cut EU budget faces significant obstacles this week; Hollande takes aim at UK as Cameron joins Merkel in demanding further cutsAhead of this week’s summit on the EU’s next long-term budget, Open Europe estimates that there is a 35% chance of a deal. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will present a new compromise proposal, which will likely see commitment appropriations (as opposed to payments) totalling between €940bn and €960bn - a further reduction from the previous proposal. For the first time, the EU would be on track to deliver a cut compared with the previous budget period. Italy and France hold the key to the talks – if both continue to insist on capping the UK’s EU rebate or, more critically, increasing their net receipts for their own political gain, the talks could well break down. Meanwhile, German Europe Minister Michael Link told Euractiv Deutschland, “The total volume of the financial framework still has to be reduced…If we invest the existing funds in a smarter and targeted way, we can reduce the EU budget to 1% of EU’s GDP and transform it into a genuine growth programme for Europe.” David Cameron’s spokesman said, “We are working with a number of our allies, who all believe that spending needs to come down further. If it doesn’t budge, then a deal isn't going to be do-able.” Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has again threatened to veto the 2014-2020 EU budget unless Denmark secures a one billion kroner discount on its contribution. French President François Hollande told the European Parliament yesterday, “The amount of rebate cheques must end.” He added that “a compromise is possible” but that “it will be necessary to reason with those who want to amputate the EU budget beyond what can be accepted.” Hollande made clear that his key objective was to defend the Common Agricultural Policy, and took direct aim at Britain, asking, “Why should one country be able to decide for 26 others?” Open Europe research Open Europe press release EurActiv Deutschland: Link Berlingske TidendeCopenhagen Post IHT Guardian EUobserver Irish Times Euractiv Euractiv 2 EUobserver 2 El País FT: Leader Hollande: Eurozone should have foreign exchange rate policy; German Economy Minister: Objective is more competitiveness, not weaker currencyFrench President François Hollande told MEPs yesterday, “A monetary area should have an exchange rate policy. Otherwise, it has an exchange rate imposed on it that does not correspond to the real state of its economy…This is not about externally setting a target for the ECB, which is independent, but about engaging the essential reform of the international monetary system.” German Economy Minister Philipp Rösler commented, “The objective must be to improve competitiveness and not to weaken the currency.” Reuters reports that Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico voiced support for Hollande’s proposal. FT City AM Reuters Independent Le Figaro WSJ WSJ: Editorial Le Monde FAZ Top MP from Dutch PM Rutte’s party: Cameron’s EU speech was “longer version” of Dutch coalition agreementThe Dutch Parliament debated David Cameron’s EU speech yesterday. Halbe Zijlstra, the faction leader of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party described the speech as “a longer version of the European chapter of the Dutch coalition agreement.” Separately, De Volkskrant reports that the Dutch opposition Christian-Democratic party (CDA) has demanded that the EU no longer regulate in areas which are better dealt with at the national level – citing, among others, maternity leave, environmental policy and press freedom. De Volkskrant De Volkskrant 2 Dutchnews.nl Volkskrant 3 Telegraaf El País has handed over to Spanish prosecutors the secret accounting books allegedly held by the former treasurer of Spain’s ruling Partido Popular (PP), Luis Bárcenas – who will also be heard by anti-corruption prosecutors today.El País Expansión El Mundo El Mundo 2 Centre-left candidate for Italian PM “more than ready” to cooperate with Monti; New poll: Only 4% of undecided voters enticed by Berlusconi’s tax refund pledgeCentre left candidate for Italian Prime Minister, Pier Luigi Bersani, said yesterday that he is “more than ready” to cooperate with Mario Monti after the elections. Meanwhile, a new ISPO poll published by Il Corriere della Sera shows that only 4% of undecided Italian voters would “consider” voting for Silvio Berlusconi following his pledge to scrap and refund a levy on first homes. A separate IPSOS poll puts Bersani’s centre-left coalition ahead on 36.7%, Berlusconi’s centre-right coalition second on 28%, and Monti’s centrist bloc third on 15%. Il Sole 24 Ore Il Sole 24 Ore 2 Corriere della Sera Repubblica La Stampa IPSOS poll The German Government has said that its energy and climate fund will suffer a “deficit in the range of €1.2bn to €1.4bn” in 2013, if the low carbon prices under the EU emission trading system (ETS) continue, reports Süddeutsche Zeitung. Süddeutsche FAZ reports that rating agency Fitch revised its outlook on the Netherlands’ Triple-A credit rating to negative from stable yesterday, citing concerns about falling house prices, the banking system and the high public debt burden. FAZ Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha region has said that it cut its deficit from 7.31% to 1.48% of GDP over the last year, and met the 2012 deficit target of 1.5% of GDP. Cinco Días notes that, in total, Spanish regions have over €15bn of debt maturing this year – that is, 65% of the money available in the Spanish government’s bailout fund for regions for 2013.Expansión Expansión 2 El Economista Cinco Días MEPs will today vote on whether to approve a series of reforms to the EU’s controversial Common Fisheries Policy, including a timetable to stop the current practice of discards, long-term plans to protect stocks from overfishing and potentially allowing fisheries management to shift to a regional level.BBC European Voice The US, Germany and the Netherlands are to deploy missile-defence systems to defend Turkey from potential Syrian attack, the WSJ reports.WSJ Bulgarian officials have confirmed that Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant and political organisation, is responsible for last year’s attack on a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian coastal city of Burgas. The announcement has triggered calls for the EU to follow the example of Britain, the Netherlands, the US and Canada and classify all or parts of Hezbollah as a terrorist group.EUobserver Times Times: Leader EUobserver reports that EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has proposed tougher sanctions for money laundering which could see individual staff fined up to €5m and institutions such as banks fined up to 10% of turnover if they are found to be in breach of EU rules.EUobserver EurActiv reports that free trade agreement talks between Canada and the EU have reached a deadlock due to EU opposition to raising Canada’s quotas of imported beef and pork and Canadian opposition to increasing imports of EU dairy products, eggs and poultry.EurActiv