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New on the Open Europe Blog The Great Cypriot Game -   How important is gas to Cyprus' economic and geopolitical future?  Open Europe Blog How might a revised Cypriot bailout deal look? Open Europe Blog Is there any chance Cyprus could secure a better deal? Open Europe Blog

Daily Press Summary Cypriot bailout likely to be revised to ease burden on small deposits with parliamentary vote potentially postponed until tomorrow; Greek Reporter: Cypriot government rejected offer from Gazprom for a bailout in return for gas rightsThe Cypriot government announced on Friday night that it will be imposing a 6.75% tax on deposits below €100,000 and a 9.9% levy on those above this threshold as part of a €10bn bailout from the eurozone. The move sparked outcry in Cyprus with changes to the deal now likely as a result. The WSJreports that a new deal could see depositors with up to €100,000, taxed at 3%; those with €100,000 to €500,000 taxed at 10%; and those with over €500,000 taxed at 15%, while sources told Spanish news agency EFE that the levy on small depositors would be reduced to 3% with those over €100,000 taxed at 12.5%. According to the Cyprus Broadcasting Cooperation, the vote in the Cypriot Parliament, originally scheduled for 2pm GMT today, could be postponed by 24 hours as Cypriot President Nicos Anstasiades continues his last minute efforts to secure a majority for the agreement. Anstasiades warned yesterday that voting down the package “would mean being ejected from the Eurozone.” Russian President Vladimir Putin called the tax, which will hit the large Russian holdings in Cyprus, "unfair, unprofessional and dangerous," reports Reuters. According to Greek Reporter, Gazprom offered to cover the cost of the bank restructuring in exchange for exclusive rights to gas exploration in Cypriot territory, although the Cypriot government rejected the proposal. George Osborne said yesterday that the Treasury will compensate UK military staff and officials hit by the levy, but British civilians based in the country would lose out. Responding to the deal, Mats Persson wrote on his Telegraph blog that though a gamble on “several levels”, “fears of deposit-led contagion to other parts of the eurozone should definitely not be overstated”. Mats also appeared on Sky News yesterday. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on ITV News, BBC Five Live and BBC Five Live Wake Up To Money while Open Europe’s blog looking at the potential adjustments to the deal was cited by the Telegraph live blog. Open Europe’s flash analysis on Cyprus ahead of the talks was cited by Die Presse. Open Europe blog Open Europe blog 2 Open Europe blog 3 Telegraph: Persson Eurogroup statement: Cyprus Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 WSJ WSJ Live Blog FT FT 2 FT 3 FT 4 Greek Reporter FT: Munchau FT Editorial Reuters Telegraph live blog Mail Mail 2 Mail: Hannan Sun Times Times: LeaderTimes: Fleming Times Guardian Guardian 2 Guardian: Elliott Die Presse European Voice European VoiceEuractiv BBC BBC: Peston Conservative Home Telegraph Telegraph 2 Telegraph 3 Telegraph: Spillius Irish Times CityAM CityAM: Heath Independent Independent 2 Independent: Leader Express Irish IndependentBild Welt Welt 2 Spanish and Italian media respond with relative calm to Cyprus bailout but fear over damaging precedent remainsBoth Italian and Spanish media responded to the Cypriot bailout with relative calm, but with plenty of criticism of the inclusion of the levy on small depositors, sparking concerns that Spanish and Italian depositors may start to withdraw money out of fear of being next. Most Italian papers did not lead on the story in their print editions while it was on the front page of all the main Spanish papers. In an op-ed in El País, Spanish economist José Carlos Díez argues “To make depositors pay before bondholders…confirms that there are no signs of intelligent life in Europe”. El Mundo’s Economics Editor Carlos Segovia writes, “Analysts from around the world start to doubt that Cyprus’s precedent may one day end up being applicable to other Southern European countries, even partially.” Vittorio da Rold of Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s largest financial daily, writes, “It won’t be enough to reassure that [the Cypriot] case is a unique one, as it happened for the €100bn haircut on Greek bonds.” El País Repubblica El País: Díez El Mundo: Segovia Il Sole 24 Ore: Da Rold Cinco Días Europa PressRepubblica 2  La Stampa Il Sole 24 Ore Expansión Expansión 2 Expansión 3 Expansión 4 El País 2 Linkiesta German government seeks to distance itself from decision to impose tax on small depositors; SPD demands exemption for deposits below €100,000German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble yesterday sought to distance himself from the decision to tax small depositors rather than just larger ones, telling ARD it was a decision made by the “Cypriot government, European Commission and ECB”, while at a meeting today, Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that “it would be smarter to exclude small depositors” reports Spiegel Online.  Meanwhile, the SPD’s budgetary spokesman Carsten Schneider has said that the decision to include small depositors will undermine the confidence in the whole eurozone, demanding that deposits below €100,000 be excluded, reports DPA. In an interview with Welt am Sonntag, the FDP’s lead candidate in the upcoming federal elections Rainer Brüderle indicated that in order for his party to approve the bailout deal in the Bundestag, the “systemic relevance” of Cyprus needs to be “clearly and comprehensively” established. Süddeutsche FAZ ARD Süddeutsche 2 FAZ 2 Süddeutsche 3 FAZ 3 FAZ 4 FAZ: Steltzner Süddeutsche: Gammelin New poll puts Five-Star Movement on 30% as party splits begin to emergeA new SWG poll puts Beppe Grillo’s Five-Star Movement on 30%, Pier Luigi Bersani’s Democratic Party on 25.1% and Berlusconi’s PdL party on 23.3%. On Saturday, former UNHCR spokeswoman Laura Boldrini and former anti-mafia prosecutor Piero Grasso were elected as speakers of the lower and upper house of the Italian parliament respectively. In the final ballot to elect the speaker of the Italian Senate (the upper house), several Five-Star Movement Senators broke ranks and voted for Grasso instead of abstaining. After the vote, Beppe Grillo wrote on his blog that those Senators “lied to voters” and should “draw the due consequences” of what they have done – a clear hint that they risk being expelled from the Movement. Separately, the Secretary General of Berlusconi’s party, Angelino Alfano, said in a TV interview that the party could support a Bersani-led government if “a man of the centre-right” becomes the next Italian President. Official government talks will start on Wednesday. Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta appeared on France 24 English and France 24 Français discussing the political situation in Italy. Repubblica Repubblica 2 Repubblica 3 Beppe Grillo’s blog Corriere della Sera La Stampa 2 SWG poll Il Sole 24 Ore La Stampa 3 Corriere della Sera 2 La Stampa La Stampa: Monti Over the weekend, eurogroup ministers agreed to extend the amount of time Ireland and Portugal have to re-pay their loans from the euozone’s temporary bailout fund, the EFSF in view of the countries’ “strong programme implementation and compliance”.Eurogroup statement: Ireland and Portugal The FT reports that in a formal vote on Thursday, the European Parliament is expected to back extending the recently agreed cap on bankers’ bonuses to also cover asset managers.FT In response to a question in an interview with Bild about whether Europe was too important for “real democracy”, German President Jochim Gauck argued that “There are situations and topics that are difficult to manage on the basis of yes/no decisions, where elected representatives can engage more intensively with the long-term developments and detailed questions than many voters.”Bild Writing in Die Welt, the paper’s chief commentator Torsten Krauel criticises the new German anti-euro ‘Alternative for Germany’ party, arguing that its critique of the eurozone bailouts is simplistic.Welt: Krauel Sunday Times The Telegraph reports that Germany has circulated a paper calling for the EU’s External Action Service (EEAS) to be “further strengthened”. It argues that the EEAS, headed by Baroness Ashton, should have “overall authority” over EU aid programmes and handle negotiations of EU treaties with leading nations such as China and Russia.Telegraph EUobserver The Telegraph reports that 20,000 Romanians want to come to Britain once transitional restrictions are lifted at the end of this year, according to a leading political research body in Romania.Telegraph New figures from PwC predict that European banks will need to shed as much as another €3.4tn from their balance sheets in order to comply with upcoming regulation, according to the FT.FT European Council President Herman van Rompuy told Belgian state broadcaster VRT yesterday that when his current mandate runs out next year he plans to retire from politics entirely.CityAM Euractiv UK and French calls to lift the EU’s Syrian arms embargo before it expires in May were rejected by other EU leaders at the European Council summit on Friday.FT Saturday’s Independent Saturday’s Times Saturday’s Telegraph Saturday’s Guardian The FT reports that French President François Hollande is demanding that France’s system of “cultural exception” - which requires 60% of its television’s output to be European and 40% French – as well as other issues including health standards are not be discussed as part of EU-USA free trade negotiations.FT Weekend

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