Daily Press Summary
Cameron: Regardless of any pressure my Europe policy is not going to change Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg both re-stated their commitment to maintaining the coalition until 2015 rather than having an early break-up. Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Cameron argued that the Conservatives had managed to have "a disagreement... about an issue we actually agree about" - the need for EU reform and an in-out referendum, adding that “It doesn’t matter the pressure I come under from Europe, or inside the Tory party, this policy isn’t going to change.” BBC Guardian Telegraph Sun EU summit could prioritise industrial competitiveness over tackling climate change EU leaders meet today for an EU summit in Brussels, with discussions set to focus on energy prices and tax evasion. With energy prices now 37% higher in Europe than in the US and 20% higher than in Japan concerns are growing that they may impact industrial competitiveness. EurActiv reports that, according to draft conclusions of the summit, measures to improve industrial competitiveness will trump those to tackle climate change. Discussions over a deal to increase tax transparency and coordination across the EU will continue at the summit, although Austria and Luxembourg remain opposed. UK Prime Minister David Cameron this morning called for “aggressive” action to stop tax evasion. FT WSJ Reuters Deutschland Spiegel EU Observer Le Figaro Euractiv Euractiv 2 First draft of EBA rules on bank bonuses sees it hitting more employees than expected The European Banking Authority (EBA) yesterday launched its consultation on the technical standards for bankers’ bonuses that will determine who exactly the tax applies to. In its first draft of the rules the EBA stated the regulation would apply to anyone receiving a bonus above €75,000 (if that is 75% or more of their fixed pay), total pay of above €500,000 or those who rank in the top 0.3% of earners in their firm. These definitions are much more wide-ranging than had been originally expected. The Timesnotes that the Bank of England represents the UK at the EBA negotiations but it remains unclear what measures they are taking to limit the impact of the regulation. EBA press release FT CityAM TimesDeutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten reports on plans to give the EU new instruments to intervene when democracy comes under threat in a member state, quoting Open Europe's Pieter Cleppe as saying “Who will guard the guardians?”.DWN EC A new Allensbach poll for FAZ shows CDU/CSU at 39%, SPD at 27%, Greens at 13%, Die Linke and FDP both at 6%, and the ‘Alternative für Deutschland’ (AfD) at 3.5%.No linkThe Guardian’s live blog cites Open Europe’s blog post looking at the idea of “EEA plus” – a ‘Norwegian model’ but with voting rights - as alternative to the UK’s current EU membership.Open Europe blog Guardian Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel is quoted by Money Marketing discussing the European Parliament Economic and Monetary affairs committee’s approval of the proposals for bank bail-ins and a pre-funded bank resolution scheme for all EU countries. The plans remain under discussion between member states and could still be amended significantly. Money Marketing City AM reports that the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) faces further delays and may now not be implemented until 2015. It is also likely to be watered down significantly. CityAM Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans has demanded that the European Commission clarifies precisely how many EU officials enjoy higher salaries than the Dutch Prime Minster, saying: "I want to be able to make a fair comparison with the salaries of people working for the Dutch government".Elsevier Germany’s Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen yesterday signed a bilateral agreement with her Spanish counterpart, Fatima Banez Garcia, to put 5,000 young Spaniards into German apprenticeships and other junior jobs. The German Government will provide €140m until 2016 to facilitate the programme. Meanwhile, Italy is considering allowing older workers to reduce their work hours while mentoring younger employees as a way to bring down youth unemployment, reports WSJ.FAZ FT Handelsblatt WSJ El Pais The EU is close to reaching a deal on Solvency II, a set of long-delayed and controversial insurance rules, reports City AM.CityAM The UK is examining ways to mitigate the impact of the wind down of Laiki bank on the customers of Laiki UK, in particular small and medium size businesses. Famagusta Gazette Kathimerini reports that the latest IMF assessment of the Greek tax system calls on the government to increase the number of random inspections and give more power to the unit that monitors tax evasion. Separately, the paper reports that ECB funding to Greek banks fell to €61bn in March, although Emergency Liquidity Assistance increased by €12bn to €33.4bn. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Le Monde reports that Former French President Giscard D’Estaing has said “antagonism with respect to Germany is a mistake” but “For the Franco-German couple to work requires that France is stronger and more active. You cannot be in a partnership with someone much stronger than you.” LeMonde: D’Estaing The FT reports that the European Commission has rejected claims from the Alliance of Affordable Solar Energy that tariffs on imports of solar panels from China could cost 242,000 jobs in the EU over three years, suggesting the figures inflate the number of fulltime employees in the solar industry. FT The Bundesbank expects to see an appreciable economic recovery in the second quarter, reporting that “consumer sentiment in private [German] households is holding steady”.Handelsblatt
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