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New on the Open Europe Blog Open Europe publishes European Commission regulation which seeks to move Libor oversight to Paris Open Europe Blog Hey Berlin, this is what an EU without Britain would look like  Open Europe Blog Open Europe publishes Commission regulation which seeks to move Libor oversight to Paris  Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary New Open Europe flash analysis: The German Constitutional Court – a growing battleground in the eurozone crisis?; ECB denies claims that its bond-buying programme will be subject to limitsAhead of this week’s hearing at the German Constitutional Court (GCC), Open Europe, in conjunction with its partner organisation Open Europe Berlin, has published a new flash analysis looking at the details of the case and potential outcomes. The analysis notes that the hearing will focus on whether the ECB’s policies have infringed either the ECB’s or Bundesbank’s mandate and if either of them has created fiscal risks without democratic approval. The report concludes that, in the end, the Court seems unlikely to uphold such claims. However, it could set out red lines and restrictions to protect the German Constitution – this could throw a new element of risk into the crisis.  Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on BBC World Service this morning discussing the case. Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson was quoted by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the Telegraph describing the arguments put forward by former German Constitutional judge Udo di Fabio that, if the Court rules that the ECB has violated its ban on state financing, in the most extreme case, it could then commit the German Parliament and Government to withdrawing from the euro, as “dynamite”. Meanwhile, FAZ reports that the ECB signalled it would apply prior limits to its interventions under the so-called Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT), in particular making it only applicable to debt with a maturity between one and three years, limiting the overall scale of OMT to €524bn. An ECB spokesman said that the newspaper report is “incorrect” and stressed that “there are no ex-ante limits on the amount of OMT.”  Open Europe flash analysis Open Europe blog FAZ FAZ 2 FAZ 3 Süddeutsche DWN Reuters Bild: Asmussen FAZ SüddeutscheRTL ORF Handelsblatt Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard David Cameron: Britain needs to be at ‘top table’ in organisations like the EU In a speech ahead of next week’s G8 meeting of world leaders in Northern Ireland, David Cameron will today say that the UK needs to be “at the top table. At the UN. The Commonwealth. NATO. The WTO. The G8. The G20. And yes – the EU. Membership of these organisations is not national vanity – it is in our national interest.”  Meanwhile, in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Justice Minister Chris Grayling accused the European Commission of producing ever more complex laws and pursuing a “mad” policy that puts “more and more costs on to business.” The paper notes that some ministers and MPs want to host a series of international “summits” attended by EU politicians, businessmen and lawyers to discuss EU reform.  Separately, a new poll of leading business people commissioned by City AM has found that more than 55% said they want Britain to seek a looser relationship with the EU or quit altogether. 45% wanted to maintain the status quo, according to the survey of 702 businesspeople by market researcher Canadean. FT Mail Telegraph Sunday Telegraph Sunday Telegraph: Leader Saturday’s Express City AM Beppe Grillo: Italy must restructure its debt Five-Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo writes on his blog, “[Italy’s] debt-to-GDP ratio is becoming unsustainable. A temporary way out would be to devaluate our currency – but we’ve lost our monetary sovereignty […] The only possibility is to restructure our debt.” Separately, the leader of Silvio Berlusconi’s MPs Renato Brunetta told Italian daily Il Messaggero, “The German Chancellor [Angela Merkel] is destroying the euro and Europe. After provoking two World Wars, Germany has triggered an economic war which has only caused destruction.”  Beppe Grillo’s blog Il Messaggero: Brunetta Gazeta Wyborcza reports that Germany and Austria have joined the UK and the Netherlands in imposing a two-year transitional period on the free movement of migrants from Croatia. Under EU rules, the transitional period can be extended up to a maximum of seven years. Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson is quoted by the New York Times discussing the on-going debate on EU free movement rules in the UK. Open Europe research Gazeta Wyborcza New York Times EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has criticised recent Franco-German proposals to strengthen eurozone economic governance without giving the European Commission more powers. “In many aspects, they seem to suggest the wheel should be reinvented…Europe is too valuable to be left only for Germany and France”, he said.  Reuters The Sunday Times reported that according to a poll conducted by the Romanian think tank Ires, one in four Romanians aged between 18 and 35 said they would chose to work in Britain if offered a job, with Britain having overtaken Germany as the most popular destination for young Romanians wanting to emigrate.  Open Europe research: Free Movement APPG on EU reform: Free Movement and Immigration  Sunday Times The FTfm reports that the cap on UCITS fund managers’ bonuses approved by the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in March could be scrapped in a new round of internal negotiations before MEPs hold a vote on the revised UCITS Directive in the July plenary session.  FTfm The FT Weekend cited a survey of 150 HR executives by consultants Towers Watson which finds that they expect the EU bankers’ bonus cap to result in salary increases.FT Weekend The Sunday Times reported that the controversial Communications Data Bill – blocked by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg – could be brought in through the back door thanks to the EU’s 2006 Data Retention Directive. As the Directive was only partially implemented, the paper cited a Whitehall source as saying it could be “reinterpreted” to grant police and security greater powers to monitor personal email and internet use, and then passed by a simple Commons majority. Open Europe research: How the EU is watching you Sunday Times Officials from the EU/ECB/IMF Troika will return to Athens today for the first monitoring mission after the publication of the IMF report admitting serious mistakes in dealing with the Greek crisis. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 FT: Münchau The Times reports that up to £10bn of UK taxpayers money used to bailout the Royal Bank of Scotland actually ended up aiding one of its Irish subsidiaries, Ulster Bank, which saw heavy losses after the housing bubble burst and the eurozone crisis hit Ireland. Times A leader in the FT calls on EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht to drop EU tariffs on Chinese solar panels. Open Europe blog FT: Leader The Times reports that Science Minister David Willetts has warned that Europe risks becoming a “museum of 20th century technology” unless the EU eases restrictions on areas of cutting-edge research such as medicine, agriculture – specifically regarding GM crops – and space exploration. Times