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New on the Open Europe Blog Bank bail-in plans: is France becoming nervous about being left alone with Germany? Open Europe Blog Dutch government: "Time of ‘ever closer union’ in every possible area is behind us”  Open Europe Blog Coalition row over public broadcaster gets nastier by the day in Greece Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Irish government to launch inquiry into Anglo-Irish bailout; Senior bankers knew initial bailout would be insufficientThe Irish Independent yesterday released tapes which allegedly contained discussions between senior Anglo Irish Bank employees over the bank’s government bailout in 2008. The recordings suggest that the bank’s senior employees knew the initial bailout would not be sufficient to save the bank. The cost of bailing out its banks was a key factor in pushing Ireland to seek financial assistance from the EU. The Irish government is expected to launch an official inquiry into the bailout process and negotiations. Irish Independent Irish Independent 2 Irish Independent 3 WSJ Mediobanca: Italy could need a bail-out within six monthsThe Telegraph reports that, according to a confidential client note prepared by Mediobanca, Italy will “inevitably end up in an EU bail-out request” over the next six months, unless the country quickly returns to growth. Meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi has been sentenced to seven years in prison and a lifetime ban from holding public office in the Ruby trial. The sentence is not immediately effective because Berlusconi still has two further appeals. Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta appeared on Channel 5 News yesterday, noting that the ruling should not have an immediate impact on the stability of Italy’s coalition government, but the consequences of Berlusconi being definitively banned from public office as a result of one of his trials “would be unpredictable”. Repubblica La Stampa La Stampa 2 Il Sole 24 Ore Corriere della Sera IHT Independent GuardianTelegraph Irish Times BBC Spiegel Swedish magazine Arena features an interview with Open Europe Director Mats Persson labelling him "one of the more politically influential Swedes in Europe."Arena The SPD’s Chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück has described Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU party’s election manifesto – which contains a number of new domestic spending commitments – as a “fiscal fairy-tale”, arguing that “There are no proposals on how to finance these crazy promises”. Open Europe’s twitter coverage of the manifesto launch was cited by the Telegraph’s live blog.Irish Times FAZ Handelsblatt Telegraph: Live blog The allegation that the UK used a wiretapping programme to obtain data on German citizens is being met by increasing indignation by German politicians and press, with junior coalition FDP demanding an end to the practice.Handeslblatt Handelsblatt 2 Süddeutsche Welt The Financial Transaction Tax which eleven EU members were due to implement in January 2014 now looks set to be delayed by at least six months after the states failed to reach an agreement over key aspects of the tax’s scope.Dow Jones Beurs.nl Greek government reshuffles cabinet to boost weakened coalitionThe Greek government announced a cabinet reshuffle last night following the departure of junior coalition partner the Democratic Left. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos will take on the dual role of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister with his party now holding a third of the positions in the new cabinet. Opposition party SYRIZA said in a statement, “[The reshuffle] cannot save a collapsing government, but instead signals the beginning of its end.” Kathimerini FT WSJ Kathimerini 2 Le Figaro Reuters reports that hopes for a big leap towards banking union at this week’s meeting of EU leaders are fading with any decision now likely to be taken after the German elections. Officials have suggested a decision may only be reached at the December EU summit.Open Europe blog Reuters Reuters 2 Spiegel José Manuel Barroso has responded to yesterday’s criticism by France’s Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg saying “Some Left-wing nationalists have exactly the same views as the far right." French Commissioner Michel Barnier also joined the attack on Montebourg, describing his comments as “false and absurd.”FT Telegraph European Voice EUobserver Europe 1 The Famagusta Gazette reports that the Russian Air Force may get use of a Cypriot airbase, similar to the arrangement Cyprus currently has with France. The Cypriot government rejected suggestions that the plan was linked to the bailout loan Russia gave to Cyprus. Famagusta Gazette UK Europe Minister David Lidington has welcomed the Dutch government’s subsidiarity review, describing it as “an important contribution to the debate about the future of Europe”, adding that “We agree with our Dutch partners on ‘ever closer union’. And we share their goal of creating a European Union that is more modest and more effective.”Open Europe blog Euractiv In an op-ed in CityAM, Conservative MP Dominic Raab argues that “Unless the EU liberalises at home, lifts horizons abroad, and renegotiates UK terms of membership, the economic case for Britain going it alone will only get stronger.”Open Europe research: Trading Places CityAM: Raab According to a report prepared by the centre-right opposition UMP party, France’s public deficit could reach at least 4% of GDP at the end of 2013. The French government’s latest forecast for this year is 3.7% of GDP. French Economy Minister Pierre Moscovici has dismissed the report as “an enormous lie.”Le Figaro Le Figaro: Carrez Le Monde According to new figures from the Spanish Employment Ministry, Spain spent around €7.8bn on pensions in June 2013 – a 5% increase compared to June 2012. Separately, Spain sold €3bn of short-term debt in an auction this morning. Interest rates were higher than in the previous auction, notes Expansión.Expansión Expansión 2 Cinco Días City AM City AM 2 Negotiations between member states, MEPs and the European Commission on reforming the CAP have resulted in a tentative agreement to reduce direct subsidies to large farms by up to 30%, introduce new environmental conditionality and to prevent subsidies being claimed by airports, golf courses and campsites. However disagreements remain over fixing a deadline for the abolition of EU sugar quotas.Open Europe research: CAP reform Reuters In a softening of its stance, Germany has proposed that the EU should reopen Turkish EU accession negotiations with a new chapter on regional issues, but only after the European Commission’s next progress report in mid-October, also after the German elections.FT WSJ Reuters FAZ FAZ cites Eurostat statistics showing the disparate purchasing power of EU countries, with Germany’s consumer prices being lower than all of its neighbours apart from Czech Republic and Poland, despite being 1.8% above the EU average.FAZ Welt The EU auto industry will have to meet more stringent carbon measures as the member states and the European Parliament agreed to drop the average carbon limit on new cars from 130 to 95 grams per kilometre on Monday.Reuters Deutschland Süddeutsche Welt