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New on the Open Europe Blog 'My reaction was excessive, but the journalist was rude': Italian MEP caught on camera responds Open Europe Blog Sign In, Sod Off... and Slap!  Open Europe Blog Could Berlusconi's trials put the Italian government at risk? Not immediately, but...  Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Video of MEPs 'signing and sloping off' goes viral  Open Europe yesterday published on its blog and Youtube channel a video of two MEPs attacking Dutch reporter Tom Staal after he questioned them for allegedly ‘signing in and sloping off’, or claiming their daily €300 European Parliament allowance without working. The video went viral on our twitter account with over 9,000 views, and featured on Benedict Brogan’s Telegraph Blog and on the Spectator’s Coffee House Blog. Open Europe’s Nina Schick was quoted in the Telegraph saying, "If it really is a case of MEPs claiming expenses without doing any work, then some MEPs have clearly failed to learn from the previous scandals affecting the European Parliament. Whether or not the MEPs are guilty of abusing taxpayers, the allowances system in the European Parliament needs to change so that we know that MEPs actually get paid for the work they're supposed to do."  Telegraph Telegraph:Brogan Spectator Open Europe twitter European Parliament officially rejects latest compromise on long-term EU budget  Reuters reports that, despite some concessions from member states, European Parliament President Martin Schulz has written to the Irish Presidency informing him a majority of MEPs will vote to reject the €960bn seven year EU budget previously agreed by EU leaders. This means EU leaders may have to discuss the budget once again at this week’s EU summit. However, MEPs, member states and the Commission did yesterday agree in principle to ring-fence €70.2bn for Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and development programme.  Reuters EurActiv Welt EurActiv 2  Forsa poll: German ruling coalition has overall majority;  Only 8% of Germans trust the SPD to solve the problems of the country  A new Forsa poll for RTL-Stern shows the current government coalition of CDU/CSU and FDP has an overall majority, albeit slim, with 41% and 5% respectively. The opposition parties total 45% with the SPD remaining at 22%, the Greens at 15%, and Die Linke at 8%. Given that the small parties total 9%, but would not win any seats, an overall score of 45.5% would be sufficient to win an overall majority. Meanwhile, the poll reveals that only 8% of Germans trust the SPD to solve Germany’s problems. If directly electing their chancellor, 20% would vote for Peer Steinbrück while 57% would vote for Angela Merkel. Reuters Deutschland  Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki appeared on Voice of America to discuss Turkey’s prospects of EU membership following the decision to postpone the resumption of negotiations until after the German elections.  Voice of America  The International Business Times cites Open Europe’s calculation that, between 2007 and 2013, the UK is contributing a total of £33.7bn to the CAP while receiving £26.6bn back.  Open Europe research: CAP reform IBT  Leading French Socialist MP: Barroso is “outdated” and “his way of acting is intolerable”  In an interview with Le Parisien, French Socialist MP Claude Bartolone – the President of France’s National Assembly – calls European Commission President José Manuel Barroso “an outdated man” and adds, “His way of acting is intolerable…Barroso embodies a Europe that no longer corresponds to today’s world.” Meanwhile, Libération’s Brussels correspondent Jean Quatremer writes, “According to our information, [Barroso] is preparing to campaign to obtain the post of Secretary General at the UN or NATO. For that, he needs the consent of the Americans – hence the guarantees he gives them [on the EU-US free trade deal] and the attacks on France.”  TF1 Coulisses de Bruxelles Le Parisien: Bartolone AFP WSJ  Former ECB chief economist Jürgen Stark called for the EU take around five years to “reflect on the direction it should take” in an interview with Reuters. He added that "We should take Britain on board, because there are many similarities in economic thinking between Germany and Britain, which could have a positive impact on a European level… Europe would lose a lot if Britain abandoned Europe."  Reuters Writing in the FT, Ian Cheshire, chief executive of the retail group Kingfisher Plc, argues that “As an international retailer, Kingfisher wants Britain to remain in the EU – but a reformed EU… We enjoy the certainty of a single rule book across the EU but not at the cost of an ever increasing regulatory burden, which must be resisted”. FT: Cheshire  The new Greek cabinet was sworn in yesterday with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras pledging to continue with economic reforms and making concluding the latest EU/IMF/ECB Troika review his top priority. Meanwhile, employees of closed state broadcaster ERT have said that its closure could cost the government up to €500m.  Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 CityAM FAZ Irish Times  According to a confidential report by the Italian Court of Auditors seen by the FT, Italy could face losses of around €8bn to €32bn worth of derivatives contracts created in the late 1990s to help the country join the euro by reducing its deficit. The losses arose after the contracts had to be renegotiated at the peak of the euro crisis, due to the rise in Italy’s borrowing costs.  Il Sole 24 Ore Il Sole 24 Ore 2 Corriere della Sera Repubblica Repubblica 2 FT  Bloomberg reports that the Dutch economy contracted by 0.4% in Q1 this year compared to forecast expectations of 0.1%.  Bloomberg  Deputy Irish Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore admitted yesterday that the scandal over the Anglo Irish Bank bailout could hamper Ireland’s push for further aid to ease the burden of its bank bailouts.  Irish independent Irish Independent 2 Irish Independent 3 Irish Independent 4 FT Reuters HandeslblattIrish Times BBC Times  In a report due to be published today, the French Court of Auditors will put France’s 2013 deficit anywhere between 3.7% and 4.2% of GDP, depending on the growth rate.  La Tribune Le Figaro El País Le Monde  City AM reports that according to rating agency S&P, medium sized firms in Europe face a potential funding crunch over the next few years, requiring €3.5 trillion in funding up to 2018.  CityAM  Cyprus yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with a number of energy companies to launch talks over the creation of a liquefied natural gas terminal allowing it to tap its gas reserves. The terminal is expected to be up and running at the earliest in 2020. Famagusta Gazette Kathimerini  EU ministers have recommended opening talks on Serbian accession to the EU by January 2014 at the latest. WSJ FT Reuters  Outgoing Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek has described the appointment of Czech President Zeman’s adviser, Jiri Rusnok, as Prime Minister as “a constitutional coup.”  Ceske Noviny Ceske Noviny 2 Ceske Noviny 3 Ceske Noviny 4 European Voice IHT Irish Times BBC