Friday, 7 June 2013

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New on the Open Europe Blog

Hey Berlin, this is what an EU without Britain would look like 
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Berlusconi wants to say 'basta' to EU diktats
Open Europe Blog

The China-EU trade war begins, China adopts divide and conquer approach 
Open Europe Blog


Daily Press Summary

Commission says it “fundamentally disagrees” with the IMF’s analysis of the Greek bailout
The European Commission yesterday hit back at the IMF’s criticism of its handling of the Greek crisis, with Simon O'Connor, spokesman for EU Economics Commissioner Olli Rehn, saying it “fundamentally disagrees” with the Fund’s assessment, since an earlier restructuring could have caused “systemic contagion”. He added that the IMF accusations that the Commission neglected the need for economic growth were “wrong and unfounded”.


Meanwhile, when asked at his monthly press conference whether the ECB had a similar ‘mea culpa’ to make, ECB President Mario Draghi said, “Well, not really”. Separately, while EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger views an additional Greek haircut as “unavoidable”, while CDU faction leader Volker Kauder claims that “a haircut, which also includes the public creditors, is completely absurd”.
WSJ FT Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Telegraph European Voice Euractiv Mail Times Guardian La TribuneExpansión Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard Spiegel Handelsblatt Welt EUObserver Reuters HandeslblattWirtschaft magazine

Mats Persson: EU-China trade dispute “may have given Berlin a taste of what an EU without Britain could look like”On his Telegraph blog, Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson argues that the EU-China trade dispute “may have given Berlin a taste of what an EU without Britain could look like” as Germany is reliant on the UK to block protectionist measures and balance the Mediterranean bloc. Meanwhile, an editorial in thePeople’s Daily, which is seen as an authoritative representation of official Chinese government views, reads, “The change of the times and the shifts of power have failed to change the condescending attitude of some Europeans…China doesn’t want a trade war, but trade protectionism cannot but trigger a counterattack.” Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel was quoted by Greek SKAI TV discussing the dispute.
Telegraph blogs: Persson FT Telegraph Skai


City AM and the FT report that groups in the City of London have hit out at Commission plans to move the supervision of Libor under the purview of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Reuters reports that Sharon Bowles, Chairman of the European Parliament Economic and Monetary affairs committee, said she would be surpised if the plan “ends up the same as it is starting out”.FT CityAM Reuters Handelsblatt Welt Reuters Reuters 2 FT: Jenkins FT Editorial

EU’s Services Directive: From monster to saviour?Speaking at a joint Open Europe-Friedrich Naumann Foundation event in Brussels, Open Europe Research Director Stephen Booth presented Open Europe’s research showing that greater liberalisation of services in the EU could boost EU cross-border trade and produce a permanent increase to EU-wide GDP of up to 2.3% or €294bn. Derk Jan Eppink MEP recalled the fierce political battles over the EU’s Services Directive from the time as a member of Cabinet of former Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, and said, “From being seen as a monstrous thing, it has become something to save the European economy!”

Gustav Blix, a Member of the Swedish Parliament for the ruling Moderaterna party, said the EU had to create greater economic freedom, which he described as “a contagious idea.” Corinna Bölhoff, of the German Permanent Representation to the EU, whose country did not sign a pro-growth letter in 2011 emphasising the role of services liberalisation said, “We’re together in much of the spirit”, but that Germany was “not sure” of some of the detail. “It doesn’t mean that we won’t engage in the end”.
Open Europe events Open Europe research: Services

Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta is quoted by El País as arguing that the proposed ban on refillable olive oil jugs – which was eventually dropped – has shown that the European Commission should do a better job of setting its priorities, or risks being seen as increasingly out of touch with reality. 
El País 

Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki appeared on TVN/CNBC discussing this week’s strike by EU officials over pay and working conditions.No link

The UK, the Netherlands and Germany yesterday lined up to block new EU data protection rules, put forward by the European Commission and the Irish EU Presidency. UK Justice Minister Chris Grayling warned that the proposed rules would harm businesses and increase insurance premium costs for individuals.
FT 


The ECB yesterday held interest rates, although ECB President Mario Draghi stressed that it had many tools “on the shelf” if it needed to take further action to aid the eurozone. Draghi added that the ECB was ready to proceed with a negative deposit rate if needed, but suggested direct action on loans to small businesses is some way away.
FT CityAM WSJ Handelsblatt Welt Irish Times Irish Independent 

Kathimerini reports that in the next three months Greece and the EU/IMF/ECB Troika must find a further €4.6bn in savings for Greece in 2014, otherwise the IMF’s continued participation in the country’s bailouts could be brought into question.Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 

In an interview with Il Foglio, Silvio Berlusconi urges Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta to “engage in arm wrestling” over eurozone economic policy with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other northern euro leaders. He warns that, absent a change of direction, “Everyone will have to find their own national or regional solutions, breaking up the mechanisms of the euro area.” 
Open Europe blog Corriere della Sera Repubblica La Stampa Il Giornale 

The German Government wants to implement tougher measure against immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria, reports DPA. German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich says that those coming with fraudulent intent should be expelled and levied with a temporary re-entry ban. The EU Commission confirmed to Germany that such measures would be in accordance with EU law.
No link 

In a letter to Guido Ravoet, the chief executive of the European Banking Federation, George Osborne describes the proposed EU financial transaction tax as “poorly designed, badly timed and unlawfully extraterritorial.”
EUobserver


The Bundesbank has reduced its 2013 economic growth forecast for Germany to 0.3%, while expecting only 1.5% for 2014 - 0.4% less than in its previous forecast.Spiegel Handelsblatt Reuters Deutschland Jornal de Negócios Les Echos Economist: Leader Economist: Charlemagne 

The Cypriot Supreme Court will today rule on more than 3,000 appeals against the freezing of uninsured deposits in Cyprus in March.Cyprus Mail
The Mirror notes that UKIP MEPs miss a third of all votes in the European Parliament, while Lib Dems attend 87% of votes, the Greens 84.8%, Labour 82.7%, and the Conservatives 80.4%.
Mail Mirror 


The WSJ reports that Spain may be poised to cut subsidies to renewable sources of energy. If confirmed, the move would hit the solar industry the hardest, which has been heavily subsidised by the government since the late 2000s.WSJ 

Iceland’s President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson has told parliament that the EU has lost interest in accession negotiations because it doesn't want to risk a rejection in a referendum and is unlikely to develop a permanent fisheries policy that Iceland could accept, reports EUobserver.
EUobserver


DPA reports that the German Bundestag will insist that EU accession negotiations with Serbia can only start in 2014 “at the earliest” and only under the condition that Serbia normalises its ties with Kosovo.
DPA Europe online magazine

Germany and France are among the EU member states that have condemned the Turkish regime’s crack-down on protestors, saying it may harm the prospect of Turkey’s EU-accession talks.
EUobserver 

A new poll published by El Periódico de Cataluña has the separatist Catalan Republican Left party in the lead for the first time ever. If regional elections took place this Sunday, the party would secure up to 40 of 135 seats in the Catalan parliament. 
El Periódico El País

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