Daily Press Summary OPEN EUROPE

	Home   About Us   Multimedia   In The News   Events   Research & Analysis Media Centre Open Europe Berlin
New on the Open Europe Blog Portugal's Finance Minister quits: A bolt out of the blue? Not really... Open Europe Blog China launches official investigation into EU wine subsidies  Open Europe Blog I-spy: EU-US trade talks under threat?  Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Berlin, Paris and Brussels condemn alleged US-spying on eve of EU-US trade talks; US Whistleblower Snowden seeks asylum in 9 EU countries  Top politicians from Berlin, Brussels and Paris yesterday condemned the US for allegedly spying on EU missions on both sides of the Atlantic, calling into question the EU-US trade talks. Angela Merkel’s spokesman said that it is “unacceptable to spy on friends… we are not in the Cold War anymore.” He added that "mutual trust is necessary in order to come to a [trade] agreement.” Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande called for an “immediate” end to the alleged spying, warning “there can be no negotiations”, seemingly referring to the on-going EU-US trade talks, until then. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, and Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council all called on Washington for an explanation. Meanwhile, the WikiLeaks website revealed that US whistleblower Edward Snowden has applied for asylum in 21 countries, including 9 EU member states.  Open Europe’s Stephen Booth is quoted by CNBC as saying "The politics of this issues could well be significant, particularly against the backdrop of EU-U.S. free trade talks…Some of the EU countries allegedly targeted by U.S. agencies, such as France for example, have already been resistant to opening up trade in certain sectors and this could harden their stance in those talks." Open Europe blog Handeslblatt Spiegel Reuters Deutschland Reuters Presse Presse 2 EUobserverEuobserver2 Reuters FAZ FAZ 2 FAZ: Goebel Süddeutsche: Kolb DWN FT WSJ Guardian Guardian 2 Le Figaro Coulisses de Bruxelles CNBC CNBC 2  Portugal’s borrowing costs on the rise after Finance Minister’s resignation Portuguese Finance Minister Vítor Gaspar resigned yesterday, and has been replaced by Maria Luís Albuquerque – one of his deputies. In his letter of resignation, which Open Europe published on its blog, Gaspar wrote he was planning to resign since last October, in part due to “the significant erosion of public support” for the austerity measures attached to the Portuguese bailout. Diário Económico notes that the interest rate on Portugal’s ten-year bonds has increased to almost 6.5% this morning, following Gaspar’s resignation. Open Europe blog FT Diário Económico Jornal de Negócios La Tribune Le Monde Diário Económico 2 Jornal de Negócios 2 Diário Económico 3 FAZ DWN Labour’s biggest donor warns Ed Miliband he is out of touch with voters on Europe;  BCC Director-General: Businesses want access to EU markets but not at any cost  Ed Miliband risks being out of touch with Labour voters and losing the General Election because of Europe, the party’s biggest private donor, John Mills, has warned. “The problem for the Labour Party is that the potential Labour voter is more Eurosceptic than the Labour Party itself,” Mr Mills said. Meanwhile, ahead of a Commons vote on Friday on a private member’s bill to enshrine David Cameron’s proposed 2017 EU referendum in law, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said, “We will always be the party of ‘in’”. He said that there should be an in/out referendum if there is a new EU Treaty.  At the Times CEO Summit, Willie Walsh, the chief executive of IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, said there was no need for a referendum. However, he added that he didn’t “rate” the people he deals with in the European Commission. John Longworth, Director-General of the British Chambers of Commerce, writes in the paper, “Businesses want access to the European trading bloc, but not at any cost. So David Cameron…has a strong mandate from business to try to rebalance Britain’s relationship with the European Union.”  Open Europe blog Times Evening Standard Reuters FT Telegraph Independent: Rentoul FT: GaneshTimes: Longworth Times  The House of Commons library cites Open Europe in a new research paper on the implications of the UK leaving the EU. The Telegraph reports on a finding in the report that 1.4 million UK expats living in Europe could lose their pension rights forcing “significant numbers” to return to the UK. Telegraph House of Commons Library: Research paper Open Europe research: Trading Places Following Croatia’s accession to the EU, Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel told Central Banking: “It’s difficult to put a timeline on [when Croatia will join the single currency]” – adding that there are significant hurdles on both sides, and that joining the euro is likely to be tougher in the future.  Central Banking Government to propose NHS levy for all migrants staying longer than 6 months  The Sun reports that, under Government plans to be set out tomorrow, all foreign migrants arriving in Britain for any stay longer than six months will face a fee to pay for their healthcare. Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told MPs yesterday that there is a growing consensus that EU countries with higher state welfare benefits should not have to subsidise benefits for children living elsewhere in Europe.  Sun Open Europe research: Free movement and welfare  Senior eurozone sources told Reuters that Greece has three days to show the EU/IMF/ECB Troika it can deliver on public sector reform before the next tranche of its bailout loan is unblocked. Meanwhile, Greek Trade and Development Minister Kostis Chatzidakis told Die Welt, “If we are reliable and provide a positive surprise, then I'm sure that our partners will show their solidarity”, possibly including another debt haircut. FAZ Reuters Kathimerini Welt: Chatzidakis  Writing on Conservative Home, Andrea Leadsom MP, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for EU reform, argues that “The UK can, without doubt, derive considerable benefit from EU membership. However, this is only true if the EU focuses on actions that are genuinely to the benefit of the people of its member states. Above all, that means restoring economic competitiveness.” Conservative Home: Leadsom  A report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee finds that the UK, with 12.5% of the EU’s population, holds just 4.6% of EU posts. The report also found that UK nationals accounted for just 2.4% of total applicants to the EU exams with the need to demonstrate a “good level” of French and German one of a number of obstacles to increasing UK representation. BBC House of Commons: FAC Committee report  The European Commission has sent a complaint to 13 banks and data provider Markit Group as well as trade association the International Swaps & Derivatives Association (ISDA) over allegations that they sought to curb competition in the credit derivatives industry.  Irish Independent WSJ BBC EUobserver  The Express reports that new plans, expected to be outlined by the European Commission this month, would scrap or limit the fees that retailers have to pay banks every time they take a card payment. Richard Wagner, chief executive of Advanced Payment Solutions warned, “These losses will go right to the customer, of that there is no doubt.”  Express  A new poll shows that Finland’s two opposition parties lead in the polls, with the eurosceptic (True) Finns overtaking PM Jyrki Katainen’s National Coalition Party to second place, while the Centre Party is in first place.  YLE 1 YLE 2 YLE 3 YLE 4 YLE 5  China formally launched an anti-dumping probe into EU wine exports on Monday in the on-going EU-China trade dispute. Reuters  Dutch Professor Afshin Ellian criticises the EU for sending €1bn to Egypt the past 5 years, saying it is hesitant to be monitored in return for aid, in a comment piece for Elsevier. Elsevier: Ellian