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New on the Open Europe Blog Will a future Conservative government renegotiate ECJ control over criminal justice?  Open Europe Blog The EU's structural funds - still heading in the wrong direction? Open Europe Blog Slush fund scandal reignites in Spain, but risk of early elections remains small  Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary William Hague: “Change in the EU is worth fighting for… but reforms cannot be superficial”;  “Open Europe one of the outstanding think tanks on EU matters anywhere in Europe”  Speaking to Open Europe’s summer reception last night, Foreign Secretary William Hague argued that “change in the EU is worth fighting for and that change would not just benefit Britain but every country in the EU. But these changes and reforms cannot be superficial.” He said reform in the EU is possible, arguing that “this Government has already won arguments that people said we never would win, even on the hardest arguments of all, which are always about real money”, and cited reform of the EU’s fisheries policy and banking union safeguards as successful examples of change in Europe that many said were not possible. “We have shown many times now that change is possible. Getting the deep change and real reform we want will not be easy but it is in our national interest to pursue it”, the Foreign Secretary said.  He added, “Open Europe has been going for eight years and in that time it has become one of the outstanding think tanks on EU matters anywhere in Europe. The quality of its analysis on the political, economic and financial issues facing the eurozone is incisive and unsurpassed among think tanks in Britain…I am particularly pleased that its voice and significance in the wider European debate is growing, with new offices in Brussels and Berlin. I think that absolutely the right thing to do.” Open Europe Chairman Lord Leach concluded by saying, “Unless [the next] generation helps Europe’s leaders to find the courage to embrace change, [those who think the UK should leave the EU] will be proved right, that reform is a pipe-dream. But it would be shamefully defeatist to give up without first making the greatest possible effort to achieve the reforms we all want.” Open Europe’s event was covered by the Telegraph, Times and Reuters. A video of William Hague's speech will be available on our website shortly. Open Europe Event: William Hague’s speech transcript Open Europe Event: Lord Leach’s speech transcript Telegraph Reuters Times  Italian PM: UK returning powers from EU “can be possible and could be useful for us too” Ahead of a meeting with David Cameron, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta told the BBC that “it can be possible” that Britain returns powers from the EU “and could be useful for us too…We can have a new [EU] treaty negotiation for the UK to have a different link, but remaining on board and for Italy or other countries in the euro to have a more integrated eurozone.” Letta also wrote an op-ed for the Guardian’s Comment is Free, where he argues, “Greater integration in the eurozone should not challenge the integrity of the single market or leave countries outside the eurozone less comfortable with their membership of the [European] Union…We need to reshape the Union, so that it can accommodate the interests of countries which want to move forward towards greater political and economic integration, and countries which prefer a co-operation around the single market.”  Meanwhile, in an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica, David Cameron said, “I am not an isolationist. And Britain remains an open and globally-engaged country. But if we don’t address these challenges, the danger is that the EU will fail and the British people will drift towards the exit…Prime Minister Letta has made clear he wishes to see a leaner and more efficient EU which delivers for its citizens. I am confident that there is much common ground on which we can work together.”  BBC Channel 4 News Il Sole 24 Ore Il Sole 24 Ore 2 Guardian: Letta Repubblica: Cameron  Süddeutsche Zeitung: Greece faces a funding gap of €10bn  Ahead of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble’s visit to Athens today, Süddeutsche Zeitungreports that, according to an unnamed European Commission official, Greece faces a financing gap of €10bn. The report also suggests that, according to the official, eurozone countries will need to decide how to provide this funding for Greece after the German elections. The Commission denied the reports. Separately, the reshuffled Greek coalition government faces its first real test this evening as it looks to push a large austerity package through parliament. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 BBC WSJ Süddeutsche FAZ Süddeutsche 2 Welt Welt 2 Welt: Schiltz FAZ 2  The FT reports that, according to a draft proposal seen by the paper, the European Commission will present legislation which will cap the fees on processing credit and debit card transactions. The proposal is likely to face fierce opposition from the payments industry, which argues that the move could increase retails banking costs for consumers.  FT  Spain’s opposition leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba has threatened to call a no-confidence motion unless Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy appears in parliament to give explanations about the slush fund allegations involving him and other senior members of his party. However, Rubalcaba admitted that “the opposition doesn’t have the parliamentary strength to replace the government or call elections.”  El País El Mundo El Mundo 2 FT Editorial FT: Buck FT  EU Commission Vivane Reding has said that the EU/IMF/ECB Troika “should be abolished”, arguing that the EU now has the “necessary skills” to perform the required economic and financial analysis needed in the crisis.  Welt Handelsblatt Süddeutsche  Eurozone exports and imports slumped in May, falling by 2.3% and 2.2% respectively.  WSJ  A report by the OECD suggests that unemployment in the eurozone is yet to hit its peak, predicting it will reach new record levels in 2014.  CityAM Telegraph  Cypriot Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said yesterday that the controversial plan for Cyprus to sell €400m worth of its gold reserves as part of the EU/IMF bailout package was only one of the options on the table to raise the necessary funding.  Cyprus Mail Cyprus Mail 2  A study by the research institute Finpolconsult for the Green party faction of the German Bundestag and the European Parliament – looking at bailout funds spent at seven different banks in Greece, Spain, and Cyprus – concludes that €35bn out of a total €90bn have been wasted due to blunders in the implementation of the rescue measures.  Süddeutsche  A new INSA poll for Bild has Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU in the lead on 38% followed by the SPD on 26%, the Greens on 15%, Die Linke on 8%, the FDP on 5% and Alternative für Deutschland on 3%. No link  A new poll by Allensbach Institute for FAZ shows that 60% of Germans have ‘little or no trust at all’ in the European Union. Meanwhile, 47% say the CDU/CSU is particularly engaging itself for Europe while only 12% say the same about the SPD.  FAZ  The Mail reports that the German statistics office has estimated that 437,000 Romanians and Bulgarians have travelled to the country over the past three years alone, with numbers rising to 176,000 last year.  Mail The Irish Independent reports that the Irish government has put off talks with the Troika on exiting its bailout programme until the final scheduled review this autumn.  Irish Independent