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Daily Press Summary Portuguese Prime Minister pledges to stay on as political crisis deepens; Portugal’s borrowing costs sky rocket Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Portas tendered his resignation yesterday, in disagreement with the appointment of Maria Luís Albuquerque as the country’s new Finance Minister. Portas is the leader of Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho’s junior coalition partner, the CDS-PP, so his resignation has put the government at risk of collapsing. Passos Coelho said yesterday that he would not resign, and would “try to clarify and guarantee all the conditions for the stability of the government.” However, the Portuguese media suggest that all cabinet ministers from the CDS-PP could resign tonight, after a party meeting. Meanwhile, the interest rate on Portugal’s ten-year bonds reached above 8% this morning. Open Europe’s rolling blog coverage of the Portuguese crisis featured on the Guardian’s live blog and City AM. Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta’s Twitter coverage of events in Portugal featured on theTelegraph’s live blog. Open Europe blog Open Europe blog 2 RTP Público Público 2 Diário Económico Jornal de Negócios City AMTelegraph: Live blog Guardian: Live blog European Voice BBC FAZ Reuters Handelsblatt Irish Times WSJWSJ 2 Times FT European Commission: EU-US free trade talks will go ahead as planned despite continuing fallout over espionage allegations The European Commission announced on Tuesday that the EU-US free trade talks would go ahead as planned on 8 July, despite whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s allegations that the US was spying on its European partners. Separately, a number of EU states closed their airspace to Bolivian President Evo Morales’ plane – forcing it to land in Austria – amid fears he was harbouring the fugitive Snowden. Six EU countries including Germany have rejected Snowden’s asylum application. Open Europe Blog Open Europe Blog 2 Handeslblatt Reuters Deutschland Reuters Euractiv Euractiv 2Spiegel  EUobserver EUobserver2  EUobserver3   Welt CBS NOS DPA Libération EC Press Release A close vote is expected in the European Parliament today on plans to introduce a bonus cap for managers of UCITS investment funds. Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta is quoted in theTelegraph’s City briefing criticising the bonus cap as a “largely ideological measure” which could “really hurt the UK fund management sector…Measures like this only serve to make the City more eurosceptic.” No link EU leaders will today flock to Berlin to attend a youth unemployment summit hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who urged them to do more to copy the dual German system of apprenticeships and study to prevent the rise of “a lost generation.” Trade unions and opposition politicians have criticised the €6bn pot agreed by EU leaders to deal with the problem as being insufficient. Guardian:Merkel EUobserver Spiegel Handeslblatt In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she cannot see further debt relief for Greece. ECB Executive Board member Jörg Asmussen argued that “The recurring discussions about a debt cut are unhelpful as they deflect from the necessary reform efforts in Greece”. CDU budget spokesman Norbert Barthle described the renewed speculation as “annoying”. Welt Welt 2 Handelsblatt Süddeutsche FAZ In a letter to the Times, published today, coordinated by Business for Britain, 22 academics urge David Cameron to make one more attempt to negotiate a looser relationship with Europe “before thinking about leaving”. Times Times: Letters According to the Bank of Spain, credit contraction in Spain has exceeded 6% for the first time as loans to private sector residents, families and businesses registered a fall of 6.1% in the month of May, the highest percentage in the entire crisis, reports El Economista. El Economista Cyprus’ President Nicos Anastasiades, Finance Minister Haris Georgiades and Central Bank Governor Panicos Demetriades will meet ECB President Mario Draghi today in an attempt to revise some of the country’s bailout conditions. The FT reports that Cyprus will lobby for fresh EU loans to the Bank of Cyprus, and easier repayment terms for the €9.5bn emergency liquidity assistance already provided to Laiki Bank. FT French President Francois Hollande has sacked his Environment Minister Delphine Batho after she publicly criticised a 7% cut to her departmental budget as part of the French government’s plans to cut total public spending by €14bn next year. Le Figaro WSJ BBC John Cridland, Director-General of the CBI, told the Times’ CEO Summit that he estimated that 80% of his members were in favour of being in the EU, but “the challenge is that Europe is moving at a pace, and I don’t find many CBI members who have an appetite to be part of that ever closer union of the eurozone core. But they are interested in us being a full shareholder in a wider Europe.” Times: Wighton Times WSJ MEPs are today expected to approve the withdrawal of a number of carbon permits under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme from the market in an attempt to boost flagging prices, although the move is acknowledged to be a stop gap measure pending more fundamental re-design of the scheme. EurActiv In the Times, YouGov President Peter Kellner writes that, “In Britain and Germany, support for more tax-and-spend is remarkably low: 13% and 11% respectively.” Times: Kellner The Mail notes that the EU’s diplomatic service employs nearly 500 chauffeurs – including one paid £62,000 a year. Mail Standard & Poor’s yesterday said it had lowered its long-term counterparty credit ratings on Barclays Bank, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank to A from A-plus, citing EU proposals for a financial transaction tax as one of the main detriments for banks’ capacity to grow revenues. City AM In an interview with the FT, Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaite, who has taken over the EU’s rotating presidency, warns of Russia’s growing influence to the east of the EU. “There is now a decisive time where Russia is trying to persuade the eastern partners of the EU to go closer towards a customs union,” she said. FT The European Parliament has stripped Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front, of her parliamentary immunity, paving the way for her to be prosecuted by French authorities for comments she made in 2011 in which she compared Muslims praying in the streets to the Nazi occupation of France. Independent BBC FAZ Süddeutsche