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Daily Press Summary IMF sees €11bn funding gap for Greece, warns of likely need for further debt relief; Latin American IMF members warn of overly optimistic approach in Greece The IMF yesterday released its latest review of the Greek bailout in which it showed that the country faces an €11bn funding gap between 2014 – 2016, and argued that Greece will likely need some additional debt relief from its official creditors, with a decision needed before the end of the year. The report also warned of the potential for further social unrest as austerity is set to continue. Meanwhile, in a public statement released yesterday, Paulo Nogueira Batista, the Latin American representative on the IMF board, said, "Implementation [of Greece's reform programme] has been unsatisfactory in almost all areas; growth and debt sustainability assumptions continue to be over-optimistic…this statement is one step short of openly contemplating the possibility of a default or payment delays by Greece on its liabilities to the IMF.” Batista added that he abstained from the vote to release the latest tranche of Greek bailout funds. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 FT CityAM WSJ WSJ Review & Outlook FAZ FAZ 2 Guardian Irish Independent Welt Telegraph Reuters Kathimerini 3 FT 2 Kathimerini 4 Figures from the Pink Book have revealed that the UK’s official net contribution to the EU budget has increased from £2.9bn in 2002 to £9.5bn in 2012. Open Europe analysis: 2014-2020 budget Telegraph: Waterfield blog Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is facing parliamentary questioning over the slush fund allegations against Spain’s ruling Partido Popular. In his opening speech, Rajoy pledged to stay on but admitted he “was mistaken” to trust his party’s former treasurer Luis Bárcenas – who has recently revealed he was the author of secret accounting books allegedly showing illegal cash payments made to Rajoy and other senior members of his party. Open Europe blog El País Irish Times Troika says Cyprus programme is on-track but warns short term will be difficult The EU/IMF/ECB Troika has completed its first review of the Cypriot bailout and said that the programme remains as scheduled, but warned that the “short-run economic outlook remains difficult”. Separately, the two sides reached a deal on the restructuring of the countries ‘co-operative’ banks, which will see the government take control of all 93 banks and consolidate them into 18 institutions at a cost of €1.5bn, although it is not yet clear where this funding will come from. IMF statement Cyprus Mail Famagusta Gazette FT CityAM The Supreme Court verdict in Silvio Berlusconi’s tax fraud case is expected to be read out this evening. The former Italian Prime Minister is appealing against a four-year prison sentence and a five-year public office ban. Open Europe blog Repubblica Corriere della Sera La Stampa Irish Times The Telegraph reports that Nick Clegg has attacked David Cameron’s policy of “retreat” over Europe, saying that it undermines the “capacity for Britain to shape the European Union in its image.” Telegraph FT The unemployment rate in the EU dropped for the first time in two and a half years, falling from 11% in May to 10.9% in June. The eurozone’s unemployment rate held at 12.1%. The youth unemployment rate, however, rose by 0.1% in both the EU and the eurozone, to 23.2% and 23.9% respectively. Eurostat press release WSJ Guardian Live Blog Welt Italian journalist Fabrizio Goria suggests that José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, laid out a strategy to “unplug” the then Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to Italian Minister Roberto Maroni in 2011. Barroso allegedly told Maroni that Berlusconi should be attacked “from all fronts, from every European policy maker” to achieve this. LSE blogs: Goria The FT reports that Portugal is set to push for a further easing of its fiscal consolidation programme in the hope of using tax cuts to boost economic growth. However, Reuters notes that on Tuesday Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho pledged to enforce the agreed spending cuts. FT Reuters Süddeutsche reports that the European Commission launched an infringement procedure against Germany for imposing a basic language test on non-EU citizens before they are allowed to join their spouses in Germany. The German Government has indicated that they will “stick to their established legal positions”. Süddeutsche The UK government will collect price details from fuel retailers in 35 remote regions before seeking the right from the European Commission to implement reduced fuel duty. Mail EU ministers voted yesterday to impose sanctions on the Faroe Islands, after it unilaterally more than tripled its annual herring quota. FT WSJ Ukraine’s economy contracted 1.1% in the second quarter, year on year, according to government figures. Serhiy Arbuzov, First Deputy Prime Minister, said his government was hoping for a fresh $15bn bailout from the IMF. FT EUobserver reports that a free trade agreement between the EU, Peru and Colombia will enter into force today. EUobserver