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New on the Open Europe Blog German growth leads the eurozone out of recession but can it really lead the eurozone out of its crisis? Open Europe Blog Boom! Merkel opens up for the return of powers from Brussels  Open Europe Blog See you in Court? UK-Spanish dispute over Gibraltar rumbles on Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Merkel: “I don’t see [another] debt haircut for Greece”, such a move could “unleash uncertainty” in the eurozone  In an interview with FAZ on Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, “I don’t see [another] debt haircut for Greece…and it always astounds me how carelessly this topic is discussed. Such a step could unleash uncertainty in other parts of Europe.” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble backed her position, insisting another debt write down “won’t happen”.  Meanwhile, the Greek government yesterday dismissed the Chairman of the Greek privatisation agency, Stelios Stavridis, for “ethical reasons.” It emerged that Stavridis had travelled on holiday in the plane of a large investor who was recently involved in purchasing a stake in the state gaming monopoly, OPAP – a deal which was done through the privatisation agency and is yet to be fully ratified by the Greek parliament. Separately, the government has also announced it will lift the ban on banks foreclosing on the homes which back bad loans, although the measure may struggle to get parliamentary approval.  FAZ: Merkel Zeit Online Bild Kathimerini FT CityAM Kathimerini 2 Handeslblatt Kathimerini 3 FT 2 Dutch minister calls on EU to deal with the “negative consequences” of free movement  Writing in De Volkskrant on Saturday, Dutch Social Affairs Minister Lodewijk Asscher called on the EU to deal with the “negative consequences” of unprecedented levels of labour migration within the bloc. “In the Netherlands, a 'Code Orange' is issued as the water in the rivers reach an alarmingly high level. It is now time for a similar alarm, namely about the sometimes negative consequences of the free movement of persons within the EU,” Asscher wrote. Reuters EUobserver Open Europe research Open Europe research 2 Volkskrant Trouw Elsevier Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe is quoted by Spanish daily La Razón saying that no great change can be expected for eurozone politics after the upcoming German elections, and that while peripheral countries could benefit from lower interest rates by the ECB, this would anger the Bundesbank. La Razón Saturday’s FAZ reported that the German Chancellery have sought to play down the significance of Merkel’s comments about the possibility of returning some powers back to member states. The article quotes Open Europe Director Mats Persson discussing the issue. Writing in theTelegraph, however, Daniel Johnson, editor of Standpoint magazine, argues that “for a German leader… to talk openly about restoring powers to national governments is unprecedented.”  FAZ Telegraph: Johnson Guardian: Leader Sun on Sunday: Mensch Welt: Alexander Writing for Belgian news magazine Knack, Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe argues that German Chancellor Angela Merkel should start a public debate on EU competences that could be handed back to the member states. Knack A new Emnid poll for Bild am Sonntag has the CDU/CSU on 40%, the SPD on 24%, the Green party on 12%, Die Linke on 8%, the FDP on 6%, and the Pirate party on 4%. This would give an absolute majority for the current CDU/CSU and FDP coalition. FAZ EU foreign ministers will meet later this week to discuss how to use the EU’s €5bn package of grants and loans to Egypt to quell escalating violence in the country. In response, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy warned that while Egypt is “not looking to replace one friend with another,” it has “options." FT WSJ Reuters Reuters 2 Euractiv European Voice Guardian La Tribune El País According to data published by the Bank of Spain this morning, Spanish banks’ bad loan ratio rose to 11.61% in June – marking a new all-time record. El Economista Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta yesterday called for a new electoral law to be adopted by October. Italy’s existing electoral law was referred to the country’s Constitutional Court earlier this year and may be declared unconstitutional when a ruling is issued in December. Il Sole 24 Ore Repubblica La Stampa The WSJ reports that Russia is moving to clamp down on imports from Ukraine if it signs an association deal with the EU rather than join its own planned customs union.  WSJ According to a new poll published by Greek daily To Vima yesterday, only 33.2% of Greeks have a positive image of Germany. In 2005, Germany was the most popular foreign country among Greeks with a 78.4% approval rate, notes Die Welt.  Il Sole 24 Ore Welt Horst Seehofer, the CSU-party chairman and President of Barvaria, has encouraged unemployed European youths to migrate and work in Bavaria in an interview with Die Welt am Sonntag. “We should educate these young people, broaden their knowledge of German, and give them a chance with us. That would be in everyone's interest,” he said. Welt am Sonntag In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo called Spanish actions in the on-going dispute with the territory “totally excessive” and blamed the Spanish government for exaggerating the issue to deflect from its alleged corruption scandal. WSJ BBC El Pais Süddeutsche Süddeutsche FAZ The FT Weekend reported that the EU has asked the WTO to resolve a dispute over allegedly illegal Chinese duties imposed on EU steel pipes. FT European Voice Martin Pecina, former Czech Interior Minister, suggested over the weekend that the lower house of the Czech parliament may not dissolve itself as expected tomorrow but could wait until September. Meanwhile, Czech daily Pravo reports that the former Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, is “one step away from a return to politics.”  Prague Monitor Lidovky Pravo SME Saturday’s Mail reports that European law could put an end to weekly bin collections due to EU environmental legislation. Mail