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New on the Open Europe Blog What the Egyptian crisis tells us about the (in)effectiveness of EU aid 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
Daily Press Summary German Greens attack Merkel’s “intergovernmental” EU policies; Starbatty: Transfer union cannot be the future of Europe EUobserver reports that Jürgen Trittin, the Green party’s Chancellor candidate in the upcoming elections, yesterday argued that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “core belief” is in a more intergovernmental Europe, whereas the Greens “are for more powers to the European Commission and European Parliament.” He added that “It should be the European Commission, not national governments, in charge of what banks are wound down. Because the French won't do it for Paribas and neither will the Germans for Deutsche Bank.” Trittin also argued that “I think it was right to force Cyprus to raise its corporate tax rate [in return for a bailout] and I don’t think it was smart to do without this in the case of Ireland”. In an interview with Die Welt, Prominent German economist and Open Europe Berlin advisory board member Joachim Starbatty warns of an impending European catastrophe, arguing that “We are now faced with the question [do] we stay an association of friends or go into a transfer union in which the troubled debtor states are patronised and the creditor nations feel exploited…This cannot be the future of Europe.” EUobserver Irish Times Welt Bundesbank warns that new ECB policy has not ruled out interest rate increases if needed In its monthly bulletin, released yesterday, the Bundesbank said that the ECB’s new ‘forward guidance’ policy “does not mark a change in the ECB's monetary policy strategy,” adding that if inflation increases, the policy “by no means rules out an increase in the main interest rate.” The ECB refused to respond to the comments, while the euro gained strength off the back of them. Separately, the report also warned that German growth will drop back in the second half of this year despite outperforming over the past few months. Bundesbank monthly bulletin WSJ El Mundo Der Spiegel reports on figures released by the Federal Finance Ministry, which show that Germany expects to save almost €41bn between 2011- 2014 due to low interest rates on government debt. This does not mean, however, that Germany benefits from the eurozone crisis, reports FAZ, as the same low interest rates devalue the assets of German savers by billions. Spiegel FAZ: Steltzner FAZ DWN Kathimerini reports that the Greek government is set to launch a new PR campaign in an attempt to convince the public of the need for deep and widespread reform of the civil service. Meanwhile, Greek tourism receipts rose by 21% in June compared to the same time last year. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 The European Commission is to send a fact-finding mission to Gibraltar to investigate controls at the border. In the WSJ, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo argues that the “border controls are legal and do not contravene any Spanish or European laws.” FT BBC Times Telegraph Euractiv FAZ WSJ: Garcia-Margallo Independent IHT El País EUobserver El País 2Expansión Renato Schifani, the leader of Silvio Berlusconi’s PDL party in the Senate, said yesterday that it would be “impossible” for Italy’s ruling ‘grand coalition’ to remain in place if Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s Democratic Party voted to expel Berlusconi from parliament in September. Open Europe blog Il Sole 24 Ore Repubblica Corriere della Sera Reuters Italia EU foreign ministers will meet tomorrow to discuss the suspension of aid and arms sales to Egypt following the military-backed interim government’s crackdown on Muslim protesters. Open Europe blog WSJ Independent EUobserver European Voice In a presentation at the Presidential Palace entitled “France in 10 years’ time”, the ruling Socialist Party presented a programme aimed at securing full employment thanks to “a third industrial revolution”. President François Hollande argued that “Europe needs a strong France and the world an influential France.” FT The Cypriot Tourism Agency confirmed yesterday that tourist arrivals to the country have fallen by 6.6% compared to last year. Cyprus Mail EUobserver reports that the EU’s data regulator – the Article 29 Group composed of national data protection supervisors – will investigate whether US surveillance programmes such as PRISM have broken EU privacy rules. EUobserver The lower house of the Czech parliament will this afternoon vote on whether to dissolve itself and trigger fresh elections. The four parties backing the motion should have sufficient votes to reach the constitutional majority of 120 MPs needed for the vote to pass. iDnes Novinky CT Lidovky Bloomberg The Express reports that Home Office officials believe a European Court of Human Rights ruling requiring Certificates of Approval to be scrapped is to blame for a surge in ‘sham’ marriages. Express