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New on the Open Europe Blog Eurozone private sector growth beats expectations, but hides divergence  Open Europe Blog Greece almost as worried about a third bailout as Germany...  Open Europe Blog German parties scramble as third Greek bailout drops into the election campaign  Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary FT: Miliband facing internal pressure to pledge EU referendum The FT reports that Ed Miliband faces growing pressure from the shadow cabinet to announce a dramatic change of policy on Europe at next month’s Labour Party conference. The paper reports that Mr Miliband is being urged by colleagues to commit the party to a referendum on EU membership, if it wins the next elections, or to push David Cameron to hold a vote in 2014 or on election day in 2015. A new Populus poll has found that two-thirds of over-50s want a referendum on EU membership before the next general election. Asked how they would vote, 33% were in favour of staying in, 45% wanted out and 22% were undecided. Meanwhile, in an interview with the Evening Standard, Michael Spencer, Chief Executive of Icap, said he would overwhelmingly prefer the UK to succeed in renegotiating its position in Europe — but it should pull out if that were to prove impossible. FT FT 2 Mirror Mail Express Evening Standard: Spencer Dutch Finance Minister accepts “more will have to happen in Greece” but Austrian Finance Minister insists a third bailout is “not in discussion” Debate over the third Greek bailout moved beyond Germany yesterday, as Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said, “The problems in Greece won’t be solved in 2014, so something more will have to happen.” However, Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter took a different line, insisting a third package is “not in discussion”. Meanwhile, in an interview with Handelsblatt, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said the next Greek bailout will involve “far smaller sums than to date” – adding that any talk of another debt write-down is “extremely dangerous” and that the previous debt cut in Greece was a “one time action”. Speaking in yesterday’s Handeslbatt/Zeit Online debate on the future of the euro, CDU MP Ralph Brinkhaus said, “Greece is a story that will occupy us for another ten, 15, 20 years – if it goes well. We aren’t going to get the country on its legs overnight.” City AM Standard Volksrant Guardian Kathimerini Handelsblatt According to calculations of the Handelsblatt Research Institute, the share of Germany’s risk for eurozone bailout programmes agreed up until now totals €150bn – higher than the recent German government’s estimate of €95.3bn.  No link Economic data released yesterday showed that private sector growth in the eurozone reached its highest level for two years in August. The growth was led by German services and manufacturing sectors, both of which grew quickly. However, the same sectors were still contracting in France. Open Europe blog FT City AM The UK’s Department of Energy & Climate Change has asked the European Commission to propose draft legislation by the end of this year to strengthen the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) after 2020 in order to achieve a 40% cut in emissions by 2030.  Bloomberg The latest ZDF Politbarometer poll puts Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU on 41%, the SPD on 25%, the Greens on 13%, Die Linke on 8% and the FDP on 6%. All other parties, including the Pirate Party and the anti-euro AfD, are below 3%.  FAZ Süddeutsche Welt Reuters France In an interview with Italian magazine Tempi, Silvio Berlusconi suggests he could pull his party out of Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s coalition government if the Italian Senate votes to expel him from parliament next month. Such a move would trigger a political crisis and increase the risk of snap elections. Il Sole 24 Ore Corriere della Sera Repubblica FT Euractiv reports that Iceland has ended its EU membership application by dissolving its EU membership negotiation committee. The move follows legal advice that the outcome of the recent elections absolves Iceland from a 2009 parliamentary vote to launch talks. Euractiv Speaking to Bloomberg TV yesterday, Austrian Central Bank Governor Ewald Nowotny said that, given the recent “stream of good news” from the eurozone, he no longer sees “many arguments for an [ECB] rate cut.” Bloomberg The Croatian government has said it will change domestic laws to remove time limits on the application of the European Arrest Warrant, after EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding warned that EU funding for Croatia could be suspended unless the time limits were scrapped. European Voice