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Daily Press Summary Italian minister: There was a plan ready to bring the government down, but it failed Italian Constitutional Reform Minister Gaetano Quagliariello, a senior member of Silvio Berlusconi’s party, told Il Corriere della Sera, “There was an operation ready to put an end to the [Italian] government on Sunday. An operation that failed” – but he stopped short of providing further details. Meanwhile, Berlusconi’s parliamentary whips held talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano yesterday. The Italian press suggests they discussed possible ways to ‘save’ Berlusconi from being forced out of politics as a result of his tax fraud conviction. Corriere della Sera: Quagliariello Repubblica Repubblica 2 La Stampa La Stampa 2 Süddeutsche Writing in the Times, Business for Britain Chief Executive Matthew Elliott argues that in any UK-EU renegotiation, “Britain needs to be represented at the table by businesspeople who have had to struggle with EU red tape”, citing Open Europe Chairman Lord Leach of Fairford as an example. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel is quoted by Financial News discussing the likely appointment of David Cameron’s advisor on European issues Ivan Rogers as the UK’s ambassador to the EU. Times: Elliott Financial News The IMF yesterday released its latest review of the French economy which argued that the “pace of [fiscal] adjustment should be eased in 2014” but also called for “reforms on a broader front to improve competitiveness and growth prospects". The fund also stated that it expects unemployment to rise further and remain elevated for some time. IMF press release IMF report Reuters Telegraph FAZ Le Figaro Le Monde Speaking to Bloomberg yesterday, Greek Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said that, “The understanding is that if Greece satisfies all the preconditions then our partners will agree to cover the financing gap, so this is not a great concern to us”. Separately, outstanding taxes owed to the Greek state increased by €3.7b this year, reaching €59.8bn at the end of June. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 The FT reports that the UK Government is looking into whether the increased border checks being made by Spanish authorities on cars as they try to cross from Spain into Gibraltar violate EU free movement rules. A European Commission spokesman said yesterday that Spain has the right to carry out border checks, as Gibraltar is not part of the passport-free Schengen area, but these checks have to be “proportionate”, reports El País. FT Telegraph Irish Times El País Spanish business daily El Economista notes that unit labour costs in Spain have fallen by 7.1% in real terms since 2010. Open Europe research: Internal Devaluation El Economista   Süddeutsche Zeitung reports that the leadership of Die Linke has decided that the party will not support a SPD-Green minority government in the event that neither the current CDU/CSU-FDP coalition nor the opposition parties are able to secure an overall parliamentary majority in the upcoming Bundestag elections. Süddeutsche CityAM reports that the European Banking Authority, the EU’s banking watchdog, has suggested that Britain’s leverage ratio cap could serve as a continent-wide model in order to reduce risk in the banking sector. CityAM The FT reports that EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is may be less minded to initiate a trade dispute against Chinese telecommunications companies if European companies are awarded a “healthy share” of a huge contract to build a next-generation wireless network in China. FT Following the EU’s decision to cap bank bonuses at 100% of salary or 200% with approval from shareholders, HSBC may increase salaries significantly to compete with rivals outside of the EU, the Guardian reports. Guardian Independent Croatian newspaper Vecernji List reports that Germany has suggested that Croatia’s EU voting rights could be suspended if it refuses to repeal a law passed days before its EU accession, which blocks the extradition of individuals to other EU member states to face charges relating to crimes committed before the introduction of the European Arrest Warrant in 2002. Vecernji List Bild’s EU correspondent Dirk Hoeren noted on Twitter that last year, Greece did not report a single case of fraud related to EU funds. OLAF report OLAF table EC press release 1 EC press release 2 Twitter: Dirk Hoeren

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