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Daily Press Summary Spiegel: ECB could buy bonds to limit difference in borrowing costs in the eurozone Der Spiegel reports that, according to unnamed sources, the ECB is considering a plan to cap the spreads between the borrowing costs of the stronger and weaker countries in the eurozone and could announce the move as early as its September meeting. The proposal would see the ECB buy up government bonds whenever the spreads exceeded an acceptable level – which would be determined internally by the ECB itself. The article suggests that, unlike under the current bond purchasing programme, the ECB would publish the amount of bonds bought from each country. Meanwhile, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said on the topic of greater ECB bond purchases, “If we start doing that, we won’t stop. It’s like when you start trying to solve your problems with drugs.” ECB Executive Board member Jörg Asmussen said that ECB intervention should come in tandem with bond purchases from the eurozone bailout funds and a reform programme for the recipient country. Separately, Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told Spanish news agency EFE that “the size and duration of [ECB] intervention [on the bond markets] cannot be made explicit”, because this would undermine its effectiveness.  Spiegel EUobserver Il Sole 24 Ore Repubblica La Stampa CityAM Handelsblatt leader El País El País 2 El Mundo El Economista El Economista 2 WSJ Manager Magazin FT FT: Fernández-Villaverde & Garicano  Mats Persson: UK needs a strategic response to eurozone banking union In the Times, Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson writes that a eurozone banking union poses two main risks to the UK and the City of London, “First, companies doing business in the euro area could be required to be supervised by eurozone authorities…The second risk is that the eurozone 17 start to write banking and financial rules for all 27 EU states.” Mats concludes that Britain needs to “think creatively about new institutional arrangements”, not only to guarantee the City’s position as a global entry point to the single market but also to create a space in Europe for those countries not intent on joining the single currency, and also for those that may choose to leave it. Times: Persson Schäuble: We want to help Greece but we can’t “throw money into a bottomless pit”; Juncker and Asmussen suggest a Greek exit could be “technically manageable” The Greek government is close to agreeing on its new package of €11.5bn in cuts, with only another €700m needing to be found according to Kathimerini. However, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that, according to an interim report by the EU/IMF/ECB Troika, Greece could actually need to cut up to €14bn to meet its deficit targets over the next two years. Ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s meeting with both French President François Hollande and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras this week, top members of the German ruling coalition reiterated their hard-line stance. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble warned, “I have always said that we can help the Greeks, but we cannot responsibly throw money into a bottomless pit.” CDU Parliamentary leader Volker Kauder told Der Spiegel, “There is no more latitude…The Greeks must at some point answer the question: Do we perhaps make even more of an effort, or do we leave the euro?” Meanwhile, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker, rejected the idea of Greece leaving the eurozone as “politically” impossible, although he reiterated that it would be “technically manageable”. The comments were echoed by ECB Executive Board member Jörg Asmussen in the Frankfurter Rundschauthis morning. Separately, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris argued that British businesses could withstand the shock of a Greek exit from the euro and concluded that such an exit “would leave a stronger, core eurozone, bring clarity to markets and mean that all economies can move on.” Kathimerini FT Kathimerini 2 Spiegel Reuters FT IHT Guardian EUobserver Telegraph Kathimerini 3Tiroler Tageszeitung: Juncker AFP Saturday’s Telegraph Reuters Bloomberg Sunday Telegraph Sunday Telegraph: Heaton-Harris Euractiv EUobserver AFP Standaard YLE FTD  Writing in the Telegraph, Open Europe Director Mats Persson looks at the likely political standoffs in the eurozone over the coming months and argues that “EU leaders may have to choose between maintaining the euro and maintaining national democracy as we know it. In either case, we have no idea how voters – in the North and South alike – will respond.” Telegraph: Persson  Emile Roemer, the leader of the Dutch Socialist Party – which is leading opinion polls ahead of the 12 September general elections – told reporters at the launch of his party’s election campaign, “I can’t say if we will be able to maintain the euro. The European economy is hurting too much from austerity.”  AFP WSJ WSJ 2 FT Irish Times In the WSJ, Simon Nixon cites Open Europe’s recent report on UK-EU trade and argues that mainstream opinion within the Conservative party, including the Fresh Start Group of MPs, favours remaining in the EU while seeking renegotiation. However, he concludes that David Cameron and his senior colleagues have “antagonised other member states with ill-judged advice on how to solve the euro crisis” which has made renegotiation more difficult.  WSJ: Nixon Open Europe research Writing on Dutch website De Dagelijkse Standaard, Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe suggests that supporters of further European integration “should take note that the euro project might endanger the achievements of the EU…Politicians who really care about the EU have no other choice than at least consider alternatives to current policies.” De Dagelijkse Standaard: Cleppe Mayor of Madrid Ana Botella – a member of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s party – toldEuropa Press in an interview that, in light of the economic circumstances, “It looks inevitable” that Spain will have to request “some form of bailout”.  El Economista Conservative Home notes that the Local Government Association has blamed “tortuous” EU procurement rules for “chocking off opportunities to save taxpayers’ money and promote local growth.” Conservative Home LGA  The Mail reports that a third of the fish caught in British waters are being landed by trawlers owned abroad but flying British flags. Mail EUobserver According to Gernot Pehnelt and Christoph Vietze, two German researchers at the Friedrich Schiller University, “the ‘sustainability’ of rapeseed biodiesel in the interpretation of the [EU's] Renewable Energy Directive is at best questionable and in most scenarios simply unjustifiable”, reports the Guardian. Guardian

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