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Daily Press Summary
Dutch and German finance ministers reject Greek calls for more time
Speaking at a press conference following his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, Eurogroup Chief Jean-Claude Juncker stressed his desire for Greece to remain in the eurozone but warned that this was the country’s “last chance” to prove its credibility by enacting significant structural reforms and spending cuts. Juncker also said that no decision would be taken on the Greek situation until the next EU/IMF/ECB troika report is released in October, a view which was later echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Greece is expected to request a two year delay in its fiscal consolidation plan, which EU officials estimate will cost an additional €20bn. The WSJ reports that Greece will raise this money by issuing more short term debt and by reallocating €8.2bn in IMF funds scheduled for use in 2015. However, in an interview with German radio Südwestrundfunk this morning, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said that giving Greece more time “is not a solution to the problem”, and added, “More time…means more money.” Dutch finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager took a similar line on the demands, saying, “If it concerns delaying reforms and budget cuts, then it is not a good idea.”
In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, Samaras said, “The Germans will get their money back – that I guarantee personally. And all the others will get their money back too. We will fulfil our commitments fully.” Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on BBC News and on US radio station KUOW discussing the crisis in Greece. Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe took part in a debate on BBC World Service looking at whether Greece should be given more time to implement its adjustment programme.
Kathimerini reports that, according to figures released by the Greek Finance Ministry, the government deficit for the first seven months of the year came in below its target, despite a fall in revenues. PAreports that Prime Minister David Cameron, along with the French and US Presidents, has welcomed the ECB’s decision to do what is necessary to save the euro, although they stressed that this does not negate the need for Greece to reform its economy
FT CityAM WSJ Telegraph Euractiv Independent Le Figaro EUobserver Kathimerini AFP Reuters TelegraphIrish Independent Corriere della Sera Le Monde Liberation Les Echos Sole 24 Ore Le Monde Sole 24 OreLe Monde Times: Leader FTD Süddeutsche Zeitung: Samaras La Tribune EUobserver 2 Kathimerini 2Kathimerini 3 Handelsblatt IHT BBC World Service Belfast Telegraph Mail Les Echos: Cazeneuve
Spain to give bank restructuring fund the power to wind up ailing entities
According to a draft bill seen by Expansión, the Spanish government is planning to give the national Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) the power to wind up banks which are either “unviable” or at risk of becoming unviable “in the foreseeable future.” Meanwhile, Cinco Días reports that experts from the EU/IMF/ECB Troika will travel to Madrid tomorrow to discuss with the government the details of the ‘bad bank’ which is to house the troubled real estate assets held by Spanish banks.
Expansión Expansión 2 El País El Mundo Cinco Días
The Mail reports that an ECJ ruling will force the UK to pay its winter fuel allowance to its 444,000 pensioners living in other EU states. The paper reports the UK will bring in a “temperature criteria” to get around the ruling.
Mail Mail: Leader
Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret said possible conflicts of interest mean the ECB should not have the final say at the eurozone’s new supra-national banking supervisor. “Supervisory powers imply far-reaching rights of intervention, and that requires direct democratic legitimation,” Dombret said.
AFP Reuters Bloomberg
Ahead of today’s meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande in Berlin, a French diplomatic source told AFP that the two leaders will only make a brief statement and will take no questions from journalists, despite Hollande proposing holding a longer press conference. Both governments have moved to deny any disagreements on the format chosen.
Le Figaro Les Echos Les Echos 2 La Tribune
The Irish Times reports that, according to credit rating agency Moody’s, Ireland would have a better chance of accessing the bond markets fully again at the end of its EU-IMF bailout programme if it took the precaution of seeking a follow-up programme.
Irish Times
Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has said the eurozone crisis is eroding Europe's geopolitical influence. “In political decision-making involving global economic matters, such as in G-20 and IMF [meetings], we have constantly been on the receiving end because of the debt crisis,” he said.
WSJ
Talking about the eurozone crisis to Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, Finnish Europe Minister Alexander Stubb warned, “Europe was divided for almost 50 years between East and West, and it is now unnecessary to divide it between North and South. We don’t want another Berlin Wall.”
Dagens Nyheter: Stubb Il Sole 24 Ore
Adam Posen, a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, has argued that a break-up of the eurozone would be “very ill-advised” and that Germany should “take a hit” via a debt restructuring because “It was German government decisions and German banks who lent the money to all these countries so they could buy German exports.”
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Thursday, 23 August 2012
A Dutch election primer
Juncker: This is Greece’s last chance to save its euro membership;
Posted by Britannia Radio at 19:16