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New on the Open Europe Blog And Italy's new President is...the old one! What happens next? Open Europe Blog Lord Renwick: If Margaret Thatcher were Prime Minister today she would seek major reform of the EU before contemplating withdrawal Open Europe Blog Game on - UK Government launches legal challenge against controversial EU Financial Transaction Tax  Open Europe Blog
Open Europe will be hosting an event tomorrow afternoon, entitled “Smarter regulation - can Brussels deliver?”, with a keynote speech by Michael Fallon, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise and Minister of State for Energy. For more information contact Sophie Horsford atsophie@openeurope.org.uk or call the office on 0044 (0)207 197 2333. Open Europe events   Daily Press Summary UK launches legal challenge against controversial EU financial transaction tax; EU officials warn proposal could force up cost of government debtGeorge Osborne announced a legal challenge against the EU’s financial transaction tax (FTT) on Friday, saying that he was “concerned about the extra-territorial aspects” of the proposal and how British firms would be caught by the tax. Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Luc Frieden over the weekend did not rule out joining the British legal challenge. Meanwhile, EUobserver reports that a memo drafted by civil servants in the EU’s Council of Ministers indicates cooling enthusiasm among the 11 EU countries pursuing the FTT. They warn that it could “create an inappropriate burden on short term bonds, repo operations etc, compared to long term bonds.” Open Europe Director Mats Persson was quoted in Saturday’s Times as saying, “Should the UK lose its legal challenge, the charge will be that the UK Government is powerless to defend British interests ... which would severely undermine the case for continued EU membership.” Open Europe’s flash analysis of the legal challenge was also cited in a Telegraph leader and by Sky News. FAZ’s Economics Editor Heike Göbel argues that, “one should cross their fingers for the British. Due to its risks and side effects, the planned tax on financial companies will also wreak havoc in Germany”. Open Europe analysis Times Telegraph Bloomberg Spiegel La Stampa Reuters Italia EUobserver FAZ: GöbelSüddeutsche Open Europe Berlin Director Michael Wohlgemuth: Europe urgently needs more direct democracy, decisions must be taken closer to citizensIn a full-page op-ed for leading German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Open Europe Berlin Director Michael Wohlgemuth and Lars Feld, Director of the Eucken institute and member of Germany’s council of economic experts explore ways to address the EU’s “democratic deficit”, arguing that EU leaders too often make decisions involving transfer of powers to the EU that “do not reflect the interest of the people”. Looking at the Swiss model of direct democracy, they argue that “Switzerland shows that the more citizens can directly decide on policy and control the state, the slimmer it is and the lower its debts”.  They conclude however that EU-wide referendum on Eurobonds or tax harmonisation would not work in the absence of a European demos. FAZ Open Europe Berlin Blog Open Europe Berlin “Business for Britain” launches “Business for Britain”, a campaign group calling on the UK Government to renegotiate its relationship with Europe, will launch today. A joint statement, signed by 500 business people, says: “As business leaders and entrepreneurs responsible for millions of British jobs, we believe that the Government is right to seek a new deal for the EU and for the UK’s role in Europe. Far from being a threat to our economic interests, a flexible, competitive Europe, with more powers devolved from Brussels, is essential for growth, jobs and access to markets.” FT City AM Mail BBC Times Telegraph City AM: Heath Times: Caudwell Conservative Home Conservative Home: Halsall New poll for Handelsblatt Online: 19.2% of respondents would vote for anti-euro party; Schäuble: Every vote will be decisive in September’s electionsA poll by the market research institute Mafo for Handelsblatt Online found that 19.2% of respondents said that they would vote for the new German anti-euro party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Several German polling experts are quoted as saying they believe AfD has a good chance of getting past the 5% threshold in September’s federal elections. Asked about the threat posed to the coalition by AfD in an interview with Wirtschaftswoche, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble replied that “every vote which we do not get in the federal elections could turn out to be the one that deprives the CDU, CSU and FDP of the majority”. In an interview withBild, FDP leader Philipp Rösler dismissed suggestions that many former FDP voters would vote for AfD, arguing “I cannot envisage that people would put their trust in a party that puts everything on one issue and plays with their fears and anxieties.” EUobserver Handelsblatt Süddeutsche Bild Giorgio Napolitano becomes first Italian President to be elected for second term;Giorgio Napolitano became the first Italian President to be elected for a second term on Saturday. Paving the way for the formation of a national unity government, the presidential election has thrown Italy’s centre-left into chaos, with Pier Luigi Bersani stepping down as leader of the Democratic Party, to the advantage of Silvio Berlusconi. There were protests in Rome over the weekend. Beppe Grillo described Napolitano’s re-election as “a clever little institutional coup”. Repubblica La Stampa Times FAZ FAZ 2 FT WSJ Sole 24 Ore Le Monde Welt: Schmidt FT: Squinzi Sole 24 Ore 2 A historic agreement was reached between Serbia and Kosovo on Friday with the help of EU mediation. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacid said that the accord was “the most favourable document for the Serbian side so far,” and that his country would now seek a date for EU-accession talks.Euractiv European Voice Kurier Kurier II Standard Reuters Eurogroup Head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that 80% to 90% of banking union can be completed without treaty change on Saturday. Although Germany believes a single resolution mechanism needs an EU treaty change.Reuters FT Editorial Russia looks to take a more active role in Cyprus discussionsRussian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that any easing of the terms of Russia’s €2.5bn loan to Cyprus must see it given a greater role in discussions over the country’s future and ensure its interests are protected over the weekend. Separately, on Saturday Cyprus extended its capital controls for a further seven days. Yle reports that on Friday the Finnish government survived a no confidence vote over its handling of the Cypriot bailout. The Austrian parliament will vote on the Cypriot-bailout today. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel is quoted by Kathimerini discussing whether the Cypriot bailout is doomed to fail. Cyprus Mail Famagusta Gazette Presse Presse 2 Standard YLE Kathimerini The Spanish government will unveil its revised budget plans for the next few years on Friday. In an interview with the WSJ, Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said, “What we are going to do now is a strike a better balance between deficit reduction and economic growth” – suggesting an easing up of austerity. WSJ Expansión 1% of Romanians and 4.2% of Bulgarians say they were looking for work in the UK in 2013 or 2014. However most people interested in coming to the UK said they would only move with a firm offer of work a new poll for BBC Newsnight has found. BBC BBC 2 Times Mail The Times notes that plans by the Treasury to offer shares in Royal Bank of Scotland at a discount could fall foul of the European Commission if the sale is restricted to UK taxpayers. Times The Independent reports that legislation implementing the EU’s directive on cybercrime will force companies to tell regulators every time they suffer a data breach, which could impose extra costs on small businesses. Independent The FT reports on a study by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority that finds that if the EU introduced a harmonised risk-free discount rate to calculate pension scheme deficits, in the same manner of Insolvency II, deficits in UK schemes would rise from €350bn to €527bn. The paper quotes UK Pensions Minister Steve Webb MP as urging the Commission to “abandon these reckless plans”.FT