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New on the Open Europe Blog Lord Leach: EU reform is the best option, even for us sceptics Open Europe Blog Splits in Germany (and beyond) over banking union?  Open Europe Blog Going global: Germany is slowly shifting its trade away from the EU  Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary Lord Leach: EU reform is the best option, even for us scepticsIn the Times, Open Europe Chairman Lord Leach writes, “The majority of the public, the political class and business, as shown by multiple polls, are sceptical about the EU but rather than leaving it they want a new deal to reduce its power over their lives.” He argues that “none of the recent ‘outers’ has set out a credible alternative.” He argues that German Chancellor Angela Merkel knows that “without radical reform the risk of Britain leaving is huge” and “Both David Cameron and Chancellor Merkel would therefore be playing with fire if they tried to buy off the British electorate with trivial concessions, as Harold Wilson did in 1975.” He adds, “The first necessary step to a new order would be to redefine the EU as the Single Market”, including safeguards for non-eurozone member states. “The next step would be to strengthen the powers of Westminster over EU decisions.” He concludes, “We cannot go on as we are, firefighting crises and ill-judged regulations inside a Union that has become the world’s economic laggard. Most of the necessary reforms have been identified and discussed across the continent. Now we will have to see whether Germany and its Nordic allies will be willing or able to deliver them. None of us knows what will happen next. There is still all to play for, and this complex game with so many other players should not be reduced today to a black-and-white argument about staying on the pitch or going home.” Times: Leach Open Europe blog  Conservatives bring forward publication of draft bill on EU referendum; Obama: “It makes sense to try to fix a very important relationship before breaking it off”The Conservative party will today publish a draft bill which would legally enshrine the EU referendum pledged by Prime Minister David Cameron for 2017. Foreign Secretary William Hague said on the BBC’s Today programme that the move would “underline” and “entrench” the party’s commitment to a referendum while showing that the other parties are “either setting it aside or not sure what to do with it”. A senior party source is quoted in the Sun saying “We will examine all opportunities to bring this Bill before Parliament, including as a Private Member’s Bill.” Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson appeared on BBC Newsnight and Open Europe Research Director Stephen Booth appeared on BBC News discussing the parliamentary debate about the referendum. At a joint press conference with David Cameron in Washington yesterday, US President Barack Obama said that while EU membership was a matter for the British people to decide themselves, “David’s basic point that you probably want to see if you can fix what’s broken in a very important relationship before you break it off, makes some sense to me.” A new ICM poll for the Guardian has all three major parties losing 4% to UKIP with the party on a new high of 18% behind Labour on 34%, the Conservatives on 28%, and ahead of the Liberal Democrats on 11%. UKIP leader Nigel Farage suggested that MPs from other parties who shared UKIP’s aims could run as joint candidates at the next election. Meanwhile, the RMT transport union yesterday called for the UK to leave the EU and criticised the media “for only using right-wing voices from the anti-EU side of the debate”. Open Europe’s Christopher Howarth writes in Spanish daily La Razon that “If the UK manages to secure reforms and decentralisation within the EU that makes it easier for non-Euro states to remain inside then the British people are likely to wish to remain as members. If not then the UK’s EU future is less certain.” FT CityAM FT 2 FT: Ganesh FT 3 CityAM: Elliott CityAM: Heath Times Times: Sylvester Times 2Independent Guardian Guardian 2 Telegraph BBC Telegraph 2 BBC Telegraph: Brogan Telegraph: RaabConservative Home: Goodman Sun Sun: Leader Mail Mail: Leader Express Express 2 RMT press release La Razon: Howarth  Writing in the Sunday Times, economist Constantin Gurdgiev cites Open Europe’s recent reporton services in the EU which found that Ireland could gain up to 2.1% of GDP from enhanced liberalisation of trade in services beyond the current services directive.  Open Europe research: Services liberalisation Sunday Times Splits emerge across Europe on speed and structure of eurozone banking union  Policymakers from across Europe yesterday revealed divisions over the plans for a eurozone banking union, following German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble's article in the FT arguing that treaty change was needed for a full banking union. German ECB Executive Board Member Jörg Asmussen responded by calling for a full “common, joint [bank] resolution fund” to be in place by the summer of 2014. French Economy Minister Pierre Moscovici seemed to echo this view saying, “We should go as far as possible within the current treaties and then think about what could require a change in treaty. Our belief is that we can go very far.”  Open Europe blog WSJ Reuters Irish Independent Elsevier CNBC Le Soir Welt Eurozone approves release of funds for Greece but Troika warns of potential need for new cuts At yesterday’s meeting, the Eurogroup approved the release of the next two tranches of Greek bailout funding, amounting to €7.5bn, but stressed more structural reforms would be needed before the second tranche is released in June. Kathimerini reports that the latest draft report by the EU/IMF/ECB Troika sees a larger “fiscal gap” for Greece in 2015/16, meaning further savings of up to 4% of GDP could be needed, although the Greek government insisted that this would not mean more cuts. The Eurogroup also agreed to the release of the first €2bn tranche of funds for Cyprus. Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 Le Monde El País FAZ Cyprus Mail Cyprus Mail 2 Famagusta Gazette Famagusta Gazette 2 New poll: Only 41% of French have “favourable” view of the EUAccording to a new Pew Research poll, only 41% of French voters have a “favourable” view of the EU – a 19% decline from last year’s survey – compared to 60% of Germans, 58% of Italians and 43% of Britons. The poll also shows that only 11% of Italians and Greeks think European integration has strengthened their countries’ economies – compared to 54% of Germans. However, support for the euro remains high. 69% of Greeks, 67% of Spaniards, 66% of Germans and 64% of Italians want to keep the single currency. Le Monde Pew Research poll FT WSJ Welt The German annual CPI inflation rate dipped to its lowest level in two and a half years of 1.2% annually. Reuters Deutschland Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said yesterday, “It seems to me that if we had one more sale of Irish paper, we would be eligible for OMT [the ECB’s bond buying programme],” adding that it was certainly something which Ireland will “consider”.  Irish Times Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo has this morning urged the ECB to show “a more decisive attitude to get out of the [eurozone] crisis.” However, Deutsche Bank CEO and President of the Association of German Banks Jürgen Fitschen has issued a warning that, "The ECB’s cheap liquidity isn't healthy…We should move quickly to positive real interest rates".El País El Mundo Expansión Cinco Días Spiegel According to a new TNS poll, 62% of Latvians are opposed to adopting the euro. Latvia is scheduled to join the eurozone on 1 January 2014.HLN EUobserver Luxembourg has set back efforts to overhaul EU tax-sharing rules by saying that it will not back an anti-avoidance initiative to be discussed at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels today. The announcement came just as Austria was showing signs of dropping its staunch opposition to the plans.FT Presse Standard Kurier EUObserver EU Observer EU Observer 2 The German government is concerned that EU import duties on Chinese solar panels will cause Chinese retaliation against European firms, reports DPA. Separately, the WSJ reports that EU authorities may start investigations into alleged unfair practices by Chinese telecoms firms. WSJ Italian prosecutors have requested a six-year prison sentence and a lifelong ban from holding public office for Silvio Berlusconi in the ‘Ruby’ trial.La Stampa Repubblica Reuters IHT Guardian Il Sole 24 Ore Following the call by regional CDU faction chiefs to take the new anti-euro party ‘Alternative für Deutschland’ (AfD) seriously, the CDU general secretary Hermann Gröhe says that the response to eurosceptical voices should be to commit to a clear pro-Europe and pro-euro path. The leader of CDU’s sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), Horst Seehofer points out that his party advocates “not more Europe, but a better Europe”. FAZ Süddeutsche Handelsblatt Germany and France plan to launch a "New Deal for Europe" against youth unemployment at the end of this month. According to Germany's daily Rheinische Post, billions of euros in loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) would be used to leverage the €6bn, previously agreed by the EU to combat youth unemployment, to offer loans worth a total of as much as €60bn.Zeit