New on the Open Europe Blog
The 2014-2020 EU budget: The deal that never was?
Open Europe Blog
AfD surges ahead... in the social media popularity stakes
Open Europe Blog
EU edges towards compromise on bank recovery and resolution plans
Open Europe Blog
Open Europe Blog
AfD surges ahead... in the social media popularity stakes
Open Europe Blog
EU edges towards compromise on bank recovery and resolution plans
Open Europe Blog
Daily Press Summary
Democratic Left could quit Greece’s ruling coalition over public broadcaster row;
IMF to suspend bailout payments unless funding shortfall is pluggedGreece’s coalition leaders failed once again to reach an agreement on the future of public broadcaster ERT yesterday, despite Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offering to re-hire as many as 2,000 old employees. Kathimerini reports that the Democratic Left, one of the junior coalition partners, could pull out of the coalition as early as today, leaving the government with a majority of only 153 seats out of 300 in the Greek parliament.
Meanwhile, the FT reports that the IMF could suspend its payments to Greece by the end of next month unless eurozone leaders plug a €3bn-€4bn shortfall in the country’s rescue package. Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem denied the reports, adding that “the [Greek] programme is fully financed for at least another year.”
FT FT 2 WSJ WSJ 2 City AM BBC Reuters Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 Kathimerini 4 Kathimerini 5 Süddeutsche FAZ FAZ 2 La Tribune El País Il Sole 24 Ore Le Monde Economist EFE
Eurozone reaches compromise to allow ESM to directly recapitalise ailing banksEurozone finance ministers yesterday reached a compromise which will allow the ESM, the eurozone bailout fund, to directly recapitalise ailing banks. Under the agreement, the ESM can only be used to recapitalise banks if national governments contribute up to 20% of the funds. Furthermore, ESM funds can only be injected once said bank has reached a core tier one capital buffer of 4.5% - any recapitalisation needed to reach this level will also fall on national governments. The amount of ESM funds available for direct bank recapitalisations is limited to €60bn, although the ESM can increase this if necessary.
Importantly, the fund can be used to retroactively takeover the burden of previous bank bailouts, although this will be decided on a case-by-case basis. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble described this as “a concession to our Irish friends”. The plan sees the tools being available from the second half of 2014, once the ECB has taken over the role as single banking supervisor in the eurozone.
FT WSJ El Mundo Le Monde Le Figaro Expansión Irish Independent Reuters Reuters2 Reuters DeutschlandEUObserver FAZ Süddeutsche Euractiv European Voice
MEPs accuse Irish presidency of “manipulation” and “blackmail” over EU’s long-term budget negotiationsNegotiations over the EU’s 2014-2020 long-term budget between MEPs and member states descended into chaos yesterday after a number of MEPs rejected the claim made by the Irish Presidency that a tentative agreement had been reached. German MEP Reimer Böge (CDU) resigned from his position as one of the Parliament’s rapporteurs, accusing the Irish Presidency of “manipulation”, while Austrian MEP Hannes Swoboda, leader of the Socialists and Democrats faction, described the situation as “blackmail”.
Separately, Dutch MP Mark Verheijen, the EU spokesman of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party, has demanded a financial analysis of the EU’s long term budget in order to gauge its economic effects on competiveness of both the EU and the Netherlands, a move also supported by the VVD’s social-democratic coalition partners.
Open Europe blog Irish Times Irish Independent European Voice FAZ Welt Welt: Eder ND EUObserver
Writing in House Magazine, Open Europe Research Director Stephen Booth argues that “the greatest risk to continuing practical police cooperation with our European neighbours is that by imposing EU-federalist solutions on an increasingly sceptical public, the electorate will throw the baby out with the bathwater – rejecting the EU entirely.”House Magazine Open Europe: Co-operation not control Open Europe: An unavoidable choice
Cyprus received little support for any change to the terms of its bailout at yesterday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter summed it up saying, “I cannot imagine there is an alternative proposal”. Open Europe’s coverage of the letter from the Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades to the EU/IMF/ECB Troika was cited by City AM.Cyprus Mail City AM
IMF to suspend bailout payments unless funding shortfall is pluggedGreece’s coalition leaders failed once again to reach an agreement on the future of public broadcaster ERT yesterday, despite Prime Minister Antonis Samaras offering to re-hire as many as 2,000 old employees. Kathimerini reports that the Democratic Left, one of the junior coalition partners, could pull out of the coalition as early as today, leaving the government with a majority of only 153 seats out of 300 in the Greek parliament.
Meanwhile, the FT reports that the IMF could suspend its payments to Greece by the end of next month unless eurozone leaders plug a €3bn-€4bn shortfall in the country’s rescue package. Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem denied the reports, adding that “the [Greek] programme is fully financed for at least another year.”
FT FT 2 WSJ WSJ 2 City AM BBC Reuters Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 Kathimerini 4 Kathimerini 5 Süddeutsche FAZ FAZ 2 La Tribune El País Il Sole 24 Ore Le Monde Economist EFE
Eurozone reaches compromise to allow ESM to directly recapitalise ailing banksEurozone finance ministers yesterday reached a compromise which will allow the ESM, the eurozone bailout fund, to directly recapitalise ailing banks. Under the agreement, the ESM can only be used to recapitalise banks if national governments contribute up to 20% of the funds. Furthermore, ESM funds can only be injected once said bank has reached a core tier one capital buffer of 4.5% - any recapitalisation needed to reach this level will also fall on national governments. The amount of ESM funds available for direct bank recapitalisations is limited to €60bn, although the ESM can increase this if necessary.
Importantly, the fund can be used to retroactively takeover the burden of previous bank bailouts, although this will be decided on a case-by-case basis. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble described this as “a concession to our Irish friends”. The plan sees the tools being available from the second half of 2014, once the ECB has taken over the role as single banking supervisor in the eurozone.
FT WSJ El Mundo Le Monde Le Figaro Expansión Irish Independent Reuters Reuters2 Reuters DeutschlandEUObserver FAZ Süddeutsche Euractiv European Voice
MEPs accuse Irish presidency of “manipulation” and “blackmail” over EU’s long-term budget negotiationsNegotiations over the EU’s 2014-2020 long-term budget between MEPs and member states descended into chaos yesterday after a number of MEPs rejected the claim made by the Irish Presidency that a tentative agreement had been reached. German MEP Reimer Böge (CDU) resigned from his position as one of the Parliament’s rapporteurs, accusing the Irish Presidency of “manipulation”, while Austrian MEP Hannes Swoboda, leader of the Socialists and Democrats faction, described the situation as “blackmail”.
Separately, Dutch MP Mark Verheijen, the EU spokesman of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party, has demanded a financial analysis of the EU’s long term budget in order to gauge its economic effects on competiveness of both the EU and the Netherlands, a move also supported by the VVD’s social-democratic coalition partners.
Open Europe blog Irish Times Irish Independent European Voice FAZ Welt Welt: Eder ND EUObserver
Writing in House Magazine, Open Europe Research Director Stephen Booth argues that “the greatest risk to continuing practical police cooperation with our European neighbours is that by imposing EU-federalist solutions on an increasingly sceptical public, the electorate will throw the baby out with the bathwater – rejecting the EU entirely.”House Magazine Open Europe: Co-operation not control Open Europe: An unavoidable choice
Cyprus received little support for any change to the terms of its bailout at yesterday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter summed it up saying, “I cannot imagine there is an alternative proposal”. Open Europe’s coverage of the letter from the Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades to the EU/IMF/ECB Troika was cited by City AM.Cyprus Mail City AM
Finland’s largest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat cites Open Europe’s analysis of the different possible outcomes of the German Constitutional Court ruling.
Open Europe analysis Open Europe blog Helsingin Sanomat
In an interview with Conservative Home, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said, “Everybody gets very excited about in or out [of the EU]…There are just certain activities which are not appropriately conducted at continental level…There’s everything to play for in the renegotiation.”
Conservative Home
A Times leader argues that “Europe’s refusal to embrace GM crops is hypocritical, anti-scientific and potentially disastrous for the developing world.”Times: Leader
At a meeting of EU ambassadors yesterday, Germany blocked the opening of a new chapter in Turkey’s EU membership talks. Turkey’s EU minister Egemen Bagis responded by telling reporters that “If Mrs Merkel looks into it she will see that those who mess about with Turkey do not have an auspicious end.”
FT Reuters Spiegel Die Presse EUObserver Open Europe Events
Daniela Santanchè, a senior MP from Silvio Berlusconi’s party, warned yesterday that if a planned VAT increase kicks in on 1 July, “There will no longer be a government.”Corriere della Sera La Stampa Il Fatto Quotidiano
FAZ reports that a survey of members of the Economic Council of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party – a grouping of around 12,000 entrepreneurs, executives and professionals – has found that 75% are dissatisfied with the government’s energy policies, in particular its legislation on renewables.
FAZ
Ten EU member states, including the UK and the Netherlands, have warned the European Commission not to continue with its plan to introduce a 40% women's quota in company boards by 2020.Elsevier
According to a new poll by the Catalan government’s pollster CEO, 55.6% of Catalans would vote in favour of independence in a referendum. Only 23.4% would vote against, while 15.3% of respondents said they would not vote.
La Vanguardia
Following talks in Beijing on Friday, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and his Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng said that they want to work towards a mutually acceptable agreement to resolve the recent China/EU solar-panel trade dispute.
HBVL EC Press Release
Latest calculations from the French National Statistics Institute estimate that France will be in recession this year with a 0.1% decline in GDP.
La Tribune
The European Parliament's Environmental Committee passed a revised measure to ‘backload’ allowances and boost its beleaguered Emissions Trading Scheme on Wednesday, reports UPI.
UPI
Open Europe analysis Open Europe blog Helsingin Sanomat
In an interview with Conservative Home, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said, “Everybody gets very excited about in or out [of the EU]…There are just certain activities which are not appropriately conducted at continental level…There’s everything to play for in the renegotiation.”
Conservative Home
A Times leader argues that “Europe’s refusal to embrace GM crops is hypocritical, anti-scientific and potentially disastrous for the developing world.”Times: Leader
At a meeting of EU ambassadors yesterday, Germany blocked the opening of a new chapter in Turkey’s EU membership talks. Turkey’s EU minister Egemen Bagis responded by telling reporters that “If Mrs Merkel looks into it she will see that those who mess about with Turkey do not have an auspicious end.”
FT Reuters Spiegel Die Presse EUObserver Open Europe Events
Daniela Santanchè, a senior MP from Silvio Berlusconi’s party, warned yesterday that if a planned VAT increase kicks in on 1 July, “There will no longer be a government.”Corriere della Sera La Stampa Il Fatto Quotidiano
FAZ reports that a survey of members of the Economic Council of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party – a grouping of around 12,000 entrepreneurs, executives and professionals – has found that 75% are dissatisfied with the government’s energy policies, in particular its legislation on renewables.
FAZ
Ten EU member states, including the UK and the Netherlands, have warned the European Commission not to continue with its plan to introduce a 40% women's quota in company boards by 2020.Elsevier
According to a new poll by the Catalan government’s pollster CEO, 55.6% of Catalans would vote in favour of independence in a referendum. Only 23.4% would vote against, while 15.3% of respondents said they would not vote.
La Vanguardia
Following talks in Beijing on Friday, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and his Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng said that they want to work towards a mutually acceptable agreement to resolve the recent China/EU solar-panel trade dispute.
HBVL EC Press Release
Latest calculations from the French National Statistics Institute estimate that France will be in recession this year with a 0.1% decline in GDP.
La Tribune
The European Parliament's Environmental Committee passed a revised measure to ‘backload’ allowances and boost its beleaguered Emissions Trading Scheme on Wednesday, reports UPI.
UPI
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