Open Europe : Daily Press Summary

[Politics.be]

Russia begins retaliation against EU sanctions; German trade body warns sanctions put up to 25,000 jobs at risk The EU yesterday confirmed it had added eight individuals and three entities to its targeted sanctions list against Russia. The new names include Russian businessman Arkady Rotenberg, a reportedly close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Wiener Zeitung reports that Austria successfully prevented Russia’s VTB and Sberbank (both of which have European headquarters in Vienna) from being hit by targeted asset freezes and travel bans, although they do have restricted capital market access under the ‘Stage 3’ sanctions. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry hit out at the EU’s decision to impose sanctions, saying, “It will inevitably drive up prices on the European energy market.” Russia also announced a ban on some fruit and vegetables imports from Poland, and is considering expanding the ban to the entire EU. The Central Bank of Russia stressed it was willing and able to step in and help any financial institutions affected by the sanctions. Separately, the Independent reports that Germany is attempting to broker a deal to put an end to the Ukraine crisis. The agreement could involve Western approval of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Steffen Seibert, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, has said the report “lacks any factual basis”. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on CNN and is quoted by BBC News online discussing the escalation of EU sanctions. Süddeutsche reports that Eckhard Cordes, the Chairman of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, a German lobby group, has warned that German trade with Russia decreased by 15% or €2.2bn between January and May this year, claiming that the new EU sanctions “will aggravate the negative trend” and put “more than 25,000 jobs in danger in Germany alone.” FT WSJ Reuters FAZ FAZ: Triebe Bild EUobserver Welt Süddeutsche City AM WSJ 2 Bloomberg FT 2 FT 3 WSJ 3 Bloomberg 2 FT 4 WSJ 4 Independent BBC News Irish Times Times Telegraph Times: Ames

Sweden’s Cecilia Malmström is the second woman nominated for new Commission
EU member states are continuing to nominate their candidates for the new European Commission. Hungary has nominated Foreign Minister Tibor Navracsics, while Sweden has confirmed Cecilia Malmström for a second term. Malmström is only the second woman out of 18 nominees so far. Meanwhile, the FT reports that the British Bankers’ Association has called on the UK Government to resist attempts to remove the financial services unit from the wider internal market unit in the Commission.
Open Europe blog FT Dagens Nyheter EurActiv

Writing in the Times, Tim Montgomerie warns David Cameron, “Voters know that you can’t control immigration as long as Britain is a member of the EU and the EU has freedom of movement across its borders. You need to be straight with them.”
Times: Montgomerie

The FT reports that a Hungarian opposition party is urging the EU to step up its monitoring of democracy in the country after Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he wanted to ditch “liberal” democracy in favour of building an “illiberal state”.
FT

Portugal’s troubled lender Banco Esp�*rito Santo reported a record net loss of €3.49bn in the second quarter of the year.
City AM WSJ

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalan President Artur Mas met yesterday for the first time in almost one year. The two failed to reach an agreement on the Catalan government’s plan to hold an independence referendum in November, but pledged to continue the dialogue during the coming weeks.
El Pa�*s FT WSJ

Italian media report that Carlo Cottarelli, the special commissioner for public spending reform appointed by the Italian government, is ready to quit. Cottarelli is concerned that the resources he is expected to raise through public spending cuts are already being used to finance new spending projects – rather than reducing taxes.
Corriere della Sera La Repubblica Rai News 24 Cottarelli’s blog
Poland and Italy set for clash over next EU foreign policy chief;
Formation of new EU Commission could be delayed due to lack of female nominees
Poland and Italy yesterday both officially nominated their foreign ministers, Radoslaw Sikorski and Federica Mogherini, as candidates for the post of EU High Representative for foreign policy. The job is to be assigned at a meeting of EU leaders on 30 August. Meanwhile, Portugal has picked Carlos Moedas, Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, as its next EU Commissioner – despite Jean-Claude Juncker reportedly pushing for Finance Minister Maria Lu�*s Albuquerque to be nominated instead. Natasha Bertaud, Juncker’s spokeswoman, told the press yesterday, “Mr Juncker has made clear on numerous occasions a commission with only two or three women will not be credible. He will not accept this. If no solution can be found, it may be that more time is needed to form the Commission.”

Separately, the possible appointment of former French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici as new EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs continues to draw criticism. French centre-right MEP Arnaud Danjean told Journal du Dimanche, “To hand such a post to a Frenchman would be like rewarding the worst pupil.” FAZ quotes German MEP Werner Langen, of the CDU, as saying, “The European Parliament won’t accept a deficit offender,” as Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner.
WSJ blogs: Real Time Brussels Gazeta Wyborcza TVN24 La Repubblica Reuters Deutschland Diário Económico Jornal de Negócios EUobserver Journal du Dimanche FAZ

EU stage three sanctions come into force as investigators gain access to MH17 crash site
Ukrainian forces halted their fighting around the MH17 crash site yesterday, finally allowing international investigators from the Netherlands and Australia to reach the site. The EU’s stage three sanctions will come into force today, with the FT reporting that some Russian firms have already begun transferring cash reserves out of dollars and euros and into other currencies for fear of further sanctions. Separately, data from the Home Office has shown that the number of “investor visas” granted to Russians more than doubled in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, German CDU MPs Roderich Kiesewetter, the Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy, and Karl Lamers, the Deputy Chairman of the Defence Committee, have urged the EU or NATO to buy the French Mistral warships destined for Russia, saying it would “kill three birds with one stone.” Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel is quoted on the front page of City AM as saying, “In terms of burden sharing most will fall on the UK and London – the financial sanctions look like they’re the most developed…The arms embargo doesn’t mean much without having Mistral on the table – our arms trade with Russia is not enormous.”
FT FT 2 City AM WSJ Times EUobserver 2 FAZ Reuters Deutschland Welt FAZ FAZ 2 FAZ: Müller Süddeutsche Süddeutsche 2 Bild EUobserver Handelsblatt Spiegel

Writing on Dutch newssite De Dagelijkse Standaard, Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe argues that “if goods don't cross borders, armies will,” describing occasions where economic sanctions have not worked as a policy, while adding, “everyone is of course free to believe that this time around, it will be different.”
Dagelijkse Standaard: Cleppe

According to a new IFOP poll for French weekly Marianne, Front National leader Marine Le Pen would finish ahead in the first round of the 2017 presidential election with 26% of votes – followed by former President Nicolas Sarkozy on 25%, and President François Hollande or Prime Minister Manuel Valls on 17%. This means Le Pen and Sarkozy would make it to the final run-off.
IFOP press release FT Handelsblatt

A new report by the Court of Auditors' calculates that relocating the Strasbourg seat of the European Parliament to Brussels would save €113.8 million per year.
EurActiv

Swiss voters will likely be asked to vote again on the country’s relationship with the EU “at the latest by the end of 2016, or the beginning of 2017,” Swiss President Didier Burkhalter said yesterday. The EU said last week that it would not negotiate over the free movement of people after Swiss citizens voted in February to limit immigration from the EU.
Open Europe blog FT

The Economist’s Free Exchange column argues that “the ECB should adopt Quantitative Easing now rather than as a last resort.”
Economist: Free Exchange

In the Telegraph, Deputy Editor Allister Heath argues that, “Britain needs to regain a right of veto over her most important industry, and the Bank of England needs to be reinstated as the City’s sole regulator. At the same time, we need British-based banks and fund managers to retain their ability to export and trade freely with the rest of Europe.”
Open Europe research Telegraph: Heath

A report by Bob Rowthorn, a Cambridge economics professor, argues that high levels of immigration will undermine living standards by putting huge pressure on schools, housing, hospitals and water supplies in the UK.
Times Mail Times: Leader

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said the Conservatives plan to replace Labour’s human rights act and ensure British law would return to a better “balance of rights in responsibilities” in law and would make the “supreme court supreme again”.
Telegraph



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