Open Europe : persoverzicht

[Politics.be]

Mats Persson: Merkel-Sarkozy deal points to model of flexible EU cooperation which is in the UK’s interest;Dominic Raab: Fluid geopolitical landscape opens opportunities for a third choice for Britain in EuropeWriting on the Guardian’s Comment is Free, Open Europe Director Mats Persson argued that, although the outcome of the latest Franco-German summit was disappointing in terms of resolving the eurozone crisis, their proposals for economic governance point towards a future model of EU cooperation that “puts member states, rather than the technocratic commission, the federalist European parliament or the European court of justice at the centre.” He added, “This is an acknowledgement that, in order for it to work, the EU simply needs to be broken down into smaller units…If the EU, in the wake of this crisis, is heading towards a more intergovernmental, variable approach to European co-operation – sometimes merging policies and institutions, at others keeping them separate, as national democratic preferences dictate – this could well be in Britain's interest.”

Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph noted that 70 Conservative MPs have already expressed interest in joining a new group dedicated to “reversing the process” of closer integration, founded by three MPs from the 2010 intake. In the Sunday Times, Conservative MP Dominic Raab argued that the “fluid geopolitical landscape opens opportunities for a third choice for Britain — between integration and withdrawal…Britain should ditch its ideological baggage in favour of a pragmatic euro-realism,” with the option of opting out of several policy areas such as social and employment regulation and justice and home affairs. He cited Open Europe’s research on EU regulation.

In the Sunday Telegraph, Tim Montgomerie argued that the Coalition should not seek immediate renegotiation of the EU-UK relationship in the wake of the crisis. He argued, “Renegotiation will be more substantial if it happens at the end of the parliament, and David Cameron can turn the terms of a deal into an election issue. Second, there is no plan for renegotiation.” On his website, Conservative Home, he added, “The think tank Open Europe will be crucial to supporting a more strategic Tory position on Europe.”
Comment is Free: Persson Open Europe blog Conservative Home Spectator: Coffee House blog Sunday Telegraph Sunday Telegraph 2 Sunday Telegraph: Montgomerie Sunday Times: Raab Saturday's Mail: Seddon

German Finance Minister: No Eurobonds without single financial policy in the eurozone
The German government reiterated its opposition to Eurobonds over the weekend, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying, “The ‘debt union’ has to be replaced by a ‘stability union'…This is a hard and arduous path, which we will not be able to avoid by means of some magic bullet, like issuing eurobonds.” German Finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble echoed these comments, warning that the eurozone would become an “inflation community” with Eurobonds, adding, “Unless there is a single financial policy in the euro area, there won’t be a single rate of interest” on eurozone debt. FAZ quotes a German Finance Ministry spokesman suggesting that any introduction of Eurobonds would require a treaty change as it violates the no-bailout clause in the current treaty. Spiegel, citing German Finance Ministry sources, states that interest rates on Eurobonds would be 0.8% higher than on German bunds. ARD’s Deutschlandtrend poll, published on Friday, suggested that only 22% of German respondents had strong faith in Merkel’s leadership.

In an op-ed in Le Monde, EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier argues that the proposal to introduce Eurobonds is premature, explaining, “The logic of economic and monetary union is indeed that all eurozone countries will eventually borrow money at the same rate. But we’re not there yet… Before we mutualise our debt, we must return to a path of economic convergence, by helping the weaker countries to regain their competitiveness.”

Meanwhile, Le Figaro reports that French Prime Minister François Fillon will unveil a new austerity package worth between €5bn and €10bn on Wednesday, as part of the French government’s effort to safeguard the country’s Triple-A rating.

The WSJ reports that Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has suggested that the Greco-Finnish collateral deal was discussed at the summit on 21 July and so any problems should already have been dealt with. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel was quoted in the Telegraph over the weekend, saying that the demand for extra collateral in return for loans to Greece "threatens to derail the whole package as Greece is unlikely to be able to afford to offer guarantees to numerous states."

The FT reports that the largest Greek banks agreed to recapitalise Proton bank, a small Greek lender, in order to stop it collapsing and stoking fears over the health of the Greek banking sector as a whole. The article also suggests that Greek banks will request use of the Emergency Liquidity Assistance facility this week, which allows the Greek Central Bank to provide loans to banks outside of the usual ECB framework, as they no longer hold collateral of sufficient quality to receive loans from the ECB.
FT CityAM Reuters Reuters 2 IHT Bloomberg Independent Telegraph El Pa�*s Irish Independent Il Sole 24 Ore WSJ EurActiv Le Figaro WSJ 2 European Voice Saturday's Telegraph FT 2 FT 3 Weekend FT Weekend FT 2 FT: Spiegel Irish Independent 2 WSJ 3 FAZ Focus Spiegel N-TV Elsevier Elsevier 2 Volkskrant AD NRC NOS Handelsblatt Standaard Powned TV Volkskrant: Cuperus Saturday's Telegraph: Leader Saturday's Times: Wighton Saturday's Times: Duncan Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard Saturday's Independent: Henscher El Pa�*s: Colombani Le Monde: Barnier Irish Independent: Hayes FT: Atkins WSJ: Stelzer WSJ: Froymovich CityAM: Bojesen CityAM: Drake IHT: Rastello & Parola IHT: Brown Sunday Times: Leader

Le Point reports that French Economy Minister François Baroin has been criticised by ECB board member Jürgen Stark over his “ill-considered” announcement that the ECB would start buying Italian and Spanish bonds, made when the ECB itself had not yet disclosed its decision to do so.
Le Point

Michael Spencer: EU financial transaction tax “would destroy the City and cost the Exchequer billions”

The Telegraph cites Open Europe’s calculation that an EU financial transaction tax, supported by Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Nicolas Sarkozy and the European Commission, could raise between €24.3bn and €80.9bn across the EU – of which between €17.5bn and €58.2bn (£15bn and £49.9bn) would come from UK-based businesses. Michael Spencer, Chief Executive of Icap, one of the world's biggest inter-dealer brokers, told the Independent on Sunday, “This tax would destroy the City and cost the Exchequer billions, but it would benefit Brussels. Companies like Icap will simply move elsewhere outside the EU if Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel push ahead with this silly tax.”

Open Europe’s report, “Ten ways to introduce an EU tax (and why none of them will work)”, was cited in Saturday’s Telegraph and Mail and Research Director Stephen Booth was quoted by the Mail saying, “all of the potential options for an EU-level tax fall short on practical and economic grounds and are either prohibitively complex or come with a hugely disproportionate cost for certain countries, social groups or businesses.”

Meanwhile, N-Tv quotes German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble saying of the financial transaction tax, “I will personally plead for the tax in the eurozone…Most member states are not yet fully prepared to accept the necessary limitations on national sovereignty…but trust me, the problem is solvable.”
Open Europe research Open Europe press release Open Europe blog Saturday's Mail Saturday's Telegraph Telegraph Mail City AM N-TV Independent on Sunday

In an op-ed in the Sunday Express, David Cameron wrote, “We are going to fight in Europe for changes to the way the European Court works and we will fight to ensure people understand the real scope of these rights and do not use them as cover for rules or excuses that fly in the face of common sense.”
BBC Telegraph Mail Sunday Express Sunday Express: Editorial Sunday Express: Cameron

Nieuws.nl reports that a new opinion poll by Dutch pollster Maurice de Hond gives Geert Wilders' PVV party 29 seats, putting it only one seat behind the governing VVD party. The poll also shows that 80% of Dutch citizens think that Greece will not able to pay back its loans.
Nieuws.nl De Dagelijkse Standaard

The Weekend FT reported that the EU is preparing to ban oil imports from Syria in a move that expands its growing list of sanctions against the country.
Weekend FT Telegraph EUobserver




Saturday’s Mail reported that up to one million drivers with diabetes could lose their driving licences because of new EU rules classifying some of them as unfit to drive. The new rules are due to enter into force in October.
Saturday's Mail

An investigation by the Sunday Telegraph revealed that increasing numbers of the UK nobility – including a cousin of the Queen – are being tempted by generous subsidies offered by green energy developers to build wind farms on their estates.
Sunday Telegraph Sunday Telegraph 2

Swiss daily Tribune de Genève reports that Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has called for new solutions to stop the rise of legislative incompatibilities between Switzerland and the EU, which could threaten market access.
Tribune de Genève




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