Open Europe : Daily Press Summary

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June G8 summit scrapped as West moves to freeze out Putin Meeting in The Hague yesterday, the G7 club of nations cancelled the G8 summit due to be hosted by Russia in June. The G7 reiterated that they “remain ready to intensify actions, including co-ordinated sectoral sanctions…if Russia continues to escalate this situation.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Deshchytsia, for the first time since the crisis began. Russia did not, however, agree to launch bilateral talks to resolve the dispute, as demanded by the West. Meanwhile, Russia’s Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepach forecast that there will be zero economic growth in Russia in the first quarter of 2014, and that $70bn of capital could leave the country due to the “worsening of relations”. Russian state-owned Sberbank said that the capital flight could reach $100bn. Separately, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has allegedly called on Ukrainians to “take up arms”, in a leaked telephone call that has gone viral online. Tymoshenko has said the phone call did take place, but claimed that parts of it have been edited. Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on Channel 5 News arguing that the UK economy’s exposure to Russia is not as substantial as suggested by some. Open Europe’s Nina Schick is quoted by BBC News discussing the effect of EU targeted sanctions on Russia, while Open Europe’s briefing on Russia’s links with the City of London is quoted by the Times, Guardian, Gazeta Wyborcza, and Dagelijke Standard. Channel 5 News: Ruparel Open Europe research: Ukraine Times Times: Webb FAZ FAZ 2 FAZ: Kohler Süddeutsche Süddeutsche: Wetzel Spiegel Spiegel2 EUobserver Reuters Deutschland Reuters Deutschland 2 Handelsblatt live blog Der Standard BBC News Gazeta Wyborcza Guardian Dagelijke Standard Z24 Le Monde EUobserver 2 NRC Le Soir Times

Turkey to renegotiate Customs Union Agreement with the EU
Turkey’s Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said yesterday, “By June, we are going to re-open for negotiation the Customs Union Agreement , to which no sovereign independent state should agree.” Turkish critics of the 1996 agreement say it restricts the competitiveness of Turkey’s exports because the EU can enter into free-trade agreements with third parties which are binding for Ankara without the Turkish government having a say.
Open Europe research New Europe

In an interview with Die Welt, FDP leader Christian Lindner argues that the Grand Coalition is “betraying” the economic stabilisation policies pursued by the previous CDU/CSU/FDP coalition. He adds, “We need an audit of European integration. It cannot be a taboo to return some competences back to the national level.”
Welt: Lindner

Hugo Dixon, author of ‘The In/Out Question: Why Britain should stay in the EU and fight to make it better’, writes in the Independent, “Our existing EU membership is valuable; we have a great chance to make it better; and all the alternatives are worse.”
Independent: Dixon

In an interview with Die Welt, Jean-Claude Juncker, the EPP’s candidate for European Commission President, argues, “As Europeans we have been active in many areas except for social policy where we have taken a back seat…I would like that in the EU we would agree on minimum standards for employment law, employment protection and the tackling of poverty.”
Welt: Juncker

The Times reports that, according to freedom of information documents since records began in 1996, Britain has opposed 55 measures in the EU’s Council of Ministers and has been outvoted 55 times. The figures, provided by Business for Britain, were disputed by the Foreign Office, which said that the report did not include successful negotiations.
Times Express

The Czech government yesterday decided to officially start the ratification process of the EU’s fiscal treaty on budgetary discipline, which will now need to be ratified by the Czech parliament.
AFP Irish Independent EUobserver

According to new Eurostat figures, the EU received a total of 435,000 asylum applications last year – 100,000 more compared to 2012. Eurostat also reveals that Syrians top the list with 50,000 applications, followed by 41,000 Russians and 26,000 Afghans.
EUobserver

Beppe Grillo, the leader of Italy’s anti-establishment Five-Star Movement, has ruled out an alliance with Marine Le Pen’s Front National after the upcoming European Parliament elections.
Beppe Grillo’s blog

Les Echos reports that, following the Socialist Party’s disappointing performance in the French local elections, pressure is mounting on President François Hollande to announce a cabinet reshuffle and replace Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
Les Echos City AM

In a letter to the FT, Richard Raeburn, Chairman of the European Association of Corporate Treasurers, argues, “It is clear that the proposed FTT does indeed create restrictions on the movement of capital...There is well documented independent research showing how dramatically transaction costs will increase for corporates and investors using foreign exchange to mitigate underlying risk.”
FT Letters: Raeburn

The FT reports that the European Commission has demanded that Luxembourg disclose details of tax rulings on profits derived from intellectual property rights as a part of a state aid probe into tax ‘sweeteners’ offered to multinational companies.
FT European Commission: Press release


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