Open Europe : Daily Press Summary

[Politics.be]

Seehofer: Merkel will run for a fourth term Horst Seehofer, leader of Angela Merkel’s Bavarian sister party (CSU), told German broadcaster ZDF on Sunday that he thinks the Chancellor will run for a fourth term. “She is so strong, and is at the peak of power. Her recognition worldwide means that, logically, it seems inconceivable to me that she will end her Chancellorship” said Seehofer. Separately, Germany’s Infratest Dimap poll for ARD confirmed on Friday, that with an approval rating of 59%, Merkel’s Grand Coalition government is the most popular ever since polling began in 1997. Merkel’s personal approval rating is at 74% — just a few points off her record-high of 77%. Reuters Deutschland Saturday’s Times

Ukrainian forces close in on Donetsk as Europe grapples with fallout of Russian sanctions
Ukrainian government forces are closing in on Donetsk. The pro-Russian separatists have called for a ceasefire to avoid a “humanitarian catastrophe.”Kiev has said that it would require full surrender from the separatist forces. The Russian government proposal of sending a humanitarian mission to Ukraine has been rejected by international partners.

Separately, the Greek government has said it will support farmers hit by the Russian sanctions, while Finland continues to push for compensation at the EU level, according to Bloomberg. Officials from across the EU will meet on Thursday to discuss the prospect of a compensation scheme. Writing on his Telegraph blog Open Europe Director Mats Persson argues, “Whatever we think of the sanctions, and the way the EU has handled them, it’s hard not to feel sympathy with the Baltic states in this…there is a moral case of sorts for the rest of Europe to offer some sort of compensation for the manifestly disproportional burden shouldered by three states…Not least given all the rubbish the EU spends money on at the moment.” However, he notes that this would set a complicated precedent, with other states likely demanding aid, and it’ll be hard for EU states to agree.

Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel appeared on CNBC Closing Bell on Friday discussing the impact of Russian sanctions on the EU. Expansion cites Open Europe’s calculations that agricultural goods account for 13.3% of Russian imports.
FT WSJ WSJ 2 Bloomberg Reuters INYT Reuters Deutschland Handelsblatt Guardian Times Spiegel Telegraph: Persson Kathimerini Expansion INYT 2 Irish Times Irish Independent Saturday’s Guardian

Following the revision of the turnout figure in May’s European elections – down from 43.1% to 42.5% - Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki is quoted by Spanish news agency EFE as saying, “These results confirm the decreasing support . Citizens don’t feel connected to what happens in Brussels”. Pawel is also quoted by Belgian daily De Morgen.
EFE De Morgen

Former Judge of German Constitutional Court: EU has to have boundaries
Writing in FAZ, Dieter Grimm, a former Judge of the German Constitutional Court argues that the “strength of the EU lies in clever boundaries, and that the EU is not a substitute for nation states, but is instead a “special purpose association for tasks that nation states can no longer solve in a globalised world.” He also argues that the EU’s democratic deficit cannot be solved by giving more powers to the European Parliament, because democratic legitimacy comes from the member states where the conditions for a workable democracy are better than those at the EU level.
No link

Süddeutsche: Yes to EU-US free trade agreement, but with constraints
Süddeutsche’s economics correspondent Alexander Hagelücken argues that the debate around the EU-US free trade agreement (TTIP) has become “schizophrenic”, but that European governments can escape the impasse by “making it clear that they want to expand free trade via the TTIP principle, while at the same time meeting the legitimate concerns of their citizens who do not want increased prosperity at the cost of losing environmental and health standards… Yes, such a path not lead to unfettered capitalism with a neoliberal flavour but free trade with constraints. In other words, it would be the kind of social market economy which has given the Federal Republic decades of prosperity after World War II, while decreasing rather than increasing tensions between the social classes.”
OE Blog Süddeutsche: Hagelücken

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told the FT, “I agree with Draghi when he says Italy needs to make reforms, but how we are going to do them I will decide, not the Troika, not the ECB, not the European Commission.”
FT FT 2 Observer

Elsevier reports that more immigrants have arrived in the Netherlands in the first half of 2014 than in the same period of 2013, according to official statistics. Poles are the biggest group and, since 1 January when transitional controls were lifted, the number of Romanians has doubled, but the number of Bulgarians has remained largely unchanged.
Elsevier

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won yesterday’s Presidential elections in the first round with 52% of the vote, thereby avoiding the need for a run-off. Erdogan claimed that his victory marked the start of a “new era” in Turkey.
Times Times: Leader Telegraph Independent: Leader Bild Bild: Kleine Welt Süddeutsche Spiegel EUobserver

Saturday’s Times reported that former Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is to set up a new think-tank, provisionally called UK2020, which will seek to articulate the views of Conservatives “beyond Westminster” and which will campaign for Britain to leave the EU and to free itself from some climate change regulations and targets.
Saturday's Times

Euractiv reports that the European Commission is reviewing the guidelines on how it carries out Impact Assessments (detailed cost-benefit analyses of how EU legislation will affect citizens and the economy), as it has been accused of lacking impartiality in the process. New guidelines will be published at the end of the year.
OE Research: Still out of Control IAS Guidelines Euractiv


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