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[Politics.be]

Merkel considers giving MPs greater say over eurozone bailout fund;French Foreign Minister: Peace isn’t guaranteed in EuropeGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering bowing to political pressure from her party to give the German Parliament a greater say in the use of the EFSF, the eurozone bailout fund, in order to ensure that the law implementing the expanded role for the EFSF gets widespread support. It is not yet clear how much discretion the parliament would have, but it is thought that in future it may have to give approval for any bailouts or bond purchases through the EFSF, according to the WSJ. Under the current system the Bundestag is consulted but can only issue non-binding verdicts on the day-to-day policies of the bailout fund. The vote on the approval of the expanded EFSF in the Bundestag has been postponed until 29 September, although the package was ratified by the German cabinet this morning as expected.

Meanwhile, in an interview with FAZ, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé warned, “The dissolution of the eurozone is not acceptable, because it would also be the dissolution of Europe. If that happens, then everything is possible. Young people seem to believe that peace is guaranteed for all time…But if we look around in Europe there is new populism and nationalism. We cannot play with that.”



The Italian government’s decision to backtrack on its latest austerity package has attracted significant criticism, with trade unions particularly unhappy over the decision to cut the tax on wealth. Italy successfully sold €7.75bn in three and ten year bonds yesterday, at lower interest rates than last month thanks to the ECB’s recent purchases of Italian debt, although demand was lower than this year’s average. In a podcast for the European Council on Foreign Relations, Open Europe’s Vincenzo Scarpetta discussed the current politico-economic situation in Italy and the possible consequences for the future of the eurozone.



Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter announced yesterday that she does not expect a solution to the Greco-Finnish collateral deal before eurozone finance ministers meet on 16 September, since political talks are required after discussions between officials failed to yield a solution. Handelsblatt reports that Klaus Regling, Chairman of the EFSF, has suggested that Greece use bank shares as collateral for some of its bailout loans to solve the dispute.



Le Figaro reports that he French Finance Ministry has revised its estimate of the government’s deficit this year upwards by €3.4bn, partly due to low growth.
FT WSJ FT 2 EUobserver Handelsblatt EUobserver 2 Zeit Bloomberg WSJ 2 FT 3 EurActiv Irish Times FT 4 FT 5 CityAM IHT Les Echos WSJ 3 EurActiv 2 BBC El Pa�*s Le Figaro FT 6 Irish Times FT 7 Welt Handelsblatt 2 Reuters Handelsblatt 3 FAZ Report on Fed Bloomberg 2 Guardian Times Spiegel FAZ 2 ECFR podcasts: Scarpetta



The BBC reports that Ministers hope to prevent a repeat of the Thameslink row, when Derby-based Bombardier lost a contract to Siemens, by delaying the procurement process for London’s Crossrail project until after a procurement review, aimed at ensuring UK firms do not lose out to European rivals.
BBC Mirror



Le Monde reports that a study submitted to the European Commission has recommended the adoption of EU-wide standards to reduce the amount of energy consumed by household electric coffee machines. An editorial on the paper’s front page notes that the Commission “is no longer the engine” of Europe, but “finds something to do. These days, it bustles about regulating the energy consumption of our electric coffee machines…Some days, being a European is a matter of faith.”
Le Monde Le Monde: Editorial



An article in Le Figaro notes that traditional incandescent 60-Watt light bulbs – whose sale across Europe will be banned from tomorrow to comply with EU rules – are being sold as ‘antiquities’ on some French websites, at a price of up to €7.5 each.
Le Figaro FAZ



The Telegraph reports that the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee has approved €2m (£1.7m) for research into homeopathic medicines or ‘phytotherapy’ for farm animals. Harvey Locke, President of the British Veterinary Association, admitted there was no evidence homeopathic treatments work, but he welcomed money for research.
Mail Telegraph



The FT reports that the European Commission is likely to block Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond’s bid to introduce minimum pricing for alcohol.
FT



The Independent reports that Britain's final salary pension schemes are taking the Government to the European Court of Justice in a bid to save £100m a year in taxes they claim they are being unfairly charged.
Independent



Euractiv Deutschland reports that German think-tank CEP has criticised European Commission regulations of mobile phone roaming prices, arguing that “high roaming prices are rooted not in market power but in the lack of price consciousness of mobile service users”, and adding, “The EU has no regulatory competences in this domain.”
Euractiv.de CEP report



The FT reports that the EU’s efforts to impose an oil embargo on Syria suffered a setback yesterday, when Italy insisted that the sanctions be delayed until the end of November.
FT Guardian



UK


In an interview the Times, Business Secretary Vince Cable has criticised British banks for attempting to use the eurozone crisis as an excuse to delay reform, describing their lobbying as “disingenuous in the extreme”.
Times


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