Open Europe : persoverzicht

[Politics.be]

1. Cameron set to face tense EU referendum voteMPs will on Monday debate and vote on a non-binding motion calling for a referendum on EU membership, offering the public three options – for Britain to stay in the EU, to leave it, or to renegotiate the terms of its membership. The vote, initially scheduled for next Thursday, has been brought forward in order to allow David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague to attend. The Government is widely expected to whip MPs to reject the motion. Labour and Lib Dem MPs will also vote against. (Mail, 20 October)

Over 50 Conservative MPs are likely to vote against the Government and five Parliamentary Private Secretaries have threatened to resign in order to back the motion. Meanwhile, George Eustice MP has tabled an alternative motion calling for a referendum on the EU but only after a successful renegotiation of powers. However, despite reportedly agreeing with the Eustice amendment, Cameron is unlikely to support it because it would be unacceptable to the Lib Dems. (Telegraph Guardian, 21 October)




2. New Open Europe briefing: EU banks could need up to €370bn in event of painful, but necessary eurozone debt restructuring





Ahead of a series of key meetings of EU leaders, Open Europe has published a new briefing looking at the short-term options available to the eurozone for tackling the most immediate crisis. The briefing argues that Greece should default on 60% of its debt through a managed restructuring, and that the planned second Greek bailout should be scrapped altogether, replaced by a limited transition fund designed to control the default.


Open Europe estimates that 65 banks across the EU would fail serious stress tests, meaning that they would need to be recapitalised by between €260bn and €372bn in the event of a eurozone debt restructuring. The briefing also notes that the ECB’s exposure to high-debt eurozone countries increased to €590bn up from €444bn only this summer.


Meanwhile, negotiations over plans to sort out the eurozone crisis have reached deadlock as France and Germany still disagree on how to increase the eurozone’s bailout fund, the EFSF. The stalemate has forced EU leaders to call an extra summit next Wednesday, only three days after this Sunday’s meeting.


To read Open Europe’s briefing in full, click here:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/research/Euronowayout.pdf


To read the press release, click here:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/media-c...sreleaseid=179


Please leave your comments on our blog:
http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.com/2...tions-for.html




3. Events





Open Europe hosted a discussion in Brussels entitled, "The ECB under fire", with Prof. Dr. Markus C. Kerber – the initiator of a legal challenge against the eurozone bail-outs at the German Constitutional Court, who has now launched a complaint against ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet at the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg.


To read a report of the event and listen to an audio recording, please visit our events page:
http://www.openeurope.org.uk/events/








4. News in brief





£250,000 prize announced for plan to orderly wind down the euro. Lord Wolfson, Chief Executive of Next, has launched an economics prize offering £250,000 to the person who comes up with the best plan for winding up the euro in an orderly way. (WSJ CityAM: Browne FT Guardian, 18 October)

EU funding fails to lift West Wales’ economy. Despite receiving more than £6bn in EU and matched funding from the UK, Welsh and local governments, the West Wales and valleys region saw its GDP drop from 66.8% of the EU average in 2000 to 64.4% in 2008 according to the latest official figures from the EU. (BBC, 14 October)

Millions of EU funds were misspent in the UK between 2000 and 2006. New figures for 2000-2006 show that EU regional funding allocated to the UK has resulted in over £38m being misspent. A further £133.9m may also have to be written off. (Sunday Telegraph, 16 October)

European Parliament staff has increased from 3,946 to 6,245 since 2004. A new study has revealed that the number of staff working in the European Parliament has increased from 3,946 to 6,245 since 2004, despite the number of MEPs only rising from 732 to 736 over the same period. (Telegraph, 15 October)




5. Open Europe in the news





New Open Europe briefing: EU banks could need up to €370bn in event of eurozone debt restructuring
21 October GFS News Conservative Home: Ruparel 20 October City AM: Ruparel Telegraph Sun Talouselämä HVG Wall Street Italia Linkiesta Wirtschaftsblatt Der Standard Hospodárske Noviny Financn�* Noviny

Open Europe’s findings that, in the event of a restructuring of eurozone countries’ debt, a recapitalisation of European banks could cost between €260bn and €372bn were cited in the Telegraph, Sun, GFS News, Der Standard, Wirtschaftsblatt, Italian financial news site Linkiesta, Wall Street Italia, Finnish business magazine Talouselämä, HVG, Slovakian daily Hospodárske Noviny and Czech daily Financn�* Noviny.

On Conservative Home, Open Europe’s Raoul Ruparel argued that the “only viable short-term option for the eurozone remains a debt restructuring in Greece and Portugal and a full recapitalisation of European banks. The UK government has another opportunity to grasp this, it would do well to take it, otherwise we could end up with yet another non-solution to the crisis, which not only the eurozone but also the UK can no longer afford.”

In an op-ed in City AM, Raoul criticised the plan to use the eurozone’s bailout fund, the EFSF, to insure sovereign debt, arguing, “any EFSF insurance would prove ineffective, since countries would be partly guaranteeing themselves through their membership of the fund and unable to make good on these guarantees if under threat of default – the exact moment when the guarantees would need to be called upon.”

Greece set to receive more bailout money despite missing deficit targets
20 October BBC World Service 17 October Jeff Randall live show 16 October De Zevende Dag 12 October Telegraph

Raoul Ruparel was quoted in the Telegraph, saying, “The EU and IMF have now dropped all pretence that Greece can achieve its original deficit targets, but look set to pay out the next tranche of Greek bailout aid regardless. This may be necessary to avoid a disorderly default, but it is imperative that the EU takes these failures into account when deciding the future of the second Greek bailout.”

Open Europe’s Director Mats Persson appeared on Sky News’ Jeff Randall live show discussing the disagreements between France and Germany on future plans to sort out the eurozone crisis. Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe appeared on BBC World Service discussing how a eurozone break up could be managed. Pieter also appeared on De Zevende Dag, Belgium’s morning politics show, discussing the eurozone crisis.

ECHR judge uses his position to shield wife from corruption investigation
18 October Mail

Open Europe’s Research Director Stephen Booth was quoted in the Mail saying, “This is a damning indictment on the standard of some judges at the court, which has the power to overrule the UK. The sooner the UK introduces proper safeguards against rulings from judges in Strasbourg the better.”

New study proposes cuts to European Parliament’s budget worth £349m per year
15 October Telegraph

Stephen Booth was quoted in the Telegraph saying, “This is a welcome proposal, which illustrates just how much fat could easily be cut from the Parliament's budget.”

Slovakian government falls after parliament rejects euro bailout fund expansion
14 October HN 13 October WSJ: Persson Guardian Czech TV: Cleppe 12 October BBC World news

In an op-ed in the WSJ, Mats Persson argued that, having achieved painful reforms and restructuring of its banking sector, “Slovakia is now being asked to provide loan guarantees to bail out countries that failed to enact similar reforms. You don't have to be a paid-up member of the Austrian school of economics to see the potential for moral hazard on a huge scale.”

Raoul Ruparel was quoted in the Guardian and Slovakian daily Hospodárske Noviny saying, “Even if Slovakia's no vote becomes a yes vote by the end of the week, I do think it will encourage those countries that have already expressed their reservations about the lack of control over the guarantees they have offered – the Netherlands, Finland, Germany and Austria in particular – to be more vocal in the future.” Raoul also appeared on BBC World news discussing the Slovakian situation and the eurozone crisis. Pieter Cleppe was interviewed on Czech TV commenting on the political limits to eurozone bailouts.

European Parliament’s new visitors centre is a waste of taxpayers’ money
14 October Czech TV: Cleppe

Open Europe’s Pieter Cleppe was interviewed by Czech TV commenting that, in addition to the European Parliament’s visitor’s centre, the so-called ‘Parlamentarium’, the EU’s information policies are not good value for taxpayers’ money.

UK risks being outvoted on CAP reform
12 October Bloomberg

Mats Persson was quoted by Bloomberg saying, “The reformist bloc is outgunned and outnumbered. About 21 countries, which is obviously a strong negotiating block, are basically in favour of the status quo. Whoever can get Germany on board wins the battle.”

ECB’s independence is key to euro survival
11 October FT: Ruparel

On the FT’s A-list blog, Raoul Ruparel argued, “That the eurozone lacks a lender of last resort, is a structural flaw in its fabric which has been sorely exposed by the current crisis. However, papering over it with unlimited liquidity in the near term will not solve the problem. And perhaps most importantly, forcing the ECB into the role of lender of last resort could seriously jeopardise German support for the entire euro project.”

UK must seek repatriation of EU employment law
10 October LBC Radio: Booth

Stephen Booth appeared on LBC Radio arguing in favour of repatriating aspects of EU employment law, particularly the Working Time Directive.


Bron: politics.be