Open Europe : Daily Press Summary

[Politics.be]

Greek parties finally reach a deal, only for it to be rejected by the eurozoneGreek political parties finally reached an agreement on the package of austerity measures yesterday afternoon, which allow Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos to present the deal at yesterday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers. However, the deal was quickly shot down as insufficient. The eurozone finance ministers are demanding a further €325m in cuts, clear implementation plans, full approval of the package by the Greek parliament, and a commitment by all Greek political parties to adhere to the deal after the April elections.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said ahead of the meeting, “we still don't have the conditions that were clearly required.” His comments were echoed by numerous other finance ministers and members of the Commission. Eurozone finance ministers will reconvene on 15 February, with the aim of completing the deal if Greece has met all of the eurozone’s demands.

Reuters quotes unnamed CDU sources, according to whom Schäuble told CDU MPs this morning that the current plan would only achieve a136% reduction in Greek debt to GDP in 2020, rather than the agreed 120% target.

The deal fuelled further outrage in Athens, as trade unions announced a 48-hour general strike. Greek Deputy Labour Minister Yannis Koutsoukos resigned after claiming that the package was “too painful for working people”, and accusing the eurozone of behaving in an “extortionate manner which is completely improper and shameless”. The Greek parliament will vote to approve the new package of austerity measures, and plans for voluntary restructuring on Sunday, according to Kathimerini. The paper notes that leading Greek parties will convene their MPs separately this afternoon, to discuss the proposals ahead of the votes. Open Europe’s blog post reacting to the Greek deal was cited by the Guardian and the Telegraph live blogs.
FT CityAM WSJ EurActiv European Voice Liberation Guardian Independent Le Figaro EUobserver Telegraph Mail Irish Times Irish Times 2 Irish Times 3 Telegraph FT 2 Irish Times 4 Kathimerini Bloomberg Irish Independent: Molloy FT: El-Erian WSJ: Fidler

Schäuble secretly filmed hinting at second Portuguese bailout
Portuguese TV channel TVI yesterday filmed an exchange between German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble and his Portuguese counterpart V�*tor Gaspar, during which Schäuble said, “If in the end we need to make an adjustment to the programme, having taken large decisions about Greece...This is key. But then, if necessary, an adjustment of the Portuguese programme, will be prepared.” However, he then added, “Members of the German parliament and public opinion in Germany do not believe that our decisions are serious, because they don’t believe in our decisions on Greece.”

Jornal de Negocios reports that, speaking after yesterday’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers, Gaspar commented, “When mentioned the possibility to make Portugal’s programme more flexible, he meant nothing more than what was repeated several times by eurozone heads of state and government: countries under a programme, which are complying with their programmes, but due to reasons beyond their control may face difficulties in returning to the markets, can count on the willingness of their European partners to extend financial assistance if necessary under those conditions.”
Schäuble-Gaspar video TVI Jornal de Negocios

Draghi: The ECB will not take losses on its holdings of Greek debt
At yesterday’s monthly ECB press conference, ECB President Mario Draghi said that the Bank would not take losses on its holdings of Greek bonds, but hinted that it might be willing to forgo the potential profits in order to aid Greece and the eurozone.
As expected, the ECB held interest rates, and Draghi announced the details of plans to broaden the range of collateral that banks can use to obtain liquidity from the ECB, which Draghi suggested would allow banks to access around €200bn in extra liquidity. However, the decision to implement the new programme was not unanimous. It was reported that Germany objected strongly, and that only seven of the eurozone central banks have currently presented plans to use this new measure.
FT CityAM FT 2 FT 3 European Voice Guardian EUobserver Irish Independent Telegraph Irish Independent 2 Irish Times WSJ

EU member states yesterday reached an agreement with MEPs on new EU rules on the trading of over-the-counter derivatives. Under the final text, ESMA, the EU’s financial watchdog, will only be allowed to overturn a national government’s decision to authorise the establishment of clearing houses, if unanimity is reached. This marks a victory for the UK.
Open Europe research FT CityAM EurActiv EUobserver

The Spanish government will announce drastic labour market reforms today. Expansión reports that Spanish Economy Minister Luis De Guindos was yesterday caught on film telling EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, Olli Rehn, that the reform will be “extremely aggressive, with great flexibility in collective negotiation and reduced compensation for dismissal.”
Les Echos Expansión El Pa�*s El Pa�*s 2

In an interview with Le Figaro, Nicolas Sarkozy details his proposals and “values” for a second presidential term. The policies mark a shift to the right, as the incumbent, who is expected to declare his candidacy on Wednesday, appealed to a conservative electorate, speaking out against gay marriage and adoption, and calling for referendums on the rights of immigrants and the unemployed.
Le Point Liberation Le Monde Les Echos Telegraph Nouvel Observateur Nouvel Observateur 2 Nouvel Observateur 3 Le Point

In response to Labour MEP Derek Vaughan, who criticised Open Europe’s recent report on EU regional policy, lead author of the report Pawel Swidlicki argues in a letter to the South Wales Evening Post, “Resorting to name-calling, either forgets or chooses to overlook that it was his own Labour Party which first proposed to devolve EU regional spending for richer member states. This would free up more cash for poorer EU member states, as well as allowing the funds to become better targeted and more easily managed.”
Open Europe research South Wales Evening Post: Letters

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has released its latest assessment of how 31 EU banks plan to fill a £96bn hole in their balance sheets, to meet the 9% capital requirement in June. The EBA notes that 23% of the capital banks plan to “raise” will come from tweaking the same risk calculations. The rest will be sourced from bond conversions into equity, retained earnings and rights issues.
Reuters CityAM WSJ

The Economist reports that ministers have told their officials to seriously weigh the case for, and against, using the UK’s option to opt out of 130 EU crime and policing laws in 2014, an issue set out in Open Europe’s latest report.
Open Europe research Economist Conservative Home: Anderson

Open Europe's blog post responding to reports that Greek MPs are among the highest paid in Europe, with a net monthly salary of €8,500 on top of additional allowances, is cited by Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.
Open Europe blog SvD

In an op-ed in the Telegraph, EU Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta defends the idea of an EU-wide financial transactions tax (FTT), arguing, “All taxes, when looked at in isolation, carry an economic cost…The idea that the FTT would mean the death knell for the City of London has no basis. The financial sector is a vital player in our single market. It is in all our interests as Europeans for the City to be strong and stable.”
Open Europe research Telegraph: Semeta

In a report published today, the Dutch Court of Auditors called for greater transparency in the spending and management of EU funds. Only the UK, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands currently declare how they use EU funds.
Elsevier Dutch Court of Auditors Press Release

Neelie Kroes, EU Commissioner for the digital agenda has threatened to remove Hungary’s right to vote in the Council of Ministers, as the dispute surrounding Hugary’s controversial new media laws continues, EUobserver reports.
EUobserver

The Independent reports that AIDS campaigners have warned that an agreement being negotiated between the EU and the India may affect the supply of cheap generic drugs used to fight AIDS.
Independent


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