Open Europe : Daily Press Summary

[Politics.be]

Spanish government faces regions’ rebellion over revised deficit targetsEl Pa�*s reports that four Spanish regions yesterday voted against the government’s decision to set tougher deficit targets for regions than initially planned for 2013-14, despite Spain being given an extra year to bring its deficit below 3% of GDP. Two regions governed by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Partido Popular abstained. Cinco D�*as reports that Spanish Treasury Minister Cristóbal Montoro also threatened to impose fines on eight regions that are “at high risk” of missing the deficit target for this year, but refused to name them publicly. Expansión reports that ECB loans to Spanish banks stood at over €337bn at the end of June, marking an increase of almost €50bn from May.

NRC Handelsblad reports that the lower house of the Dutch parliament yesterday cleared the €30bn first tranche of the Spanish bank bailout. However, MPs warned that the money must only be used to recapitalise banks and will come with strict limits on the remunerations of employees of bailed out Spanish banks.
El Pa�*s El Pa�*s 2 El Pa�*s 3 Cinco D�*as Expansión Economist NRC Handelsblad Volkskrant Trouw WSJ WSJ 2 WSJ: Steinhauser Times: Zapatero

Professor Henkel: It will take a “Fukushima of the euro” to change the public debate in Germany;
Mats Persson: Anglo-Saxon debate about Germany and the eurozone characterised by myths
Open Europe yesterday held a breakfast roundtable discussion in London together with the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) entitled “Standing Alone? What next for Germany within the eurozone?” The speakers were Professor Hans-Olaf Henkel, Professor of International Management at the University of Mannheim and one of Germany's most prominent Euro critics, and Open Europe Director Mats Persson. The discussion was chaired by OMFIF Chairman David Marsh. The event is covered in detail by German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten.

Professor Henkel expressed his concerns about the eurozone’s current trajectory of travel, warning that “instead of competition between member states we have harmonisation, a system of organised irresponsibility”. However, he said returning to individual currencies was not the right solution as it would lead to the re-nationalisation of economies, instead suggesting two blocs; a ‘northern’ bloc that would commit to abiding by the original Maastricht criteria and a ‘southern’ bloc which would allow its members to devalue and regain competitiveness. He concluded that by and large the German political and economic elite and media has been scared of properly debating the eurozone rescue, accusing critics such as himself of being populist and ‘anti-European’, and that it would take a “Fukushima of the euro” – noting that Merkel changed her nuclear policy overnight after the disaster - to change this mentality, and that this could be triggered by a Finnish exit from the euro.

Mats Persson argued that the Anglo-Saxon debate about Germany and the eurozone was characterised by a series of myths, including that Germany had not done enough to save the euro, that German public opinion was unambitiously in favour of ‘more Europe’, that Germany wanted to dominate Europe and that Germany has the financial capacity to underwrite the rest of the eurozone. Mats argued that in actual fact, given the political, economic and legal limitations, Chancellor Merkel had done a lot to try to keep the euro together.
Open Europe Events DWN

Pawel Swidliki; EU Budget “weighed down by wasteful spending programmes”;
Mark Hoban: 2013 annual EU budget will save UK Taxpayers £500m
Writing in E!Sharp magazine, Open Europe’s Pawel Swidlicki argues that the EU budget “could be a useful tool in boosting growth and job creation in Europe but instead it is weighed down by wasteful and inefficient spending programmes and riddled with opportunity costs”, and briefly sets out the main proposals from Open Europe’s recent report on reforming the budget.

Debating the 2013 annual EU budget in the House of Commons yesterday, Financial Secretary Mark Hoban said that the negotiating position agreed by member states at a 2.79% increase, following a qualified majority vote, would save UK taxpayers £500m on the Commission’s proposed increase of 6.8%. He added, however, "We voted against this in council because it is simply too high, but we also have to recognise that this is an unhappy compromise.”
E!Sharp: Swidlicki Open Europe Research: EU budget Open Europe research: 2013 Fact Check Hansard

39% of Greeks have no trust in the groups involved in the coalition government;
Greece fails to meet 210 out of 300 reforms laid out in its bailout programme
The Greek government’s effort to find an additional €11.5bn in budget savings over the next two years began yesterday, with cuts likely to come from the state and regional administrations as well as social transfers. A new Public Issue poll conducted for Skai TV and Kathimerini found that 47% of Greeks had some confidence in the new administration, although with 35% only stating that they believe the new government could “probably” face up to the situation. However, 39% said they did not trust any of the groups within the coalition government.

Rheinische Post reports that the EU/ECB/IMF Troika has found that Greece has failed to implement 210 out of over 300 specific reform targets it had been set under the bailout programme. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk, German Economy Minister Philipp Rösler said, “I’ve got the impression that the Troika’s patience with Greece is running thin.”
Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Rheinische Post Welt FAZ Expansión Handelsblatt Expansión

Telegraph: “It is no longer just Eurosceptics who believe that we need to fashion a better and more self-interested relationship with Brussels”
Following William Hague’s announcement yesterday that the Government will conduct a public audit of the EU’s powers, the Guardian and the Mail note that Lib Dem members of the Coalition appear ready to consider only repatriation of powers in areas agreed across the EU – such as limits on working time, where many countries back the UK’s calls for a rethink. The Express quotes Labour leader Ed Miliband as saying that the issue of an EU referendum is “not a priority.”

A leader in the Telegraph hails the “significance” of the Government’s planned audit and argues that “even if it fails to live up to Mr Hague’s hopes, and those of the ‘Fresh Start’ group of Tory MPs, who this week launched their own blueprint for European reform, it fits with a wider narrative. It is no longer just Eurosceptics who believe that we need to fashion a better and more self-interested relationship with Brussels. Increasingly, it is the settled view of the British people – and of their elected representatives.”
Guardian Mail Telegraph: Leader European Voice BBC Express

The recent inquiry by the Parliamentary Select Committee for Communities and Local Government into the European Regional Development Fund, to which Open Europe submitted both written and oral evidence, has published its final report today, stating that “We support the principle of repatriating regional policy funding , provided funding could be protected and ring-fenced over the long-term to ensure that the poorest English regions continued to receive the same level of support they would have received under the current system.”
CLG Committee: Press Release CLG Committee: Full Report Open Europe Research: EU Regional Policy

The Telegraph reports that a coroner has ruled that a hospital patient died of dehydration after a “cascade of failures” by doctors and nurses, but also cited EU working time restrictions for depriving the patient of the care he needed.
Telegraph Open Europe research

The EU/IMF/ECB troika yesterday confirmed that Ireland remains on track with its adjustment programme, although it added that the Irish government must correct the overspending in healthcare and predicted on modest growth for this year and next.
FT FT Editorial CityAM WSJ BBC Irish Independent Irish Times BBC Irish Times Telegraph

Die Welt reports on a new poll which shows that 56% of Germans between the ages of 14 and 24 do not think the euro will be successful in the long term, compared to 45% who believe it will. The article suggests this means that “Germany’s youth has written off the euro”.
Welt

Europe Minister David Lidington yesterday urged MPs to back plans for the creation of an EU special representative for human rights, noting that this new figure “would actually help us deliver our national foreign policy objectives through the EU by providing a strong and visible face for the EU's external action on human rights”, PA reports.
No link

La Repubblica reports that Fabrizio Cicchitto – the leader of Silvio Berlusconi’s MPs – confirmed yesterday, “We all agree that Berlusconi is our candidate” for next year’s elections. Meanwhile, Moody’s has downgraded Italy’s credit rating by two notches, due to fears of contagion from Greece and Spain.
Il Sole 24 Ore EUobserver CityAM WSJ BBC EurActiv Irish Independent Times Telegraph Repubblica

Europe Minister David Lidington yesterday told MPs that the Government supports EU plans increase the number of lawyers in the ECJ’s Grand Chamber, to help the court cope with the backlog of cases, PA reports.
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The FTD reports that Dutch Central Bank Governor Klaas Knot has said that the banking crisis in Spain and Ireland has demonstrated that supervision should not be limited to only the eurozone’s largest banks since in both cases the problems originated in smaller regional but “strongly politicised banks”. This puts him at direct odds with the wishes of the German government.
FTD

The Troika's visit to Cyprus has been postponed for a week, as more time is needed to go through the country's accounts, reports AFN.
AFN

ERR reports that the Estonian Supreme Court has ruled that the ESM is constitutional and Finance Minister Juergen Ligi has said that the treaty is now likely to be given parliamentary approval by the end of July or beginning of August. Separately, the Italian Senate yesterday approved both the fiscal treaty and the ESM. The lower chamber’s approval is still needed to complete the ratification process.
ERR WSJ Italian Senate press release


Bron: politics.be