Open Europe : Daily Press Summary

[Politics.be]

Boris Johnson: I would campaign to stay in a reformed EU, but UK could also have positive future post-Brexit In a speech marking the publication of his Europe report, London Mayor Boris Johnson argued this morning that he would campaign for the UK to stay in the EU, providing that a range of political and economic reforms are secured. However, he added that Britain could have a “positive future” outside the EU should this reform drive fail – even allowing for an initial period of economic uncertainty. In his speech, Jonhson criticised the EU’s “chronic economic underperformance”, “sclerotic” over-regulation (citing Open Europe’s calculation that EU social employment law currently costs UK business and the public sector £8.6bn a year), and residual obstacles to free trade within the single market. He also argued that it was “absurd” for the UK to exclude talented migrants from around the world, due to not being able to restrict EU immigration. Separately, Johnson said he would try to find a seat for the 2015 General Elections. Writing in yesterday’s Evening Standard, Dr. Gerard Lyons, chief economic adviser to Johnson, author of the Mayor’s report and member of Open Europe’s advisory board, argued that while the scenarios in the report “are very much in favour of the UK remaining in a reformed EU, what I find perplexing is that some people say we should stay in the EU at any cost.”Open Europe research director Stephen Booth appeared on Bloomberg ahead of the speech arguing that while EU reform was the most preferable option, the UK could prosper outside of the EU, but that much would depend on the exact nature of the post exit EU-UK trade deal. Open Europe research: Trading Places Open Europe research: EU social policy Guardian Times Independent Mail Telegraph Evening Standard: Lyons Bloomberg

The final turnout figure for May’s European elections has been revised from 43.09% - a preliminary figure based on exit polls – down to 42.54%, the lowest ever in the history of the EU. While the 43.09% figure represented a slight increase compared with 2009, the revision confirms the trend of turnout falling at every consecutive election since direct elections to the European Parliament began in 1979.
Open Europe blog

Darling wins Scottish independence debate as Salmond pressured over currency question
A snap ICM poll for the Guardian found that respondents thought that Alistair Darling, the leader of the ‘Better Together’ campaign to keep Scotland in the UK, won last night’s live independence debate with Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond by 56% to 44%. During the debate, Darling pressed Salmond on his “Plan B” in the event that the rest of the UK decided not to allow an independent Scotland to keep the pound, arguing that since the Scottish Nationalist Party has ruled out joining the euro, the only alternative would be for Scotland to continue using the pound but without a formal currency union; a scenario he described as “disastrous” for Scotland’s financial services industry. Citing the eurozone as an example, Darling described a currency union without political union as “stupidity on stilts”.
Guardian FT Times Independent Mail Sun Mirror EUobserver ICM poll

Russia to sue German defence company as Putin seeks to counter Western sanctions;
Ukrainian air force bombards rebel stronghold
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday asked his government to draw up counter-measures to the latest tranche of Western sanctions on Russia, which he described as “contrary to all rules and regulations.” Russia also announced that it will sue German defence company Rheinmetall, after the German government forced it to cancel a €100m contract to export combat simulation and training equipment to the Russian military on Monday. Separately, ministers from several of Germany’s regions have been calling for federal support for SMEs that will “suffer” as a result of no longer be able to export to Russia.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force bombarded the separatist stronghold of Donetsk last night as Kiev stepped up its offensive to regain lost territory in the east. Tensions remain high with Ukraine accusing Russia of “provocative” military exercises and cross-border shelling, while Nato has warned of 20,000 Russian troops building-up at the border.
Reuters Spiegel FAZ FAZ 2 Süddeutsche EUobserver Handelsblatt Reuters Deutschland FT FT2 FT: Wagstyl Irish Times Welt: Felsner

The German Federal Statistical Office released new figures on Wednesday showing that German factory orders fell by a seasonally-adjusted 3.2% in June from May. The decline is the biggest since September 2011.
Reuters Deutschland

Credit rating agency Moody’s said on Monday that France is likely to miss its deficit reduction targets for 2014 and 2015. The rating agency added that there are "significant implementation risks" to France's plan to reduce spending by €50bn by 2017, because many of the measures have still not been defined.
Le Figaro

Bulgaria’s President, Rosen Plevneliev, announced yesterday that he was appointing Georgi Bliznashki, a law professor, as the country’s interim Prime Minister until the parliamentary election on October 5.
Irish Times

The Irish Times reports that Portugal, Bulgaria, and Slovakia have lodged objections against the planned Irish legislation for plain packaging tobacco on the basis that the proposals are incompatible with EU rules on free movement of goods and services.
Irish Times

Finland's net payment to the European Union has decreased by €55m to a total of €604m in 2013, or approximately €112 per inhabitant, compared to €659m in 2012, reports Finish daily Hufvudstadsbladet.
Hufvudstadsbladet


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