Open Europe : Daily Press Summary

[Politics.be]

Van Rompuy meets Renzi for key talks over next European Commission President;Italy could be offered budget flexibility in return for backing JunckerEuropean Council President Herman Van Rompuy will discuss the appointment of the next European Commission President with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Rome today. Italy has so far refused to back any specific candidate, and Renzi is seen as holding the ‘swing vote’ on to the appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President. Austrian centre-left MEP Hannes Swoboda told reporters yesterday that Van Rompuy “is working on a text” to make EU budget rules more flexible and win Italy’s support for Juncker.However, Italian Europe Minister Sandro Gozi said yesterday that Italy wants “a solution that is as consensual as possible” in order to avoid “a split in the European Council and an even worse tension between the European Council and the European Parliament.”Meanwhile, Süddeutsche cites Open Europe’s factsheet and briefing questioning the democratic legitimacy of Spitzenkandidaten – European Commission President candidates appointed by the main pan-European political groups – to show that less than 10% of the entire EU electorate voted for parties which supported Jean-Claude Juncker and that of those not everyone knew they were voting for Juncker. The briefing is also cited by Austrian daily Die Presse.Open Europe briefing Rai News 24 Il Sole 24 Ore Reuters Reuters Italia FT FT 2 Guardian European Voice Telegraph Express Die Presse Euractiv Süddeutsche

German coalition divided by proposal to give indebted eurozone states greater flexibility in meeting deficit targets
The French and Italian governments have backed an initiative by the Party of European Socialists for debt-financed investments in growth and jobs not to be included in deficit calculations in return for binding commitments to structural reforms by eurozone governments. The initiative was also backed by Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD), who said that indebted countries could get “more time” to meet their deficit targets.

The suggestion has been strongly criticised by CDU and CSU politicians, with CSU General Secretary Andreas Scheuer telling Spiegel Online that “Weakening the stability pact would be in blatant contradiction of German interest and an attack on German taxpayers.”
FAZ Süddeutsche Bild Welt Handelsblatt Handelsblatt 2 Spiegel Online

Clegg considering matching Cameron’s EU referendum pledge;
You Gov records record support for UK’s EU membership
The Times reports that Nick Clegg is considering matching David Cameron’s offer to hold an In-Out referendum on Britain’s EU membership. At least three Liberal Democrat ministers as well as other senior party sources are urging Mr Clegg to “bow to the inevitable”. One option would be to commit to a referendum in the next Parliament but not to holding it by 2017 as Cameron has pledged.

A new YouGov poll for the Sun has found that if an in/out referendum were held now, 44% of people would vote to stay in the EU while 36% would vote to leave. The eight point lead for ‘in’ is the highest recorded since YouGov first asked the question in September 2010. If the government were to hold a successful renegotiation, 57% would vote to stay in compared with 22% who would vote to leave regardless.
Mail Times Times: Leader YouGov

European Voice reports that the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament has voted in favour of admitting the Flemish regionalist N-VA party should it formally apply to join. N-VA is also holding talks with the ECR Group and its four MEPs.
European Voice

Open Europe Berlin’s Director Michael Wohlgemuth this morning spoke at the Centre for Policy Studies’ 2014 Margaret Thatcher Conference on Liberty discussing whether “The EU and the Big Corporations: are they ganging up against liberty and its protector, the nation state?”
CPS Conference

In the Mail, former Chancellor Norman Lamont argues that the Government should “consider negotiating with our EU partners for an ‘emergency brake’ on free movement when the inflow of EU migrants towards one country is particularly strong, as is happening with Britain. The agreement for such a step will be difficult but not impossible.”
Mail

The Express reports that the Government yesterday unveiled an initial scheme designed to reward NHS health trusts that reclaim payments for caring for EU patients.
Express

Outgoing Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen has been confirmed by the government as Finland’s interim EU Commissioner. He will serve in the post until a new Commission is appointed in October.
YLE

The US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called on the EU to ease restrictions on gene-altered food and feed crops in an attempt to unblock negotiations over the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), reports the New York Times.
NYT

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko, discussed a possible ceasefire in eastern Ukraine following the deaths of two Russian journalists in the region, according to Kremlin sources.
FAZ Süddeutsche Welt

In a letter to the Telegraph, the heads of 19 major maritime organisations warn that shipping firms face paying £300m more for fuel next year because they have not been given enough time to comply with new EU regulations on sulphur emissions.
Telegraph

The French Court of Auditors has questioned the French Government's ability to meet the deficit targets agreed with the European Commission, absent new measures.
Le Figaro Le Monde

Bron: politics.be