Cypriot banks to remain closed until Thursday amid uncertainty over capital contols; Eurogroup chief spooks market Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades confirmed last night that Cypriot banks will stay closed until Thursday, adding that any capital controls will be very temporary. This morning, Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said that the capital controls could last for weeks and would be stricter on the two largest banks, although the exact conditions of the controls are yet to be laid out.
Markets reacted relatively positively to the Cypriot deal yesterday until they were spooked by comments from Dutch Finance Minister and Head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who suggested that bank restructurings similar to that in Cyprus could take place elsewhere in the eurozone and that there may not be a need for a eurozone wide bank recapitalisation fund. In response stock markets fell across Europe, with the largest banks in France and Italy falling by 6%. Dijsselbloem then looked to row back from his comments somewhat, issuing a statement reiterating that Cyprus is specific. In an interview with Dutch TV yesterday evening, Dijsselbloem insisted he did not regret his comments and was not even aware of the English word template which had been widely attributed to him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the government to begin negotiations with Cyprus over an easing of terms on the 2.5bn loan given in 2011. The FT reports that many large Russian depositors are seeking ways around the capital controls, while Reuters reports that deposits may have been leaking from Cyprus over the past week despite banks being closed.
Open Europe published a flash analysis responding to the deal, titled Cyprus kept in the euro, but at what cost? The analysis noted that the likely collapse in GDP and the impact of capital controls could lead to Cypriot debt becoming unsustainable and turn Cyprus into a zombie economy. The analysis was cited by the FT, the Telegraph live blog, Zerohedge, El Pais, Cinco Días, EFE, La Razón, La Tribune, BBC News, Cypriot daily Phileleftheros, Greek business daily Imerisia and Slovakian daily SME. Open Europes blog on Dijsselbloems comments was also cited by El Pais. Open Europes Raoul Ruparel appeared on Sky News and Radio France International discussing the issue.
OE Flash Analysis FT FT 2 CityAM Kathimerini Euractiv La Tribune La Tribune 2 Telegraaf TV: Pauw en Witteman Elsevier WSJ CityAM 2 CityAM 3 WSJ 2 Telegraph Irish Times FT 3 FT 4 WSJ 3 FT 5 FT 6 FT 7 WSJ 4 WSJ 5 Kathimerini 2 Telegraph Telegraph 2 Times Mail Guardian Independent IHT Le Figaro EUobserver El País EUobserver 2 Bild Bild 2 Bild 3 Süddeutsche Welt FAZ Süddeutsche Welt FAZ FAZ 2 Süddeutsche Sun FAZ Telegraph: Live blog FT 8 El País El País 2 Cinco Días EFE La Razón La Tribune BBC News Phileleftheros Imerisia SME Telegraph BBC Irish Times Irish Times 2 Reuters Euractiv
Pieter Cleppe: Cypriot crisis breaks eurozone taboo on allowing major bank to fail
Writing in Belgian magazine Trends, Open Europes Pieter Cleppe argues that "With the agreement on Cyprus a taboo has been breached: that a major bank shouldn't be allowed to fail Dijsselbloems statements confirmed this". Writing in Bild, the founding director of Deutschlandradio Prof. Ernst Elitz argues that The washing machine for illicit Russian money has been switched off It is only just that Russian millionaires pay a high price for the Cypriot bailout rather than small savers.
In FAZ, Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger argues that The Cypriots want to see themselves as victims In the crisis countries many blame their plight less on corrupt elites and bad policies but on the alleged lack of solidarity in the North for which read: neo-hegemonic Germany. In turn the donor countries feel like victims of extortion, the assistance provided is rewarded with insults this does not necessarily bode hopefully for the future of the EU. Writing in Die Welt, Director of the Hamburg Institute of International Economics Thomas Straubhaar describes the Cypriot bailout deal as a turning-point in the eurozone crisis, arguing that Up until now, the bankrupt countries have been able to use fear of a domino effect to extort Europe. That is now over because the strong eurozone countries have the better hand and they should not be afraid to play it.
Trends: Cleppe Bild: Elitz Bild: Blome FAZ: Frankenberger Welt: Straubhaar FAZ: Steltzner FT: Rachman FT: Editorial FT: Wolff CityAM: Heath WSJ Review & Outlook Telegraph: Warner Telegraph: Editorial Telegraph: Farage Times: Sentance Mail: Hastings Mail: Leader Conservative Home: Lilico Reuters: Salmon Cyprus Mail: Leader
Mats Persson: EU migration has to be managed better, but overall, it has benefited the UK and Europe
Following David Camerons announcement of new measures to crackdown on welfare tourism, on his Telegraph blog, Open Europe Director Mats Persson argues that access to benefits and public services need to be handled with extreme care in order to maintain public confidence. But its simply not right to talk about a crisis of welfare tourism. He adds, its true that EU migration can exert downward pressure on wages in some areas and/or sectors and that an influx can cause short-term shocks but overall free movement of w orkers has been good for both the UK and Europe.
Telegraph: Persson Open Europe blog Open Europe research Telegraph Telegraph 2 Times Mail Guardian Express Sun Sun 2 Times: Leader
City AM reports that Hungarys financial transactions tax introduced at the start of the year raised only 13bn Hungarian Forints (£36m) in January less than half the revenue the Hungarian government had hoped for.
City AM
Berlusconi sets conditions for his support for Bersani-led government;
Bersani under pressure from trade unions to form government at any cost
Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday that he wants his partys Secretary General Angelino Alfano to be the Deputy Prime Minister and a man close to the centre-right to be elected as the next Italian President in return for supporting a government led by centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani. A delegation from Berlusconis party and Lega Nord will meet Bersani this afternoon, but Berlusconi has decided not to take part in the meeting.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Italys three biggest trade unions have urged Bersani to form a government at any cost and avoid new elections. Similar demands have come from Giorgio Squinzi, the head of Italys largest employers association Confindustria. Bersani will report back to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Thursday on the outcome of the talks with other political parties.
La Stampa Repubblica Repubblica 2 Corriere della Sera Corriere della Sera 2
It was announced yesterday that Japan and the EU will open negotiations on a free trade agreement.
WSJ Euractiv Press Release
The Telegraph reports that legal analysts have suggested nationals of other EU member states would be able to qualify for the state-subsidised mortgages announced in the UK Budget.
Telegraph
Channel 4s Dispatches programme reported that when hospitals stick strictly to the EUs Working Time Directive, the result is that there can be a real shortage of junior doctors on the front line, especially at nights and weekends, resulting in deteriorated patient care.
Channel 4 Dispatches
FAZ reports that labour costs in the private sector in Germany are one third over the EU average at 31 per hour worked compared with the EU average of 24 and eurozone average of 30.10. Sweden has the highest labour costs in the EU at 41.90 per hour worked while Bulgaria has the lowest at 3.70. Frances labour costs are 11% higher than Germanys at 34.40 per hour worked.
FAZ
According to new Bank of Spain forecasts, Spains GDP will shrink by 1.5% this year and grow by 0.6% in 2014. Unemployment is expected to reach 27.1% in 2013.
El País El Mundo El País 2 Expansión FT
Bron: politics.be
Markets reacted relatively positively to the Cypriot deal yesterday until they were spooked by comments from Dutch Finance Minister and Head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who suggested that bank restructurings similar to that in Cyprus could take place elsewhere in the eurozone and that there may not be a need for a eurozone wide bank recapitalisation fund. In response stock markets fell across Europe, with the largest banks in France and Italy falling by 6%. Dijsselbloem then looked to row back from his comments somewhat, issuing a statement reiterating that Cyprus is specific. In an interview with Dutch TV yesterday evening, Dijsselbloem insisted he did not regret his comments and was not even aware of the English word template which had been widely attributed to him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the government to begin negotiations with Cyprus over an easing of terms on the 2.5bn loan given in 2011. The FT reports that many large Russian depositors are seeking ways around the capital controls, while Reuters reports that deposits may have been leaking from Cyprus over the past week despite banks being closed.
Open Europe published a flash analysis responding to the deal, titled Cyprus kept in the euro, but at what cost? The analysis noted that the likely collapse in GDP and the impact of capital controls could lead to Cypriot debt becoming unsustainable and turn Cyprus into a zombie economy. The analysis was cited by the FT, the Telegraph live blog, Zerohedge, El Pais, Cinco Días, EFE, La Razón, La Tribune, BBC News, Cypriot daily Phileleftheros, Greek business daily Imerisia and Slovakian daily SME. Open Europes blog on Dijsselbloems comments was also cited by El Pais. Open Europes Raoul Ruparel appeared on Sky News and Radio France International discussing the issue.
OE Flash Analysis FT FT 2 CityAM Kathimerini Euractiv La Tribune La Tribune 2 Telegraaf TV: Pauw en Witteman Elsevier WSJ CityAM 2 CityAM 3 WSJ 2 Telegraph Irish Times FT 3 FT 4 WSJ 3 FT 5 FT 6 FT 7 WSJ 4 WSJ 5 Kathimerini 2 Telegraph Telegraph 2 Times Mail Guardian Independent IHT Le Figaro EUobserver El País EUobserver 2 Bild Bild 2 Bild 3 Süddeutsche Welt FAZ Süddeutsche Welt FAZ FAZ 2 Süddeutsche Sun FAZ Telegraph: Live blog FT 8 El País El País 2 Cinco Días EFE La Razón La Tribune BBC News Phileleftheros Imerisia SME Telegraph BBC Irish Times Irish Times 2 Reuters Euractiv
Pieter Cleppe: Cypriot crisis breaks eurozone taboo on allowing major bank to fail
Writing in Belgian magazine Trends, Open Europes Pieter Cleppe argues that "With the agreement on Cyprus a taboo has been breached: that a major bank shouldn't be allowed to fail Dijsselbloems statements confirmed this". Writing in Bild, the founding director of Deutschlandradio Prof. Ernst Elitz argues that The washing machine for illicit Russian money has been switched off It is only just that Russian millionaires pay a high price for the Cypriot bailout rather than small savers.
In FAZ, Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger argues that The Cypriots want to see themselves as victims In the crisis countries many blame their plight less on corrupt elites and bad policies but on the alleged lack of solidarity in the North for which read: neo-hegemonic Germany. In turn the donor countries feel like victims of extortion, the assistance provided is rewarded with insults this does not necessarily bode hopefully for the future of the EU. Writing in Die Welt, Director of the Hamburg Institute of International Economics Thomas Straubhaar describes the Cypriot bailout deal as a turning-point in the eurozone crisis, arguing that Up until now, the bankrupt countries have been able to use fear of a domino effect to extort Europe. That is now over because the strong eurozone countries have the better hand and they should not be afraid to play it.
Trends: Cleppe Bild: Elitz Bild: Blome FAZ: Frankenberger Welt: Straubhaar FAZ: Steltzner FT: Rachman FT: Editorial FT: Wolff CityAM: Heath WSJ Review & Outlook Telegraph: Warner Telegraph: Editorial Telegraph: Farage Times: Sentance Mail: Hastings Mail: Leader Conservative Home: Lilico Reuters: Salmon Cyprus Mail: Leader
Mats Persson: EU migration has to be managed better, but overall, it has benefited the UK and Europe
Following David Camerons announcement of new measures to crackdown on welfare tourism, on his Telegraph blog, Open Europe Director Mats Persson argues that access to benefits and public services need to be handled with extreme care in order to maintain public confidence. But its simply not right to talk about a crisis of welfare tourism. He adds, its true that EU migration can exert downward pressure on wages in some areas and/or sectors and that an influx can cause short-term shocks but overall free movement of w orkers has been good for both the UK and Europe.
Telegraph: Persson Open Europe blog Open Europe research Telegraph Telegraph 2 Times Mail Guardian Express Sun Sun 2 Times: Leader
City AM reports that Hungarys financial transactions tax introduced at the start of the year raised only 13bn Hungarian Forints (£36m) in January less than half the revenue the Hungarian government had hoped for.
City AM
Berlusconi sets conditions for his support for Bersani-led government;
Bersani under pressure from trade unions to form government at any cost
Silvio Berlusconi said yesterday that he wants his partys Secretary General Angelino Alfano to be the Deputy Prime Minister and a man close to the centre-right to be elected as the next Italian President in return for supporting a government led by centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani. A delegation from Berlusconis party and Lega Nord will meet Bersani this afternoon, but Berlusconi has decided not to take part in the meeting.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Italys three biggest trade unions have urged Bersani to form a government at any cost and avoid new elections. Similar demands have come from Giorgio Squinzi, the head of Italys largest employers association Confindustria. Bersani will report back to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Thursday on the outcome of the talks with other political parties.
La Stampa Repubblica Repubblica 2 Corriere della Sera Corriere della Sera 2
It was announced yesterday that Japan and the EU will open negotiations on a free trade agreement.
WSJ Euractiv Press Release
The Telegraph reports that legal analysts have suggested nationals of other EU member states would be able to qualify for the state-subsidised mortgages announced in the UK Budget.
Telegraph
Channel 4s Dispatches programme reported that when hospitals stick strictly to the EUs Working Time Directive, the result is that there can be a real shortage of junior doctors on the front line, especially at nights and weekends, resulting in deteriorated patient care.
Channel 4 Dispatches
FAZ reports that labour costs in the private sector in Germany are one third over the EU average at 31 per hour worked compared with the EU average of 24 and eurozone average of 30.10. Sweden has the highest labour costs in the EU at 41.90 per hour worked while Bulgaria has the lowest at 3.70. Frances labour costs are 11% higher than Germanys at 34.40 per hour worked.
FAZ
According to new Bank of Spain forecasts, Spains GDP will shrink by 1.5% this year and grow by 0.6% in 2014. Unemployment is expected to reach 27.1% in 2013.
El País El Mundo El País 2 Expansión FT
Bron: politics.be