Labour to abstain on EU Referendum Bill voteEd Miliband and Nick Clegg are expected to tell their MPs not to bother voting on the 5 July on the Private Members Bill to guarantee a referendum on Britains membership of the EU by 2017. A senior Labour source said, We will not be voting on this bill at second reading. We are absolutely certain that this bill is not going to make it to the statute book. Labour sources stressed that Mr Miliband would do everything in his power to prevent the referendum plan becoming law, including delaying tactics in the House of Lords.Open Europe blog Telegraph Telegraph 2 Sun Express City AM
German government categorically rejects Commission plans for eurozone bank resolution mechanism
Handelsblatt reports that the German government has categorically rejected the European Commissions proposals for a common eurozone resolution mechanism for stricken banks, which the Commission intends to present at this months EU leaders summit. The paper quotes a German government source as saying that We will oppose an EU solution politically and also legally if necessary. Meanwhile, German MPs yesterday voted to approve handing supervision over key financial institutions in the eurozone from national regulators to the European Central Bank.
FAZ DWN DWN 2
France rejects last-minute offer to break deadlock over EU-US trade talks
EU trade ministers will today discuss the European Commissions mandate to negotiate a free-trade deal with the US. France is threatening to veto the launch of EU-US trade talks unless the audio-visual industry is completely excluded. In a bid to break the deadlock, the European Commission and the Irish EU Presidency have proposed asking EU member states to give unanimous approval to any parts of the draft agreement affecting the audio-visual industry once the negotiations on that specific sector are concluded. However, Le Figaro quotes a source from the office of French Trade Minister Nicole Bricq as saying, We already have a veto on the conclusion of the agreement, so doesnt change anything for us.
AFP Le Figaro Economist: Charlemagne Süddeutsche NOS FT
Eurozone agrees on 60bn cap on direct bank recapitalisation from ESM;
No agreement on final liability or using funds retrospectively
The WSJ reports that eurozone officials are close to agreeing a deal which will allow the ESM, the eurozones bailout fund, to directly recapitalise European banks using up to 60bn of its funds. The plans will see an ESM representative sitting on the board of any recapitalised bank. There is no agreement on whether the funds will be allowed to be used to retroactively remove the burden of bank bailouts from government books. It is also unclear whether the final liability for the loan remains with the national government or ESM although the loans would still need to be channelled through government institutions. The decision is expected to be finalised at the Eurogroup meeting on 20 June.
WSJ
The FT reports that the German Government is seeking to delay EU membership talks with Turkey scheduled for June 26, in response to Ankaras crackdown on mass demonstrations. Reportedly a diplomat in Berlin pointed out that France, Italy, Sweden and Finland were also leaning towards halting the negotiations.
FT
Spanish bank BBVA announced yesterday that it faced losing 35m in net profit following a Spanish Supreme Court ruling which stated that some interest rate floors on Spanish mortgages were not presented to clients clearly and therefore must be removed. The ruling could also hit profits of other banks.
FT Reuters WSJ
Die Welt reports that according to new UN population figures released yesterday, Germanys population is projected to fall from 82.7m in 2013 to 72.6m in 2050.
Welt
Greek PM moves to ease coalition tensions but large divisions remain
Kathimerini reports that Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras moved to ease tensions within the governing coalition yesterday, announcing that he will hold a meeting with his coalition partners on Monday with the aim of reaching a compromise over the closure of national broadcaster ERT. However, he suggested he would not back down from plans to close ERT and relaunch a new streamlined broadcaster. Both junior coalition partners have agreed to seek an immediate reversal of ERTs closure, but accept that the body needs significant restructuring.
Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 CityAM FT FT Editorial Le Figaro: Anastasiades
100 days ahead of Germanys federal elections, a YouGov/INSA poll for Bild has found that only half of Germans have said they are certain to vote, with 24% saying they are unsure or have definitely decided not to vote, with disillusionment with the political parties and/or the whole political system cited as reasons.
Bild
The Bundestag yesterday approved a new law establishing a 3% threshold in elections to the European Parliament after the German Constitutional Court ruled against the previous 5% threshold. However, many smaller parties are still unhappy and are set to launch a fresh legal challenge.
Süddeutsche
In an interview with FAZ, the Head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling suggests that he is in favour of abolishing the EU/ECB/IMF Troika because in the long term, eurozone states have to stem such programmes by themselves. He also says that the IMF ridicules the stability pact.
FAZ: Regling FAZ Le Monde
New Bank of Spain figures published this morning show that Spanish public debt reached a new record-high 88.2% of GDP in the first quarter of 2013.
El País El Mundo Expansión
A report on immigration released by the OECD yesterday showed that around 34,000 Greeks and 28,000 Spaniards moved to Germany between September 2011 and September 2012.
El País WSJ FT
City AM reports that EU officials have reached a deal in principle to update MiFID to account for technological advances and new trading techniques.
CityAM
The Commission is pushing to find an agreement with industry firms on the Solvency II plans which would see a significant shake-up of life assurance companies capital requirements.
FT
Two close aides to Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas are among eight prominent political, business, and intelligence-service figures arrested in overnight raids by a police unit specialising in the fight against organised crime.
BBC European Voice Ceske Noviny Ceske Noviny 2
Icelands Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson has told the European Commission that his islands EU membership bid is over saying: This is how democracy works, pointing out that both parties in the new government had campaigned against EU accession.
EUobserver
Bron: politics.be
German government categorically rejects Commission plans for eurozone bank resolution mechanism
Handelsblatt reports that the German government has categorically rejected the European Commissions proposals for a common eurozone resolution mechanism for stricken banks, which the Commission intends to present at this months EU leaders summit. The paper quotes a German government source as saying that We will oppose an EU solution politically and also legally if necessary. Meanwhile, German MPs yesterday voted to approve handing supervision over key financial institutions in the eurozone from national regulators to the European Central Bank.
FAZ DWN DWN 2
France rejects last-minute offer to break deadlock over EU-US trade talks
EU trade ministers will today discuss the European Commissions mandate to negotiate a free-trade deal with the US. France is threatening to veto the launch of EU-US trade talks unless the audio-visual industry is completely excluded. In a bid to break the deadlock, the European Commission and the Irish EU Presidency have proposed asking EU member states to give unanimous approval to any parts of the draft agreement affecting the audio-visual industry once the negotiations on that specific sector are concluded. However, Le Figaro quotes a source from the office of French Trade Minister Nicole Bricq as saying, We already have a veto on the conclusion of the agreement, so doesnt change anything for us.
AFP Le Figaro Economist: Charlemagne Süddeutsche NOS FT
Eurozone agrees on 60bn cap on direct bank recapitalisation from ESM;
No agreement on final liability or using funds retrospectively
The WSJ reports that eurozone officials are close to agreeing a deal which will allow the ESM, the eurozones bailout fund, to directly recapitalise European banks using up to 60bn of its funds. The plans will see an ESM representative sitting on the board of any recapitalised bank. There is no agreement on whether the funds will be allowed to be used to retroactively remove the burden of bank bailouts from government books. It is also unclear whether the final liability for the loan remains with the national government or ESM although the loans would still need to be channelled through government institutions. The decision is expected to be finalised at the Eurogroup meeting on 20 June.
WSJ
The FT reports that the German Government is seeking to delay EU membership talks with Turkey scheduled for June 26, in response to Ankaras crackdown on mass demonstrations. Reportedly a diplomat in Berlin pointed out that France, Italy, Sweden and Finland were also leaning towards halting the negotiations.
FT
Spanish bank BBVA announced yesterday that it faced losing 35m in net profit following a Spanish Supreme Court ruling which stated that some interest rate floors on Spanish mortgages were not presented to clients clearly and therefore must be removed. The ruling could also hit profits of other banks.
FT Reuters WSJ
Die Welt reports that according to new UN population figures released yesterday, Germanys population is projected to fall from 82.7m in 2013 to 72.6m in 2050.
Welt
Greek PM moves to ease coalition tensions but large divisions remain
Kathimerini reports that Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras moved to ease tensions within the governing coalition yesterday, announcing that he will hold a meeting with his coalition partners on Monday with the aim of reaching a compromise over the closure of national broadcaster ERT. However, he suggested he would not back down from plans to close ERT and relaunch a new streamlined broadcaster. Both junior coalition partners have agreed to seek an immediate reversal of ERTs closure, but accept that the body needs significant restructuring.
Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 CityAM FT FT Editorial Le Figaro: Anastasiades
100 days ahead of Germanys federal elections, a YouGov/INSA poll for Bild has found that only half of Germans have said they are certain to vote, with 24% saying they are unsure or have definitely decided not to vote, with disillusionment with the political parties and/or the whole political system cited as reasons.
Bild
The Bundestag yesterday approved a new law establishing a 3% threshold in elections to the European Parliament after the German Constitutional Court ruled against the previous 5% threshold. However, many smaller parties are still unhappy and are set to launch a fresh legal challenge.
Süddeutsche
In an interview with FAZ, the Head of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Klaus Regling suggests that he is in favour of abolishing the EU/ECB/IMF Troika because in the long term, eurozone states have to stem such programmes by themselves. He also says that the IMF ridicules the stability pact.
FAZ: Regling FAZ Le Monde
New Bank of Spain figures published this morning show that Spanish public debt reached a new record-high 88.2% of GDP in the first quarter of 2013.
El País El Mundo Expansión
A report on immigration released by the OECD yesterday showed that around 34,000 Greeks and 28,000 Spaniards moved to Germany between September 2011 and September 2012.
El País WSJ FT
City AM reports that EU officials have reached a deal in principle to update MiFID to account for technological advances and new trading techniques.
CityAM
The Commission is pushing to find an agreement with industry firms on the Solvency II plans which would see a significant shake-up of life assurance companies capital requirements.
FT
Two close aides to Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas are among eight prominent political, business, and intelligence-service figures arrested in overnight raids by a police unit specialising in the fight against organised crime.
BBC European Voice Ceske Noviny Ceske Noviny 2
Icelands Foreign Minister Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson has told the European Commission that his islands EU membership bid is over saying: This is how democracy works, pointing out that both parties in the new government had campaigned against EU accession.
EUobserver
Bron: politics.be