Leading SPD members consider grand coalition with CDU/CSU;Angela Merkel rules out coalition with anti-euro AfDDie Welt reports that leading SPD members no longer expect a SPD-Green majority after the September 22 German elections, and are considering a grand coalition with Angela Merkels CDU/CSU instead. Separately, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Merkel said that a coalition with the anti-euro party, AfD, was not in question. Her comments follow reports that AfD head Bernd Lucke, is open to a coalition with Merkels CDU/CSU.
Meanwhile, a new Emnid poll for Bild am Sonntag puts the CDU/CSU on 40%, the SPD on 25%, the Greens on 11%, the Left party on 9%, the FDP on 5%, and AfD and Pirate party both on 3%. When asked about their preferred Chancellor candidate, the SPDs Peer Steinbrück received his best approval rating so far at 35% (a 7% increase), while support for Merkel decreased by 2% to 50%.
Spiegel Spiegel 2 Welt Welt 2 Handeslblatt Handelsblatt 2 FAZ FAZ 2 Süddeutsche Open Europe blog
Open Europe and Open Europe Berlins recent poll on German voters views on Europe was cited by the Sunday Telegraph. Prof. Dr Michael Wohlgemuth, Director of Open Europe Berlin, was quoted as saying, A substantial part of voters really support . So perhaps it comes as no surprise that some politicians like to hint at it. The poll is also cited by the Times and by German historian Jochen Hung in a piece for the Guardians Comment is Free.
Open Europe poll Guardian CiF: Hung Times Telegraph Sunday Telegraph FT
Citing Open Europes proposals for tightening EU migrants access to welfare in other member states, Hugo Dixon argues in the IHT, The basic principle should be that people are free to move around the Union to work, study or retire but not to live off benefits.
Open Europe blog Open Europe research Open Europe research 2 Open Europe research 3 IHT: Dixon
Open Europe debate: How to preserve the single market in the face of the euro crisis
Speaking at a panel debate co-hosted by Open Europe at the Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdroj, Poland, Jan Figel, the Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament, and a former European Commissioner, said, We shouldnt lose the EU while trying to save the euro. Barbara Woodward, the Director General Economic and Consular at the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office, supported the use of double majority voting, whereby a majority both among eurozone and non-eurozone members would be required for a proposal to pass. Also speaking on the panel was Georg Milbradt, the former Prime Minister of the German State of Saxony, who warned that the eurocrisis isnt over at all The ECB has merely kept banks and governments afloat while unemployment in the European periphery is at record highs.
Wawrzyniec Smoczynski, Director of the Polityka Insight think tank, noted that Poland is very keen to maintain the integrity of the EU-28 institutions and prevent the establishment of separate eurozone institutions. He added that Poland is even more vocal in defending the single market than the UK at times, for example over the Posted Workers Directive.
Open Europe Events Open Europe research: Double Majority Voting Open Europe Blog
The Sunday Times reported that, according to Whitehall sources, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have begun drawing up plans to cut EU bureaucracy, including reducing the number of EU Commissioners from 28 to between six and twelve. The aim is to have some elements of the reform in place during 2014.
Open Europe blog Sunday Times
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said yesterday that he hoped Greece could return to the bond markets next year, but did not rule out taking further aid. He added that there will be no new austerity measures and that Greece will return to growth next year. Kathimerini reports that the IMF puts Greeces funding gap from 2015 to 2020 at 46.8bn.
Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 IHT La Tribune
The UK Government is to change the law so that the General Medical Council (GMC) will have the power to test EU doctors before issuing a licence to practise in the UK, if concerns over their English have emerged.
Mail Guardian Express
The Italian Senates Immunities Committee will today start the debate on whether to expel Silvio Berlusconi from parliament following his tax fraud conviction. In a bid to delay the final vote, which seems unlikely to take place today anyway, Berlusconi has lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.
Repubblica Repubblica 2 La Stampa Corriere della Sera
A vote in the European Parliament on the new single banking supervisor for the eurozone, scheduled for tomorrow, could be delayed after MEPs and the ECB failed to reach an agreement on the level of accountability for the new supervisor. Specifically, the ECB has refused to provide minutes of the meetings of the new supervisor to the Parliament.
European Voice
New research by the EUs own Joint Research Centre (JRC) has found that, if biofuels received no EU support, the price of foodstuffs in the EU, such as vegetable oil, would be up to 50% lower by 2020.
Euractiv
The Guardian reports that Alan Sked, who founded UKIP in 1993, has founded New Deal as a eurosceptic left-wing rival party to Labour.
Guardian
De Volkskrant reports that Dutch Social-Democrat Social Affairs Minister Lodewijk Asscher has said that EU Commissioners Neelie Kroes and László Andor have reacted in a facetious way to his warning about labour migration within the EU. He calls on the Commission to address the issue, adding, In some places, the dykes are almost breaking.
Open Europe research Open Europe research 2 Open Europe research 3 Volkskrant Volkskrant 2
According to a new opinion poll, Dutch governing parties VVD and PvdA are at an all-time low and would only retain 30 of the 79 seats they currently hold in parliament if new elections were to take place now. Geert Wilders right-wing populist PVV remains the most popular party.
Telegraaf Telegraaf 2 Telegraaf 3 Dagelijkse Standaard
US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed a statement over the weekend by EU foreign policy chief, Baroness Catherine Ashton, that the Syrian chemical attack is a blatant violation of international law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Guardian Mail on Sunday Spiegel Reuters Deutschland Reuters Reuters2 EUobserver BBC
The Guardian reports on an opinion poll of 10,000 Scots commissioned by Conservative Peer Lord Ashcroft, which showed that just a quarter of Scottish voters support independence from the UK, while 65% are against.
Guardian Lord Ashcroft polls
The Bank of France has revised its growth forecast for the third quarter of the year from 0.1% to 0.2%, reports Le Figaro.
Le Figaro Expansión
The EU is facing growing pressure from Israel and the US to water down tough new guidelines restricting EU funding for institutions in Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands. EU diplomats will head to Israel this week for talks aimed at soothing tensions.
FT WSJ
Bron: politics.be
Meanwhile, a new Emnid poll for Bild am Sonntag puts the CDU/CSU on 40%, the SPD on 25%, the Greens on 11%, the Left party on 9%, the FDP on 5%, and AfD and Pirate party both on 3%. When asked about their preferred Chancellor candidate, the SPDs Peer Steinbrück received his best approval rating so far at 35% (a 7% increase), while support for Merkel decreased by 2% to 50%.
Spiegel Spiegel 2 Welt Welt 2 Handeslblatt Handelsblatt 2 FAZ FAZ 2 Süddeutsche Open Europe blog
Open Europe and Open Europe Berlins recent poll on German voters views on Europe was cited by the Sunday Telegraph. Prof. Dr Michael Wohlgemuth, Director of Open Europe Berlin, was quoted as saying, A substantial part of voters really support . So perhaps it comes as no surprise that some politicians like to hint at it. The poll is also cited by the Times and by German historian Jochen Hung in a piece for the Guardians Comment is Free.
Open Europe poll Guardian CiF: Hung Times Telegraph Sunday Telegraph FT
Citing Open Europes proposals for tightening EU migrants access to welfare in other member states, Hugo Dixon argues in the IHT, The basic principle should be that people are free to move around the Union to work, study or retire but not to live off benefits.
Open Europe blog Open Europe research Open Europe research 2 Open Europe research 3 IHT: Dixon
Open Europe debate: How to preserve the single market in the face of the euro crisis
Speaking at a panel debate co-hosted by Open Europe at the Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdroj, Poland, Jan Figel, the Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament, and a former European Commissioner, said, We shouldnt lose the EU while trying to save the euro. Barbara Woodward, the Director General Economic and Consular at the UKs Foreign and Commonwealth Office, supported the use of double majority voting, whereby a majority both among eurozone and non-eurozone members would be required for a proposal to pass. Also speaking on the panel was Georg Milbradt, the former Prime Minister of the German State of Saxony, who warned that the eurocrisis isnt over at all The ECB has merely kept banks and governments afloat while unemployment in the European periphery is at record highs.
Wawrzyniec Smoczynski, Director of the Polityka Insight think tank, noted that Poland is very keen to maintain the integrity of the EU-28 institutions and prevent the establishment of separate eurozone institutions. He added that Poland is even more vocal in defending the single market than the UK at times, for example over the Posted Workers Directive.
Open Europe Events Open Europe research: Double Majority Voting Open Europe Blog
The Sunday Times reported that, according to Whitehall sources, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have begun drawing up plans to cut EU bureaucracy, including reducing the number of EU Commissioners from 28 to between six and twelve. The aim is to have some elements of the reform in place during 2014.
Open Europe blog Sunday Times
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said yesterday that he hoped Greece could return to the bond markets next year, but did not rule out taking further aid. He added that there will be no new austerity measures and that Greece will return to growth next year. Kathimerini reports that the IMF puts Greeces funding gap from 2015 to 2020 at 46.8bn.
Kathimerini Kathimerini 2 Kathimerini 3 IHT La Tribune
The UK Government is to change the law so that the General Medical Council (GMC) will have the power to test EU doctors before issuing a licence to practise in the UK, if concerns over their English have emerged.
Mail Guardian Express
The Italian Senates Immunities Committee will today start the debate on whether to expel Silvio Berlusconi from parliament following his tax fraud conviction. In a bid to delay the final vote, which seems unlikely to take place today anyway, Berlusconi has lodged an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights.
Repubblica Repubblica 2 La Stampa Corriere della Sera
A vote in the European Parliament on the new single banking supervisor for the eurozone, scheduled for tomorrow, could be delayed after MEPs and the ECB failed to reach an agreement on the level of accountability for the new supervisor. Specifically, the ECB has refused to provide minutes of the meetings of the new supervisor to the Parliament.
European Voice
New research by the EUs own Joint Research Centre (JRC) has found that, if biofuels received no EU support, the price of foodstuffs in the EU, such as vegetable oil, would be up to 50% lower by 2020.
Euractiv
The Guardian reports that Alan Sked, who founded UKIP in 1993, has founded New Deal as a eurosceptic left-wing rival party to Labour.
Guardian
De Volkskrant reports that Dutch Social-Democrat Social Affairs Minister Lodewijk Asscher has said that EU Commissioners Neelie Kroes and László Andor have reacted in a facetious way to his warning about labour migration within the EU. He calls on the Commission to address the issue, adding, In some places, the dykes are almost breaking.
Open Europe research Open Europe research 2 Open Europe research 3 Volkskrant Volkskrant 2
According to a new opinion poll, Dutch governing parties VVD and PvdA are at an all-time low and would only retain 30 of the 79 seats they currently hold in parliament if new elections were to take place now. Geert Wilders right-wing populist PVV remains the most popular party.
Telegraaf Telegraaf 2 Telegraaf 3 Dagelijkse Standaard
US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed a statement over the weekend by EU foreign policy chief, Baroness Catherine Ashton, that the Syrian chemical attack is a blatant violation of international law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Guardian Mail on Sunday Spiegel Reuters Deutschland Reuters Reuters2 EUobserver BBC
The Guardian reports on an opinion poll of 10,000 Scots commissioned by Conservative Peer Lord Ashcroft, which showed that just a quarter of Scottish voters support independence from the UK, while 65% are against.
Guardian Lord Ashcroft polls
The Bank of France has revised its growth forecast for the third quarter of the year from 0.1% to 0.2%, reports Le Figaro.
Le Figaro Expansión
The EU is facing growing pressure from Israel and the US to water down tough new guidelines restricting EU funding for institutions in Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands. EU diplomats will head to Israel this week for talks aimed at soothing tensions.
FT WSJ
Bron: politics.be