UK in last ditch attempt to water down caps on bankers' bonuses; Mats Persson: The cap is largely displacement activity UK Chancellor George Osborne will tomorrow make a final attempt to water down proposed EU rules on capping banker bonuses, possibly by reducing the overseas reach of the cap though it is unclear whether he will get support. Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg said last week, We dont share the British view that the cap
is a problem. In a comment piece in the Sunday Telegraph, Open Europes Director Mats Persson argued, The EU has supported and approved 4.6 trillion (£4 trillion) in taxpayer-backed aid to banks over the course of the financial crisis. To think that capping bonuses will address moral hazard against trillions of state aid, borders on the bizarre
much of the motivation is, in fact, displacement activity. Mats was also quoted in a separate article in the paper.
Meanwhile, in a referendum yesterday, 68% of Swiss voters backed new rules giving shareholders the final say on executive pay and a number of related issues. The SPDs deputy parliamentary faction leader Joachim Poss told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that the result should be seen as encouragement for the introduction of a European Directive on excessive executive remuneration.
Open Europe blog Open Europe research Sunday Telegraph: Persson Telegraph Times FT Weekend FT FT2 City AM WSJ FT: Munchau FT: Authers City AM: Heath FT Weekend: Wolf Spiegel
In an interview with NRC Handelsblad, the leader of the Dutch Labour party Diederik Samsom says that new changes to EU treaties should require referenda, adding, Perhaps then people will finally not feel like standing with their back against the wall, but that they have a choice.
NRC
25 EU member states received £16bn in additional sweeteners to strike EU budget deal
The Sunday Telegraph reported that all EU member states with the exception of the UK and Poland received additional sweeteners worth around £16bn over seven years in order to seal an agreement on the 2014-2020 EU budget. The total includes 200m (£173m) for Mayotte, an island off the east coast of Africa which recently became an overseas French department. Open Europes Pawel Swidlicki is quoted as saying using the structural funds as a form of deal-sweetener results in widespread misallocations of scarce public funds coupled with massive opportunity costs. Arguably, the net effect is to hamper growth rather than to boost it.
Sunday Telegraph
Team Stronach, an anti-euro party founded by the Austro-Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, won around 10% of the vote in two regional elections held in Austria over the weekend 11.3% in Carinthia and 9.8% in Lower Austria.
Der Standard DWN
The German media look at the new German anti-euro party Alternative for Germany, which is due to launch next month. The party argues that Germany should no longer guarantee debts of other states, that the single currency should be abandoned with all states free to leave to euro and enter into alternative currency associations, and pledging to offer a referendum on further transfers of sovereignty to the EU.
Open Europe blog Welt FAZ
Grillo: I want online referendum on whether Italy should remain in the euro;
Repubblica: New Italian parliament could convene earlier than planned
In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Five-Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo said, Im a committed European. Im in favour of an online referendum on the euro, I want a unified Europe which is modern and speaks a common language. Meanwhile, centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani yesterday unveiled the eight-point programme on which he will try to form a minority government. He told Italian public broadcaster RAI that Grillo now has one third of parliamentarians, so he should say what he wants to do. No agreement? Then he should say that we all go home.
La Repubblica reports that Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is considering bringing the first sitting of the new Italian parliament forward to 12 March so that official talks on the formation of the next government can start one week earlier than planned. Open Europes flash analysis of the Italian election results was reproduced by Il Sole 24 Ore, Italys largest financial daily.
Il Sole 24 Ore: OE flash analysis Beppe Grillos blog FT La7 Corriere della Sera Focus: Grillo La Stampa blogs: Zatterin AGI Bild am Sonntag: Grillo Repubblica Repubblica 2 Il Sole 24 Ore Corriere della Sera 2 AGI FT Weekend Observer Observer: Rodota La Stampa: De Gregorio
The FT reports that Nick Clegg will today say that he will not back Conservative moves to opt out of EU police and crime measures without signing back up to the European Arrest Warrant.
Open Europe research FT
Cypriot Finance Minister: UK may want to participate in Cypriot bailout;
Portugal seeks budget cuts delays as hundreds of thousands protest against austerity in Lisbon
Ahead of todays meeting of eurozone finance ministers, new Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris warned that talk of writing down depositors was leading to substantial outflows from Cypriot banks. Sarris also said that there are indications that London would participate in a Cypriot bailout, for a country that has special links with the UK, adding that some way could be found to help in a transitional manner. An unnamed UK diplomat insisted the bailout is a eurozone matter, according to the WSJ.
Separately, eurozone finance ministers are also set to discuss requests from Portugal and Ireland for more time to meet their deficit targets similar to that which was given to Greece. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Lisbon on Saturday to protest against austerity.
Kathimerini IHT EUobserver FT WSJ WSJ: Nixon WSJ EUobserver BBC
Cameron considering plans to limit migrants access to NHS;
German Interior Minister: We would veto Bulgarian and Romanian accession to Schengen
The Sunday Times reported that David Cameron is preparing to limit the access of immigrants to free healthcare amid concerns the NHS is being abused by new arrivals. Meanwhile, Germany is expected to veto Romania and Bulgaria's bid to join the border-free Schengen area at a meeting of interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday. If Romania and Bulgaria insist on having a vote, their push will fail because of a German veto, German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Der Spiegel.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that the All Party Parliamentary Group on EU reform will begin a quick inquiry this week into immigration from Bulgaria and Romania designed to come up with a set of specific recommendations for ministers.
EUobserver FAZ DWN Spiegel Mail on Sunday Sunday Telegraph Sunday Times BBC Mail Sun on Sunday Sun on Sunday: Leader
Representatives of the SPD and the Greens in the Bundesrat Germanys upper house voted to delay the implementation of the fiscal treaty following a dispute with the federal government over measures intended to bring down borrowing costs for German regional governments.
FT
UKIP leader Nigel Farage writes in the Times, If Eastleigh caused a tremor, then the Euro elections give us the opportunity to set off an earthquake. The election will be held on the same day as local elections, which creates an opportunity to win council seats in real numbers.
Times: Farage Times: Leader Times: Montgomerie
The Telegraph reports that Justice Secretary Chris Grayling and Home Secretary Theresa May have indicated that if the Conservatives won the next election the Government would scrap the Human Rights Act and possibly even leave the European Court of Human Rights.
Mail on Sunday Mail on Sunday: Leader Sunday Telegraph Guardian Telegraph BBC
Former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell has hinted that he could make a political comeback as the UKs next European Commissioner. He told the BBC1s Sunday Politics programme, There is a very important job to be done in Europe to make sure that Europe changes in the interests of everyone in Europe but also in the interests of Britain.
Mail on Sunday
In an interview with Wirtschaftswoche, ESM Head Klaus Regling said, There are several states where enthusiasm for direct bank recapitalisations is very limited I can therefore not say with 100% certainty that we will have this instrument.
Wirtschaftswoche Reuters
Greece resumed talks with the EU/IMF/ECB Troika yesterday, with the approval of the next tranche of bailout funds looking likely. However, Handelsblatt reports that further reductions in public services and improved tax collection may be requested.
WSJ Handelsblatt
Bron: politics.be
Meanwhile, in a referendum yesterday, 68% of Swiss voters backed new rules giving shareholders the final say on executive pay and a number of related issues. The SPDs deputy parliamentary faction leader Joachim Poss told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that the result should be seen as encouragement for the introduction of a European Directive on excessive executive remuneration.
Open Europe blog Open Europe research Sunday Telegraph: Persson Telegraph Times FT Weekend FT FT2 City AM WSJ FT: Munchau FT: Authers City AM: Heath FT Weekend: Wolf Spiegel
In an interview with NRC Handelsblad, the leader of the Dutch Labour party Diederik Samsom says that new changes to EU treaties should require referenda, adding, Perhaps then people will finally not feel like standing with their back against the wall, but that they have a choice.
NRC
25 EU member states received £16bn in additional sweeteners to strike EU budget deal
The Sunday Telegraph reported that all EU member states with the exception of the UK and Poland received additional sweeteners worth around £16bn over seven years in order to seal an agreement on the 2014-2020 EU budget. The total includes 200m (£173m) for Mayotte, an island off the east coast of Africa which recently became an overseas French department. Open Europes Pawel Swidlicki is quoted as saying using the structural funds as a form of deal-sweetener results in widespread misallocations of scarce public funds coupled with massive opportunity costs. Arguably, the net effect is to hamper growth rather than to boost it.
Sunday Telegraph
Team Stronach, an anti-euro party founded by the Austro-Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach, won around 10% of the vote in two regional elections held in Austria over the weekend 11.3% in Carinthia and 9.8% in Lower Austria.
Der Standard DWN
The German media look at the new German anti-euro party Alternative for Germany, which is due to launch next month. The party argues that Germany should no longer guarantee debts of other states, that the single currency should be abandoned with all states free to leave to euro and enter into alternative currency associations, and pledging to offer a referendum on further transfers of sovereignty to the EU.
Open Europe blog Welt FAZ
Grillo: I want online referendum on whether Italy should remain in the euro;
Repubblica: New Italian parliament could convene earlier than planned
In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Five-Star Movement leader Beppe Grillo said, Im a committed European. Im in favour of an online referendum on the euro, I want a unified Europe which is modern and speaks a common language. Meanwhile, centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani yesterday unveiled the eight-point programme on which he will try to form a minority government. He told Italian public broadcaster RAI that Grillo now has one third of parliamentarians, so he should say what he wants to do. No agreement? Then he should say that we all go home.
La Repubblica reports that Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is considering bringing the first sitting of the new Italian parliament forward to 12 March so that official talks on the formation of the next government can start one week earlier than planned. Open Europes flash analysis of the Italian election results was reproduced by Il Sole 24 Ore, Italys largest financial daily.
Il Sole 24 Ore: OE flash analysis Beppe Grillos blog FT La7 Corriere della Sera Focus: Grillo La Stampa blogs: Zatterin AGI Bild am Sonntag: Grillo Repubblica Repubblica 2 Il Sole 24 Ore Corriere della Sera 2 AGI FT Weekend Observer Observer: Rodota La Stampa: De Gregorio
The FT reports that Nick Clegg will today say that he will not back Conservative moves to opt out of EU police and crime measures without signing back up to the European Arrest Warrant.
Open Europe research FT
Cypriot Finance Minister: UK may want to participate in Cypriot bailout;
Portugal seeks budget cuts delays as hundreds of thousands protest against austerity in Lisbon
Ahead of todays meeting of eurozone finance ministers, new Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris warned that talk of writing down depositors was leading to substantial outflows from Cypriot banks. Sarris also said that there are indications that London would participate in a Cypriot bailout, for a country that has special links with the UK, adding that some way could be found to help in a transitional manner. An unnamed UK diplomat insisted the bailout is a eurozone matter, according to the WSJ.
Separately, eurozone finance ministers are also set to discuss requests from Portugal and Ireland for more time to meet their deficit targets similar to that which was given to Greece. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Lisbon on Saturday to protest against austerity.
Kathimerini IHT EUobserver FT WSJ WSJ: Nixon WSJ EUobserver BBC
Cameron considering plans to limit migrants access to NHS;
German Interior Minister: We would veto Bulgarian and Romanian accession to Schengen
The Sunday Times reported that David Cameron is preparing to limit the access of immigrants to free healthcare amid concerns the NHS is being abused by new arrivals. Meanwhile, Germany is expected to veto Romania and Bulgaria's bid to join the border-free Schengen area at a meeting of interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday. If Romania and Bulgaria insist on having a vote, their push will fail because of a German veto, German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Der Spiegel.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that the All Party Parliamentary Group on EU reform will begin a quick inquiry this week into immigration from Bulgaria and Romania designed to come up with a set of specific recommendations for ministers.
EUobserver FAZ DWN Spiegel Mail on Sunday Sunday Telegraph Sunday Times BBC Mail Sun on Sunday Sun on Sunday: Leader
Representatives of the SPD and the Greens in the Bundesrat Germanys upper house voted to delay the implementation of the fiscal treaty following a dispute with the federal government over measures intended to bring down borrowing costs for German regional governments.
FT
UKIP leader Nigel Farage writes in the Times, If Eastleigh caused a tremor, then the Euro elections give us the opportunity to set off an earthquake. The election will be held on the same day as local elections, which creates an opportunity to win council seats in real numbers.
Times: Farage Times: Leader Times: Montgomerie
The Telegraph reports that Justice Secretary Chris Grayling and Home Secretary Theresa May have indicated that if the Conservatives won the next election the Government would scrap the Human Rights Act and possibly even leave the European Court of Human Rights.
Mail on Sunday Mail on Sunday: Leader Sunday Telegraph Guardian Telegraph BBC
Former Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell has hinted that he could make a political comeback as the UKs next European Commissioner. He told the BBC1s Sunday Politics programme, There is a very important job to be done in Europe to make sure that Europe changes in the interests of everyone in Europe but also in the interests of Britain.
Mail on Sunday
In an interview with Wirtschaftswoche, ESM Head Klaus Regling said, There are several states where enthusiasm for direct bank recapitalisations is very limited I can therefore not say with 100% certainty that we will have this instrument.
Wirtschaftswoche Reuters
Greece resumed talks with the EU/IMF/ECB Troika yesterday, with the approval of the next tranche of bailout funds looking likely. However, Handelsblatt reports that further reductions in public services and improved tax collection may be requested.
WSJ Handelsblatt
Bron: politics.be