Survey of economists: 55% chance of a Greek bailout; President of Greek Parliament appeals to “dear Germans” ahead of Merkel meeting
03 March 2010
In a Reuters poll of 47 economists, respondents estimated there to be median 55 percent chance of
Die Welt reports that Papandreou is due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday and notes that, in an open letter to Stern magazine ahead of the meeting, the President of the Greek Parliament Philippos Petsalnikos has appealed to his “dear Germans” for a show of “solidarity”. He wrote, “It is not your money, but your support and solidarity that
Handelsblatt reports that
The FT reports that the Greek government will today announce a new austerity package of tax increases and spending cuts worth up to €4.8bn. The Times notes that, in a speech to his PASOK party, Prime Minister George Papandreou said his country was fighting for survival against bankruptcy. “If anyone thinks that this is a remote nightmare scenario, they don’t realise what the situation is,” he said. “Each day we discover new holes, new landmines, in the budget deficit.”
Meanwhile, the FT notes that the European Central Bank may be softening its stance towards Greek government bonds, which would allow the ECB to continue using them as collateral against loans to Greek banks. If rating agency Moody’s follows other rating agencies in downgrading Greek assets further, the assets could become ineligible for use as collateral in ECB liquidity offers when it reverts to standards applied before the financial crisis at the end of this year. But
City AM FT Irish Times BBC Le Monde Le Figaro Coulisses de Bruxelles NouvelObs Die Welt
AIFM Directive: Barnier signals unwillingness to compromise on protectionist provisions
Global Pensions magazine reports that the current version of the AIFM Directive does not currently have the qualified majority needed to pass the Council of Ministers. In particular, a blocking minority of member states still disagree over how to treat non-EU based fund managers and whether to exclude smaller funds from the Directive. There is also disagreement over which institutions can qualify as funds’ depositories.
The Commission is recommending that the Permanent Representatives Committee – made up of member state ambassadors to the EU – agrees on a general approach to the entire draft. It also urged the Spanish Presidency to start negotiations with the Parliament “with a view to reaching an agreement at first reading”, which will take place in July.
Meanwhile, during Michel Barnier’s trip to
Hedge Funds Review FT Global Pensions Independent Open Europe research
Lord Turner criticises windfall profits to industrial polluters under EU’s carbon-trading scheme
Lord Turner, Chairman of the UK Committee on Climate Change, has criticised the EU’s carbon trading scheme, following a new report by Climate Strategies which recommends the EU halt the “inefficient and ineffective" practice of giving out free emissions allowances to companies that are prone to “carbon leakage”, which can then be sold for cash on the open market. Commenting on the report’s findings that some industries, such as cement-making, will gain an extra £9bn to £18bn in free emissions permits without any further effort to reduce their emissions, Lord Turner declared: “We can't solve the problem by giving out emission allowances for free as the only option for internationally trading manufacturing sectors.” He also refused to rule out the prospect of a carbon tax on imports. “Border carbon price levelling should not be excluded,” he said.
Meanwhile, FT Deutschland reports that EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard has demanded that
Telegraph Open Europe research
European regulator proposes EU-wide rules on short selling
The FT reports that the Paris-based Committee of European Securities Regulators has proposed that traders across the EU should have to disclose all significant short selling of shares. The article notes that the CESR’s proposals are similar to rules currently in place in the
The Association for Financial Markets in
EU finance ministers push to develop own credit rating agency
EU finance ministers are urging the European Central Bank to develop its own credit rating agency for eurozone countries, reports Spiegel. The article quotes an unnamed EU-finance minister as saying, “the agencies have been completely wrong in the case of Lehman”. In the European Central Bank the aim is now to gain acceptance on this matter.
According to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the ECB would need only 10 to 20 additional employees in order to create its own rating agency, but the ECB declined to make a statement on the issue. A spokesperson for Moody’s said to Handelsblatt that “recent events have shown how important the rating agencies are for the market.”
Angela Merkel expresses “scepticism” at 2020 Strategy
EurActiv reports that the EU’s new development plan, Strategy 2020, which will be presented by the European Commission later today, has already attracted criticism from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has “misgivings” over new "country surveillance" schemes and EU-established national objectives.
El Pais notes that
Ashton’s troubles signal that
Pierre Rousselin argues in his Le Figaro blog that she is the “scapegoat for all that doesn’t work in
Speaking to the BBC Today programme this morning, Baroness Ashton, when asked whether or not she was drained with regard to the arguments in the EU about the settlement of the Lisbon Treaty and the appointment of the EU’s top jobs, said: “Not drained, but it’s not surprising really that the Lisbon Treaty gave us the words in law of the creation of the new roles and then we have to work it out from there.”
The Irish Times reports that EU ambassadors will meet in
Irish Times BBC LeFigaro: Rousselin blog Today programme
Airlines warn EU rules will force up prices
The WSJ reports that European airlines are battling against recent changes to EU air-passenger protection rules that carriers say could cost them up to €5 billion annually and force up ticket prices. The change stems from a November ruling by the European Court of Justice, which was applied for the first time last month by authorities in
Swedish Justice Minister:
Following yesterday’s German court ruling that the German law implementing the EU’s Data Retention Directive is not compatible with the German Constitution, the FT reports that Angela Merkel’s CDU party is calling for new legislation to be drafted, while coalition partners the Free Democrats said the Court’s ruling called the concept of mass data storage into question.
AP notes that
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EUobserver reports that Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger yesterday signalled that the EU is interested in the Russian South Stream gas pipeline project, seen as a rival to the EU’s Nabucco pipeline project.
EUobserver France 24 Il Sole 24 Ore
The European Commission yesterday gave the green light to German chemical company BASF to begin the cultivation of the GM Amflora potato.
Les Echos Liberation NouvelObs FT European Voice EUobserver BBC IHT WSJ
European Voice reports that Nigel Farage has been fined €3,000 for making “unparliamentary and insulting” comments about Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council.
European Voice EUobserver BBC Telegraph El Pais
EurActiv reports that the European Central Bank (ECB) has been criticised for failing to do more to provide liquidity to new member states in eastern Europe, making it harder to restore investor confidence in those markets.
The German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble says in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung that
Le Point notes that the EU and