Germany in U-turn over IMF help for Greece
19 March 2010
The FT and WSJ report that Germany is leaning towards involving the IMF in a potential Greek bailout, with the WSJ quoting a senior German official saying that Angela Merkel is “open to a financial participation by the IMF” in any aid package for Greece.
The FT quotes senior CDU MP Michael Meister saying that, “should our expectations [that
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has previously said that “help from the IMF would in my view be an admission that the euro countries can't solve their problems through their own efforts.”
Le Monde reports that Greek PM George Papandreou said yesterday that EU leaders had until next week’s leaders’ summit to come up with a concrete plan for assistance, threatening to go to the IMF otherwise. This was before the apparent turnaround in the German attitude to IMF involve. Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou yesterday denied rumours that
EUobserver reports that
Writing in the FT Quentin Peel argues: “In being prepared to contemplate a deal between
Meanwhile, the Irish Times reports that
FT FT: Peel FT 2 WSJ WSJ 2 City AM Telegraph EUobserver Bloomberg Irish Times Telegraph: Evans-Pritchard blog Eurointelligence Times Guardian FT 3 EurActiv IHT European Voice BBC: Hewitt blog Business Week ARD Handelsblatt Le Monde Le Figaro Reuters FD Le Figaro Kathimerini
EU spends millions on questionable culture programme
The European Commission is to spend £366 million through its 2010 culture programme on arts events to promote wind instruments, ‘hip hop’ dance and circus skills. £180,000 has been earmarked for a ‘Wind Art Festival’ to address the “need to increase audience for organ performances in order to give the organ a natural role in cultural life”. Open
The Mail also quotes Open Europe Director
Telegraph Mail
French Europe Minister: “
In an article published by Mondes magazine French Secretary of State for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche, argues that “The financial crisis…has reminded European countries that none of them, not even the largest, can hope to deal with such turmoil alone”. He goes on to add, “There is no doubt that the Lisbon Treaty has given us a more ‘political’ Europe…[and that the]…EU's new institutions will enable it, provided there is sufficient political will, to emerge as a full-fledged strategic actor, capable of influencing international affairs.” He also believes that “the idea of a European ‘economic government’, supported by the French President, is progressing.”
With regard to European defence policy he argues that “the poor visibility of the European Union's action in
Belgian Presidency to propose extending gambling laws
Belgian daily De Standaard reports that the Belgian EU Presidency is planning to draft common EU-wide rules to regulate online gambling. The paper says
EU crackdown on vitamins could put 4,000 jobs at risk
The EU Commission’s plan to curb vitamins and mineral pills with dosages that are too high, affecting supplement pills, could lead to 4,000 job losses and force 700 health food stores to shut down in the UK, reports the Express. The Consumers For Health Choice campaign, which has 11,000
ECB Board Member Mario Draghi calls for “European economic government”
In an interview with Handelsblatt, ECB Governing Board Member Mario Draghi, who is in the running to become the next ECB President, said that “We need a European economic government”, and is also calling for “a wider Stability and Growth Pact…Until now we had a supervisory mechanism and also a mechanism to partly correct the accounts and budgets of member states. Now we must make this more workable and endorse structural reforms.”
He adds: “It is time to go one step further. At least the Eurozone countries should accept a mechanism which improves the cooperation between governments and provides stronger discipline.”
Charlemagne: Brown has condemned next Government to “nasty clash” over AIFM Directive
The Economist’s Charlemagne column suggests that by delaying a vote in the Council of Ministers on the AIFM Directive Gordon Brown may have condemned the next UK Government “to a nasty clash over European Union regulation of hedge funds and private equity.” The article cites one official saying that if Mr Brown is re-elected, and his ministers return to EU negotiations in May or June, a compromise is probably possible. The column adds that a potential newly-elected Conservative government “will come under pressure from the press, the party and the City to stand and fight.”
Economist: Charlemagne OE research OE press release OE blog
Relaxing EU rules could see return of rabies to UK
The Express reports that the EU wants to relax the regulations on pets travelling between member states, which would involve abandoning controls for rabies, tapeworms and ticks. British vets have warned that rabies was “far from eradicated” in Europe and could return to the
Mail Express Telegraph
Le Figaro reports that IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has said he’s sceptical about the creation of the European Monetary Fund: “It would represent a distraction from the real problems the Eurozone must tackle in the light of the Greek crisis”, he explained yesterday.
Writing in the FT Otmar Issing, former Executive Member of the ECB board, argues that the idea that labour costs in individual countries should be “governed” by a European authority is an “economically absurd and politically dangerous concept.”
In an interview with La Tribune Guy Verhofstadt, President of the liberal group in the European Parliament, says that the WTO system, where the EU is represented by one Commissioner, is “what we need for the monetary system: an economic and social governance, with convergence criteria like those of the stability pact but on the monetary level.”
The Coulisses de Bruxelles blog argues that EU Foreign Minister Lady Ashton’s insistence that her working week ends on a Friday continues to undermine her credibility. This is in response to her apparent refusal to meet with the UN Security Council Ambassadors on a stopover in
A leader in the Economist argues that “The east European economies, for all their faults, have shown more flexibility in both labour markets and in what they produce than have many older EU members.”
EurActiv reports that a debate about education targets in the proposed 'Europe 2020' strategy was removed from the agenda of an EU summit meeting next week after
The WSJ reports that new figures from Eurostat show that the eurozone posted a large trade deficit of goods in January of €8.9 billion, after a €4.1 billion surplus in December.
The Parliament reports that the start of Iceland’s EU accession talks is being delayed by the German Constitutional Court ruling on the Lisbon Treaty last summer, which will see Germany Parliamentary committees take a month to examine the EU Commission’s opinion on the bid before negotiations begin.
A leader in the FT argues that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson should not drift towards the French approach to industrial strategy, with government picking the winners.
EUobserver reports that EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Commission President Barroso will both represent the EU at the G20 meeting, although they will speak on different subjects.
Le Monde reports that the European Commission is considering taking several member states accused of failing to comply with EU environment laws to the ECJ.
Handelsblatt reports that the European Parliament has threatened to use its newly acquired veto right in ongoing negotiations on trade, over the EU's free trade deal with
Conservatives would introduce carbon tax to encourage renewables investment
A Conservative government would put a carbon tax on electricity generation to encourage investment in renewables and nuclear power, reports the FT. The article suggests that it will be welcomed by energy companies, which have argued that the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme does not provide enough stability for costly investment in long-term capital projects such as nuclear power stations. Dieter Helm, an energy expert at
FT Telegraph Times OE research