Europe
German Finance Minister wants to help eurozone countries which have "difficulties with their payments";
ECB says German plan breaches "no bailout" clause in EU TreatyDer Spiegel reports that German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck is looking into ways to help struggling eurozone member states. The article notes that Steinbrueck was "speaking about the unspeakable" when he hinted at the risk of a country having to leave the eurozone: "We have a few countries in the eurozone who are getting into difficulties with their payments", he said, "if one euro zone member gets into trouble, then collectively we will have to help." According to Der Spiegel reports, not one single representative of the eurozone had until last week been willing to discuss the possibility of aid measures for struggling countries, instead pointing to the "no bailout" clause in the Maastricht Treaty. This clause prohibits countries from providing financial aid to individual eurozone members.
The article notes that Steinbrueck's plan has already come under criticism. ECB Chief Economist Jurgen Stark is quoted saying: "the ban preventing the EU and its member states from taking responsibility for the debts of partner countries is an important foundation needed for the currency union to function." In an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, former ECB Chief Economist Otmar Issing said that watering down the "no bailout" clause would be a disaster "for the political stability of the monetary union."
Meanwhile, Le Monde reports that the Euro is getting weaker amid concerns over the health of the eastern European economies. The FT reports that the cost of insuring the debt of the leading eastern European countries rose to record highs yesterday and a leader in the Guardian notes that these nations are heavily indebted, and many of those debts are in foreign currency, which means that repayments in their own money are soaring. The FT reports that central European banks have coordinated statements to support their currencies.
Commenting on the problems that the EU's new member states are facing, a leader in Handelsblatt argues that "Euro dreams will not save Central Europe: most politicians in the region see the euro as a solution, but, for example, the euro has not been a cure at all for Ireland. The unlimited capital streams in the monetary union provide for excesses, whereby the strict monetary framework makes it harder in difficult times to adapt wages to more competitive levels."
Spiegel FAZ FT AFP FTD WSJ: Tilford FT Le Monde FT: Peel FT Irish Times: Leader Irish Times: Smyth BBC: Mardell blog Guardian: Leader
Trichet backs increased regulation for all financial institutions;
Expert group likely to call for new EU agency for financial regulation
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet has backed European proposals for greater global market regulation, saying "The current crisis is a loud and clear call to extend regulation and oversight to all systemically important institutions -- notably hedge funds and credit-rating agencies", reports the WSJ. He has also warned that "strains in the financial sector are spilling over into the real economy...This has set in motion a process of negative feedback", according to the Telegraph.
According to EUobserver, an expert group headed by former International Monetary Fund chairman Jacques de Larosiere will publish a report tomorrow that will likely call for the setting up of a new EU agency to regulate financial institutions. It will recommend this be modelled on the European Monetary Institute of 1992, the forerunner of the ECB. The group was mandated by Commission President Barroso last October to devise ideas for new a new regulatory financial framework for Europe.
Meanwhile, the Independent reports that the hedge fund industry is trying to deflect the threat of tougher EU regulation, quoting Andrew Baker, the Chief Executive of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) who says "It is important to stress that hedge fund managers in Europe are currently rigorously regulated at both national and European levels...The industry is also subject to a whole range of European directives. It is part of the solution, not part of the problem." The Guardian reports that the industry will argue for improved self-regulation in public hearings at the Commission on Thursday and Friday.
WSJ FT FT: Tett FT: Leader Telegraph Telegraph 2 Independent Guardian WSJ 2 EUobserver
Open Europe Vice-Chairman Derek Scott was on BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend programme on Sunday discussing potential outcomes from April's G20 summit in London.
BBC Radio 4: The World This Weekend
On Conservative Home, MEP candidate Zehra Zaidi looks at the potential end of the UK's opt-out from the EU's 48 hours working week. Citing Open Europe's estimate that ending the opt-out would cost the UK economy between 47.74 billion and 66.45 billion pounds by 2020, she argues that "The bottom line is that we should be able to retain the flexibility to set our own working hours."
Conservative Home
Lords committee: EU patients' mobility could advantage the rich and educated
A new report from the House of Lords EU Committee has warned that the Commission's proposed Health Directive - under which patients would have the right to be treated in another member state and claim up to the amount their treatment would have cost in their home country - could advantage the rich and educated. Although welcoming the proposal, the Committee said that if patients had to pay for treatment themselves, and claim reimbursement later, those without adequate financial means would not be able to take advantage of their right to cross-border healthcare, the Telegraph reports. It called for NHS trusts to pay for the treatment rather than expecting patients to fund it and then apply for a reimbursement. The report also warned against the "unpredictable impact" of the directive and said that more should be done to ensure Britain can refuse to accept a patient from another state if it would increase waiting times for treatment
Telegraph BBC
EU regulation threatens German bread
FAZ reports that German bakers are nervous about EU plans to introduce new thresholds for permissible salt, sugar and fat contents of groceries, to be decided in the coming weeks. FTD notes that German pretzels and wholegrain bread could be classified as "unhealthy", if they contain more salt than regarded as adequate by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). German MEP Renate Sommer is quoted in the FTD saying that "this is the classification of food into good and bad".
According to FAZ, German bakers have complained that consumers will be indirectly urged to buy packed toast bread as opposed to wholegrain bread because they think it is healthier. To show consumers what saltless bread would taste like, German bakers are planning a "Day of the European Commission's Bread". The final decision on the proposal will be taken in April by the European Parliament and by the member states.
FTD
German economist: "let's introduce the German Mark again"In an interview with Frankfurter Rundshau German Economics Professor Wilhelm Hankel has said that "the euro hampers the fight against the crisis", adding that "financial markets reckon that the eurozone will break up" and "it would be wiser to abandon the euro and to introduce the German Mark again".FR
Commission's energy and broadband package criticised as "geographically unbalanced"
Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports that the Commission's proposal to use 5bn euros of unspent funds on clean energy and broadband projects has been rejected by at least five member states. It quotes the Austrian Foreign Minister, Michael Spindelegger, saying the Commission's list of projects was "geographically and sectoral unbalanced. [It was overall] not acceptable".
The FT reports that Bulgaria, Greece, Portugal and Spain are leading a southern European bloc criticising the Commission for favouring eastern Europe at the expense of the rest of the EU.
Allgemeine Zeitung FT Euractiv European Voice EUobserver
Irish Europe Minister: Those who say EU is undemocratic "mischievously misrepresent reality"
The Irish Times reports that Ireland's Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche has said that the EU is a fully accountable, democratic body, saying, "Those who spread allegations about unaccountable elites in Brussels foisting decisions on the people of Europe are badly mistaken. Either they completely misunderstand the manner in which the union operates, or they mischievously misrepresent the reality of how the union operates."
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin said a draft text outlining 'guarantees' on neutrality had now been written in co-operation with the legal service of the Council of Ministers. He said there was no final decision yet on whether Ireland would withdraw from the European Defence Agency.
Irish Times Irish Times 2 Telegraph: Hannan blog
EUobserver reports that the European Commission has invited business and social representatives to its private weekly meetings for the first time, in the face of growing social unrest in the EU. One of the issues to be discussed will be the Posted Workers Directive, the subject of recent protests at the Lindsey oil refinery.
EUobserver
Germany considering Opel bailout
The German government is considering a bailout plan for German carmaker Opel. EUobserver reports that Berlin is ready to give Opel credit but has ruled out the option of a takeover. The funding is estimated to be worth 3.3 billion euros.
EUobserver
French Agriculture Minister's hope of election to European Parliament threatened by change to CAP subsidies
An article in Le Monde suggests that current French Minister for Agriculture Michel Barnier's election to the European Parliament in June as top candidate from the ruling UMP party for the Ile-de-France region could be in trouble following his plans to reduce agricultural subsidies for large cereal producers. The plans seek to divert subsidies received from the EU's Common Agricultural Policy to smaller farms. Orama, the trade union for cereal producers, has called to vote against Barnier and it is thought that around 10% of voters from the region could switch their votes.
Le Monde Independent: Lichfield Les Echos
Commission prepares trade duties for US biofuels
The IHT reports that the EU is preparing to impose trade duties on biofuels imported from the United States to prevent American producers from putting European producers of biodiesel out of business.
IHT
Smaller EU member states, such as Sweden and Finland, have complained about being left out of the EU's decision-making procedure after the block's six richest countries met on Sunday in Berlin to discuss the economic crisis.
Deutsche Welle
The European Parliament and the Council are heading for initial agreement on a "Single European Sky", proposed by the Commission last summer, to integrate EU airspace.
EurActiv
EUobserver reports that an extrapolation of 19 national polls has indicated that if the European elections were held today, the balance of power in the European Parliament would stay broadly the same, with the mainstream parties losing some ground and far left and right parties gaining some seats.
EUobserver
Spain's Justice Minister Mariano Fernandez Bermejo yesterday resigned after a hunting trip he shared with a prominent judge, prompting accusations that the government is to close to the country's judicial system.
IHT
Open Europe is an independent think tank campaigning for radical reform of the EU. For information on our research, events and other activities, please visit our website: openeurope.org.uk or call us on 0207 197 2333.
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