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Invitation letter by President Donald Tusk to the members of the European Council
Council President Tusk invites leaders of the member states to the Council Summit on 18-19 February, and says "there is still no guarantee that we will reach an agreement". View Article |
Reform of UK membership: “Parliament will do the utmost to support the compromise”
In the case of a deal on a reform of the UK’s EU membership, Parliament will do its utmost to support it, but the result is not guaranteed, warned EP President Martin Schulz. He spoke out after UK Prime Minister David Cameron discussed Parliament’s position with leading MEPs. View Article |
European Council: Remarks by President Donald Tusk after his meeting in Bucharest with President Klaus Iohannis of Romania
Council President Tusk briefed the press about the main topics discussed in the round of consultations ahead of the European Council: the possibility of a Brexit and the migration crisis. Tusk said "the risk of break-up is real because this process is indeed very fragile." View Article |
Paul Goldschmidt: The stakes of the Summit are not necessarily those that come to mind!
The EU Council summit’s priority should be enhancing the Union’s cohesion and its capacity to deal with the challenges of immigration and terrorism. The relationship between the UK and the EU is a secondary matter that should be considered only once the future of “an ever closer Union” is assured. View Article |
Financial Times: The City of London gains nothing from leaving the EU
Engagement not exit is the way to preserve a national asset, in the FT's view. View Article |
Financial Times: Britain locked in battle with France and Germany over City rules
Britain is at loggerheads with France and Germany over the right of the City of London to diverge from the eurozone's financial rules, one of the most consequential unresolved issues in the UK's “new settlement” with Europe. View Article |
Bloomberg: Brexit to Put £466 Billion of UK Trade at Risk, Study Says
A British departure from the European Union would put at risk 466 billion pounds of UK trade with nations in Europe and beyond, according to a report by the Centre for Economic and Business Research. View Article |
Bertelsmann Stiftung: British and German companies regard Brexit as a threat
Four out of five business leaders in the UK and Germany have expressed their opposition to a withdrawal from the European Union. Nearly a third of UK and German businesses in the United Kingdom asked about a Brexit threatened to reduce or even relocate capacity in the UK. View Article |
ComRes/ITV News: Big rise in those who want Britain to leave EU
The lead for “Remain” has narrowed to eight points in a new ComRes poll for ITV News. 49% of Britons now say they would vote to remain in the EU if a referendum was held tomorrow, compared to 41% who say they will vote for leave. View Article |
BCC: Business voting intentions harden as PM seeks final deal
Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the senior business people polled in a major new British Chambers of Commerce survey have revealed that the outcome of the Prime Minister’s renegotiation is unlikely to change how they will vote. View Article |
Reuters: Britain's economy will be worse off if it leaves the EU
Britain's economy would be worse off if voters decide the country should leave the European Union, according to an overwhelming majority of economists polled by Reuters who also gave it a 40 percent chance of happening. View Article |
ACCA: CCAB calls for informed debate on EU Reform
The forum for accountancy bodies in the UK and Ireland is calling on businesses to engage with the debate on EU reform, and ensure they are aware of the information and resources to inform their understanding of the role of the EU, and how its relationship with business could become more effective. View Article |
Financial Times: Business groups up the ante in Brexit battle
A war of words has broken out between businesses on either side of the Brexit debate as a group of European organisations call for Britain to remain in the EU while leading figures in the Commonwealth back the campaign to leave. View Article |
The Guardian: UK better in reformed Europe, says HSBC chair
HSBC chairman Douglas Flint said he believed the UK should stay within a reformed Europe, as the bank announced it was keeping its headquarters in London. In the event of a ‘no’ vote in the referendum, bank could switch non-ringfenced staff from London to Paris. View Article |
City AM: Ignore EU scaremongers: Why Britain would thrive post-Brexit
A economic adviser to the Arbuthnot Banking Group explains the main reasons why she thinks that a Brexit would make the UK 'flourish'. View Article |
Reuters: BoE's Cunliffe does not expect UK to join EU banking union
Britain is unlikely to join the European Union's banking union, as it is not needed for being part of the wider EU single market, Bank of England Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said. View Article |
Open Europe: Leaked UK-EU deal reveals EU leaders only willing to discuss narrow British exceptionalism rather than EU-wide reform
A leaked draft of the latest UK-EU deal suggests France and Germany are fighting UK demands on banking regulation and the status of non-Euro states in the EU, while other states don't want the UK benefit curbs to apply more widely. View Article |
Policy Network: The risk of Brexit: an opportunity for the EU?
As the threat of fragmentation looms, the EU must seize a chance to redefine itself. There is a case for greater cooperation, but with less infringement on national sovereignty. View Article |
UK Parliament: Report on EU foreign and security strategy published
The EU External Affairs Sub-Committee published its report into the EU foreign and security strategy, said the EU needs to concentrate its resources on its immediate neighbourhood and acknowledged that a Brexit would diminish the effectiveness of the UK’s foreign policy. View Article |
The Guardian/Soros: Putin is a bigger threat to Europe’s existence than Isis
The best way for Russia to avoid collapse is by making the EU implode first – by exacerbating the migration crisis and stoking Islamophobia. View Article |
EurActiv: Merkel and Hollande devise a plan for the future of the eurozone
The two leaders are expected to unveil a joint proposal on the future of the eurozone by the end of 2016, once they have set aside their own differences over how to pursue integration. View Article |
IMF: Greece - Toward a Workable Program
No amount of pension reforms will make Greece’s debt sustainable without debt relief, and no amount of debt relief will make Greece’s pension system sustainable without pension reforms, writes senior IMF official Olivier Blanchard. View Article |