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21 November 2013

Integrating Europe
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Graham Bishop
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Articles from 14 November 2013 - 21 November 2013

Graham Bishop

Graham Bishop: Perspectives on the future of the EU and possibilities for a transatlantic free trade agreement
Speaking at the Senate Presidents' Forum in Madrid, Graham reprised the history of the EU movement and gave his perspective on the future of the EU.  View Article
Graham Bishop: Temporary Eurobill Fund (TEF) – Summary of the Proposal and Timeline to Implementation
The Temporary Eurobill Fund is carefully structured to avoid opening its members to the virtually unlimited liability of guaranteeing all the debts of other members – as would happen in a mutualised pool of debt with 'joint & several' guarantees.  View Article

Political

President Barroso: The political implications of European economic integration – Towards a political union
"A truly European debate is necessary to underpin the intensified political union that is a key complement to fiscal and economic integration. Europe's democratic legitimacy and accountability must keep pace with its increased role and power."  View Article
Jean-Dominique Guiliani: Europe - Weak powers
Europe has not required "shutdown" - the political defiance that leads to the closure of part of the State's services - to illustrate the weakness of those in government, comments Guiliani.  View Article
Paul N Goldschmidt: Euroexit is no solution to the current crisis of the European Union
Goldschmidt writes that one of the keys to avoiding the 'catastrophic scenario of the end of the European dream' lies undeniably in the result of the forthcoming European elections. The opportunity should not be wasted.  View Article

Financial

Bloomberg: EU considers loans in return for economy overhauls
The EU is considering whether it could encourage countries to make long-term economic changes by offering them loans at below-market rates, an EU official told reporters in Brussels.  View Article
BoE Financial Stability Paper: Sovereign default and state-contingent debt
A new paper by the Bank of England looks at how authorities deal with stricken countries, and suggests that repayment terms of government bonds should be linked to a country's economic performance.  View Article
ECB/Mersch: The overhaul of the architecture of the euro area and the return of investor confidence
"The return of foreign investors, receding financial market fragmentation and a halting of contagion clearly demonstrate a return to confidence in the euro, and the credibility of the measures taken at supra-national and national level."  View Article
EIB: The European Long-Term Investors' association (ELTI) launches its 2014 Action Plan
Members endorsed the 2014 Action Plan which is strongly focused on enhancing long-term investment in Europe as a key to economic recovery.  View Article
CEPS/Gros: The European Banking Disunion
The eurozone risks becoming stuck in an unstable status quo, with banks' cross-border claims large enough to transmit national shocks to the entire system, but financial integration not deep enough to ensure that capital flows freely throughout the currency area.  View Article
Bruegel/Mody: A Schuman compact for the euro area
If an 'ever closer union' remains elusive, a perpetual muddling ahead risks generating economic and political dysfunction. It may be time to recognise and render more effective the de facto decentralisation in Europe.  View Article
Simon Nixon: Will ECB break its bond-buying taboo?
Writing for the WSJ, Nixon says that despite conflicting signs, there are two risks that could prompt the ECB to utilise a bond-buying programme: Italy's political uncertainty, and ongoing stimulus by the US and Japan.  View Article
IMF/Blanchard: Monetary policy will never be the same
Blanchard touched on three issues: the implications of the liquidity trap, the provision of liquidity, and the management of capital flows.  View Article
ECOFIN Council results: Bank resolution/SRM
The Council discussed a draft regulation aimed at establishing a single decision-making authority and a single fund for the resolution of failing banks. The Presidency confirmed its intention to seek agreement on the dossier by the end of the year. (Includes statement by ECOFIN chair Šadžius.)  View Article
ECOFIN Council statement on EU banks' AQRs and stress tests, including on backstop arrangements
This statement specifies the expected action by the financial institutions and Member State governments, as well as any use of euro area or EU level instruments if needed to address any necessary action. (Includes Barnier comments.)  View Article
Reply from ECB/Draghi to the SSM Working Group's letter of 28 October 2013
Draghi answered questions i.a. on how the ECB would ensure that the planned AQR covers the whole of the banking system under the supervisory responsibility of the SSM, not just the 130 institutions cited in the note regarding the comprehensive agreement.  View Article
Barnier interview with Europolitics: Bank resolution - Majority of states support key elements
"A compromise (on the SRM) can be reached before the end of the year", said Barnier, adding that a vast majority of States had backed him on the key elements of his proposal.   View Article
Bloomberg: Germany digs in against risk-sharing in EU bank failure plan
Germany has argued against a joint backstop for struggling euro area banks, as European finance ministers renewed their debate on how to handle the costs of managing failed lenders.  View Article
Bloomberg: EU lawyers say EBA can't bind Commission on bank resolution
The Commission's proposed bank resolution system shouldn't be bound by EBA decisions, lawyers for the EU's 28 Member States have said. The legal opinion puts a dent in efforts by the UK and Sweden to beef up the EBA's role in the SRM.  View Article
Beck & Trebesch: A bank restructuring agency for the eurozone – Cleaning up the legacy losses
This column proposes a eurozone bank restructuring agency as a way to speed up the crisis resolution. This temporary, centralised agency would be in charge of restructuring viable and non-viable banks throughout the eurozone.   View Article
ECB/Mersch: On the road to a Banking Union - The way forward from the ECB's perspective
Mersch reflected on how the fundamental idea behind the Banking Union is reflected in the practical design of the single system of banking supervision, and what else could be done to be faithful to it when banks have to be wound up.  View Article

Economic

Lithuanian Presidency: Sustained economic recovery is main priority during fourth cycle of European Semester
Minister Linkevičius underlined the importance of the involvement of national actors at the launch of the fourth cycle of economic policy coordination, the so-called European Semester.  View Article
VP Šefčovič: "Commission work programme 2014"
In addition to a limited number of new initiatives, the Commission has put the focus firmly on concluding legislative work on key proposals already on the table.   View Article
Eurogroup/Dijsselbloem: Europe House Lecture
"Let's go forward with confidence to the next, post-crisis phase, and turn Europe into a convergence machine again", said Dijsselbloem.   View Article
Remarks by Jeroen Dijsselbloem & VP Rehn following the meeting of the Eurogroup
The Eurogroup discussed and decided on two exits, on Ireland and on Spain. It also reviewed the programme countries, the Banking Union, public backstops and the economic situation, including the Commission's autumn forecast, Annual Growth Survey and Alert Mechanism Report.  View Article
ECB/Draghi: Strategies for more growth
"I do not agree with those who say that Europe is in a 'lost decade'. Euro area countries are using the second decade of the euro to undo the mistakes of the first – and in doing so, laying the foundations for sustainable growth in the decades to come."  View Article
ECOFIN Council results: Savings taxation
The Council addressed the draft Directive aimed at enlarging the scope of savings income taxation to include all types of savings income and products that generate interest or equivalent income and exchange of information among taxation authorities. (Includes Šadžius/Šemeta comments.)  View Article
EU and US conclude second round of TTIP negotiations in Brussels
Commissioner De Gucht said: "TTIP may well act as a nucleus and a laboratory for the next stage of rulemaking at the global level... because we will use TTIP to promote rules and standards that could form the basis for future international agreements whenever we can." (Includes link to infographic.)  View Article
Joergen Oerstroem Moeller: Eurozone policies are working
Economic figures show that on the whole, performance of the eurozone countries has improved, writes Oerstroem Moeller for the Business Times.  View Article
EBF Economic Outlook on the euro area 2013/14
The euro area is gradually climbing out of recession but progress is painfully slow. Such is the general conclusion of the Chief Economists of the European Banking Federation Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (EMAC) in their Outlook.  View Article
Global economy recovering at moderate pace but more risks ahead, says OECD
The global economy is expected to continue expanding at a moderate pace over the coming two years, but policymakers must ensure that instability in financial markets and underlying fragility in some major economies are not allowed to derail growth, according to the OECD's latest Economic Outlook.  View Article

Budgetary

European Commission: Europe's budgetary surveillance moves into full gear
The Commission presented a major package of budgetary surveillance announcements, covering 13 euro area Member States and three non-euro Member States, with a special focus also on the euro area as an economic entity in its own right. (Includes remarks by VP Rehn on the Autumn Fiscal Package 2013.)  View Article
Plenary Session: Parliament approves EU's 2014 budget and plugs 2013 payment gaps
For payments, €500 million were added to the 2014 budget, bringing the total compared to the initial Council position to €135.5 billion. Commitments were set at €142.6 billion, in line with the Commission's budget proposal. (Includes statement by Commissioner Lewandowski.)  View Article
Plenary Session: EP approves EU's long-term budget (MFF) 2014-2020
After months of complex negotiations, Parliament gave its blessing to the EU's long-term budget for 2014-2020. The overall budget for the next seven years is €960 billion in commitments and €908 billion in payments (at 2011 prices). (Includes comments from Lithuanian Presidency/Schulz/Barroso.)  View Article
ECOFIN Council/BUDG Committee approve agreement on 2014 EU budget
The Council formally approved the agreement with the EP on the 2014 EU budget. The 2014 EU budget puts strong emphasis on priority areas such as growth, jobs and innovation, while reflecting Member States' consolidation efforts at national level.  View Article
Martin Schulz: Only with fresh budget ideas can the EU meet the challenges it faces
In an op-ed for the Huffington Post, the EP president writes that this may well prove to be the last budget framework negotiated in 'such a protracted and unsatisfactory manner'.  View Article

Member State events

Statement by the European Commission, ECB and IMF 
on the review mission to Greece
Staff teams of the Commission, the ECB and the IMF have concluded their visit to Greece, following productive discussions with the authorities on the set of policies that could serve as a basis for the completion of the ongoing review of the country's economic programme.  View Article
Eurogroup statement on Ireland: Programme exit without financial assistance fully supported
The Eurogroup examined the 12th and final review of the Irish adjustment programme. It concurred with the Commission, the ECB and the IMF that the programme remains on track and that sovereign yields have now normalised. (Includes Rehn/Dijsselbloem statements.)  View Article
Irish Minister for Finance: Statement on the Government's decision to exit the EU-IMF programme without a precautionary credit line
"The decision that the Government took is the right decision at the right time for Ireland. As a result of the commitment and determination of the Irish people to get the job done, we will be exiting the bailout in a strong position."  View Article
EFSF Board of Directors approves €3.7 billion disbursement to Portugal
The EFSF's Board of Directors has approved the disbursement of €3.7 billion to Portugal. This follows the positive assessment of the combined eighth and ninth quarterly reviews of Portugal's economic adjustment programme.  View Article
Fitch: Portugal credit line more likely as debt stabilises
Portugal may be able to obtain a new credit line from official creditors when its current IMF-EU programme ends in June 2014 as the country's public debt dynamics are weak but close to stabilisation, Fitch Ratings says.   View Article
Eurogroup supports Spain's decision not to request any successor ESM financial assistance following programme exit in January 2014
This is based on the fact that the ESM financial assistance and reform programme has proven to be successful in addressing financial sector vulnerabilities. (Includes Rehn/Dijsselbloem/German government statements.)  View Article
CNBC: Spain's bailout exit is not premature - ESM's Klaus Regling
In an interview with CNBC, Regling said that Spain's banks were now "well-restructured".   View Article
ECFIN: Financial Assistance Programme for the Recapitalisation of Financial Institutions in Spain. Fourth Review – Autumn 2013
The report is based on the findings of a joint European Commission/ECB mission to Madrid during 16–27 September 2013.  View Article
Reuters: Relief for Italy's Letta as minister survives no-confidence vote
Italy's justice minister survived a no-confidence vote in the lower house of parliament, shoring up the fragile coalition government ahead of votes coming up on next year's budget and whether Silvio Berlusconi should be expelled from parliament.  View Article
German coalition negotiations - progress made but financing still up in the air
CDU/CSU and SPD have agreed on a European policy which excludes future pooling of sovereign debt or a transfer union in the eurozone. Negotiations inch towards agreements on domestic issues, however the question of financing remains uncertain.   View Article
Atlantic Community/Guérot: The big illusion? Germany, the coalition talks and the hope for more Europe
Guérot argues that the level of disconnect between Germany and the rest of Europe is starting to take on dangerous dimensions. European solidarity doesn't sell well in blue-collar Germany, which is suffering heavily from real income losses.  View Article
CEPS/Gros & Busse: The Macro-economic Imbalance Procedure and Germany - When is a current account surplus an 'imbalance'?
Gros argues that the Commission's announcement that Germany is running an excessive current account surplus appears to be much ado about nothing. All the Commission can, and will, do is to start an 'in-depth analysis'.  View Article
France reveals €5.5 billion shortfall in tax receipts; PM Ayrault pledges to transform tax system
"According to our calculations there is a €1 billion shortfall on value-added taxes and a €4 billion shortfall on corporate taxes, which are particularly sensitive to the economic cycle", French budget minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on BFM Television.  View Article
Presseurop: 'Tusk's new pro-European government'
Amid corruption scandals and faltering public support, Polish PM Donald Tusk has made "far-reaching" changes to his cabinet, including the appointment of former ING Bank chief economist Mateusz Szczurek as finance minister.  View Article
Austrian Parliament: Fekter dismisses talk of budgetary crisis
"There is no sign of a budget hole", said Finance Minister Maria Fekter in her statement on the government's budget, adding that in her opinion the recent representation of the budgetary situation had been "misleading".  View Article
FT: Slovenia struggles to avoid EU bailout
Over the coming months, Slovenia will become the laboratory for the latest eurozone experiment in debt restructuring – one that will be heavily influenced by Germany's deep political resistance to underwriting another rescue.   View Article





© Graham Bishop

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