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16 January 2014

Integrating Europe
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Graham Bishop
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Articles from 09 January 2014 - 16 January 2014

Graham Bishop

UK Chancellor Osborne speech to the Open Europe Conference - Graham Bishop comments
By May 2015, Chancellor Osborne may discover that his example of a 'double majority' has come back to haunt him and he has to propose the UK leaves the EU – or eat a lot of these words. But Johnny Foreigner may have noticed the soaring current account deficit before then.  View Article
95th 'Brussels for Breakfast' meeting at the BBA on 14 January
Matters of discussion at our monthly roundtable discussion on the developments in Financial Services Regulation included: the CSD regulation, the SRM/SRF and the Basel negotiations.  View Article
Graham Bishop: Welcome to the 2014 Timeline
Graham sets out the 2014 timeline for the political, financial, economic and budgetary fields, with a focus on the forthcoming EU elections.  View Article

Political

ECON Committee: MEPs anticipate end of the Troika
The EU's crisis-fighting mechanism needs true democratic accountability, clear channels of responsibility, more consideration of social consequences, and an ability to correct policy recommendations when they prove inadequate.   View Article
VP Rehn, ex-ECB president Trichet and ESM/Regling quizzed on Troika decisions
MEPs were left underwhelmed by VP Rehn's answers on accountability. Trichet was quizzed on the ECB's actions and positions. Regling said he could envisage a system without the IMF in future. Rapporteur Karas said he would like to see the ESM playing a greater role.  View Article
EP: Troika policy - Social consequences cannot be ignored
The weakening of collective agreements, high levels of unemployment and the violation of fundamental social rights were the main social consequences in the four countries subject to the Troika's programmes, said employment MEPs and experts at a public hearing. (Includes comments from EP Groups.)  View Article
Update on candidates for Commission President
With other political groups already having chosen their candidates, speculation is rife as to who will be the front-runner for the European People's Party (EPP). The ALDE primary is also far from being decided.  View Article
http://www.institutdelors.eu/en/about-us/activity-and-statutes/',WIDTH, 300, SHADOW, true, FADEIN, 300, FADEOUT, 300, STICKY, 1,DURATION,3500)" onmouseout="UnTip()");">Notre Europe - Jacques Delors Inst: European elections - Full steam ahead!
The 2013 European Steering Committee highlighted three political challenges to be addressed: Making "Greater Europe" positive again; completing EMU; and promoting the European construction on the basis of clear alternatives.  View Article
Paul N Goldschmidt: The unpopularity of the European Union
Opinion polls seem to indicate that the forthcoming European elections risk being derailed and transformed into a referendum for or against the Union. Goldschmidt finds this extremely dangerous and says Europe's current unpopularity must be vigorously countered.  View Article
European Voice: A testing year ahead for the European Union
Success or failure for the EU during 2014 should be judged by different criteria. EV poses three questions that should, by the end of 2014, help assess whether this year has been good or bad.  View Article

Financial

ECB/Mersch: Europe after the warm reboot
Europe's "warm reboot" took place almost four years ago. Mersch looks at where Europe stands today and what challenges lie ahead.  View Article
Nicolas Véron: Europe's institutional mismatches will create more turbulence in 2014 than in 2013
2013 has arguably been the calmest year in Europe since the onset of the financial crisis in 2007, but several reasons suggest that 2014 will be bumpier, writes Véron on the Bruegel blog.  View Article
Bruegel/Wolff: Monetary policy cannot solve secular stagnation
Instead, improved investment conditions and a better integrated international financial system are the right way forward, says Wolff.  View Article
EFSF issues €8 billion five-year bond; EBA recommends ESM and EFSF as "extremely high quality liquid assets"
EFSF placed an €8 billion five-year bond maturing on 22 January, 2019. In the EBA's December report on liquidity, EFSF and ESM bonds are mentioned specifically as assets to be considered as 'transferrable assets of extremely high liquidity and credit quality'.  View Article
Fitch affirms European Financial Stability Facility at 'AA+''
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the EFSF's guaranteed long-term debt ratings at 'AA+'. The rating of the short-term (less than 12 months contractual maturity) guaranteed debt instruments has been affirmed at 'F1+'.  View Article
OECD: The state of the banking sector in Europe
Authors Dirk Schoenmaker and Toon Peek write that the Baltics, Cyprus, Greece and Ireland have been hit by a strong decline in lending in the wake of the financial crisis.  View Article
IIF: Views on the way forward for strengthening the framework for sovereign debt restructuring
This note from the IIF's Special Committee on Financial Crisis Prevention and Resolution is intended to contribute constructively to the ongoing discussions on possible refinements to the existing contractual, market-based approach to sovereign debt restructuring.  View Article
IMF broadens financial surveillance
The IMF has revamped its methodology to determine which countries are required to go under the financial microscope on a regular basis, and has added four new ones to the list: Poland, Denmark, Finland and Norway.   View Article
Letter from ECB/Draghi to ECON/Bowles on ECB's preparations for the SSM
Replying to the ECON chair's letter of 6 December, Draghi clarified questions raised i.a. on accounting rules, NCAs and the comprehensive assessment/AQR.   View Article
Letter from ECON Chair and members of SRM negotiating team to Council Presidency regarding IGA
In its letter to Ambassador Sotiropoulos, the SRM team disagrees with the substance of the planned intergovernmental agreement (IGA), saying that it jeopardises the establishment and smooth functioning of the SRM.  View Article
Bruegel/Merler & Wolff: 2014 Financial Odyssey
The authors look at how the first steps of the Banking Union should be implemented.  View Article

Economic

DG ECFIN/Buti: A consistent trinity for the eurozone
Three central challenges will act as a real-life test of EMU's coherence in the coming years, and these can be represented as three 'inconsistent trinities' or trilemmas for the eurozone.   View Article
Plenary Session: Greek presidency of the EU - MEPs express concern over economic situation in Greece
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras presented his country's priorities for its six months at the helm of the EU to MEPs. However, MEPs stressed that the crisis in Greece was not yet over and that it had produced much social hardship.  View Article
IMF/Lagarde: The global economy in 2014
"My great hope is that 2014 will prove momentous in another way — the year in which the 'seven weak years', economically speaking, slide into 'seven strong years'", said Lagarde. Although the euro area was turning the corner, growth was still unbalanced and unemployment still high, she observed.  View Article

Member State events

BoI/Honohan: Ireland's EU-IMF Programme - Delivering what it says on the tin
"In cushioning the impact of the loss of market confidence resulting from the crisis, the programme did no more and no less than was promised on the tin. The rest is up to us", said the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland at the DG-ECFIN Conference.  View Article
Hollande calls for "responsibility pact"
In his third major press conference, French President François Hollande pledged to reduce social charges for French businesses and tax cuts in return for more hiring. He also confirmed that he will aim to cut France's public spending by €50 billion between 2014 and 2017.  View Article
Simon Nixon: All of Europe awaits Hollande's cure
Writing for the WSJ, Nixon says that as the crisis countries of southern Europe start to show signs of recovery, the spotlight has swung with remarkable speed onto France, the Continent's second-largest economy.  View Article
Telegraph: FN's Marine Le Pen says she wants to "bring the Brussels wall down"
The FN is just one of several anti-immigration and anti-EU parties gaining ground in Europe, where many have lost faith in the ability of the EU to help kick-start their faltering economies.   View Article
UK Chancellor Osborne's speech on Europe at the Open Europe Conference
Osborne argued that without economic success, the EU would not be regarded as democratically legitimate. Getting the economics right was not sufficient to persuade people of the merits of the EU; other constitutional changes were needed.   View Article
The Local: 'Norway model not for you', PM Solberg warns UK
Norwegian PM Erna Solberg has warned Britain not to go down the road followed by her country and quit the EU.  View Article
UK House of Lords debates European Union (Referendum) Bill
Members of the Lords, including former EU Commissioners and former MEPs, discussed the key principles and purpose of the EU (Referendum) Bill which looks to make provision for a referendum in the UK on whether the UK will remain an EU Member State or not.  View Article
Telegraph: 95 UK Tory MPs call for EU law veto
In a major intervention, 95 Conservative backbenchers have written to the Prime Minister urging him to change the law to give the Commons authority to block new EU legislation and repeal existing measures that threaten Britain's "national interests".  View Article
Radio Prague: Czech President Zeman to appoint Sobotka as PM, but hints at cabinet minister veto
President Miloš Zeman has announced he will appoint Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka as prime minister on 17 January. Zeman listed a number of objections to the proposed new cabinet, but suggested the new government could be appointed by the end of January.  View Article





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