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Graham Bishop's Blog: Greece - This is NOT the moment to default
Greece has just made a major step forward in its recovery by obtaining a modest amount of funding from the international capital markets. Achieving durable primary and current account surpluses have always been the prerequisite for Greece to contemplate default. But doing it now/soon? View Article

Brussels for Breakfast (98) with Graham Bishop and Nickolas Reinhardt (Afore Consulting)
The April B4B meeting was dominated by discussion of the imminent European elections, the composition and structure of the next EP and new Commission. Also mentioned was the rethink about securitisation from Barnier, BoE, ECB, et al.. View Article

EP: Transition from 7th to 8th legislature
The end of the EP's seventh term will be followed by a presidential debate, election night, the formation of new political groups and the constitution of the new Parliament. View Article

Juncker: New growth without debt - priorities as Commission President
EPP's candidate fro Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, outlines his priorities, stating his intention to bring Europe back on track to economic growth and new jobs. View Article

Schulz: Policies of the last five years have 'eroded trust' in the EU
Addressing citizens' frustrations with Europe and boosting employment must be key political priorities, writes Martin Schulz in a piece analyising his candidacy policies. View Article

S&D position paper on TTIP
The S&D Group in the EP set out a clear position on the negotiations for the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), calling i.a. for no lowering of EU standards, data protection and regulation of financial markets. View Article

Atlantic Community/Keller: TTIP undermines democratic norms
Ska Keller MEP argues that TTIP is likely to circumvent democratic accountability and to benefit primarily big companies rather than smaller companies and ordinary citizens on both sides of the Atlantic. View Article

ECFR/Torreblanca/Leonard: The eurosceptic surge and how to respond to it
After years of crisis, opinion polls across Europe forecast sweeping gains for Eurosceptic parties at the EU elections in May 2014. The authors of this policy brief argue that pro-European politicians need to give people real choices and address real issues. View Article

Barnier: “We set up the Banking Union in record time”
The French Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Michel Barnier, published a book titled Se reposer ou être libre (to rest or to be free). He spoke with EurActiv about reforming the European banking system. View Article

EP approves key elements of Banking Union
MEPs approved the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for eurozone banks, EU-wide rules for the winding down of failed banks – the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) – and upgraded rules to protect deposits up to €100,000 (DGS). (Includes comments by Barnier, Schulz, Bowles, EBF.) View Article

EP approves revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive
The European Parliament approved new rules on the trading of financial instruments that aim to curb speculative trading and offer better protection to investors. Regulators must now put the MiFID II rules into practice. View Article

BoE/ECB: The impaired EU securitisation market - causes, roadblocks and how to deal with them
This joint paper, written for the G20/IMF spring meetings, states that the shrinking market is a concern because securitisation, if appropriately structured and regulated, can complement other long-term wholesale funding sources for the real economy. (Includes comment by AFME.) View Article

FSB Chair's letter to G20 ministers and governors on financial reforms
Mark Carney highlighted three areas where the support of G20 ministers and governors will be essential in the coming months: ending too-big-to-fail; transforming shadow banking to resilient market-based financing; and making derivatives markets safer. View Article

ECB/Cœuré: Asset purchases as an instrument of monetary policy
Benoît Cœuré, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, discussed whether central banks should continue to target longer-term bond yields in normal times. View Article

Bundesbank/Dombret: Europe - End of the crisis or crisis without end?
Dr Andreas Dombret, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, argued that the end of the crisis was getting closer and efforts to implement structural reforms were gradually bearing fruit. View Article

IMF press conference on Europe
At a press conference, the Directors of the IMF's European department said that the projected recovery for the euro area had solidified but remained, over all, rather weak. View Article

Greece returns to bond markets, says end of bailout nears
As Greece returned to the markets last week, the Athens government said the sale of bonds marked the beginning of the end of the tough austerity linked to the €237 billion bailout. Experts warn, however, that Greece still needs to go a long way. View Article

Fitch raises outlook on Portugal’s debt rating
The Fitch rating agency has raised its outlook on Lisbon’s debt to “positive” from “negative” as Portugal moves closer to ending its need to be in a bailout programme. View Article

Reuters: France and Italy to get different treatment in EU budget
France and Italy are to receive different treatment under EU budget rules, said Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem. He stressed that France and Italy were not in the same boat but nevertheless both needed to reduce public debt and budget deficits to within EU limits. View Article

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Integrating Europe

17 April 2014

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