The Romanian parliament voted on July 6 to suspend President Traian Băsescu for abuse of power. A national referendum will be held on July 29 whether to impeach him. The vote in parliament comes after PM Victor Ponta's decision, among others, to sack the speakers of both Houses of Parliament, curb the powers of the Constitutional Court, and changing referendum rules. Many commentators are describing events as a coup d'état in everything but name.
Coup in four acts – Evenimentul zilei
”The EU Commission wants to outlaw attempts to manipulate market indices across the EU and to review the rules on how Libor is set,” writes the British financial daily. This comes in the wake of revelations that British banks, including Barclays, rigged the Libor rate at the peak of the financial crisis in 2008. Libor is the benchmark interest rate used to calculate the cost of debt.
Brussels to act over Libor scandal – Financial Times
The EU is demanding that Spain create a bad bank that will consolidate the toxic debts of Spain's faltering banks in exchange for up to €100bn in aid. Madrid has rejected this measure which transfers the banks' losses to the public agency known as the Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB), designed to aid the banking sector, arguing that this would be a financial burden on the state.
Europe forces Spain to create “bad bank” – Expansión
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of Franco-German reconciliation, President François Hollande and Chancellor Angela Merkel met in the French town of Reims to evoke the friendship between the two countries. They both declared their wish to pursue European integration and resolve the eurozone crisis, despite many differences on this matter.
Celebrating during biggest crisis – Die Welt
The German president has called on Chancellor Merkel to better explain her European policy to the electorate. He declared himself "quite happy" that the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe is to examine this Tuesday the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the fiscal pact.
Gauck criticises Merkel – Süddeutsche Zeitung
Belgian State Secretary for Migration and Asylum, Maggie De Block (Open VLD) is seeking to adopt the European Return Platform for Unaccompanied Minors (ERPUM) which can return asylum seekers as young as 16 or 17 back to their country of origin. This is already the case in Norway, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. The Belgian daily cites the case of Afghan refugee Parwais Sangari (20), who is being expelled after four years in Belgium.
Young asylum seekers should be expelled earlier – De Standaard
According to Eurostat, Poland is one of the cheapest member states (only Bulgaria and Romania are cheaper) with prices 40% lower on the average than in the rest of EU. For the Warsaw daily, a European heaven would be to earn in Germany, spend in Poland and go on holidays to Bulgaria.
Our dear Europe – Gazeta Wyborcza
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