07/03 – Today’s headlines from across the EU

EUROPEAN HEADLINES

FT Europe – Economists fire warning shot on risks of negative interest rates. Central bankers’ experts caution on policy experiment. Long-term effects unknown.

WSJE – Investors anxious ahead of ECB call. For investors, one question dwarfs all the others this week. How low can you go?

INYT – Nancy Reagan, influential first lady, dies. Ms Reagan, 94, died on Sunday in Los Angeles. She had always been a trusted adviser to her husband.

BBC Europe – EU to discuss closing Balkan route at summit. Turkish and EU leaders have gathered in Brussels for an emergency summit on tackling Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War Two. The EU aims to stem the flow of migrants and will discuss closing the route north through the Balkans.
FRANCE

Le Monde – Europe destabilised by five years of war in Syria. More than 1.2 million asylum requests were filed in the European Union in 2015, according to data published by Eurostat

Les Echos – Labour law: what Matignon is ready to let go. PM Manuel Valls is kicking off a marathon of concertations on the El Khomri law. Unions and MPs demand real modifications, young people unite.

GERMANY

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) – Turkish Kurdish party warns Europe against new wave of refugees. Critic of human rights situation in Turkey. De Maizière praises Ankara. EU summit today.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) – VW executives delayed scandal uncovering. Winterkorn and his fellow board members concealed violations of the law. Volkswagen wanted to negotiate with the US authorities a penalty of around €100 million.

ITALY

La Repubblica – PD primaries: Giachetti wins in Rome, influence stopped. The Prime Minister’s candidates passed. Vote divided by two in the capital. Naples: Valente wins over Bassolino.

Il Sole 24 Ore – Consumers: the map of payments by installment in Italy. Record growth of loans during the two first months (+24%).

POLAND

Gazeta Wyborcza – New cultural diplomacy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms its plans to reform the Polish Institutes (IP) so that they prioritise the needs of Polish community abroad and historical diplomacy. So far, the institutes have promoted Polish culture abroad.

SPAIN

EL Pais – PSOE warns Podemos about risk for local pacts. The Socialists think that it will be difficult to maintain the deals in the cities if Iglesias does not support Sanchez.

The Times – Cameron sends Navy to stop migrant smugglers. British patrol boats, including a Royal Navy ship, are to be deployed to the Greek coast in an attempt to ease the migrant crisis engulfing Europe, David Cameron has announced.

The Guardian – UK deploys troops in refugee crisis. UK servicemen are to join NATO forces in intercepting and returning refugees trying to reach Europe from Turkey, as David Cameron prepares to meet European leaders to discuss the escalating crisis.