Quote of the day: Europe and the City of London

From Mario Monti, Italy's Prime Minister, regarding Britain's wish for special treatment for Europe, quoted in the Financial Times:

"The Brits can be quite exasperating when they ask as a condition for staying aboard of this great European ship special exceptions, special derogations, which at the end would create holes to make it sail less well, if not sink.

That is a nice quote about loopholes. For the City of London these are, as they say, interesting times.

"The City’s golden ticket is the EU single market, a grand and unfinished scheme to eliminate barriers to the flow of capital, people and goods. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Square Mile blossomed as majority rule in the EU prised open continental markets.

Now the tables are beginning to turn: Britain looks in danger of being in an outgunned minority, while a European majority forges a financial bloc around and over it. The fear is it will suffer rules, rather than make them."

We are also delighted to see Sven Giegold, one of the founders of TJN (now a member of the European Parliament), being quoted in the FT in the context of UK demand for decisions to require a minimum level of support from those outside the banking union – a so-called “double majority.”

"A double majority “will not fly”, says Sven Giegold, the German MEP spearheading negotiations for the European Parliament, which must also approve the voting reforms."