Finland
Open Europe tweets new poll data published in Italehti: 67% of Finns want Greece out of the Eurozone (“ Kreikka ulos eurosta!”) and support for Finland remaining in the currency union has fallen to 51%, an unthinkably low figure just a year or so ago. Meanwhile the True Finns appear to be gaining support ahead of municipal elections this autumn…That should ‘encourage’ the current coalition to maintain a tough line in Brussels.
Spain
The WSJ reports:
Individuals, companies and investment funds yanked money out of Spanish banks by a record amount in July, according to data released by the European Central Bank Tuesday. Deposits in Spanish banks dropped 4.7% in July versus June to 1.51 trillion euros ($1.89 trillion). The nearly EUR75 billion decline was the sharpest monthly drop in Spain since the ECB started keeping such data in 1997. In contrast, deposits in Italian banks slid 0.02%, while in Greece, deposits rose by almost 2%, the first increase since March. Germany and France recorded 0.2% increases in deposits.
Spanish banks sold EUR7.6 billion of government bonds in July, the data showed.
About half of the outflow from households and companies was due to seasonal factors, a Bank of Spain official told Dow Jones Newswires. Companies typically pay taxes in July, while households tend to spend more in the summer as they go on holiday, he said.
Still, the data suggest that the uncertainty over Spain’s ability to manage its finances has grown to the extent where depositors increasingly believe they need to act to protect their savings.
Germany
Former president of the constitutional court, Jutta Limbach: “there is no European identity.”
Oh well.
Lithuania
Lithuania will apply for the euro “when we’re ready and when the euro zone is ready,” [Lithuanian prime minister Andrius] Kubilius said in a radio interview with Lietuvos Radijas today. “The euro remains our strategic goal. Nevertheless, we’d like to see a clearer and more stable situation in the euro zone at the time when we adopt the euro.”
In other words, don’t call us, we’ll call you.