Poland has taken over the rotating presidency of the EU for the first time since it joined the bloc in 2004. Poles are largely "pro-Europe" and are enjoying an economic growth rate of about 3.5%.  So even though the country is not part of the eurozone, Poland has indicated that it will use its six months in the EU guidance role both to strengthen the single market and help set up the next EU budgets with more sources of revenue. The group, Cicero Consulting, says that Warsaw will also pursue reforms in economic governance, including the implementation of new regulatory authority for improved EU-wide oversight in banking and broader financial services. There are also new taxation issues for the EU to be tackled by the Polish presidency. Cicero has produced a clear outline of these challenges in a report to be read here.

Cicero Consulting is a member of The European Institute.

Perspectives is an occasional forum of The European Institute reflecting member views on topical issues.

Leaders of the eurozone countries have agreed a new bailout package for Greece worth 109bn euros ($155bn). It includes, for the first time, support from private lenders, including banks, which will give Greece easier repayment terms.

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Ahead of an emergency eurozone meeting on a second Greek bail-out on July 21 in Brussels, a mix of new options has emerged in an effort to shift part of the costs to creditor banks – without triggering a default call by international ratings agencies.

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On July 7, 2011, The Honorable András Kármán, Hungarian State Secretary for Tax and Financial Regulation at the Ministry of National Economy, who personally coordinated the negotiations between EU Member States and the European Parliament during Hungary’s Presidency of the European Council, on a number of key legislative initiatives, including the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, offered his insight into what was accomplished and the challenges that still lay ahead in the European Union’s push for sustainable financial and economic stability.

In a valedictory speech before leaving the European Central Bank in October at the end of his eight-year term, Jean-Claude Trichet called for the creation – eventually – of a central finance ministry for the eurozone with powers to intervene in the budgetary and economic decisions of member states.

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