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Disarray as EU governments struggle with financial crisis
The Guardian says that Germany's decision to guarantee up to €1tn of individuals' deposits yesterday, which followed similar moves by several other EU countries, underlines a sense of disarray among EU governments on how to handle the financial crisis.
The IHT says European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet has called for Europe's markets to be calm, saying that the ECB is ready to provide money markets with all the liquidity they needed for as long as they need, reports the IHT.
Furthermore, he added that the joint government bailouts of the Fortis and Dexia banks had shown that Europe could coordinate and establish a common response in a very difficult situation.
Deutsche Welle, meanwhile, reports on an "unprecedented" statement issued by the EU on Monday, saying European leaders "will take all necessary steps" to secure the bloc's financial system, including bailouts for banks and guarantees for deposits.
The move comes ahead of a meeting of economic and finance ministers today in Brussels, which El País says will give its opinion on the unilateral moves by countries like Ireland and Greece to bail out their banks.
However, El País's story takes a more upbeat tone, with the paper saying that the Spanish Ibex index has risen by over two percentage points, in line with other European markets.
But the Belfast Telegraph says world financial markets are in disarray after bank shares took a dive and money markets “hit new levels of seizure” on Monday.
The paper says it puts more pressure on the British government to follow the lead of other countries and shore up its banks.
And the Scotsman says the British government is set to announce a £50bn rescue plan later this week to buy a stake in the country's stricken banks.
European parliament green votes cause divisions within EU
A vote in the European parliament today will show how the EU is torn between pushing ahead with a plan to make Europe a world leader in the fight against climate change and postponing measures in the light of the financial crisis, says El País.
MEPs in the environment committee will vote on three reports – on the EU’s emissions trading scheme, effort sharing and the geological storage of CO2 – and the paper says Germany is leading the opposition to the EU’s green ambitions, saying they could harm industry.
Meanwhile, the Guardian says that Poland has reached an agreement with Greece on the need to have more debate on the EU's climate change package, and has moved closer to securing a blocking minority among EU member states.
Foreign pressure will not resolve nuclear dispute, Iran tells EU
Iran delivered a letter to EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday saying that foreign pressure on Tehran would not resolve the dispute over its nuclear programme, reports the IHT.
The letter, written by Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, was addressed to the foreign ministers of the US, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia.
The paper reports that US state department spokesman Robert Wood said, however, that he could not comment on the contents until after the US had consulted with the other five nations.
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EU sets up centre in Africa to fight illegal migration
The EU yesterday moved to export its controls on illegal immigration for the first time by setting up a new office in Africa, the first of several it plans to open to try to deal with a flood of migration, says the Guardian.
Louis Michel, the EU's development commissioner, went to Bamako, the capital of Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, to open the migration management centre and inaugurate a pilot scheme to try to dissuade Africans from taking the hazardous routes to Europe.
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We need more time on Lisbon, Ireland tells EU
Irish foreign affairs minister Micheál Martin has asked the EU to be more patient with Ireland as the government tried to move on after the defeat of the Lisbon treaty, reports the Irish Independent.
Martin revealed to the European parliament on Monday that Ireland would not have a plan to offer other countries at this month's EU summit, contrary to the expectations of a number of countries.
