The Times reports that German Economy Minister Michael Glos has ‘let the cat out of the bag’ on an EU financial stimulus package worth 130 billion euros, currently being prepared by the European Commission to help boost industry and the economy. Glos said that all member states would be asked to contribute 1% of their GDP, which would equate to 25bn euros for Germany.

The Irish Independent reports that Libertas Chairman Declan Ganley yesterday told an Irish parliamentary committee: "Let's not have another referendum because if it's 'No' it will probably provoke the collapse of the Government or some senior figures in it.

The Irish Times reports that Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin has said that Dublin is in talks with other member states on retaining a permanent Commissioner, ahead of a possible re-run referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Martin said, "Clearly, that issue of a commissioner was much more than just a commissioner…it almost signified what people perceived to be a loss of influence at the table“.

Leaders of G20 countries agreed a joint statement this weekend stating: "We underscore the critical importance of rejecting protectionism and not turning inward in times of financial uncertainty", committing themselves to not raise new barriers to investment or trade in goods and services over the next 12 months.

European Voice reports that the EU Commissioner for the budget Dalia Grybauskaite yesterday presented results from a consultation on the EU’s budget. Grybauskaite noted that people were strongly in favour of moving resources away from agriculture to research, innovation, the environment and climate change.

Bruton: Ireland should only hold referendums the government thinks it can win The FT reports that the Irish government became embroiled in a row with Czech President Vaclav Klaus last night after he attacked the Lisbon Treaty. Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin accused Klaus of “inappropriate intervention” by meeting Irish anti-Lisbon group Libertas on his state visit.

The Irish Times reports that Czech President Vaclav Klaus yesterday met with Declan Ganley, the head of Irish anti-Lisbon group Libertas, while on an official visit to Ireland. During the meeting, he said he was not happy with what he described as attempts by Europe to “forget the Irish referendum and to change the result”.

There has been widespread coverage of the annual report from the European Court of Auditors published yesterday. The Times notes that for the 14th successive year, the Auditors were unable to state that the EU accounts were clean for “most spending areas”

The European Court of Auditors will today publish its annual report on the EU’s accounts. As in previous years, the Auditors are expected to highlight widespread problems with fraud and mismanagement in the EU’s spending programmes. The News of the World reported on Open Europe’s briefing published yesterday detailing 100 examples of misuse of EU money.

The media continues to report on Wednesday’s vote in the European Parliament’s Employment Committee on amendments to the EU’s Working Time Directive (WTD). Agence Europe quotes Socialist MEP Alejandro Cercas describing the position of MEPs as “diametrically opposed” to the Council's view on three points: the committee wants to scrap the UK opt-out from the agreed 48-hour working week, while at the same time keeping the current rules for on-call time and compensatory rest.

There is continued coverage of yesterday’s vote in the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee in favour of a proposal that would end the British opt-out from the EU’s 48 hour working week. Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: "The decision by the employment committee is not surprising.

The European Parliament's employment committee has today voted to end Britain’s opt-out from EU rules which limit the working week elsewhere in Europe to 48 hours, amid concerns that the move would add red-tape to British companies just as the coming recession puts business under added pressure.

On his De Standaard blog, EU correspondent Bernard Bulcke writes that a “very reliable source” has confirmed that “if the Lisbon Treaty hasn’t been ratified by the end of 2009, the Treaty will be integrated into the accession treaty for Croatia”. He adds that “the probability of this scenario increases as the chances of Lisbon just being ratified through a second Irish referendum diminish”.

The FT reports that the deal allowing Britain to opt-out from European Union curbs on working hours is expected to be rejected by MEPs this week. UK business leaders are concerned that the agreement between European Employment Ministers that allowed the UK an opt out, in return for the UK’s support of the equal pay for temporary and agency workers, could be threatened by the European Parliament.

The Irish media reports that former Taoiseach John Bruton – now the EU’s Ambassador to the US – has called for a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. In an appearance at the newly formed Oireachtas Lisbon sub-committee he said that a re-run referendum needed to be preceded by a better information campaign, adding "It is fair to say that the Lisbon Treaty was written in such a fashion to make it unreadable”.

The European Commission has announced that it is to double the crisis fund available to member states to 25 billion euros, in a sign that other European countries may need emergency cash injections, reports the Times. At its current level, the fund has been depleted by more than half by its bailout package to Hungary.

The Times reports that EU Commissioners have registered 216 gifts, worth more than 150 euros each, received during their four-year term. However, in line with the code of conduct, they have not been forced to reveal details of any holidays or perks received.

The IHT has a special report on energy. Professor Dieter Helm of Oxford University – who is advising the UK Government on the matter – describes the EU’s target of reducing emissions by 20% and sourcing 20% of energy from renewables by 2020 as “political rhetoric” to give the EU a stronger negotiating position at global talks on climate change, but doubts that other large emitters will regard the targets as credible.

The Sunday Times reported that John Hutton has become the first UK Defence Secretary to call for a European army – a long term French ambition for the EU. Under the EU Presidency, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sought to develop Europe’s military structures with new headquarters and rapid reaction forces, each consisting of 1,500 troops from member countries.

The Independent follows up on reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy would like to become the economic “President” of Europe until 2010, overseeing a response to the financial crisis by the eurozone countries and Britain. The paper notes that Sarkozy has launched a diplomatic and media campaign suggesting that his current role as “conductor of the European Union economic orchestra”, due to expire in December with the end of the French Presidency of the EU, should be extended informally, until the end of 2009.