MORNING BID EUROPE-An EU deal of sorts on migrants; Draghi speaks

* A look at the day ahead from European Economics and Politics Editor Mark John and EMEA Markets Editor Mike Dolan. The views expressed are their own.

LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - EU countries voted through a plan yesterday to share out 120,000 refugees but in doing so swept aside the objections of four nations -- Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania -- who were bitterly opposed to the scheme. That provides an acrimonious backdrop to this evening's summit when European leaders gather to discuss how to dissuade refugees from heading to Europe in the first place -- notably by boosting aid for Turkey and the rest of the Middle East, and tightening the bloc's external frontiers.

In an illustration of how this crisis has exacerbated tensions between EU members, we have a simmering trade war between Balkans neighbours as road traffic between Serbia and Croatia was halted in a row over migrant flows across their border. EU rows are always accompanied by hyperbole but it is interesting to note the number of politicians and officials now calling the migrant crisis an existential threat to the bloc. Slovenia's PM Miro Cerar was the latest at the Reuters Eastern Europe Investment Summit yesterday.

In Greece, Alexis Tsipras' new cabinet is to be sworn in this morning, shorn of the hard-liners but otherwise largely unchanged from his last one. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) includes Euclid Tsakalotos, the low-key finance minister who negotiated the nuts and bolts of Greece's 86 billion-euro bailout, and Panos Skourletis, who ruffled some corporate feathers by suspending the licence of a Canadian gold mine during his last stint in office.

All eyes will be on ECB chief Mario Draghi's testimony to the European Parliament from 1300 GMT onwards, following on from the US Fed's decision last week to hold off a rate hike for now and the ECB's own recent hints at the need to expand/extend QE.

That comes after a raft of euro zone data this morning: Dutch Q2 growth came in a shade higher than expected at 0.2 percent and France's Q2 came in flat as predicted; flash PMI data from France, Germany and the eurozone as a whole to come.

MARKETS

If the Fed claims it has one eye on China, then U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . rates are going nowhere fast. Further weakness in China's September PMI, now deeper into contraction and at a 6-1/2 year low, shows few signs of the stabilization that many were hoping for. Some quibbles about the survey sample being skewed to smaller firms were the only straws in the wind. The only response from Chinese regulators was to promise to intensify its crackdown on short-sellers and speculators in financial markets. But heavy losses in European stock markets yesterday and Wall St overnight, and fresh weakness in commodities and emerging markets, show global slowdown fears are still front and centre of most people's minds. Shanghai lost about 1.5 percent overnight, with Hong Kong down almost 3 percent. Japan remains closed but most of the rest of the big Asia bourses are down between 1-2 percent. Commodities steadied a bit, however, with Brent firming to just under $49 and copper holding near the September lows it skidded to on Tuesday. Wall St futures are down another 0.5 percent in early trading, with the VIX remaining stoutly about 20 percent overnight. Eurostocks are set to ebb another 0.2 percent or so. The dollar was steady to firmer, while Treasury yields were back down at early September levels. Euro/dollar remains stuck about $1.11, but the focus will shift back to further ECB easing today, the sweep of flash euro area PMIs and Draghi's testimony to the European Parliament later. The message is unlikely to be very upbeat from either the data or the policy spin. VW remains another major leftfield depressant on equities and the auto sector in general. South Africa decides on interest rates later.

EVENTS

BRUSSELS - EU summit on migration

BRUSSELS - ECB chief Draghi speak to the European Parliament

OSLO - Fresh data on how quickly Norway's unemployment is rising after jumping to a 10-year high earlier this year.

SLOVAKIA-FinMin/ - Finance Ministry to publish its quarterly macroeconomic forecast

PARIS - France-GDP revised, France-PMI Flash

BERLIN - Germany-PMI Flash

AMSTERDAM - Netherlands-GDP

WARSAW - Poland-Unemployment

BRUSSELS - Euro zone September Flash PMI (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)