countries mostly center and eastern european but also some european countries received from the budget and not a gift. as a matter of fact they go back to the very foundations of the european union and they tend to gloss or rather than the goal the task is to close the gap between the development differences in the your pain and we have opened up our markets disadvantaged position for the best in europe you've opened up your market your staging what your prime minister called a revolution against the alliance of the bureaucrats brussels the liberal media and the insatiable financier if it's also rotten in brussels and the finances so insatiable why keep on taking their money have it have you ever been involved in running a state even town or a large and recovering body you know that going against brock recy is a legitimate call. brocket it tends to bring brussels as rock yes because in many in many respects the what the writers aim with it why not go with it you put a kind of how we saw the exit you put the question which have never never been raised by the anger in government if you t

countries mostly center on the eastern european but also some european countries received from the budget and not a gift. as a matter of fact they go back to the very foundations of the european union and they tend to gloss or rather than the goal that task is to close the gap between the development differences in the your pena we have opened up our markets disadvantaged position for the best in europe you've opened up your market your staging what your prime minister called a revolution against the alliance of the bureaucrats brussels the liberal media and the insatiable financier if it's also rotten in brussels and the finances so insatiable why keep on taking their money have you have you ever been involved in running a state even see a town or a large and recovering body you know that going against brock recy is a legitimate call. brocket it tends to inflame brussels as rock yes because in many many respects the what the writers aim with it why not go with it you put a kind of how we saw the exit you put the question which have never never been raised by the anger in government if yo

the european union often. makes its foreign policy about the use of force in other countries so i think it's fair to ask those questions regarding europe some of the images that we saw coming from barcelona when a local firefighters had to stand between the police brought from other regions local protesters you know that that sheer image of people of requiring some sort of a shield from its own law enforcement i think that was shocking to be honest with you to many of us russians and russia has its own very painful very tortured history of state power abuse that's why we actually debating those questions very hotly here but do you think that idea of people in europe having to be protected from the. police force is that in line with what you tend to think of european values is that the a part of what you tend to think about as the european identity well. i fully share your you know emotional reaction about the intervention of police in catalonia but let's i mean i think it's important for everyone to try to und

the european union often. makes its foreign policy about the use of force in other countries so i think it's fair to ask those questions regarding europe some of the images that we saw coming from barcelona when a local firefighters had to stand between the police brought from other regions local protesters you know that that sheer image of people of requiring some sort of a shield from its own law enforcement i think that was shocking to be honest with you to many of us russians and russia has its own very painful very tortured history of state power abuse that's why we actually debating those questions very hotly here but do you think that idea of people in europe having to be protected from own police force is that in live with what you tend to think of european values is that the a part of what you tend to think about as the european identity well. i fully share your you know emotional reaction about the intervention of police in catalonia but let's i mean i think it's important for everyone to try to unde

union to give really does eastern european and central used in south or used to be european countries if perspective to be. in full fledged member of the union so if they have the impression they are not treated in a respectful and equal footing way then it makes me a little bit concerned that should not be the way they should think. maybe they have different feelings. engaged in love on the other hand we should think about our positions so maybe we should be much more open minded actually we're going to talk about how their views differ from the use of the core of central europe but if i'm just going to give you a little example you know there's been like this between east and the west in here up broke out recently it was a food scandal supposedly west exports or imports to the eastern europe food that's made of worst stuff that what is sold in the west why is there such approach that everything that goes to the east could be a quality lesser than whatever is. acceptable to be very frank of the inacceptable i think this same quality is the same as of course it's cheaper than it's a d

down which somehow the european union in terms of intent and. even a comically i'm going to go ahead with on. like to hear what he has to say about a good point peter to you. sure so i think indeed this shows that people in europe really want more flexibility there's all of europe more demand for. basically having more control over one's own fate i would say that's why we see all this populist movement in europe from the left or the right this is what they sort of having common they feel they're losing control over their own fate and indeed also the cuttle on the scottish independence movements they of course have always existed but in the last ten years they have become much more popular and again if we wonder how to deal with that i think we have to look at switzerland cicerone as a country where there's a lot of decentralization we're the decentralized entities the continents can decide it's over taxation policy too much larger extent than was the case elsewhere so and this really helps to keep switzerland together nobody in switzerland wants

down which somehow the european union in terms of intent and. even a comically i'm going to go ahead with our. like to hear what he has to say about a good point peter to you. so i think indeed this shows that people in europe really want more flexibility there's all of europe more demand for. basically having more control over one's own fate i would say that's why we see all this populist movement in europe ordered from the left or the right this is what they sort of having common they feel they're losing control over their own fate and indeed also the cuttle on the scottish independence movements they of course have always existed but in the last ten years they have become much more popular and again if we wonder how to deal with that i think we have to look at switzerland cicerone as a country where there's a lot of decentralization we're the decentralized entities the continents can decide it's over taxation policy to much larger extent than was the case elsewhere so and this really helps to keep switzerland together nobody in switzerland wa

we share with our european partners. accordingly, we support all ongoing eu and nato tools and initiatives, such that's one mentioned earlier, provided that deliver actual results. all this will require a buildup and the corresponding financial effort i mentioned that we were on a path toward 2% expenses. next year already france will raise its budget over 1.8 billion euros in 2018. i in the this is probably -- i know this is probably less than the pentagon, but in france, this is a significant 5% increase. and from what i would like to conclude with this. don't underestimate those single digit billions. from what i have seen in the south and in -- when you invest in the french military, you really get bang for your buck. so thank you for your attention. i'm ready for your questions. [applause] >> well, madam minister, we got a lot of bang out of our buck with those wonderful comments. colleagues, i'm totally stealing the phrase, more tank than think, but we put a lot of think in the think tank, so thank you very much. w

share with our european partners. accordingly, we support all ongoing eu and nato tools and initiatives such as the one i mentioned earlier, provided they deliver actual results. all this will require a buildup and a corresponding financial effort. and i mentioned that we were on a path toward 2% in defense expenses. next year already, france will raise its defense budget by over 178 billion euros in 2018. i know this is -- 1.8 billion euros in 2018. i know this is probably less than the pentagon's laundry bill but in france this is a significant 5% increase. and i would like to conclude with this -- don't underestimate those single digit billions. from what i've seen in desal, when you invest in the french military, you really get a bang for your buck. so thank you for your attention. i'm ready for your questions. [ applause ] >> maddan am minister, we got a lot of bang out of our buck for those wonderful comments. colleagues before you do it, i'm stealing the phase more tank than think, but we put a lot of think in

about the european initiative -- about what the european initiative can do. stage, i don't have any examples to provide of mentioned, if i this european initiative had existed when we started to go to this would have been a good example of what this initiative could have done if it had existed. operation, of course. it could be a smaller one. what i have not mentioned in my answer is about the financing of it. said europe is working hard in building a european defense , but itich is new doesn't mean europe is now ready to finance all of its member states in its day-to-day operations abroad. this is one serious question we have to solve at the european level. that is why president macron s aid, we are financing that on our own, but we would like very much to extend this financing to european contribution as well. not means we should be able to -- that means we should be able to revisit some processes which are not aimed at doing so. heather: we have three questions in the back. herminister will then give closing remarks. >> hi, and the reporter with politico.

to push here the europeans to support this in the i.a.e.a. the international organization charged with monitoring the nucular agreement to push them to insist on inspecting other sites that are not necessarily sites that have been declared nucular sites for example military sites conventional military sites the united states has long wanted access to those in iran and so those are the avenues that the trauma ministration sees possibilities for gaining more leverage these to be the europeans and against iran to have an entirely new set of ground rules for how the united states works in the middle east to target or overcome the europeans be pushed on such issues in your opinion and what do you think their european response is going to be to all of this is if trump actually decertified the deal we have heard from the president the french president mccall who's saying that there is no alternative to the nuclear of course what do they do well just this morning the european union issued a statement saying the iran nuclear deal was the best way forw

body let's do it this way the number one decision making body of the european union is the european council which comes it's over you know the heads of state and government and heads of state of government and the government made the decision that they introduce a quota system on a voluntary basis and afterwards the council of the ministers of interior and justice which are definitely on the lower shelf in the structure than the european council they change his decision and decided in favor of an obligate three quota system so that's that's not really a while ation of european regulations number one number two. that we have some very important treaties in the european union shango right dublin and these treaties cannot be modified by a decision of a ministerial council these treaties can only be modified food the procedures of the parliaments of the member states of the european union the consensus all around the twenty eight members and such kind of a decision introducing going to get three quota is basically the modification the amendment of the dublin treaty and because it takes

the european union often. makes its foreign policy about the use of force in other countries so i think it's fair to ask those questions regarding europe some of the images that we saw coming from barcelona when a local firefighters had to stand between the police brought from other regions local protesters you know that sheer image of people of requiring some sort of a shield from its own law enforcement i think that was shocking to be honest with you to many of us russians and russia has its own very painful very tortured history of state power abuse that's why we actually debating those questions very hotly here but do you think that idea of people in europe having to be protected from own police force is that in line with what you tend to think of european values is that the a part of what you tend to think about as the european identity well. i fully share your you know emotional reaction about the intervention of police in catalonia but let's i mean i think it's important for everyone to try to understan

countries mostly center on the eastern european but also southern european countries received from the budget not a gift. as a matter of fact they go back to the very foundations of the european union and. tend to gloss or rather than their goal that task is to close the gap between the development differences in the your opinion we have opened up our markets you know this is vantage position for the best in europe you've opened up your market your staging what your prime minister called a revolution against the alliance of the bureaucrats of brussels the liberal media and the insatiable finances if it's all so rotten in brussels and the financier's a so insatiable why keep on taking their money have you have you ever being one of the in running a state of town or a larger group everybody you know that going against drug recy is a legitimate call. you paint brussels as rotten. because in many in many respects to what the right to stay with it was thrown within again you put a kind of heavy three x. if you put the question which have never never been raised by the anger in government if

countries mostly center on the eastern european but also southern european countries received from the budget are not a gift. as a matter of fact they go back to the very foundations of the european union and they tend to gloss or rather than the goal the task is to close the gap between the development differences in the your pena we have opened up our markets disadvantaged position for the best in europe you've opened up your market your staging what your prime minister called a revolution against the alliance of the bureaucrats brussels the liberal media and the insatiable financier if it also broadened in brussels and the finances so insatiable why keep on taking their money have it have you ever been involved in running the state even see a town or a lodge of rock everybody you know that going against rock recy is a legitimate call. brocket it tends to brussels rock yes because in many in many respects the what the writers name with it why not go with it you put a kind of how we saw the exit you put the question which have never never been raised by that anger in government if you

union to give really does eastern european and central used to sell to used to be european countries full perspective to be. in full fledged member of the union so if they have the impression they are not treated in a respectful and equal footing way then the makes me a little bit concerned that should not be the way they should think maybe they have different feelings and they are not engaged enough on the other hand we should really think about our position so maybe we should be much more open minded actually we're going to talk about how their views differ from their use of the core of central europe but if i'm just going to give you a little example you know there's been like this between east and the west in here up broke out recently it was a food scandal supposedly west exports or imports to the eastern europe food that's made of worst stuff that what is sold in the west why is there such approach that everything that goes to the east could be a quality less or that whatever is. still acceptable to be very frank of the inacceptable i think the same quality at the same price of

not to exclude european countries from european integration you're taking part in the dialogue of civilizations for a long road a silent where the focus on multiple already in regional and global developments but today it seems like people want instant solutions and a lot more than a dialogue calling for patients and dialogue is i dare say i mean boring how do you change that. yeah of course nihilo his very often more cumbersome way but the best way. if we want to achieve what is the vision of the of majority of people who live in peace to enjoy prosperity and to prepare a better future for the children and grandchildren there are no instant solutions. no violence illusions there's only the way to explore how we can live together and solve to get all these problems and this is still the major achievement of the european union and the council of europe that european countries came together to solve such questions to give a. mr treuer thank you for being with us today we were talking to walter schwimmer former secretary general of the council of europe and co-founder of dialogue of civilizations

of the european union the view of the members of the european union got a strong member and we share the european regulations and share the european values of course but but you know blackmailing others accusing others putting pressure on others that's not the european behavior our emmanuelle must fall and i will merkel trying to blackmail hungary in government i didn't put it on a on a personal basis what i said there was many blackmailing against those countries which didn't want to take part in the rb get three quarters system by the european commission for example so if i if you want me to to put. to give you examples of blackmailing like blackmailing is when when the european commission or commission they're suppressed in hungary or any other sensory drop in country to take away the european financial resources because we don't agree with the migratory policy of brussels well michael mccall has said exactly that a lot but that has nothing to do with each other i mean i mean the european financial resources are based on contracts and treated you know when hungary joined european

union to give really these eastern european and central used and south are used to european countries for to speak to be. in full fledged member of the union so if they have the impression they are not treated in a respectful and equal footing way then the makes me a little bit concerned that should not be the way they should think maybe they have different feelings and they are not engaged enough on the other hand we should really think about our position so maybe we should be much more open minded actually we're going to talk about how their views differ from their use of the core of central europe but if i'm just going to give you a little example you know there's been like this between east and the west in here up broke out recently it was a food scandal supposedly west exports or imports to the eastern europe food that's made of war stuff that what is sold in the west why is there such approach that everything that goes to the east could be a quality less or that whatever is there will still be acceptable to be very frank of the him except people think the same quality at the sam

so, we began with not wanting to leave the european union, we campaigned to remain in the european union. we are internationalistsand we think it's the intersts of our country to remain in the eu, but we lost the referendum and we're democrats, and so we do what the country tells us. our instructions are that we leave the european union, and our approach would have been completely different. we would have gone to our european friends and said, we've got a problem, we have to leave, you have a problem, we're leaving, let's try and sort something out together. we're not putting down ridiculous red lines, we're not sweeping things off the table, let's just talk. but we do need to say we need to leave, we want to look after our economy, we can't pretend that the referendum was not about people's concerns of migration. let's start with the big picture. we need to leave, you've just said, so in your mind, no question — there will absolutely not be another referendum, there will not be a reversal of this decision to leave? no. we go into this in good faith. we had a referendum, we were given

commission thinks that it can also motivate money from the european the various banks the european investment banks which will double that amount so forty four billion year over a period of time it sounds like a lot of money but relative to the need it probably not it's probably not going to make that much of a difference the one thing that the europeans have gotten right although i have no idea whether they'll be able to implemented is bringing in the private sector in this way company. this can invest and they can train people they under preferential conditions in terms of customs and you do said cetera et cetera can produce things in various african states which can then be exported to europe without any tariffs if we managed to do that if they managed to do that then over the next twenty or thirty years you actually could have an entirely different situation in africa the one miscalculation on the part of the europeans is that somehow that's how that's what they have to do in order to actually reduce emigration pressure and that is silly now in one of your articles you compared the ears c

support hungary and other european countries mostly center on the eastern european but also some european countries received from the budget another get the gap between the development differences in the your opinion we have opened up our markets you know this is vantage position for the best in europe you've opened up your market your staging what your prime minister called a revolution against the alliance of the bureaucrats of brussels the liberal media and the insatiable finances if it's also rotten in brussels and the financier's so insatiable why keep on taking their money have you have you ever been involved in running a state even a town or a lodge of rock everybody you know that going against brock wesley is a legitimate call. you paint brussels as rotten. because in many in many respects to what the right to stay with it once they were there again you put a kind of heavy three x. if you put a question which have never never been raised by the anger in government if you take a look at the government's positions behavior the hungary and populations support for the european idea va

he has austrian roots and his politico's chief european correspondent. issays austria plus threat closer integration. i would like to talk first about the causes of last week's election result. matthew karnitschnig, let me austrian. you as an mainstream parties have been governing together in the grand coalition in austria for what seems to many voters to be a near eternity. is this election result really about the issues, or is it in essence a protest by a lot of voters who say they are tired of political business as usual? matthew: i think that is definitely part of it. there has been a lot of frustration with the grand coalition in austria, which, as you say, has been in power a long time -- 10 years running -- but really, most of the post word period. that has led to a lot of these policies with the parties dividing up a lot of the spoils between them, and that starts in public housing, for example, but really goes through every part of public life, includes a television stations. a lot of these traditions have traditionally been divvied up between t

speaker we're going leave the european union in march 2019. delivering on the democratic will of the british people. >> hear, hear. >> of course, we are preparing for every even allity to make sure we leave in n a smith and orderly way but i'm confident we can negotiate a new, deep and special partnership win the sovereign united kingdom and the friend the european union. that's my mission and the government's statement and i commend this statement to the house. >> jeremy corbyn. >> thank you, mr. speaker i'm like to think the prime minister for advanced copy of this statement and i also underline the importance of respect for human rights and democracy in turkey. imprisoning journalists and lawyers is not part of that process and is not acceptable. and also, that we need to -- we also need to defend the iran nuclear deal which has been rightly defended the eu council last week and must do everything we took defend it and prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. commend of the of the royal nave which the prime minister pointed out has already

countries mostly center on the eastern european but also southern european countries received from the budget and not a gift. as a matter of fact they go back to the very foundations of the european union and they tend to gloss or rather than the goal the task is to close the gap between the development differences in the your pena we have opened up our markets disadvantaged position for the best in europe you've opened up your market your staging what your prime minister called a revolution against the alliance of the bureaucrats brussels the liberal media and the insatiable finances if it's also the rotten in brussels and the finances so insatiable why keep on taking their money have you have you ever been involved in running the state even see a town or a large of recovering bodies you know that going against through a crecy is a legitimate call. brok assistance to ukraine brussels as rock yes because in many in many respects the what the writers name with it why not go with it you put a kind i have recently exit you put the question which have never never been raised by the anger i

the european commission also plans to ta ke european commission also plans to take island to court over its failure to collect billions of dollars of back taxes from apple. —— ireland. let's find out more on this. the european commission is really busy but what do these allegations mean for amazon? really busy but what do these allegations mean for amazon7m really busy but what do these allegations mean for amazon? it has to be said the europeans have been very aggressive with major multinational companies that they believe to be avoiding taxes. the european commission conducted a nearly three—year investigation into amazon's tax practices and they found amazon had gotten into a sweetheart deal with luxembourg starting from 2003. so the european competition commissioner margrethe vestager said amazon was allowed to pay four times less tax than local companies subject to the same rules and she said this essentially amounts to a legal state support from luxembourg. amazon and luxembourg both deny this and amazon said they are now looking at all of the options to combat this decision

party in the european parliament. max weber said if he wanted to call somebody in the uk about brexit, the wouldn‘t know who to ring up, would it be theresa may, would it be borisjohnson, would it be david davis? and it is extraordinary, patrick, that we have a situation in which the foreign secretary has basically dominated three or four weeks of coverage with his own brexit vision. i don't agree with that at all. i think for the foreign secretary to have a role in brexit negotiations, surely that's part of the job description. without the permission of downing street? well, look, actually you could argue philip hammond was the one who broke the florence accord by immediately talking about this two—year non—implementation period running longer than that and he wants three or four years. boris then chips up and says, no, not a second more than two years. in ukip we think article 50 is the transition period and there's no need for any further delay beyond that. kate, do you think basically the cabinet hasn‘t ma

counting down to the european close. the next it's over exit hang in the balance after talks ended in a deadlock. the european commissioner for economic and financial affairs spoke to bloomberg's tom keene about the eu position at the imf's annual meeting in washington. clear,position is very it's a divorce that needs to be a good divorce, with a strong relationship after the divorce. but discuss the future relationship between you and u.k., and u.k. will be a european country, even if not inside the eu, we still need to show the issues on the table. and the first thing is we need to have a strong, precise, definite discussion about the financial settlement and also about citizens rights. first things first, in the future, -- tom: do you need a more like a courtalogue process in divorce or something squishy like american arbitration in divorce? what you need from the british? more precision and iq dialogue? -- and acute dialogue? >> everyone appreciated the progress because the ideal transition and the reaction by all eu

well the answer is no they haven't but it is difficult to speak about european if by european you mean have the brussels institutions come up with some sort of an answer to all of this the answer is not. primarily because the european institutions do not have the mandate the authority to make decisions when it comes to migration now the european member states all twenty eight of them still twenty eight. have every right to have different policies and some of these policies are succeeding for some of these countries and some of them are failing. until very recently just two months ago. italy you could say that you could have said that italy that either does not have a policy or it is struggling to develop a policy but you know they were still getting a couple hundred thousand people coming to their shores across the central mediterranean but three months ago they cut a deal with libya and libya has corporator them as a result we see essentially flows across the central mediterranean down to less than twenty percent of what they were in may or of march or april of this year i heard want

patience has run out of the european commission taking to the podium the e.u. competition commission announced that brussels had on and in its sights taking the country's government to the european court of justice for its failure to collect taxes from us giant apple than a year ago the commission docked at the decision. requiring ireland to recover up to thirteen billion euros in the league from apple. however ireland has still not recovered any money not even in part for its part apple is appealing the case it argues that the revenues in question a subject to u.s. tax rules instead meanwhile luxemburg was also signalled out by the commission on wednesday with a ruling that it had granted online shopping giant amazon on do tax benefits for the past eight years needing around three quarters of its profits untaxed the e.u. says that gave it an unfair advantage over other companies not justified amazon now has to repay the tax benefit worth around two hundred fifty million euros plus interest the commission's position is clear it states that no matter your flag o

countries it is the european union that imposes sanctions on russia crippling our agricultural sector and robbing italy of seven billion euro is a year today we advocate the unity of italy but with autonomy for the regions and federalism we do so who first and foremost defend ourselves against the onslaught of the e.u. and multinational corporations which are simply to annihilate us. what is it that i do not agree with when it comes to catalonia see many of those who are in favor of the independence of catalonia ones who remain in the european union they want to keep the euro and also the ones open their borders to migrants from north africa well this kind of independence independence with brussels in the driver's seat without cutting off the flow of migrants that decision would pose grave problems to they also wish for it so he'll also sad that he don't want to blow up the euro that a referendum on abandoning it would be on cost efficient how does it go along with your earlier statement that hero is an experiment gone bad you know i believe that one single currency for eighteen econo

well the answer is no they haven't but it is difficult to speak about european if by european you mean have the brussels institutions come up with some sort of an answer to all of this the answer is not. primarily because the european institutions do not have the mandate the authority to make decisions when it comes to migration now the european member states all twenty eight of them still twenty eight. have every right to have different policies and some of these policies are succeeding for some of these countries and some of them are failing. until very recently just two months ago. italy you could say that you could have said that italy either does not have a policy or it is struggling to develop a policy but you know they were still getting a couple hundred thousand people coming to their shores across the central mediterranean but three months ago they cut a deal with libya and libya has corporator them as a result we see essentially flows across the central mediterranean down to less than twenty percent of what they were in may or of march or april of this year i heard want to eu

of course another european country voted for historic change recently to the u.k. to leave the european union but the essence of the argument was similar we want to be free from the control of others. it was convincing enough to win the arguments but now the u.k. is riven with disagreements and the e.u. is blocking its key demands. so when he was pro independence council and m.p.'s how they can possibly stay in the european union when spain would veto it you get an answer slightly less inspiring than the mood of the crowd what happens if catalonia got stuck outside the european union as long as i was there i would not like this process that happened. i could live better thirdly a settling out of the photo to friends who do feel you're sure you know the realize that for example you know the way. bridges roads are part of the role of the union with additional restrictions exactly like your ex accompany you know the government it could be the like like like iceland was just what they said well we're not saying we are not a ripple. we are saying goes you have economic

not exclude european countries from european integration you're taking part in the dialogue of civilizations for a moment rhoda silent while the focus on multiple already in regional and global developments but today it seems like people want instant solutions a lot more than a dialogue calling for patients and dialogue is i dare say i mean boring how do you change that yes of course not i loath is very often more cumbersome way but the best way. if we want to achieve what is the vision of the finest majority of people to live in peace to enjoy prosperity and to prove prepare a better future for the children and grandchildren there are no instant solutions. no violence illusions there's only the way to explore how we can live together and solve to get all these problems and this is still the major achievement of the european union and the council of europe that european countries came together to solve such questions to give a. mr schumer thank you for being with us today were talking to walter schwimmer former secretary general of the council of europe and co-founder of dialogue of civiliza

the european union often. makes its foreign policy about the use of force in other countries so i think it's fair to ask those questions regarding europe some of the images that we saw coming from barcelona when a local firefighters had to stand between the police brought from other regions local protesters you know that that sheer image of people of requiring some sort of a shield from its own law enforcement i think that was shocking to be honest with you to many of us russians and russia has its own very painful very tortured history of state power abuse that's why we actually debating those questions very hotly here but do you think that idea of people in europe having to be protected from own police force is that in line with what you tend to think of european values is that the part of what you tend to think about as the european identity well. i fully share your you know emotional reaction about the intervention of police in catalonia but let's i mean i think it's important for everyone to try to unders

is a problem not only for the northern regions of italy but for all european countries it is the european union that imposes sanctions on russia crippling our agricultural sector and robbing italy of seven billion euro is a year today we advocate the unity of italy but with autonomy for the regions and federalism we do so who first and foremost defend ourselves against the onslaught of the e.u. and multinational corporations which are simply seeking to annihilate us. what is it that i do not agree with when it comes to catalonia see many of those who are in favor of the independence of catalonia ones who remain in the european union they want to keep the euro and also the ones open their borders to migrants from north africa while this kind of independence independence with brussels in the driver's seat without cutting off the flow of migrants that decision would pose grave problems to the also wish for it so he'll also sad that he don't want to blow up the euro at a referendum on abandoning it would be unconstitutional how does it go along with your earlier statement that hero is an expe

the european union the view of the members of the european union very strong member and we share the european regulations and share the european values of course but but you know blackmailing others accusing others putting pressure on others that's not the european behavior our emmanuelle must fall and i will merkel trying to blackmail the hungaroring government i didn't put it on a on a personal basis what i said there was many blackmailing against those countries which didn't want to take part in the o.b. get three quarter system by the european commission for example so if i if you want me to to put. to give you examples of blackmailing like blackmailing is when when the european commission or commission they're suppressed in hungary or any other century drop in country to take away the european financial resources because we don't agree with the migratory policy of brussels well michael mccall has said exactly that but that has nothing to do with each other i mean i mean the european financial resources are based on contracts and three that you know when hungary joined european u

union it's a must hungary refusing to take in refugees took their case to the european supreme court they lost heart was prime minister. and said he didn't care about the courts ruling he can how can such a country still be a member of the european union not accepting the decision of the supreme european court still being there no consequences no sanctions nothing happened well the nothing is not right first of all here you see the last of the constructing of the european union we have not thought and considered even that in particular hungry but also part of who were actually the breeding grounds for democracy for eastern europe in particular polland supported us with a round table in east germany wouldn't have a peaceful revolution if you would have had policy as a model this was once and i am now history now that's a start of the reality right and the reality is that it wasn't. structured into the situation that countries could cause so far out of that regard or this evening don't you did the evening didn't and don't. try to take a decision or you can try hungry there is not an of

a call for legal guarantees within the framework of the european union -- we are european citizens, and we wish to travel. we have a right as european citizens to move around the whole of europe, to move freely across e europe. and we will see every day there are new challenges. we have to work as a legitimate government. and we have decided to express ourselves clearly to the world, to tell the world what is happening in catalonia. >> sorry, sorry, sorry -- bbc? >> [indiscernible] to form a government. why have you left catalonia? why have you decided to come to belgium? how long are you planning to stay here for? puigdemont: i have decided to go to brussels, not belgium -- i make a distinction between -- muscles is the capital of europe. i insist that it is a european issue. freely, without being under threat. we have decided to o relocate to brussels. since the spanish government has toegitimately decided threaten us, and to accuse us sf serious impetus, all the members of my government, including the governmentary of our and the heads of police who had to take measures against the ,

as rally behind spain's prime minister as the country's graces deepens with both sides taking in the european commission to rebuke scottland leaders telling them to respect the rule of law after the region held a disputed independence referendum on sunday also coming up. mishaps as british prime minister to resign made attempts to rally support at her conservative party's annual conference but several interruptions darrelle her speech will her reaction like that. and u.s. president donald trump arrives in las vegas in the wake of the most deadly nashua ting and modern u.s. history investigators hoping the shooter's girlfriend could shed light on a possible motive. thanks very much for your company. spain is headed for a major showdown in catalonia as leader refusing to back track play. just to declare independence in a matter of days no matter the consequences all this senior officials rally behind spain's central government in madrid coming to its defense while european commission vice president. said catalonia ignored the rule of law by holding sunday's on authorised independence referendum

the premises of the european institutional european commission which is a very tangible. measure of the can be seen by everybody but then we have a full range of measures on them security but also on a time against by the time pollution that will be decided and which are war thirty over five hundred million five hundred sixty to be clear so we go from the raft of measures to reduce the leakage of plastics into the environment by the blast biggest strategy that we will limit both micro beads micro plastics but also single use a plastic to be used and also to reduce the discharges of worship generated waste and car going to the seas so these are concrete measures that the e.u. is that we are pushing for and that we had from all over the wall the commitments that went well beyond our expectations mr preview let me just put that now to miss churton from greenpeace are those kinds of commitments that we're hearing there from the european commission from the european union is that enough. good question well overall it's definitely on us to congratulate the european commission a

of course another european country voted for historic change recently to the u.k. to leave the european union but the essence of the argument was similar we want to be free from the control of others. it was convincing enough to win the arguments but now the u.k. is riven with disagreements and the e.u. is blocking its key demands. so when he was pro independence council and m.p.'s how they can possibly stay in the european union when spain would veto it you get an answer slightly less inspiring than the mood of the crowd what happens a couple only get stuck outside the european union as long as i was i would not like this prostitute happened. i could live better thirdly it's not only out of the photo to benefit to feel you're sure you didn't realize that for example you know the way. bridges the roads are part of the role of the union with additional ways to get exactly like your ex accompany you know the government it could be the like like like iceland you know that's what they say well we're not saying no we are not so we're told it like. we are saying goes you

patience has run out of the european commission taking to the podium that you competition commission announced that brussels had on and in its sights taking the country's government to the european court of justice for its failure to collect taxes from us giant apple then a year ago the commission docked at the decision. requiring ireland to recover up to thirteen billion euros. from apple. however ireland has still not recovered any money not even in part apple is currently appealing the case it argues that the revenues in question a subject to u.s. tax rules instead meanwhile luxemburg was also singled out by the commission on wednesday ruling that it has granted online shopping giant amazon on due tax benefits for the past eight years leading around three quarters of its profits untaxed the e.u. says that gave it an unfair advantage over other companies. not justified amazon now has to repay the tax benefit worth around two hundred fifty million euros plus interest the commission's position is clear it states that no matter your flag or ownership paying your taxes is part of doing

we believe it's important for the european union and important for the ukkeck in or out of the european union. we continue to encourage the single market during the time we are member of the european union. but i believe it's important once we leave the eu that that single digital market has indeed been created and we will form a new partnership and relationship with it. >> see bridge. >> can i commend the prime minister's statement and the progress she has made. mr. speaker as we've heard, representatives of british businesses, businesses of all size from all sectors have written today to the government warning of the consequences of no deal and relying on world trade organization rules. they said the government should give certainty to business by immediately ruling this option out under any circumstances. will the prime minister agree to listen to british businesses? and would she even go so far today as finally to rule out no deal? >> here here. >> can i say to my right honorable friend that we have of course been engaging with business. we have been listening to business. i was ver

carsten: the european company looks strong. i would expect the economy, which has been growing strongly, we have talked about three years in a row of constant growth. we also see that the unemployment rate is dropping. you also see that investment in the eurozone has picked up again. europe for a couple months is again a good place to be. this should show up and company earnings. -- show up in company earnings. guy: we're watching the u.s. story develop quickly. the dollar is close to a breakout. what does this story look at from an ecb engle? they would keep a qe4 until the end of -- qe floor until the end of 2018. they would like to make this as dovish as possible. introduced tapering without any reaction on bond yields, on the euro. it could work. they will hammer on this sequencing on forward guidance. i think mario draghi will hammer on this and interest rates will remain low, even after the end of qe. really appreciate your time this morning. we know you have a lot to do there in brussels. carsten on the ground. let's tal

fail to do that then i think that is also a play to a fatal blow to the queen but at the european union stands up and pushes back against the united states have we lost you there professor marandi can you still hear me ok it looks like our line to tehran just dropped out we do apologize for that we'll try and bring you more from professor of science mohammad marandi later in the program for now let's cross to washington and bring in d.w. correspondent carson vaughn naaman he's in our d.c. studio we're also joined by our e.u. correspondent max hoffmann in brussels carson let's start with you trump has handed this back to congress what other options now. well what trump once congress and the senate in particular to do is establish a sawed off trigger points which would prompt the united states to automatically impose sanctions if iran crosses certain red lines as for instance launching an intercontinental missile the point is that even trumps advisers agree that iran is sticking to the letter of the agreement so trump is looking at the broader context here and saying iran is the stabilizi

there needs to be a strong european pillar in nato. and for the time being, europe has not invested enough in its defence. europe has to have stronger capacities. you have — europe has to mutualise its capabilities, and this is what we have started already with the europe defence fund, and with the permanent structure to co—operation. so what emmanuel macron describes is the perspective of what already started. what do you do with the very glaring differences are strategic, sort of, perspective differences, within the european union. for example, on the subject of russia. if one looks at what the greeks and bulgarians think about russia, compare it with what is said in maybe berlin or paris or london, there are profound strategic perspective differences. how do you cope with that? not that much. first, we talk about it all the time drew the european council, during the councils of ministers of foreign affairs. and the threats are obvious. we have a common european policy regarding ukraine, and there are sanctions about ukraine agai

exclude european countries from european integration you're taking part in the dialogue of civilizations for a moment ro this island where the focus on multiple already in regional and global developments but today it seems like people want instant solutions a lot more than a dialogue calling for patients and dialogue is i dare say i mean boring how do you change that yeah of course not i loath is very often more cumbersome way but the best way. if we want to achieve what these divisions of the finest majority of people believe in peace is to enjoy prosperity and to prove prepare a better future for the children and grandchildren there are no instant solutions. no violence illusions there's only the way to explore how we can live together and so to get all these problems and this is still the major achievement of the european union and the council of europe that european countries came together to solve such questions to give a. mr treuer thank you for being with us today we were talking to walter schwimmer former secretary general of the council of europe and co-founder of dialogue of c