26/05/2014 World Business Report

ceremonial process we are seeing now. We see the general receiving

the King's formal endorsement as head of the ruling military council.

Those are the latest headlines from BBC News. Now for the latest

financial news with Alice Baxter and World Business Report. The business

communities in Asia and Europe react to the elections in Europe, and look

at how they might influence the way it is run in future. And the latest

in our series revisiting those affected 25 years after the fall the

of the Berlin Wall. This week Estonia, and what was dubbed the

singing revolution. Welcome to World Business Report. I'm Alice Baxter.

In a minute we'll have more on Estonia, 25 years after the fall of

the Berlin Wall. But first: Europe's anti`EU protest vote has left

business experts asking what it might mean and how might it

influence the way the EU is run in future? Have we reached the high

watermark of integration, and where would that leave the project of

closer union that still underpins the single currency? And will we see

restrictions on labour movements being re`imposed within the EU? Lets

get some global business reactions. Carsten Brzeski from ING is in

Brussels. Thank you for joining us. This swing towards the anti`

establishment, anti` European parties, which we have seen

throughout much of Europe in these elections, how will that play out in

the business community? I think it will mean that further integration

in Europe and in the eurozone will be much more difficult to achieve.

What I am more concerned about is the repercussions on national

policies and national politics, especially when we look at France.

We will really have a problem. France economically is in trouble,

and now politically. This could open a discussion at the European level

about posterity versus structural reforms. What does this mean for a

single currency in France, for example, much of the campaign of the

National front was run on the idea that France will pull out of the

euro. I think a single country pulling out is totally impossible.

It doesn't seem realistic. Also not for France. What it does mean is

that we might again get this confrontation between the French and

the Germans. The French will now push for more time to implement

their austerity measures. A will try to find a way out, to implement

structural reforms. On the other side Angela Merkel will also be

disappointed by the result, and she will not eat, it will not be easy to

change her course. Without the functioning axis of French and

German, there might be a problem in the eurozone. One of the other

topics we have seen discussed across many of these countries which voted

for the anti` E U trend, is a clampdown on the freedom of

movement. That, of course, is one of the main underpinning beliefs of the

EU. How would that affect economies? Adversely, especially if you look at

the monetary eurozone countries, labour mobility is essential.

Without it, we cannot have a functioning currency unit. That is a

fact. If you look at the European Union at a wider European level, we

might see some more labour mobility. But again, a monetary

union across Europe, with severe labour market restrictions, it's not

going to work. Thank you for giving us the European perspective on those

election results. For the viewpoint from Asia, I'm joined by Linda Yueh

the BBC's Chief Business Correspondent, who is in Singapore.

Politics versus economics? For some time, the growing influence of

Brussels has led to debates over the democratic deficit. Now, we have a

glimpse of the views of voters. Not a great deal of reaction, markets

are up on the back of promising news from the US. But globally, investors

are watching. One of the biggest trading blocs in the world, it had

been believed integration would continue in terms of the single

market and what all countries except written and Denmark who are slated

to join the euro. The rise of the Eurosceptic parties will raise

debate about the direction in which Europe will head after these

election results. Is Asia particularly concerned about

possible implications on a single currency? I wouldn't say it is a

particular concern for Asia, it has its own trade region to think about.

But if I could take it again globally, into why it is it matters

so much, the euro project has been one which has created the largest

economic entity in the world. Bigger than the US, that is what the EU

economy as a whole. There have been moved since the euro crisis in 2010

to integrate the region further under a single currency or banking

union. A fiscal co`ordination. All of these things are separate from

what has been called the Democrat at deficit. Concerned that Brussels was

power without consulting voters. What today's results show is that

voters have spoken. I wonder if it means there will be further

integration, solidifying this huge in economic region. Or there could

be pulled back. That is one possible path for the eurozone after these

results. Of course, it is not just about the eurozone, but about the EU

as a whole. These results can't determine whether or not a country

stays in or out of Europe. That is up to the national legislatures. But

the inroads being made across countries ranging from Britain to

Denmark to Greece, will certainly mean the EU will also be in focus,

as everyone begins to die just what this means for further at usual

reforms in the world's biggest economic region. Many thanks. It is

25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and collapse of

communism in Eastern Europe. In Estonia, the break with communism,

referred to as the singing revolution, was followed by a

no`holds`barred introduction to capitalism, with a boom and

subsequent bust. That bust was so severe its economy shrank by nearly

20%. Harsh austerity measures had to be introduced. Public sector

salaries were cut by 10%, but unlike in Greece, there was very little

protest. Tanya Beckett reports from Tallinn. Estonia's operatic

depiction of the agony of austerity, as the country fights

back, after the financial crisis of 2008. For Estonians, in during

hardship is a familiar story. `` enduring. In Soviet times we had no

money. Even if you had money, you wouldn't have anything to do with

it. Because there was nothing available, anywhere. Discussion

about the sort of stimulus, posterity, and this crisis, has a

lot to do with the fact that Estonians could get through it

because they had gotten through much of worse for. Estonia's break from

communism was called the singing revolution. It was a path to freedom

paved with music. There was also spectacular joining of hands which

started here in Tallinn and extended across the Baltic navy neighbours,

Lithuania and Latvia. It wasn't long before they realised they would also

need other hand to hold. The Prime Minister at the time of the

transition was just 32. I was so young. When you are young you are

not afraid of anything. You do things which others might consider

impossible. Within a few years, the economy had left its Soviet past

behind. But then came the most recent low. The financial crisis of

2008. Estonia was hit hard, and sort its wealth shrink by almost one

fifth. Any change in the surrounding economic system affects us quite

badly. I think we have learned a bit from the financial crisis, in the

sense of trying to come up with better policies to counteract some

of the negative aspects of growth. So hopefully next crisis will be

less drastic for Estonians than the last one was. And tensions are on

the rise again. The troubles in Ukraine cast a long shadow over

Estonia, about a quarter of its population is Russian. In struggling

to close a difficult chapter, Estonians are reluctant to be forced

to open another. A quick flash of the markets now for you. As Linda

was just saying, Asian stock markets for the most part pushed higher on

Monday on optimism about the US economy. We will have some analysis

of the European elections in a moment. At first, let's pop over to

the world of fashion. And in the UK there is