16/02/2016 BBC Business Live

This is business life. The European Commission unveils a plan to

guarantee energy supplies. Live from London, that is our top story on

Tuesday, 16 February. As temperatures plunge across

Europe, temperatures rise about the supply of gas. The EU unveils a

long-awaited strategy today. Also: a commercial airshow opens in

Singapore. We will hear the first from the world's fastest-growing

aviation market. The European trading day is under way. Energy

stocks are pushing most market higher, as oil is trading above $35

per barrel. We find out why. And we have the inside track on the foam

that is changing the market for sportswear. We'll hear from the boss

of the company. And we assess how the boom in cocktails is eating into

profits for beer firms. The Nikolaevo or pint of ale? What is

your tipple? What will happen if Russia closes

its pipelines? Guaranteeing gas supply is one of the EU's biggest

challenges. It is importing more than half of all the energy it

consumes. For oil, it imports more than 90%. For gas, more than 66%. It

comes at a huge cost. The total bill is more than 1 billion euros

everyday. Many countries are reliant on a single supplier. For some,

Russia is their only gas supplier. That makes them very vulnerable in

times of stress. Today, the European Commission announces a long-awaited

gas package. Our reporter looks at what is at stake. One of Europe is

my greatest fears, freezing in winter for a lack of gas from

Russia. Almost all is piped through Ukraine. He dangerous choke point.

When Russia has cut off gas to Ukraine in the past, other

countries, in eastern and central Europe, have also been left in the

cold. The EU wants to counter this by opening up the gas market,

stopping Russia's Gazprom locking out competitors in countries where

it is the dominant supplier. The EU says we used to much gas anyway. By

2030, it wants us to burn one quarter less than we do currently.

The EU has to strike the right balance. Energy firms say that if

sales fall too far, they may not bother exploring for a new gas

reserves. And that in turn will put your's gas supply in jeopardy. Those

are the issues at stake. You are a senior research fellow. Nice to see

you. We had some of the issues. Talk us through this strategy by Europe.

It involves four key pillars. Absolutely. We do not know exactly

the details. It will be launched later today. We have seen earlier

drafts and the four pillars are, one, the commission wants to

increase solidarity among member states by unveiling a plan of extra

pipelines and storage capacity and basically forcing member states to

aid each other in the event of a supply disruption. Secondly, there

is a push to improve transparency between so-called intergovernmental

agreements. If a member state signs a contract with a third country,

possibly Russia, then the commission wants to know about that before it

is signed and wants to be able to sign off on it as well. Thirdly,

there is a proposal to boost the import of liquid unnatural gas. And

to promote more efficiencies in the heating and cooling sectors. A lot

in there. Clearly, your District Court make things more and to get

eastern Europe up to speed with western Europe, in terms of how the

current market operates. A lot of eastern Europe in countries are very

exposed at the moment. Many countries in Central and Eastern

Europe are dependent on one single supplier, to a large extent, in this

case, Russia with Gazprom. The commission has unveiled an energy

union strategy last year. This is the follow-up to that. To ensure

that the dependency is reduced and then Europe, as a whole, is more

resilient. We talk about reducing dependency on imports. I suppose the

using less energy, it will always be using less energy, it will always be

dependent on these countries for that. In this proposal, there is a

lot looking at how they can reduce the amount of energy we use in

Europe. Yes. There are two things, one is the discussion of energy

efficiency. Reducing the amount of energy we use in Europe. Secondly,

this is for short-term, it will be very difficult for Europe to reduce

its use of energy from today to tomorrow, so it is looking for

diversified sources of gas. LNG is seen as a very promising

alternative. The commission says that over the next few years, the

trade in LNG will increase by 50%. That is tremendous if Central and

European countries are also able to import significant quantities of

LNG. If they can do that, it will not matter that they get natural gas

from Russia. It is that diverse vacation of sources that is

paramount. Thank you. Other business stories, starting with oil prices.

Oil prices are on the rise again with Brent crude climbing

This time prices are being pushed up by speculation some

of the world's largest producers will finally co-operate.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister is said to be planning a meeting

with his Russian counterpart in Doha today.

Crude prices have fallen 43% over the past year due to oversupply.

EDF Energy is to extend generation from four of its UK nuclear power

The French firm is planning to build a new nuclear power station

Meanwhile, it saw net profit plunge 68% last year,

but despite that EDF said it was committed to its planned

It is still hammering out details of how it will finance that

Anglo-American has seen an increase in share price. Let's look at the

details. Falling commodity prices have hit the company, making a

pre-tax loss of $5.5 billion. Commodity prices continue to fall.

It is a massive loss compared to the previous year. The market is high

because, believe it or not, it is better than most were predicting,

which illustrates how tough things are in the industry. Another story

coming in, this is about Vodafone. Mobile phone giant Vodafone

and cable firm Liberty Global have announced plans to merge

their Dutch businesses. The company said the joint venture

would create a stronger internet The deal is expected to be sealed

by the end of this year, Asia's biggest commercial aerospace

and defence airshow opened It's a chance for the industry's

major players to gather in one of the world's fastest

growing regions. In fact, in South East Asia Boeing

expects to sell almost 4,000 new planes, worth $550 billion

over the next 20 years. All the action getting under way and

some big deal is expected to be announced? Two years ago at the last

airshow, in commercial space where announced. They expect the same or

more. Rising wealth in the Asia-Pacific region has led to

increased travel amount. That affect the aviation industry, especially

the big producers. Behind me, we can see the top planes on display. A

giant Airbus A380. We hope to get some of these big orders from the

countries driving demand. With the fast growth in China, India and

Indonesia. Aviation profits in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to

grow around 9% each year until 2020. As I said, this is being driven by

the rising wealth in the region. Here in Singapore, there is a lot of

defence and military are craft on display. We have drones, fighter

jets, helicopters. We can expect quite a bit more spending in this

area. Geopolitical tensions in the region, specifically to do with the

South China Sea will contribute to this. We also have small planes,

private jets, Mitsubishi, for example, all expected to announce

deals. Thank you. You can follow our correspondence on Twitter. They will

be tweeting when those deals are done. Japan is up 0.2% today.

Holding onto games. Making a little more. The Japanese yen still a

little weak. The Hong Kong stock market is up. Ignore that from

America because yesterday was a public holiday. Let's look at

Europe. The real winners in Asia and Europe to an extent, the FTSE is

being pushed up by Anglo-American. One of the worst performers on the

FTSE 100 last year. They have made gains across the board in Europe.

First of all, let's hear from Michelle Li in New York.

Wall Street returns to work after a long weekend. Investors seem a bit

at odds with Janet Yellen, the head of the US central bank, who last

week indicated she is keeping things... The ability of traders to

support the global economy appears strained. The latest housing data is

expected to show the sector continues to move on the right

direction and US consumer prices will be released at the end of the

week. The season is winding down. One to watch is the giant retailer

Walmart, which last month announced the closure of over 200

underperforming stores. Thank you. She's the Investment Director

at Fidelity International. Nice to see you. Let's talk about

oil. Creeping fears about cuts to production. They have not been able

to agree on this. But it could happen this time? We have heard

rumours of a coordinated plan, finally, as the big players, Russia,

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, meet in Doha today. This is what we needed to see

from the major oil producers. They plan to cut production. The heart of

the collapsing oil price is the issue of oversupply. Markets have

been moving in lockstep. It is interesting to see how sensitive the

markets are. This is purely speculation. They have said they are

going to talk about talking! But there is no indication that any side

is going to come to any agreement. Absolutely. So far, only rumours but

it is hard and impact on the markets. Central bank policy is the

other issue. It is never far from the spotlight. It has had a positive

influence on markets this week. We have heard before that the central

bank is prepared to step in and help markets stay afloat. It tends to

have a short-term effect. In the longer term, people get used to

cheap money and stimulus and then it starts to wear off. It depends how

reliant markets have become on the central bank drag, if you like. The

key thing is the news from the east. From China, over the weekend, and

the data from Japan, which is disappointing, although,

nonetheless, the Japanese market grew because of speculation of

further monetary stimulus to come. Interesting stories to discuss

later. Including, beer, cocktail, wind... With your thoughts on that.

Cocktails are winning hands down at the moment.

Still to come: Just lots of lycra or the key kit to improve

We speak to the boss of high tech sportswear firm, Skins.

Designed with the help of a Nasa astronaut, the clothing is claimed

We'll ask how.You're with Business Live from BBC News.

The French energy giant EDF is to extend the life

of four of its eight nuclear power plants in the UK.

EDF also announced a 68% fall in its 2015 net income Joe Lynam has

The much needed commitment that will be useful for energy security in the

UK, that it will extend the life of the plants? Yeah, absolutely. If

you're in the energy business or you're in the commodities business

you have had a nightmare 18 months and that's reflected in these

numbers, the fall in pre-tax profits at EDF. From a UK prospective,

extending the life of the plants, there are two plants in Lancashire

and one in east Lothian and one on Teesside, by five years and seven

years in the case of the other two, it is good for EDF, because it is a

guaranteed source of money. The regulators are happy that the plants

aren't in danger or a risk and they will close in a number of years

time. There is a plant at Hinkley Point in

Somerset. What's going on with that? This is a ?19 billion investment in

new nuclear, but that is the entire value of EDF's shares, the market

capital identitiesation is around that. You can see the financial risk

that EDF would be doing to proceed with this plant. They have got a

third of the money from a Chinese consortium. And the rest of the

money is going to be guaranteed in future by UK taxpayers, but it is

still a lot of money to invest in one plant and some people suggest

that maybe the French are looking for some excuse to wiggle off this

one, to get out of this contract so they won't be committed to build

what will be the biggest single investment in Europe and in nuclear

energy. OK, thank you, Joe. There is more about that on the Business Live

page. It has big implications for jobs down there. Many, many jobs

would be created if that were to go ahead. If it is delayed, it could

have real issues. UK living standards are returning to

prefinancial crash levels. It says the longer squeeze on households in

living memory has finally come to an end as a result of rising employment

and falling inflation. We have got more money in our pockets because

inflation is so low. Keeping the lights

on and the heating high, the European Commission

unveils its long awaited strategy But will it change Europe's heavy

dependence on Russian oil and gas? That's a key issue and one that will

be debated today. Now, gone are the days of the humble

t-shirt and shorts for any Today it's all about

high-tech sportswear. From clothes that detect your heart

rate to watches that So how about clothes that

improve your performance and help Well, SKINS is a range -

invented by a skier - that uses "compression technology"

that it says boosts oxygen delivery to muscles and can

help you run faster. SKINS was founded in 1996

and currently sells products The firm this week launched

an international $2.9 million The boss is Australian Jaimie

Fuller, a keen corporate activist. He was outspoken about reforms

at corruption-hit Fifa last year and is now pushing for a clean-up

in world of sports. The BBC's Alice Baxter caught up

with him and quizzed him about the firm's scientific

claims and wider goals. Well, it grew out a chaps who was

the original inventor of the product. We rarely ski during the

year it is once or twice a year. You suffer from sore legs. He a

brainwave, how do we take a technology that's synonymous with

old sick and infirm, how do we take that technology and incorporate into

21st century fabrics and make it applicable for super fit athletes.

How did you go from turning the idea into generating this complicated

compression technology? I understand you talked to Nasa on this? Well, it

wasn't with Nasa per se, it was with an Australian astronaut who worked

closely with Nasa because there are a lot of similarities between

needing to enhance circulation in zero gravity environments and we

know the Russians in the 1960s in the high flying jets were wearing

compression stockings back then to promote circulation. Surely for

ordinary people such as myself it comes down to fitness and hard work.

Because it enhances your circulation and delivers more oxygen to your

muscles, it reduces any issues around recovery. So for elite

athletes, it is not a question of running the 100 meters in 10.2 and

pulling these on and you will do it in 10.15, it is a question of

pushing yourself harder and train more which gets you fitter because

you don't need as much recovery if you wear these products. Tell us

about your crowd funding campaign. Why did you choose to go down that

route? Seven years ago, we arparticular laid our brand

principles and values around fuelling the true spirit of

competition and how that applied particularly on the field in the

form of championing sportsmanship and values around sport. 2012, Lance

Armstrong affair blew up. Suddenly our eyes are open to the level of

corruption that's going on. For the last four years, we have been

actively involved in championing and advocating for reform in a number of

sports, not least football, with Fifa. We're going into the third

phase of our journey which is understanding the power that sport

can have in advancing social progress. Understanding also the

sorts of corruption that involved with those at the highest level of

sports governance, we need money to go and do that which not only

improves society, but adds to our brand and will add value to our

brand which will deliver a commercial opportunity. As you

mentioned, you have been involved in lots of campaigns to clean up sport

including the new Fifa Now Campaign, do you think it is your place as a

commercial business to become involved in the governance and the

ethics of sport? I do when a commercial business such as ours is

under pinned by this principle of fuelling the true spirit of

competition. These are the values that we revolve our business around.

Everything we do, from sponsorship strategy to corporate culture, to

how we behave and what we do. And as a commercial player in in the field

of sport, it would be hypocritical of us not to agitate for those

things and at the same time, stand there and say, "These are our

values, this is what we believe in." Yes, I do. Jamie, do you think you

could be accused of hypocrisy, you are a campaigner for cleaning up

sport and yesterday, your product is a performance enhancer? People chuck

that at me all the time. We have been banned in some sports. We have

been banned at times. Really? Which is fine. When... Which sports? For

example, cycling. We are not allowed to wear grading compression when

they cycle and that's fine. We turn that into a positive and we use that

as, if you like, a brand differentor from everybody else. SKINS, the kind

of thing I can envisage you in. Head to toe in Lycra. Well, he cycles to

work sometimes. He doesn't cycle in this outfit. Especially when it is

so cold in the morning. This is a story in Business Insider,

but it is one that's been discussed in a lot of places. It is a question

that's being asked, are we heading into another recession? Is this a

repeat of the financial crisis? I think the concerns we saw in the

banking sector last week is one of the reasons why this question is

being asked. In the bond market, that's the area where we are seeing

similarities and you can understand why the question is being asked. The

financial crisis is burned into the memory of a lot of investors. Is the

world heading into another crisis at a time when it is not fully

recovered from the 2008 crisis? I don't think it is. Personally. I

think the banks are better capitalised, the key question is

what we are seeing in the markets, especially last week is that

reflected in the economic data and that question is inconclusive. A

report out in the United States shows that tastes are changing. The

beer market is shrinking and people are back into cocktails. Wine is a

small part of the market. Yes, what's your preference? I am a wine

girl. Straight in on the wine. For the beer makers they are really

struggling to compete. And it is a health thing apparently. Well, it is

interesting because cocktails have a higher alcohol content. It is a

question of changing tastes. So this generation that we hear a lot about,

they consume more cocktails because they are not loyal to one brand or

one alcohol type. Thank you. It is about the belly feel.

Apparently. Hello everyone. Cold and crisp this

morning and it looks like it will stay nice and sunny across