:00:42. > :00:45.Good afternoon. Welcome to the Daily Politics. A Vince Cable
:00:45. > :00:50.announces a shake-up of labour laws to make it easier for businesses to
:00:50. > :00:53.get rid of workers they don't want. But will a cap on unfair dismissal
:00:53. > :00:59.claims and a new compromise agreement system help kick-start
:00:59. > :01:04.business? As William and could continue their
:01:04. > :01:08.tour of south-east Asia, they are said to be curious about a French
:01:08. > :01:13.magazine's publication of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge.
:01:13. > :01:16.Will anybody else dared publish them?
:01:16. > :01:20.As the President of the European Commission calls for a federal
:01:20. > :01:24.Europe, we launch our new feature, Politics Europe, with all the
:01:24. > :01:28.latest news from Brussels and Strasbourg.
:01:28. > :01:35.And could MPs be kicked out of Parliament to allow billions of
:01:35. > :01:40.pounds worth of repairs to take place? If Parliament is going to
:01:41. > :01:50.decant, I would like to decant to Birmingham. Why not? It is our
:01:51. > :01:52.
:01:52. > :01:58.second city! Birmingham! We would have to go to Birmingham! Why not?
:01:58. > :02:03.With us for the next 30 minutes, the political correspondent for the
:02:03. > :02:08.Sun, Craig Woodhouse, and Rowenna Davis, who writes for the Guardian.
:02:08. > :02:12.Welcome to the programme. Let kick- off with the predictable storm over
:02:12. > :02:18.the topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge, published by the
:02:18. > :02:22.French magazine Closer. Kate and William are said to be furious
:02:22. > :02:28.about the photos, which were taken during their holiday at a French
:02:28. > :02:33.chateau, owned by the Queen's nephew, Lord Linley. Do we have any
:02:33. > :02:38.evidence that these photographs were offered to British newspapers
:02:38. > :02:45.or magazines? That is certainly what is being said, the decision
:02:45. > :02:49.was obviously taken not to accept them. Were they offered to the Sun?
:02:49. > :02:53.Not as far as I know, those are decisions that are taking it well
:02:53. > :02:57.above my head. Have you heard whether any British newspapers have
:02:57. > :03:01.been offered them? It has been reported all day. I haven't seen
:03:01. > :03:06.any evidence, but even if they were, I don't think any British paper
:03:06. > :03:09.would go ahead and print them. We all believe in freedom of the press,
:03:09. > :03:15.but you only invade privacy if there is a public interest case,
:03:15. > :03:21.and there is none here. Are there any different of The Sun -- News Of
:03:21. > :03:25.The World publishing those photographs of Prince Harry? If it
:03:25. > :03:29.wasn't in the public interest, there is a massive difference
:03:29. > :03:32.between inviting members of the public to your hotel room and what
:03:32. > :03:37.he considered to be a private holiday with no members of the
:03:37. > :03:40.public even around. But what is the world Committee we cannot invite 20
:03:40. > :03:47.women back to your hotel suite without it getting out? Standards
:03:47. > :03:52.have slipped in Las Vegas! Completely. The other issue is that
:03:52. > :03:55.France has some strong property laws. We know that they covered up
:03:55. > :04:00.for Dominique Strauss-Kahn, we had the same thing with President
:04:00. > :04:06.Mitterrand. They kept to love child secret for 19 years until somebody
:04:06. > :04:10.exposed it as in the Sunday Times. Oh, that was me! She was living in
:04:10. > :04:16.a state apartment, that made it in the public interest. But the
:04:16. > :04:20.British press now is at a critical junction. We are that the Leveson
:04:20. > :04:23.inquiry, we have at Hillsborough and Prince Harry, so there is a
:04:23. > :04:26.real worry in the British press about whether they have the trust
:04:26. > :04:31.and respect of their readers, and publishing these voters would
:04:31. > :04:38.undermine that further. You're right about France, the penalties
:04:38. > :04:45.are not a huge, you don't pay massive fines, you go down, but you
:04:45. > :04:52.can take a calculation. The issue of these pictures, I would suggest,
:04:52. > :04:55.it is highly unlikely they will be published in Britain. But the issue
:04:55. > :04:58.for the Royal Family is they could be published in a lot of other
:04:58. > :05:02.places around the world. That is the danger. And that is the problem
:05:02. > :05:06.with the internet. There are no boundaries, no national boundaries
:05:06. > :05:10.any more with the internet, no doubt a lot of people will be
:05:10. > :05:15.saying how awful the stairs while hitting Google. Without the Leveson
:05:15. > :05:21.inquiry committee think they would have been published in Britain?
:05:21. > :05:24.don't think so. Kate has almost sacred status, she is not the
:05:24. > :05:28.Prophet Mohammed, but she is heading that way! I would also say
:05:28. > :05:35.that she will be more popular, as will the world family, after this
:05:35. > :05:39.debacle, the public will empathise with her. Vince Cable is back in
:05:39. > :05:44.action this morning, and a team plans to make it easier for
:05:44. > :05:48.companies to sack or otherwise remove employees. He says the new
:05:48. > :05:53.steps will give firms more flexibility and confidence to
:05:53. > :05:56.manage staff and cut red tape. The package falls short of the most
:05:56. > :06:05.controversial parts of the Beecroft report, which talked of giving
:06:05. > :06:08.employers the right to no-fault dismissals of workers. Instead, Mr
:06:08. > :06:13.Cable would allow buses to open talks about leaving even if there
:06:13. > :06:19.is no workplace dispute, and without the report being admissible
:06:19. > :06:24.in any future unfair dismissal case. The government would propose these
:06:24. > :06:27.settlement agreements as a way of saving bosses the cost of dealing
:06:27. > :06:30.with the tribunals by persuading staff to leave a voluntary. He is
:06:31. > :06:36.also proposing to streamline employment tribunals by making it
:06:36. > :06:42.easier for judges to dismiss weak cases, producing be �72,000 cap on
:06:42. > :06:47.tribunal payouts in unfair dismissals, saving businesses money
:06:47. > :06:51.and reducing the disincentive to hiring. There are to be
:06:51. > :06:54.consultations in changing what is called the TUPE rules, at which to
:06:54. > :06:58.protect an employee's terms and conditions when a business falls
:06:58. > :07:03.under new management. This morning he explained what he hoped the
:07:03. > :07:07.reforms would achieve. government has turned the rejected
:07:07. > :07:11.ideas are they hire and fire culture, what we'd do what to do is
:07:11. > :07:17.have a better balance, we want to create a balance where small
:07:17. > :07:22.companies to have a great fear of tribunals, because they are very
:07:22. > :07:28.long-winded and expensive, that they can deal with disputes with
:07:28. > :07:33.the individual employees in a more practical way, through conciliation,
:07:33. > :07:38.through settlement agreements, without expensive tribunals. We
:07:38. > :07:45.want a proper balance, and I completely agree that we don't want
:07:45. > :07:51.all the insecurity that comes with the hire and fire system. That was
:07:51. > :07:55.the business secretary. With me now is Sarah Veale, from the TUC, and
:07:55. > :08:01.John Walker, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses.
:08:01. > :08:06.What evidence do we have that any of the existing employment walls
:08:06. > :08:10.are stopping it employers from hiring people? In out member
:08:10. > :08:15.service, around 40% of the members who are employers often cite
:08:15. > :08:19.employment legislation as being a barrier to a potential employer.
:08:19. > :08:25.During these Economic times, we need to do all we can to encourage
:08:25. > :08:30.employers to take new staff on rather than having barriers to it.
:08:30. > :08:34.As a result of these changes, we can expect to see small and medium-
:08:34. > :08:39.sized is that is rushing out to hire new people? It is certainly
:08:39. > :08:44.going to make it easier. Our members cite these barriers...
:08:44. > :08:50.will they? Only time will tell. But to make things easier now can only
:08:50. > :08:53.be an advantage. Surely the reason people are not hiring more at the
:08:53. > :08:58.moment isn't because of employment laws, it is to do with lack of
:08:58. > :09:03.demand in the economy, the economy is under growing, so you don't need
:09:03. > :09:07.to employ more people because demand isn't growing. There have
:09:07. > :09:11.been some conflicting economic indicators recently, with GDP and
:09:11. > :09:18.unemployment figures going in different directions, which are a
:09:18. > :09:22.bit surprising. But to make it easier to be an employer will make
:09:22. > :09:27.employers consider... If we can take more people on, and it is
:09:27. > :09:32.easier to do so, led to consider it, rather than think, the economy is a
:09:32. > :09:36.bit difficult. These are changes at the margin, they are not likely to
:09:36. > :09:41.make much difference? I don't think they will to employers. There is no
:09:41. > :09:48.economic argument, seriously, that bears any water, to suggest there
:09:48. > :09:52.is more of there -- the employers are were screaming about
:09:52. > :09:56.unemployment rocketing when the minimum wage Kenyan, and the
:09:56. > :09:59.reverse happened. The trouble with these proposals is they will not
:09:59. > :10:04.make any difference to business, it is not what most businesses asking
:10:04. > :10:07.for, but they will damage some employees, and the reduction in
:10:07. > :10:11.tribunal awards for unfair dismissal is going to hit
:10:11. > :10:17.professional workers very hard, depress the median award.
:10:17. > :10:22.almost nobody gets to the 72,000, fewer than 2%. The trouble is, when
:10:22. > :10:28.you push the cab and, it depresses the medium, so middle only people
:10:28. > :10:31.and lower earning people will in reality get less in compensation.
:10:32. > :10:38.The key to the word is unfair dismissal, they deserve
:10:38. > :10:41.compensation. But we don't know by how much of the reduction is going
:10:41. > :10:45.to be. It will be quite considerable, we have had figures
:10:45. > :10:49.floating around between 30 and 50, which if you consider that is going
:10:49. > :10:53.to push the level of further down the stream, that is going to make
:10:53. > :10:57.quite a difference to individuals, who have lost their jobs, they will
:10:57. > :11:04.not be able to get references easily, the employer has done well,
:11:04. > :11:09.and the employer should compensate according to be lost. I think the
:11:09. > :11:14.average settlement is about �5,000 from the figures we have, so
:11:14. > :11:20.whether the 72 is reduced to fit -- a 50% of that, I don't think it
:11:20. > :11:24.will make a big difference. It is the perception about being taken to
:11:24. > :11:30.an employment tribunal in the first place, which concerns many of our
:11:30. > :11:34.members. Employers and employees have disagreements are all the time,
:11:34. > :11:39.that is part of a free labour market. If you are showing at an
:11:39. > :11:44.average of 5000, that may be cheap at the price! There are hardly any
:11:44. > :11:50.dismissals, it is a minuscule number. But that is a tribunal
:11:50. > :11:53.settlement. The cost of actually been in the court with management
:11:53. > :11:59.time and legal representation, that is a significant figure over and
:11:59. > :12:01.above. But it is a myth. You're looking at the wrong end of the
:12:01. > :12:09.relationship, I did the most employers pick people on and worry
:12:09. > :12:12.straightaway about getting rid of them -- take people on. They are
:12:12. > :12:16.trying to ensure loyalty and productivity. It is a mistake if
:12:16. > :12:22.people think the first thing employers are worrying about how to
:12:22. > :12:27.sack people. I think it is more to do with a fairer tribunal, for
:12:27. > :12:33.dissent about members are concerned about employment law in general --
:12:33. > :12:37.40% of our members. But the numbers of claims have been going down for
:12:37. > :12:44.the last year, this really is a myth. Out of the whole labour
:12:44. > :12:47.market, there are very few tribunal the early stages because they are
:12:47. > :12:53.not meritorious and they get weeded out. The fears are being pumped up,
:12:53. > :12:56.may I say, by expensive consultants who are facing your members! If you
:12:56. > :13:02.have got good business sense, I think you would tell those people
:13:02. > :13:05.to clear out and managed sensibly and you will be fine. The just
:13:05. > :13:10.seems to me that if there is a problem of perception rather than
:13:11. > :13:14.reality, the answer is education, not legislation. As a councillor in
:13:14. > :13:17.Peckham, talk to a lot of small business owners and I have never
:13:17. > :13:21.had a problem being that there are too many staff selling things, the
:13:21. > :13:26.problem is always not enough customers coming into shops, that
:13:26. > :13:31.is the sad reality. Surely that is partly what these reforms are meant
:13:31. > :13:35.to achieve. Nothing for point of it is, if you are members perceive
:13:35. > :13:42.there is a problem, this is about sending a signal the same, we are
:13:42. > :13:46.all on your side. It was a complaint that went on and on about
:13:46. > :13:50.this under Vince Cable, this is the government same, we are trying to
:13:50. > :13:56.listen, trying to help businesses, would have a help or not, it is the
:13:56. > :14:02.psychological perception. But it has been a coalition compromise,
:14:02. > :14:05.you haven't got all you wanted to. No, we're not keen on some of the
:14:05. > :14:09.proposals in the Beecroft report, which is where some of this is
:14:09. > :14:12.coming from, we felt that some of the proposals were going too far,
:14:12. > :14:18.we feel that something needs to be done on the issues we are talking
:14:18. > :14:21.about today. On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate the Vince
:14:21. > :14:26.Cable as a business secretary? would rather not get stuck on
:14:26. > :14:31.numbers, but I think he has been very receptive to listening to what
:14:32. > :14:36.we have been saying, and we have to weigh up how he takes these ideas.
:14:36. > :14:40.I think he has stood up against the Conservative backbenchers on the
:14:40. > :14:42.Beecroft report, this ridiculous report that employers should be
:14:42. > :14:46.able to dismiss somebody because they don't like them, I think he
:14:46. > :14:56.has done quite well standing up against that. We would agree on
:14:56. > :14:57.
:14:57. > :15:02.that. What do you make of this texting love affair between Vince
:15:02. > :15:07.Cable and Ed Balls? A I think it is a fantastic but if mischief-making
:15:07. > :15:16.by Ed Balls. Last weekend we saw him on the sofa, he was cosying up,
:15:16. > :15:20.saying, come round mine, I will make your lasagne! Unit at fines's
:15:20. > :15:30.political past, he has been all over the place. -- you look at have
:15:30. > :15:33.
:15:33. > :15:37.been to's political past. It is Menzies Campbell was not too happy
:15:37. > :15:44.about it. He attacked Vince Cable for having this kind of
:15:44. > :15:48.relationship. There is a fear that if Vince Cable took over, the
:15:48. > :15:56.Liberal Democrats would become a branch of the Labour Party and
:15:56. > :15:59.there is a fear about the Liberal- Democrat identity being besmirched.
:15:59. > :16:04.I think it is important for them to keep their options open because
:16:04. > :16:09.they need voters and that is one thing they have not got at the
:16:09. > :16:13.moment, they cannot shut off any avenues. Thank you very much.
:16:13. > :16:18.A on Wednesday this week the President of the European
:16:18. > :16:21.Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, made what was grandly titled a
:16:21. > :16:26.state of the union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
:16:26. > :16:31.He told MEPs Europe should become a federation of nation states in
:16:31. > :16:36.order to face the challenges of the 21st century. After his speech I
:16:36. > :16:41.spoke to the President of the European Parliament, the German MEP
:16:41. > :16:49.Martin Schulz, and started asking him if there was a majority for the
:16:49. > :16:57.federal Europe. Perhaps more people in the European Parliament are in
:16:57. > :17:03.favour and in some of the member states. The members of the European
:17:03. > :17:10.Parliament are with a broad majority for a European federation.
:17:10. > :17:19.I found the description that we need a federation of nation states,
:17:19. > :17:28.I would go a little bit further than he did today. We need a kind
:17:28. > :17:30.of political union, which is a real European Federation of. Could a
:17:30. > :17:38.federal Europe happened without the people of the individual nation-
:17:38. > :17:44.states being consulted? We must win the trust and the confidence of
:17:44. > :17:54.people to create a political union by explaining what we mean. We are
:17:54. > :17:58.often discussing terms nobody understands. What I understand as a
:17:58. > :18:04.federal union, a political union in Europe. The single states are not
:18:04. > :18:10.able to manage some of the issues in the 21st century like climate
:18:10. > :18:14.change, migration, speculation on currencies, the worldwide trade
:18:14. > :18:20.relations. These are dimensions beyond the capacity of a single
:18:20. > :18:25.member state of the European Union to solve it alone. Exactly for this
:18:25. > :18:29.and these areas we need a strong, united Europe with common
:18:29. > :18:36.institutions. All the other things we can easily manage on the level
:18:36. > :18:41.of the national state. You say there is a big majority tea in the
:18:41. > :18:46.European Parliament, does that not illustrate cat out of touch the
:18:46. > :18:50.European Parliament is whether public opinion weather is very
:18:50. > :18:54.little evidence that the people of Europe want a federal union?
:18:54. > :18:59.should not mix the public opinion in your country with the public
:18:59. > :19:04.opinion in other countries. Other countries have a high majority in
:19:04. > :19:07.favour with more and deeper integration with Europe. In my
:19:08. > :19:12.country all the political parties, the right-wing parties and the
:19:12. > :19:16.left-wing parties, are in favour of the deepening of the European Union.
:19:16. > :19:21.The German affairs foreign minister, the Belgian affairs foreign
:19:21. > :19:26.minister and the Spanish minister came to the conference of the group
:19:26. > :19:30.chairman to support us with a project they presented to the
:19:31. > :19:34.European Parliament for more and a deeper integrated Europe. If there
:19:34. > :19:42.is such a public clamour for a federal Europe and much deeper
:19:42. > :19:46.integration, if that is the case, why is turnout for the European
:19:46. > :19:51.parliamentary elections solo and has fallen consistently below 50%?
:19:51. > :19:54.Half the people of Europe do not even bother to vote for you. Why on
:19:54. > :19:59.of the problems of European elections is all the national
:19:59. > :20:06.parties, including my own party, consider the European election as
:20:06. > :20:11.an instrument of the acting Government. The second point is a
:20:11. > :20:16.lot of people believe the European Parliament has a low influence on
:20:16. > :20:21.law-making in Europe, one of the biggest misunderstandings in public
:20:21. > :20:28.life in Europe. But we are on the way to change this. Mr Barroso
:20:28. > :20:32.explained it twice in his speech. The next commission's President, on
:20:32. > :20:41.the basis of the Lisbon Treaty, will be elected by the European
:20:41. > :20:48.Parliament, and the big political party, all the parties, will
:20:48. > :20:52.present leaders for the whole of Europe with a goal and they will
:20:52. > :20:57.become the next president of the European Commission and we have an
:20:57. > :21:01.election campaign similar to the national election campaign. They
:21:02. > :21:07.will be running together to get a majority in parliament and that
:21:07. > :21:12.will increase the participation and attention to the election debate.
:21:12. > :21:18.We will see if that test comes true and we will see what the turnout is
:21:18. > :21:23.comes the European elections. Is it fair at a time when governments all
:21:23. > :21:27.over Europe are having to tighten their belts and take difficult,
:21:27. > :21:31.public spending cuts, whether it is a Christian Democrat coalition in
:21:31. > :21:36.Germany or a new socialist Government in France, all nation
:21:36. > :21:41.states are having to do it, that the European Commission should
:21:41. > :21:48.propose a 7% increase in the European Union's budget? Is that
:21:48. > :21:54.fair? Do you know why the commission proposed the 7% more?
:21:54. > :21:59.The commission always proposes more in every Budget. Therefore I will
:21:59. > :22:04.explain it to you. The heads of states in Government, including
:22:04. > :22:09.Prime Minister Cameron from your country during the last 10 years
:22:09. > :22:13.decided one year after another to put more responsibilities for
:22:13. > :22:19.international co-operation, for climate change, for research and
:22:19. > :22:24.development, on the level of the European Union. Now the commission
:22:24. > :22:28.did nothing to count how much money we need to fulfil what their heads
:22:28. > :22:33.of states and Government, Cameron included, promised to the outside
:22:33. > :22:36.world. One fair deal to the European taxpayer would be to end
:22:36. > :22:41.the absurdity of moving the parliament between Brussels and
:22:41. > :22:47.Strasbourg every month. Do you think that is ever going to happen?
:22:47. > :22:51.It costs �150 million a year. Thursday I disagree, this is a
:22:51. > :23:00.figure you mention, but I have other figures. How much does it
:23:00. > :23:05.cost? Secondly about the seats of the institutions, if the European
:23:05. > :23:08.Parliament would decide, we would have one single seat. We are not a
:23:08. > :23:16.federal state because we are a union of several states, sovereign
:23:16. > :23:19.states, who decide about the seat of the institution and they insist
:23:19. > :23:24.a second country contributed to the European budget and they have only
:23:24. > :23:29.one institution, the European Parliament. The French are prepared
:23:29. > :23:33.to give up the seat of the European Parliament here. The Germans
:23:34. > :23:40.accepted the move of the central bank from Strasbourg to Frankfurt.
:23:40. > :23:45.This is a debate I have always to answer. The seat of the European
:23:45. > :23:53.Parliament in Strasbourg, we have not got two seats, but we also work
:23:53. > :23:59.in Brussels. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. The President of the
:23:59. > :24:03.European Parliament. If we have got Jose Manuel Barroso talking about a
:24:03. > :24:09.federal Europe and we have had Martin Schulz St there is a big
:24:09. > :24:13.majority for that in the European Parliament, and Angela Merkel and
:24:13. > :24:18.Francois Hollande are not hostile to the idea, it means we are going
:24:18. > :24:21.to have a referendum? Absolutely it does because we have got a
:24:21. > :24:25.referendum not much trumpeted by the Conservatives, because if they
:24:25. > :24:30.do propose anything that would involve a transfer of power, then
:24:30. > :24:34.we would have to have a referendum. That plays into David Cameron's
:24:34. > :24:38.hands because he does not have to come up with the timing or the
:24:38. > :24:44.question himself. It is a very thorny issue on his backbenches.
:24:44. > :24:49.is not quite clear whether he wants a referendum. No, it is not, but
:24:49. > :24:52.the people of Britain deserve one. The European Union was a good idea
:24:52. > :24:56.in theory and there are lots of issues we have to solve cross
:24:56. > :25:01.boundary, but it was always a project conceptualise and delivered
:25:01. > :25:04.by elites. He was out of touch with the people of those individual
:25:04. > :25:09.countries who may not want a federal system because it feels far
:25:09. > :25:14.too far away from them. Most people in this country do not know who
:25:14. > :25:20.their MEPs are and that is a travesty. Do you know who you're as
:25:20. > :25:27.is? We have got eight London-wide. We do not have them individually.
:25:27. > :25:31.could not list their names. Do you know them? Now, I do not. I thought
:25:31. > :25:41.he was incredibly out of touch. We have seen people protesting in
:25:41. > :25:42.
:25:42. > :25:45.Greece, Spain and Italy saying no to the 4th right. If you had a vote
:25:45. > :25:51.now and you were to ask people should we stay in the European as
:25:51. > :25:55.it is, or should we leave? You would get a majority, probably, who
:25:55. > :26:00.would say it we stay in. But if the choice was do we move to a federal
:26:00. > :26:04.Europe or come out? You would probably get a vote to come out.
:26:04. > :26:07.You probably would it you had deeper integration. Although the
:26:07. > :26:12.Continent has been a bit more sympathetic to federal integration,
:26:12. > :26:16.I am not convinced they would want deeper integration than they have
:26:16. > :26:20.got already. We have got a generation of young people who have
:26:20. > :26:26.had no experience of the war, the motivation of this, and you have
:26:26. > :26:30.got incredibly high unemployment. Big dipper cent increase and 20% in
:26:30. > :26:40.Spain and the next generation will be a lot more sceptical about
:26:40. > :26:41.
:26:41. > :26:45.integration. -- 50% in Greece. think you put this to the people
:26:45. > :26:49.across Europe and most people would say no and where is the European
:26:49. > :26:53.dream then? We shall see because Europe is back on the agenda with a
:26:53. > :26:59.bang, so we are producing a programme every month called
:26:59. > :27:03.Politics Europe. It starts at 12:30pm on this programme.
:27:03. > :27:09.Parliament may look in good nick from the outside, but yesterday MPs
:27:09. > :27:13.heard they might have to vacate the Palace of Westminster while at
:27:13. > :27:17.billion pounds worth of repairs is carried out to the building. The
:27:17. > :27:20.Liberal Democrat MP John Thurso who speaks for the House of Commons
:27:20. > :27:26.Commission who oversees the running of the Palace said no decision had
:27:26. > :27:32.been taken yet. Not that that stopped MPs suggesting potential
:27:32. > :27:35.locations for a temporary parliament. Can I reassure
:27:36. > :27:40.honourable members that no decisions have been taken as yet.
:27:40. > :27:43.Such a project will be a major undertaking and a final decision
:27:43. > :27:51.could not be taken for some time and will probably be a matter for
:27:51. > :27:58.both houses. If Parliament is going to decant, it decants to Birmingham.
:27:58. > :28:00.Why not? It is our second city. Would the Honourable Member
:28:00. > :28:05.consider the September sittings are a significant barrier to be able to
:28:05. > :28:10.achieve these necessary repairs without completely closing the
:28:10. > :28:15.parliament? We are into something of a different magnitude. There is
:28:15. > :28:20.already estimated to be �1 billion of backlog and these are not
:28:21. > :28:25.contracts of 10 or 11 weeks, they are seriously big contracts. All
:28:25. > :28:29.options to ensure best value for the taxpayer must be looked at.
:28:29. > :28:33.the House of Commons Commission gets its skates on, we have a
:28:33. > :28:39.fantastic facility in east London in Hackney in the media centre
:28:39. > :28:43.which could happily house parliament in the interim. With a
:28:43. > :28:47.seven-minute shackled to St Pancras, excellent transport links, would
:28:47. > :28:55.the House of Commons Commission consider a temporary relocation to
:28:55. > :28:59.the East? The answer on asbestos is much too complacent. I think it is
:28:59. > :29:09.incredible we have been brought back here went every day I go in
:29:09. > :29:14.
:29:14. > :29:21.two office and I meet many white coats wearing protective clothing...
:29:21. > :29:26.And, Mr Speaker, protective gas masks. We have got staff in this
:29:26. > :29:32.building wandering around and we have had reports going back to 2005
:29:32. > :29:36.on the dangers of asbestos in this building. I would suggest the
:29:36. > :29:41.Honourable Gentleman Takes this matter far more seriously. I cannot
:29:41. > :29:48.imagine the Right Honourable Lady keeps eccentric company. It is
:29:48. > :29:56.quite beyond my imagination. have been joined by one of the MPs,
:29:56. > :30:00.Meg Hillier. Have you seen any of Ann Clwyd's men in white coats?
:30:00. > :30:06.but I have had a big, bad leak in my office, so there are serious
:30:06. > :30:11.issues. Lots of people say that toilers do not work properly either.
:30:11. > :30:16.I know you were all pitching for getting this temporary parliament
:30:16. > :30:22.in your own constituency, whether it is Birmingham or in the east...
:30:22. > :30:26.It is very handy for you. It is not handy for me, I do not think that
:30:26. > :30:36.is the top consideration, even though it should be! We are told
:30:36. > :30:38.
:30:38. > :30:42.you are going to move to the Q E I think that might be trickier than
:30:43. > :30:49.people suggest. But there is a serious point, we have a modern
:30:49. > :30:53.building down the road in Stratfield -- Stratford, I think it
:30:53. > :30:59.will also change working practices in Parliament. Because of these
:30:59. > :31:03.problems of asbestos, mice, it belongs to the public, it should be
:31:03. > :31:08.maintained, we don't have proper Wi-Fi axis, mobile phones don't
:31:08. > :31:13.work half the time. I think it is time to modernise the way be work.
:31:13. > :31:19.Some of my colleagues may not agree! With the Sunday Times first
:31:19. > :31:23.broke the story, there was talk of building a huge marquee in the
:31:23. > :31:27.shadow of Big Ben. It is that a possibility? Can you imagine what
:31:27. > :31:33.the security guards would think of that! I am not sure that would go
:31:33. > :31:37.down very well! But you have this huge building, the Olympic legacy,
:31:37. > :31:44.I knew you would love it to go east, it made to Parliament good, but you
:31:44. > :31:48.have portcullis House, this whole area is covered by observers of
:31:48. > :31:51.Parliament, they can't move. The it is a series point, and there are
:31:51. > :31:58.lot of us who don't have offices in that part of the building who don't
:31:58. > :32:02.have to move at the same time. We have modern ways of working, I have
:32:02. > :32:07.calls on a spider phone, video conferencing, Skype, we don't all
:32:07. > :32:11.lead to travel quite as much. So it could modernise the way MPs work.
:32:11. > :32:18.We are out in our constituencies a lot, the business-to-business staff
:32:18. > :32:24.in Parliament could be done in a different way. But a billion pounds
:32:24. > :32:28.to renovate, this could be the pump primer you were looking for a!
:32:28. > :32:32.is interesting, because when I have been talking to people about this,
:32:32. > :32:38.it is such a huge amount of money, it does seem like fiddling while
:32:38. > :32:41.Rome burns. But it is a national monument, it is an iconic building
:32:41. > :32:49.around the world, it is what illustrate the UK. In does belong
:32:49. > :32:57.to the people, but it is not done, up it will get worse. Will we be
:32:57. > :33:02.the last generation are custodians -- of custodian to leave it to rot?
:33:02. > :33:06.We could make some revenue, the Speaker has been looking into that
:33:06. > :33:16.because it is so expensive to run it. But these figures have to be
:33:16. > :33:17.
:33:17. > :33:24.look but -- looked out. Not quite as bad as the Scottish parliament.
:33:24. > :33:34.What would you do? I don't know, I like the idea of go to East London
:33:34. > :33:38.and reinstalling the game's lanes of. Imagine the public outcry!
:33:38. > :33:43.could go on a five-year tour around Britain. It would cost us a fortune,
:33:43. > :33:48.and we can say to the Europeans, we can do it as well as you can.
:33:48. > :33:51.would move up north. I think it is a fantastic opportunity to end what
:33:51. > :33:55.people see as a London centric politics, which is a reason for
:33:55. > :33:59.disillusionment in this country. Whenever in terms have to go to
:33:59. > :34:07.parliament, only people in London get to stay in the City, other
:34:07. > :34:13.people have to travel. If you move parliament up, maybe MPs... Medeva
:34:13. > :34:20.will have a rotating parliament! may never come back if it moves up
:34:20. > :34:27.north! Anywhere, it is just gone and a half past 12, time to say
:34:27. > :34:31.goodbye to our guests, Craig Woodhouse and Rowenna Davis. This
:34:31. > :34:34.week, members of the European Parliament have been meeting in
:34:34. > :34:38.Strasbourg for their regular session, what have they been
:34:38. > :34:48.getting up to and what else has been happening in Europe? Here is
:34:48. > :34:48.
:34:48. > :34:54.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso believes a more
:34:54. > :34:57.Europe, not less is the answer to the financial crisis. He told MEPs
:34:57. > :35:03.he didn't want a European superstate, although to critics
:35:03. > :35:07.that is exactly what it sounded like. What would be to move to what
:35:07. > :35:11.a federation of nation states, this is what we need. Victims of crime
:35:11. > :35:15.should have the same rights wherever they are the EU, according
:35:15. > :35:19.to MEPs. They passed a directive which will see victims are given
:35:19. > :35:25.access to services like counselling and a translation. Foreign policy
:35:25. > :35:31.chief Cathy Ashton defended Europe's handling of the crisis in
:35:31. > :35:37.Syria, saying there were no easy answers. We need to see this
:35:37. > :35:42.political transition move forward. In Dutch elections, voters backed
:35:42. > :35:51.pro-European parties come with a man who called for the Netherlands
:35:51. > :35:58.to leave the European currency With us for next 30 minutes,
:35:58. > :36:03.Richard Ashworth leads the Conservative MEPs, and his opposite
:36:03. > :36:08.number, the Labour MEP Glenis Willmott. Let's just take a look at
:36:08. > :36:12.the story which has been developing all week, talk of a federal Europe,
:36:12. > :36:16.talk of the treaty changes. Are we heading for another treaty change?
:36:16. > :36:20.I don't think there is any doubt, if we are going to have the changes
:36:20. > :36:23.we need in the euro-zone to deal with the crisis, there will be some
:36:23. > :36:27.agree to changes in the months and years to come, but we don't know
:36:27. > :36:33.how they affect us. We need to see what they are before we get
:36:33. > :36:39.concerned about it. If they are treated changes, inevitably they
:36:39. > :36:43.will involve extra powers moving to the centre. As I understand it,
:36:43. > :36:47.there Conservatives in the coalition think there has to be a
:36:47. > :36:51.referendum if there is any of that. I think Barroso's analysis was
:36:51. > :36:55.right when said the problem is the architecture, which is not fit for
:36:55. > :36:59.purpose. I agree with that, it does mean a treaty change somewhere
:37:00. > :37:07.along the horizon, that doesn't mean a redefinition of the right
:37:07. > :37:11.and positions of those 10 nations who were not men - but -- members
:37:11. > :37:16.of the euro-zone. Ultimate that probably is the time for the
:37:17. > :37:23.referendum will stop how seriously do we take the talk of a federal
:37:23. > :37:27.Europe? We heard of Mr Bryce to talk about it. I spoke to the head
:37:27. > :37:32.of parliament, he said there was its huge majority for a federal
:37:32. > :37:36.Europe, Angela Merkel is meant to be sympathetic. How seriously
:37:36. > :37:41.should we take it? I think it is all hot air. I think it was empty
:37:41. > :37:44.rhetoric. He said a federal to please some people, nation states
:37:44. > :37:49.to please other people. Would you should have been talking about is
:37:49. > :37:53.how do we get jobs and growth, how do we get economic recovery in the
:37:53. > :37:59.euro-zone and throughout Europe. That is what he didn't do. We need
:37:59. > :38:03.to know what our priorities are. causes Tory Euro-sceptics to have
:38:03. > :38:07.the papers, the thought of federal Europe, should they take it
:38:07. > :38:12.seriously? It is time to sit down and say, what does Federation been
:38:12. > :38:17.to you and me? A federation of businesses, or a federal government
:38:17. > :38:21.like in the US? What we have said is that those euro-zone nations,
:38:21. > :38:26.you must concentrate more powers in the centre if you're going to make
:38:26. > :38:30.monetary union work. Is that federalism? Then probably that is
:38:30. > :38:34.what they need to do. We have chosen not to. It has huge
:38:34. > :38:38.implications for us, if the euro zone is the ever closer union,
:38:38. > :38:43.although we're not going to be part of that, probably, it still affects
:38:43. > :38:47.us. We need to know what the proposals are, it is really a big
:38:47. > :38:53.decision we have got to make. What sort of Europe do we want, what is
:38:53. > :38:56.the Europe of the future? We have plenty to talk about. For example,
:38:56. > :39:00.this week the European Commission unveiled its blueprint for the
:39:00. > :39:05.European banking union involving the central regulation of banks in
:39:05. > :39:10.the euro-zone. A Briton has been warned to tread carefully by a
:39:10. > :39:19.senior British MEP, he says that a repeat of last year's beat her by
:39:19. > :39:23.the government could backfire. -- last year's veto.
:39:23. > :39:29.So the summer is over but the euro- zone crisis still is a crisis. It
:39:29. > :39:34.is true that financial market meltdown may have been avoided in
:39:34. > :39:39.countries like Spain, thanks to the action of the man who heads the ECB
:39:39. > :39:44.saying he would do whatever it takes to protect the euro. If that
:39:44. > :39:48.was planned a for saving the euro, another European political because
:39:48. > :39:53.it has been in town to announce his planned for stopping Europe's banks
:39:53. > :39:55.going under. Jose Manuel Barroso reduced his State of the Union
:39:55. > :40:04.address to tell members of the European Parliament of his cunning
:40:04. > :40:08.plan. We must complete economic and monetary union. We must create a
:40:08. > :40:12.fiscal union and the correspondent institutional mechanisms. Today the
:40:12. > :40:17.commission is presenting legislative proposals for a single
:40:17. > :40:22.European supervisory mechanism for the euro-zone. This is the
:40:22. > :40:26.stepping-stone to the banking union. 6000 banks across Europe could end
:40:26. > :40:31.up being controlled by the European Central Bank. With the power to
:40:31. > :40:36.shut down any euro-zone operation that runs into trouble. Attractive
:40:37. > :40:43.-- drastic but necessary step, they say, but there are fears this could
:40:43. > :40:47.have -- harm the interests of the city of the London. They rise and
:40:47. > :40:49.difficult negotiations in the coming months, and that we have to
:40:49. > :40:57.make sure that we have to get the tone of those negotiations are
:40:57. > :41:02.right. To say we are going to walk away from the table and exercise a
:41:02. > :41:07.veto, in a stroppy way, is absolutely not the way to go.
:41:07. > :41:10.the Chancellor likes the idea of a single regulator for the banks in
:41:10. > :41:12.the 17 euro-zone countries, but he has to persuade the other member
:41:12. > :41:18.state here at the European Parliament to sign up to policies
:41:18. > :41:25.that will not have a negative impact on Britain's banking system.
:41:25. > :41:32.Last year's Biedermann make those negotiations harder. -- last year's
:41:32. > :41:39.beater. Not everyone is happy to have all German banks regulated.
:41:39. > :41:45.Germany we have a problem with an hour regional banks, which belonged
:41:46. > :41:50.to the regional authorities have. They are complaining against the
:41:50. > :41:54.idea that they should pay for the losses of big private banks like
:41:55. > :41:59.Deutsche Bank. We must find a solution for them and I'm sure we
:41:59. > :42:05.will. But time is of the essence as some are eurozone countries are
:42:05. > :42:10.struggling with soaring debt and little prospect of any growth.
:42:10. > :42:14.of the lessons that we have to learn out of the current crisis is
:42:14. > :42:18.that the weaknesses, the deficiencies of the financial
:42:19. > :42:26.sector, cannot be dealt with fragmented national policies. We
:42:26. > :42:31.need an integrated vision to stop long journey of negotiation,
:42:31. > :42:35.similar to the journey for Europe's MPs on their way back to Brussels.
:42:35. > :42:38.He is a classic example of something the eurozone is doing
:42:38. > :42:44.which will have implications for us. The British government seems to
:42:44. > :42:48.welcome the spankingly Union for the euro-zone. But it doesn't have
:42:48. > :42:52.the potential to be dangerous, does it? We have to make sure our
:42:52. > :42:55.interests are maintained. We don't do that by storming out of meetings
:42:55. > :43:01.as happened in December. We need to be at the table to make sure that
:43:01. > :43:04.any new regulations or anything we are doing in terms of banking has
:43:04. > :43:09.British interests at heart, we to be at the table, shaping those
:43:09. > :43:14.discussions. Since we are not joining the party, why would the
:43:14. > :43:18.euro-zone countries take any notice of last? Let's get back to basics
:43:18. > :43:22.on this, millions of savers and every taxpayer across Europe has
:43:22. > :43:27.been affected badly by banking incompetence, so we have to
:43:27. > :43:31.regulate and control the industry. The industry is a pan-European
:43:31. > :43:37.industry and therefore does need pan-European legislation. We have
:43:37. > :43:41.already got legislation in place, which controls how banks operate,
:43:41. > :43:45.and we have the European banking authority here in London. So these
:43:45. > :43:49.things have to be made to work, but make a mistake, this has not an
:43:49. > :43:54.excuse for it to spill over into the federal Europe, the integration
:43:55. > :43:58.or whatever you would like to call it. For speak up banking union, a
:43:58. > :44:04.simple banking regulatory authority, as if we could do it like falling
:44:04. > :44:11.off a lock. They refer to an entirely different set of values
:44:11. > :44:16.and attitudes of the German banks, owned by state governments, look at
:44:16. > :44:20.those in Spain, they are totally different. Are we sure that is
:44:20. > :44:26.going to happen this quickly? going to have to happen, because
:44:26. > :44:29.millions of savers have got hurt, you cannot have that going on.
:44:29. > :44:32.Where Borisov it missed the opportunity is that the UK is seen
:44:32. > :44:38.to be the cause of the problem in Europe. It has got to communicate
:44:38. > :44:45.with voters that is not to cause, it is the solution. He didn't get
:44:45. > :44:49.that message through. Our banks operate in Europe, they lend
:44:49. > :44:53.billions to French and German banks, who then lend it onto the Club Med
:44:53. > :44:57.countries, which is keeping some people awake at night, but whatever
:44:57. > :45:00.happens, we will have to follow these banking rules to do business
:45:00. > :45:05.in the euro-zone. There is no doubt, we have seen that would have
:45:05. > :45:09.happened in the euro-zone has a massive impact here in the UK --
:45:09. > :45:13.whatever happens. That is what we need to be in there to make sure
:45:13. > :45:18.that any regulation there comes forward, we are happy with. Can we
:45:18. > :45:23.stop this banking union if its regulations are, we believe,
:45:23. > :45:33.harmful to our banking system, we are the biggest banking centre by
:45:33. > :45:34.
:45:34. > :45:39.All the while it is the European Central Bank, that is a matter for
:45:39. > :45:44.those who wish to participate. If it became the European Commission
:45:44. > :45:49.doing it, that has got deeper consequences. This is the thin end
:45:49. > :45:53.of the wedge with so many issues, talking about euro-zone nations
:45:53. > :45:59.working closely together. What would be the impact on that on the
:45:59. > :46:04.interests of nations like Britain, Sweden, Denmark who do not want to
:46:04. > :46:08.join the euro-zone, but who fully wish to participate in the single
:46:08. > :46:12.market and wish to participate in things like the banking sector?
:46:12. > :46:16.These are the answers they have to come up with now because it is
:46:16. > :46:22.important and that will be in the treaty change. It is not a full
:46:22. > :46:28.banking union. There will be a common Deposit guarantee scheme for
:46:28. > :46:32.customers in banks, that will not be common. The ECB is still not
:46:32. > :46:36.going to be responsible for the direct recapitalisation up banks.
:46:36. > :46:40.These are features of our banking union in the UK are the United
:46:40. > :46:45.States. We would like to see a guarantee scheme for people
:46:46. > :46:50.depositing money in banks. Germans would not. But we would and
:46:50. > :46:53.my party certainly would. We need to push forward with things, but we
:46:53. > :46:58.need to look at the proposals. We do not know what the final
:46:58. > :47:04.proposals are going to be. We will keep an eye on it in the weeks
:47:04. > :47:08.ahead. This weekend, MEPs voted through new rules on energy
:47:08. > :47:13.consumption with the aim of ensuring EU countries cut carbon
:47:13. > :47:18.emissions by 20% by the year 2020. It is called the Energy Efficiency
:47:18. > :47:23.Directive, so what does it involve? It requires member-states to
:47:23. > :47:27.present a national efficiency action plan every three years with
:47:27. > :47:31.the European Commission monitoring progress. Big businesses will have
:47:31. > :47:36.to submit energy audits every four years carried out by accredited
:47:36. > :47:41.experts. Central governments will be told to renovate 3% of state
:47:41. > :47:46.owned buildings every year to improve energy efficiency. No doubt
:47:46. > :47:50.the House of Commons will benefit. Energy companies will have a new
:47:50. > :47:59.obligation to ensure their customers save 1.5% on energy use
:47:59. > :48:05.each year from 2014. Those behind this directive claim that the
:48:05. > :48:12.legislation will boost the UK's economy by 34 billion euros and
:48:12. > :48:18.increase employment by 400,000. Well, we are joined from Luxembourg
:48:18. > :48:21.by the Green MEP a Claude Turmes who helped draw up his new
:48:21. > :48:28.directive in his role as energy efficiency rapporteur in the
:48:28. > :48:32.European Parliament. Welcome to the Daily Politics. 34 billion euros
:48:32. > :48:36.booze, 400,000 new jobs. Does that take into account the cost of doing
:48:36. > :48:43.this and the loss of jobs because European business will be less
:48:43. > :48:53.competitive? The loss of jobs will happen in Russia and in other
:48:53. > :48:58.places. Europe will by much less oil and gas and maybe some jobs,
:48:58. > :49:03.but the wells of the oligarchs will diminish. But, frankly speaking, I
:49:03. > :49:07.do not care about that. I care about the citizens in Europe who
:49:07. > :49:10.will have greater opportunity to save energy and tableaux energy
:49:10. > :49:16.bills and what is of interest to me is creating jobs and economic
:49:16. > :49:22.activity in the Europe, and also investing in industrial processes
:49:22. > :49:28.in Europe which help us to be competitive. This is an anti-crisis
:49:28. > :49:33.legislation which will help diminish the wealth transfer from
:49:33. > :49:38.outside Europe and bring back jobs and economic activity to Europe
:49:38. > :49:43.whilst also being economically and climate friendly. The one thing you
:49:43. > :49:47.it is not very good at is creating jobs, particularly for young people.
:49:47. > :49:54.A lot of these measures will make it more expensive to do business in
:49:54. > :50:00.Europe. Why will that help job creation? Sorry, that is really
:50:00. > :50:05.nonsense. When you consume less energy, you have low energy costs.
:50:06. > :50:10.We are in the age of higher oil prices. Do not believe any policy-
:50:10. > :50:16.maker who tells you Europe is controlling an influence on world
:50:16. > :50:22.prices. We do not and we have very little grip on the prize, so where
:50:22. > :50:28.we can act is to bring in better services to the citizens and to the
:50:28. > :50:31.energy consumers and that is all about this directive. Who is going
:50:32. > :50:38.to pay for all of this? Who is going to pay for the new
:50:38. > :50:45.insulation? The detailed implementation will be decided at
:50:45. > :50:49.national level. In the UK you have an existing regime, on energy-
:50:49. > :50:54.saving obligations, and the British Government will have to be more
:50:54. > :51:00.ambitious in its energy-saving obligation schemes. It is power
:51:00. > :51:05.companies, gas companies, who will be the Investment and that will
:51:05. > :51:11.have some consequences on the bills, but the money which we invest will
:51:11. > :51:16.be much lower than the benefits we get from reduced energy consumption,
:51:16. > :51:21.which then diminishes also the total cost for energy, both for the
:51:21. > :51:26.citizens and businesses. So stay with us. Where are you on this?
:51:26. > :51:31.agree, I think he is absolutely right. We were disappointed we did
:51:31. > :51:35.not get mandatory targets for this, partly because our own Government
:51:35. > :51:41.blocked legislation. But we have already lost our aluminium industry
:51:41. > :51:44.because of the extra cost in legislation. Everybody is talking
:51:44. > :51:49.about the need to rebalance the British economy, but you are making
:51:49. > :51:53.it more expensive to be manufactured in Britain. Which? Did
:51:53. > :51:58.a survey and this is the one thing in terms of financial issues that
:51:58. > :52:02.householders worry about most, household costs. We should be
:52:02. > :52:12.stimulating our economy with construction and green jobs. It is
:52:12. > :52:13.
:52:13. > :52:17.a win-win situation. Where are you on this? I am not coming from the
:52:17. > :52:21.climate change angle, but I am coming from the competitiveness of
:52:21. > :52:26.the European economy. One of the witnesses is we are far too
:52:26. > :52:29.dependent on imported energy, which is becoming increasingly expensive.
:52:29. > :52:34.We have to learn to generate our own and be more efficient in the
:52:34. > :52:42.way we are using it and these are sensible suggestions. Claude Turmes,
:52:42. > :52:45.let me come back to you. Are you still with us? Yes. What happens if
:52:45. > :52:51.the energy companies fail to meet these targets? What other
:52:51. > :52:58.sanctions? The sanctions will be imposed at national level, so back
:52:58. > :53:04.again to the British system where the British system is an energy-
:53:04. > :53:10.saving obligation for the big companies. They will have an
:53:10. > :53:14.obligation to save a certain amount of energy with the British energy
:53:14. > :53:21.consumers. If they do not comply, they will pay a penalty and this
:53:21. > :53:26.penalty will be fixed by the British Government. So you're and
:53:26. > :53:31.what we have done is a framework directive, so we give the
:53:31. > :53:35.orientations, and it is not good if we from Brussels intervened too
:53:35. > :53:40.much in every detail, so now we have given a clear mandate to the
:53:41. > :53:44.British Government to act and the details will have to be discussed
:53:44. > :53:51.openly with the stakeholders over the next months and then be
:53:51. > :53:56.implemented over the next six or seven years. Thank you for coming
:53:56. > :54:01.on live from Luxembourg and explaining that to us. It was my
:54:01. > :54:07.pleasure and maybe as a last word this is his door up because also
:54:07. > :54:14.Japan has decided to get away from nuclear and France closes down his
:54:14. > :54:20.nuclear reactor, so this is a step change. Clearly you have something
:54:20. > :54:25.to celebrate. Go and have a glass of carrot juice. Now for the first
:54:25. > :54:35.in our guidelines as to how the European Union works. Here is Adam
:54:35. > :54:40.
:54:40. > :54:45.Fleming with the low-down on the European Commission.
:54:45. > :54:49.The EU's glass-walled engine room, home to the commission. The people
:54:49. > :54:54.who work in this building see themselves as the guardians of the
:54:54. > :54:59.European ideal, the keepers of the EU flames. All the power lies on
:54:59. > :55:02.the 30th floor, so they are not that superstitious. The reason this
:55:02. > :55:07.floor is so important is because the commission is the only part of
:55:07. > :55:11.the EU that has got the power to bring forward new legislation. You
:55:11. > :55:15.will find the President and his 26 commissioners up here, one from
:55:15. > :55:20.each member state. Each one is responsible for a different policy
:55:20. > :55:25.area. Every Wednesday, they meet in there. The President is elected by
:55:25. > :55:28.national leaders and he is serving his second four-year term. His
:55:28. > :55:33.commissioners are selected by the member states and then approved as
:55:33. > :55:38.a group by the European Parliament. This is one of them. She is Danish
:55:38. > :55:41.and responsible for policies on climate change. When we caught up
:55:41. > :55:47.with her she was finalising new pollution standards for cars and
:55:47. > :55:56.vans. Is this a typical day questor Mark yes, there is no such as Fang
:55:56. > :56:01.as a typical day, but it is a busy day. As she meets and greets the
:56:01. > :56:05.great and good, she is surrounded by her political advisers. Then it
:56:05. > :56:09.is often a news conference. The commission has been accused of
:56:09. > :56:14.being overly powerful, but the system has been reformed to make it
:56:14. > :56:19.appear more or Open. Do you feel you have got quite a lot of power?
:56:19. > :56:24.Yes, because it is our job to present the proposals. But what is
:56:24. > :56:28.overlooked is we do not have total powers. I can present this proposal,
:56:28. > :56:34.but it will not be law in Europe until the governments in the
:56:34. > :56:38.European Parliament basically have nodded to theirs. All of that is
:56:38. > :56:42.supported by 30,000 civil servants, recruited through a gruelling
:56:42. > :56:47.multilingual process. Sometimes the commission is simply enforcing
:56:47. > :56:51.existing rules. For example the import and export of step ladders.
:56:51. > :56:57.It is not all high politics around here, you know.
:56:58. > :57:03.Glad he got that through health and safety! We do not elect these
:57:03. > :57:07.commissioners. We have no idea who they are. It is your job to hold
:57:07. > :57:12.them to hold them to democratic scrutiny and account. Are you doing
:57:12. > :57:17.that? We do, but they do not make the decisions, they come forward
:57:17. > :57:22.with proposals. But it is people like us to change the legislation
:57:22. > :57:27.and shake the legislation and we agree with are cancelled. You do
:57:27. > :57:32.not have the power to propose legislation? No, we do not, they
:57:32. > :57:37.have the right to propose which is under the direction of the council
:57:37. > :57:44.which says, this is the direction we want to go in. It is analogous
:57:44. > :57:48.to a board of a company. The executive team work out the
:57:48. > :57:54.proposition and we are there to hold it to account. We can amend
:57:54. > :58:01.and we can change and we can reject as well and we do. Why don't we get
:58:01. > :58:04.a chance to elect the President of the Commission? That is the system
:58:04. > :58:08.a whether you like it or not. I think there are too many
:58:08. > :58:13.commissionaires, but that is for another day. But I would like to
:58:13. > :58:19.see a bit more transparency in the council. Jose Manuel Barroso has
:58:19. > :58:23.come a few times saying he is fed up. The leaders of the countries.
:58:23. > :58:26.He has been complaining they say one thing in Brussels and go back
:58:26. > :58:30.to their nation-state and says something different. I want to know
:58:30. > :58:37.what they are saying. Politicians saying two different things, or who
:58:37. > :58:41.would have thought that? How can that happen? We would have three
:58:41. > :58:45.elected bodies claiming three elected mandate, no, we are there
:58:45. > :58:50.to hold them to account and that is what we are doing. We are grateful