16/09/2016 Outside Source

Hello, welcome to Outside Source, and Bratislava, where leaders from

across this continent have come together at a time of crisis for the

EU. They are trying to plot a future for the union. There has been one

noticeable absentee. The UK was not invited because of the vote to

Brexit. The EU leaders say any time the UK wants to start the

negotiations, they are ready. We are well prepared. We can start

procedures even tomorrow. Aside from Brexit, the focus has

been the issues the EU knows the citizens care about, the economy,

security and the migrant crisis. Today has raised many issues not

just about what has been achieved here, but about the future of the EU

and the UK. If you have any questions, use the hashtag. I will

do my best to give you some answers. The 27 members of the EU who will be

left once the UK Leeds have come together here in Slovakia with a

number of goals. First, they want to send a message to the world that

they are unified. Committed to the future of the EU. They wanted to

save a listening to the citizens of the EU. If we drill in on the map,

we can highlight where they have been meeting. At Bratislava Castle.

On the south side is a huge press centre, from where I am speaking to

you, and from where the press conferences been taking place. There

was a hugely sibilant moment earlier. Every time the leaders come

together, they do a family photo. This one was a bit different,

because there were not 28 leaders in this photo, there were 27. Theresa

May is not here. She and the UK were not invited. One of the big things

that the EU wants to do today is to send a message about Brexit, and

about the EU's plans. What was Kosovo is as an opportunity. He has

said... Donald tells, the Prime Minister of Slovakia and Jean-Claude

Yunker were giving a press conference just over there, let me

play you some of what was said. Our procedures and rules described

precisely in our treaty are to protect our interest, the 27

countries, not a leaving country. This must be very clear. It is not

against the UK. We are well prepared for the negotiations. We can stop

procedures even tomorrow. -- start. But we have to respect the needs of

our British colleagues. We made it clear since the beginning, the

access to the internal market and the basis principles of the internal

market, namely the one of freedom of movement of workers, we are sticking

to that position, this is not a game between Prime Minister 's. This is

about people in Europe. Let's talk to a couple of people who

have been watching today closely. Donald Tusk also hinted that he may

know the timing of these big O she Asians. He met with Theresa May last

week in London. He revealed at the press conference that she said they

would likely be ready to trigger the withdrawal process by January or

February 2017. This is something that Theresa May has been

noncommittal about publicly, so it is interesting that he would say she

was open and honest and said it would likely happen in January or

February. Wages are priced? Some people said we have got to get the

French and German elections out of the way. We have got these huge

milestones next year to get through. On the other hand, growing

impatience from the other European countries to get going. How long can

they continue? There was a strong message from Donald Tusk today, he

said his job was to preserve the interests of the remaining 27, not

Britain, to get the best deal for the 27, he has taken a tough line

with London, he will not be pushed into discussing this until London

works out what they want. You spoke about symbolism, the 27 flags of the

EU, no union Jack. It is a striking symbol, with the absence of Britain,

and a sense of the new reality for the EU. John Claude Junker said

freedom of movement is not on the negotiating table, you have got to

offer that if you want access to the single market. I have heard that

from the EU, it will be tough to row back from that. Exactly, everybody

says they will not compromise on what they want. There will be clear

winners and losers, unless there is softer talk before they go into

their rooms and stop negotiating. There will be mixed views from

different states, some want a soft Brexit, as little Brexit as

possible, including Germany, Angela Merkel wants to do the best deal

with Britain, but others want to send a stronger message, France,

Italy. They will have to see a consensus. Donald Tusk will have to

take account of all of these different countries and what they

believe should be the right relationship. Lots of viewers have

said, what will happen to the border between the Republic of Ireland and

Northern Ireland? I have not heard any detailed discussion of this at

all. The Irish Taoiseach was here, he mentioned that. One of the themes

was about securing the external border, and if Brexit happens, it

will have a new external border in Northern Ireland. It is complex. A

lot of political support to try and get some kind of solution, but

experts would say it is a highly technical issue, and it rests on

whether Britain leads the customs union or not. If it does, we could

be looking at some kind of border being reconstructed. We will come

back with you across the programme. If you have questions for our

guests, use the hashtag. Brexit has been an issue, but it has not

dominated this summit, it is a dominated this summit, it is a

year it has been that there are year it has been that there are

other issues demanding the attention of the EU's leaders. They surveyed

their citizens, asking them what they cared about, these are some of

the results. 19% said the economy as being one of their concerns. 39%

listed terrorism. 48% listed the issue of immigration. You can argue

the migrant crisis is the biggest single challenge. It is proving a

challenge to find unified positions. I have highlighted four countries,

Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. All of them have

resisted the EU's quota system. The EU has already signed off the

system, different countries take different amounts of migrants in,

much of them are currently in Greece and Italy. These four say, you can

tell us to do what you like, we will not take them in. The host of this

summit, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, said, Slovakia will not

accept one single Muslim migrant. Hungary will be holding a referendum

on whether to take this quota of migrants. The Government is not

sitting on the fence, these are some of the posters it spent millions of

euros putting all over the country, arguing for a vote against. Did you

know that Brussels want to settle a city of illegal immigrants in

Hungary? Did you know that the Paris attacks were committed by

immigrants? Some of you have used the BBC hashtag and getting me on

Twitter. First, this question. What are they going to do? They have

got a plan, but some of their members say they are not doing it.

Hungary and Slovakia have brought the commission to court about this,

that is how strongly they feel. The numbers are small, we have to

remember, only the tip of the iceberg in the numbers that have to

be re-settled. The other advantage, the EU/ Turkey deal has actually

succeeded in a lot of ways. It has reduced the numbers of refugees. It

has Dundee East you's work for it. The German Chancellor is quietly

happy this was the right move to make and we may not see the same

levels of immigration that we saw last year. If we were not aware of

the political schism within the EU, this issue has brought it into

everyone's view. It has become a story of North against the South,

the Southfield they are being unprotected. And East against West,

with the border with Turkey on the east, Bulgaria, they found that they

would get 200 more border guards, which is a big victory for them,

they share a border with Turkey, so it has become a matter of

geopolitical priorities. The message from Donald Tusk was a show of

unity, that is what the EU wanted to portray, so in the last two days he

visited Warsaw, Budapest, to get these countries on board. Even

during the week we saw John Claude Junker talk about imposing refugee

quotas voluntarily, he is moving back a bit from his language from

last year, an olive branch to some of the Eastern countries. Let's pull

up a couple more. This is not quite as contentious as

it might seem, it is an informal summit, a gathering of leaders, but

they cannot adopt any formal policy for the EU without the UK being

present. The UK will be present at more formal summit before it

accepts, and the 28 will have to agree. But we should say the UK

Government is not quibbling with the idea that the 27 countries it will

leave behind have the right to meet and plot a future without the UK. It

is not quite as controversial as it might seem.

Not that many! If you went around this summit and said two people,

would you accept it is a serious crisis for the EU, the vast majority

would say yes, it is a crisis. If you ask the same group of people,

you think the EU will disintegrate, and equally high majority would say

no. Nobody can contemplate the idea of the EU not continuing, certainly

not those in Government of the 27 member states that will be left. The

comparison with the Titanic is limited. The intention is to make

the EU work. Use the hashtag if you have any questions. We still have 15

minutes on BBC News. A bit later, we will talk in detail about arguably

the two most important countries, France and Germany, and their

leaders, who are coming under increasing political pressure at

home. Rescue teams have no idea how many

people have died. We will give them whatever we have got.

It looked as though they had come to fight a war, but their mission is to

bring peace to East Timor, nowhere on earth needs it more badly.

The Government's case has been presented by the justice minister.

He has campaigned vigorously for abolition. Having once witnessed one

of his clients being executed. She spent much of her time at this

grotto, hundreds of pilgrimages are made here. It is expected this area

will be inundated with tourists. The mayor and local businessmen regard

the boom is yet another blessing of Saint Elizabeth.

Welcome back. We are live in Bratislava. At the end of a day

where we have seen an informal European summit. 27 country leaders

have come together to offer unity and a vision of what the EU can

become when Brexit occurs. The message from the EU is that when

Duncan -- the negotiations start, they will be for the benefit of the

EU, but the negotiations can start tomorrow if the UK is ready.

One of the things which has been acknowledged by European leaders is

the need for the EU to restate what it does for its member states and

its citizens. The single biggest issue is finance, needs to make the

case it improves the finances of its member countries and of all EU

citizens. The problem is, all these years on from the global economic

crisis, it is still struggling to get its economy back contract. I

could have picked out any number of statistics. In Greece, youth

unemployment remains over 50%. A lot of people have been talking about

Portugal, if you look at it economic growth between the first quarter of

last year and the first quarter of this year, it is 0.2%, well below

what the EU would want and the Portuguese Government would want.

The equivalent figure for Italy is not much better. 0.3%. That is

creating huge pressures on those countries. To understand this

better, I turn to some colleagues in the press centre.

Given the fact I have 30 seconds, I will start from the debt. The

Italian debt is the third worst in the world. To cut the debt, Italy

needs to increase the GMP, but to increase that they need reforms. To

do the reforms, they need stability from the political and institutional

point of view. The task is quite big, but it can be done, because the

deficit is under control and the economy is quite fair. The

unemployed and freight is still high, as in other countries, but

this is a major preoccupation, because you still have Portuguese

people leaving the country and going to the UK, Belgium, France, to find

better jobs and higher wages, because in Portugal the wages are

not that high compared to other European countries. This must be a

very important issue for the Government. The biggest economic

challenge that Greece is facing the high unemployment, we have the

highest in the EU, about 26%. It is a country that has been worn out of

the recession, we have been about seven years in recession, the third

programme that we are going through, the third time that we have borrowed

money from our European partners, and people seem to be tired, they

have paid so much taxes, many people have lost their jobs, and still they

don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The economy is preoccupying leaders, but so is the issue of security.

Let's break that down into three elements. First, terrorism. The

threat has been highlighted by recent attacks. We have had further

commitments from member states are able better cooperate on issues of

intelligence. The second point, the external borders. Fresh investment

today in how those borders are patrolled, particular emphasis on

the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. Then, the proposal for a new

EU military headquarters. The military headquarters, how

realistic is that? A lot of the proposals will be limited enough.

The EU cannot just plough on with new big plans, it needs to be done

within their treaties. Not all member states are in favour of this,

six states are not members of Nato, they would be concerned, my own

country included, Austria, about the EU increasing its capacity. But

there is huge support from the bigger countries, France, Germany

and Italy. John Claude Young cats talked about and EU army, officials

say we are no -- nowhere near that, but Brexit has put the issue closer

together, because the UK are posted. There was the idea of a European

defence agency in the Lisbon Treaty and has not been used, but they are

talking about creating one now. The Lisbon Treaty gives a lot of room

for defence capabilities. A lot of the countries will try to exploit

that as much as possible, because the UK has been the one to put the

stop to that. In terms of the fresh moves on the border between Bulgaria

and Turkey, some people will think the migrant crisis has gone on for

well over a year, why is it only happening now? Officials have

worried there is a specific problem emerging there. A lot of focus has

been on Greece and coming through the sea, back in 2013 a lot of

migrants came through Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Government have been

strong on this, they have asked for more resources, and they have got

that today. We will talk again in a couple of minutes. We are live in

Bratislava at the end of a day when there has been an informal summit

for the 27 members of the EU who will be left when the UK leads. A

strong message from Donald Tusk, do not see Brexit is something specific

to the UK that has no relevance to the rest of Europe. Look across the

continent, you will see scepticism in lots of different forms, and it

is to be taken seriously. Here is a tweet from one of you.

This is a really important point. This is the map of France and

Germany. The AFD is a party which pushed Angela Merkel's party into

third place, and anti-emigration, anti-EU party. It is polling very

well. 15%. In France, the front National has been a longer political

force, polling at around 27%. There are major elections in Germany and

France next year, it puts pressure on Angela Merkel and Francois

Hollande. They were both holding a joint press conference, something

they have not done at the end of an EU summit before, a couple of hours

ago. Let me play you some of what they were saying.

TRANSLATION: We agreed, all of us, now that we are in such a critical

situation, after the referendum in Britain, but also in view of the

other difficulties we have... TRANSLATION: The remaining 27 had to

bring about some new perspectives to Europe. Europe must and can move

forward, as long as Europe has clear priorities and as long as these

priorities meet the expectations of the citizens. Security, protection

and the future of our youth. I have mentioned through the

programme that may be the number one priority was to offer a unified

front to the rest of the world. They have done pretty well, but they have

not quite managed it perfectly. The Italian Prime Minister has come out

and commented about the press conference with Angela Merkel and

from SWAT Lond. What is he referring to? He was

hoping to speak more about flexibility in the budgets in the

growth and stability Pact. Italy has huge amounts of debt, and they were

hoping to hear more from the other leaders about making making

exceptions for investments, about education, the other issue is that

he felt they did not tackle migration and the way that he wanted

them to, because he feels like people are honouring the Dublin

Treaty and the migrants are coming to Sicily, he is being stuck with

more migrants, and they are not being redistributed, and it feels

like he cannot win either side. Graham asks, would it be better for

the UK to wait until after the German and French elections, because

they might have Government in place then who are more amicable in their

approach to the negotiations? That is arguable, but the German

Chancellor is one of the best friends Britain has got when it

comes to negotiations. There is a new leader in Germany, things could

be different. It might be better for Britain to get the negotiations

started while she is still in power. I think Germany will play a key

role, as it always does. It is all about domestic politics, the Italian

Prime Minister has a referendum, he is playing to his domestic audience.

The EU have tried to say, we are ready to set out proposals, but with

these big issues in France and Germany, next year it will be hard

for it to do that. The Italian but his entire career on the line, if he

loses this referendum in a few months, he will not be at the table.

A lot of the leaders may not be at the table in a year, so it is

interesting, they need to come back winners or Ilott is on the line. Lee

says, what is the chance of France or the Netherlands opting out of the

EU? Very low, but then I thought the chances of being standing here in

Bratislava witnessing an informal summit without the UK as a

reasonably low, and here we are, so I have giving up making predictions.

We are back in the studio next week, goodbye.

The last few dregs of what was Typhoon Morandi are clearing the way

from eastern