:00:03. > :00:13.just hours after the head of the UN observer team for Syria arrived in
:00:13. > :00:19.
:00:19. > :00:23.Damascus. Sally is next with World Business Report. The headlines:
:00:23. > :00:29.Bending the rules - EU members submit plans for cutting their
:00:29. > :00:37.budget deficits next year. Many argue the 3% target is out of reach.
:00:37. > :00:41.Spain's woes deepen as it double dips into recession. Another grim
:00:41. > :00:51.statistic reveals the uphill battle it faces to get a grip on its
:00:51. > :01:07.
:01:07. > :01:14.The Netherlands' struggle to reach a deficit deal did not meet their
:01:14. > :01:19.deadline. With three eurozone countries already bailed out,
:01:19. > :01:29.anxiety about the financial state of several member states remains
:01:29. > :01:34.
:01:34. > :01:37.high. Brussels calls it convergence. States will show today how they
:01:37. > :01:43.plan to come together and stabilise feature spending. It was a close
:01:43. > :01:47.call for the Dutch. Previously in the financially strict count, the
:01:47. > :01:52.Netherlands only just managed to agree on a national budget at the
:01:52. > :02:02.11th hour. There Brown pledged to get better as it's down to 3% of
:02:02. > :02:04.
:02:04. > :02:09.GDP. -- everyone pledged to get down their debt as it down. Spain
:02:09. > :02:13.was given more budget wriggle room this year but its sovereign debt
:02:13. > :02:17.crisis is worsening. European analysts say this Budget round will
:02:17. > :02:22.be a difficult balance between austerity and growth spending. If
:02:22. > :02:24.you look back to the last European semester there were far less
:02:25. > :02:28.European countries under immediate pressure but now you have countries
:02:28. > :02:33.like Spain, Italy, Belgium and others who are under much more
:02:33. > :02:38.pressure than we have seen in the past and these pressures are felt
:02:38. > :02:42.in the process of the European semester and they are being felts
:02:42. > :02:45.also because other members are exerting stronger pressure on this
:02:45. > :02:50.country's first in certain -- facing certain problems. It is
:02:50. > :02:55.still jemmy leading the charge for budget reforms while Central and
:02:55. > :03:05.southern Europe wants room to create investment Ford -- room for
:03:05. > :03:07.
:03:07. > :03:15.The eurozone country that has made it clear it will not hit the 3% EU
:03:15. > :03:18.debt target next series Spain. In a bid to tackle its mounting debts,
:03:18. > :03:24.the eurozone's fourth largest economy has been forced to
:03:24. > :03:28.implement sweeping austerity plans. -- next year is Spain. On Friday
:03:28. > :03:36.official jobless figures showed a jump in unemployment to just over
:03:36. > :03:41.24% with half of all under-25s out of work. Across Spain over the
:03:41. > :03:46.weekend, tens of thousands took to the streets. They protested against
:03:46. > :03:50.government reforms. This time there were not the numbers seen during
:03:50. > :03:56.last month's general strike but public sector cuts and tax
:03:56. > :04:04.increases are causing anger, in particular, the government's
:04:04. > :04:07.additional 10 billion euros worth of savings and for public health
:04:07. > :04:10.and education. TRANSLATION: We are here defending public health and
:04:10. > :04:17.the education system because they want to destroy it for good but it
:04:17. > :04:25.is funded with our tax money. It is ours and we have the right to fight
:04:25. > :04:29.for it. TRANSLATION: The government will here ass. I do not even know
:04:29. > :04:35.if they pay any attention to us at the moment but they will have to
:04:35. > :04:39.pay attention to us and the only reaction is for us to show their is
:04:39. > :04:45.some alternative. Our policy cannot be devalued like this. The effects
:04:45. > :04:51.of austerity have not been fully felt. Spain's crisis and sky-high
:04:51. > :04:56.unemployment mean more and more people rely on free food handouts.
:04:56. > :04:59.This man, head of the Spanish Federation of food banks, say they
:04:59. > :05:03.are helping nearly double the number of people they were five
:05:03. > :05:07.years ago. With Spain now officially in recession, some
:05:07. > :05:12.analysts fear that, with the government's program of austerity,
:05:12. > :05:16.the economy will struggle to start growing again. TRANSLATION: This is
:05:16. > :05:22.a difficult situation. We are at the edge of the precipice. Spain is
:05:22. > :05:28.all t of all take Italy and then the fire
:05:28. > :05:32.will be all over Europe. -- a huge economy. Authorities here are
:05:32. > :05:41.preparing for more unrest. The government says it will be a hard
:05:41. > :05:45.year but the reforms will continue. It argues that posterity is. --
:05:45. > :05:51.that posterity is the only choice for Spain to regain its credibility
:05:51. > :05:56.on the markets and to encourage future growth. As we have been
:05:56. > :06:00.seeing in Spain, fiscal austerity is leading to unemployment rising
:06:00. > :06:03.higher and higher. Young people across Europe are being hit
:06:03. > :06:07.especially hard. The International Labor Organisation is warning the
:06:07. > :06:17.situation is only going to get worse. Let's speak to Raymond
:06:17. > :06:18.
:06:18. > :06:27.Torres, the author of the ILO's report. Tell us how difficult
:06:27. > :06:31.things will become in terms of unemployment? -- of employment. It
:06:32. > :06:35.will rise by 5 million people this year and another 5 million next
:06:35. > :06:39.year if something is not done. We are already talking about a
:06:39. > :06:42.situation where 40% of people without work have been looking for
:06:42. > :06:49.employment for more than one year - an extraordinary figure that is
:06:49. > :06:59.worrying for the future. Is Europe the place where it is most acute?
:06:59. > :07:00.
:07:00. > :07:05.Europe a -- Europe certainly is a place where the situation is
:07:05. > :07:10.deteriorating very rapidly. The economy and the job market is
:07:10. > :07:14.slowing down in places like China as well and in North America to
:07:14. > :07:19.some extent. What is the ILO saying about how to change is very
:07:19. > :07:24.worrying trend? The first point to remember is that austerity is
:07:24. > :07:29.counter-productive. It is counter- productive in terms of jobs. It is
:07:29. > :07:36.affecting the economy and, in particular, the job market. It is
:07:36. > :07:44.ironic because austerity is ineffective even in terms of
:07:44. > :07:49.cutting a country's deficit. Countries who have been severe in
:07:49. > :07:52.their austerity are not showing much growth. There are no positive
:07:52. > :07:56.results at the moment from austerity and we need an
:07:56. > :08:00.alternative. We will have to leave it there but thank you very much
:08:00. > :08:03.for telling us your views on how things are in the international
:08:03. > :08:07.labour market. Let's turn our attention to Japan where Prime
:08:07. > :08:13.Minister Yoshihiko Noda meets US President Barack Obama in
:08:13. > :08:19.Washington today. He is expected to discuss closer trade ties between
:08:19. > :08:24.the two nations. Rico Hizon is in Singapore. Tell us more about this.
:08:24. > :08:31.Apart from a closer bilateral relationship, Yoshiko no-no will
:08:31. > :08:34.also address Japan's keen interest in joining the trans-Pacific
:08:34. > :08:40.partnership of operation which aims to create a free-trade zone across
:08:40. > :08:47.the Pacific. -- Yoshihiko Noda. He is facing strong opposition from
:08:47. > :08:53.Japanese farmers over this pact. It will have a severe impact on the
:08:53. > :08:58.country's agriculture sector. Many Japanese farmers would be swept
:08:58. > :09:08.away by the global competition as the level -- the levee on imported
:09:08. > :09:14.
:09:14. > :09:24.rice runs at nearly 800%. The removal of high tariffs would
:09:24. > :09:31.
:09:31. > :09:35.benefit the overall economy but not The markets in Asia - most are
:09:35. > :09:39.trading higher but, of course, Japan is closed today so do not be
:09:39. > :09:46.fooled by that figure. The Japanese market is closed for a public