:00:00. > :00:00.in Lebanon. Mr Dell' Utri has been accused of alleged collusion with
:00:00. > :00:00.the Mafia and was declared a fugitive on Friday.
:00:00. > :00:40.Now on BBC News it's time for Politics Europe.
:00:41. > :00:47.Welcome to Politics Europe. Your regular guide to the top stories in
:00:48. > :00:55.Brussels and Strasbourg. On today's programme: Anti` EU parties on the
:00:56. > :00:57.rise across Europe. We report from the Netherlands on why voters are
:00:58. > :01:02.turning against the European project. As grease returns to the
:01:03. > :01:10.bond market after four years, we ask, is the Greek economy on the
:01:11. > :01:13.mend? You want to join a group, but don't know which is which? Let me
:01:14. > :01:19.explain. With European elections on the rise, `` horizon, we bring you
:01:20. > :01:26.our guide to the groups in the EU parliament. All that to come and
:01:27. > :01:31.more in the next half hour. First, more trouble in Ukraine. Catalan
:01:32. > :01:41.independence and MPs rap for your vote. Here is our guide to the big
:01:42. > :01:44.stories of the week in 60 seconds. Greece jumped into the financial
:01:45. > :01:48.market with its sale of long`term government bonds since the economy
:01:49. > :01:52.almost collapsed four years ago. 3 billion euros sales was welcome news
:01:53. > :01:56.ahead of the visit to Athens from German Chancellor Algol a call.
:01:57. > :01:58.Tempers flaring Ukraine's parliament between opposing nationalist and
:01:59. > :02:04.separatist factions following a heated debate about pro`Russian
:02:05. > :02:09.activists using government `` seizing government buildings in
:02:10. > :02:12.several Ukrainian cities. Spanish MPs overwhelmingly vote against
:02:13. > :02:14.Catalonia 's bid for an independent referendum in a decision that is
:02:15. > :02:20.likely to increase the divide between both sides. Listed companies
:02:21. > :02:23.across the EU must get shareholder approval on pay for top executives
:02:24. > :02:31.under a draft law aimed at addressing public anger over large
:02:32. > :02:35.pay rises. Who says politicians aren't down with the kids? Members
:02:36. > :02:47.of the European Parliament have been in a rap battle to engage young
:02:48. > :02:52.voters. With us for the next 30 minutes I am joined by Martin
:02:53. > :02:57.Callahan, MP for the Conservatives and Katherine still are, MEP for
:02:58. > :03:01.labour. Let's look at one of the stories in detail. Grease. It
:03:02. > :03:04.managed to get its bond issue away. It is back in the bond market. I
:03:05. > :03:10.would suggest that this is partly because in the bond market, there is
:03:11. > :03:16.a search for a yield and Greece is offering a lot more than the Germans
:03:17. > :03:21.or the British or Americans. Greece. `` the country is mired in
:03:22. > :03:25.stagnation. You are right. It is difficult. It is to be welcome but
:03:26. > :03:30.it is a fragile state of affairs. We want to see them improve because of
:03:31. > :03:36.the austerity measures sacrificed on the Greek people. It is shocking.
:03:37. > :03:44.Terrible. If you speak to Greek colleagues, it this fragile news is
:03:45. > :03:48.to be welcomed. There is a long way to go. Is there a concern in the
:03:49. > :03:53.European Parliament about what are called the Club Med countries,
:03:54. > :03:59.Portugal, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, that they are on the verge of
:04:00. > :04:06.a deflationary trap? We saw this week earlier that prices in Spain
:04:07. > :04:13.are falling. Industrial production prices advocating Greece, Cyprus,
:04:14. > :04:16.Portugal, falling. The Eirene of the euro is that it was supposed to
:04:17. > :04:20.cement solidarity across Europe and it is doing the opposite of that ``
:04:21. > :04:25.the irony. Northern Europe is generally doing OK. But those
:04:26. > :04:29.countries are diverging. Greece is by no means out of the woods yet.
:04:30. > :04:35.They have unsustainable levels of debt. Someone will have to pay that.
:04:36. > :04:38.Resume and Lee from the eurozone countries. It is usually concerning.
:04:39. > :04:45.There is no obvious solution `` presumably. White you spoke of the
:04:46. > :04:51.sacrifices they have made. More than anyone else. As a result of this
:04:52. > :04:58.deflationary trend, which magnifies the level of public debt, their
:04:59. > :05:03.public debt is rising as a percentage of GDP. They have raised
:05:04. > :05:14.taxes and cut public spending, made people unemployed, at their debt has
:05:15. > :05:17.risen from 130% of GDP to 170% of GDP. We should acknowledge it has
:05:18. > :05:20.been a right`wing agenda of austerity that has been imposed on
:05:21. > :05:28.the Greek people. It would have been different if there was a different
:05:29. > :05:32.political flavour in power. (CROSSTALK) it was the Socialists in
:05:33. > :05:40.power when it went wrong in the first place. You need to accept that
:05:41. > :05:47.lessons are being learned. Banking unions show there will be reformed.
:05:48. > :05:50.You cannot escape from the fact that austerity measures imposed on the
:05:51. > :05:56.Greek people have been because of politics in play. That has been the
:05:57. > :05:58.dominance of right.. Debt is going up because they are locked into a
:05:59. > :06:03.currency union. Austerity means paying your way and balancing the
:06:04. > :06:06.books. The Labour Party may want to argue you can keep spending on
:06:07. > :06:15.spending without raising the money, but in France the Socialist were
:06:16. > :06:22.elected on an end to austerity. (CROSSTALK). Moving on. European
:06:23. > :06:27.elections Lexmark are the most recent since the crisis and has
:06:28. > :06:34.brought us close to the European collapse `` next. The fallout has
:06:35. > :06:41.led to frustration with the European project and right`wing parties like
:06:42. > :06:45.the French party, the Freedom party in the Netherlands and others are
:06:46. > :07:02.expected to do well, standing on an anti` EU platform.
:07:03. > :07:06.The EU dream has gone sour for some. Beljan dock workers joined trade
:07:07. > :07:12.unionists at this protest last week. Most rallied peacefully for the EU
:07:13. > :07:16.to work better. A few picked a fight with police. The talk here in
:07:17. > :07:23.Brussels is of an EU in trouble. Austerity, economic crisis and high
:07:24. > :07:26.unemployment in several countries is spawning disillusionment with the
:07:27. > :07:31.whole European project. In northern Europe, the anti` immigrant, anti`
:07:32. > :07:38.EU right light doing well. In southern Europe, the radical left
:07:39. > :07:43.are on the rise. While MEPs come back to the EU parliament after they
:07:44. > :07:46.elections, many will have won their seat because of their opposition to
:07:47. > :07:54.Brussels, even in countries that are traditionally very pro`European.
:07:55. > :07:59.Tolerant and liberal and green, the Netherlands popular cliche petals
:08:00. > :08:05.on. It was one of the founding countries of what is now the EU.
:08:06. > :08:07.Half an hour from Amsterdam at different politics has emerged. At
:08:08. > :08:12.the last European elections in 2009, the Freedom Park he won half the
:08:13. > :08:17.vote in this town. That is the party of Kurt filters, the hard Right
:08:18. > :08:22.peroxide head populist who rails against Muslims and the EU ``
:08:23. > :08:26.Freedom party. It won for MEPs and topped the poll in the Netherlands.
:08:27. > :08:37.Some will back in again. The Freedom party. Why? For free country. Lee it
:08:38. > :08:46.is terrible. These people take the jobs from Dutch people. It is not
:08:47. > :08:49.good. This place isn't buzzing with Euro election fever. Several people
:08:50. > :08:56.I have spoken to do not know there is a pole and none have `` many
:08:57. > :08:59.don't have an interest. What is surprising is that this pretty
:09:00. > :09:06.little town with tourists than teashops is somewhere where the far
:09:07. > :09:17.right have done well in the past. Look around, you don't see any black
:09:18. > :09:22.people over here. When the crowd called for fewer Moroccans in the
:09:23. > :09:26.Netherlands, this is what he said. The police received hundreds of
:09:27. > :09:33.complaints that he was inciting ritual hatred. His poll had shrunk.
:09:34. > :09:41.Tommo was a member of the party before being thrown out in 2010. ``
:09:42. > :09:47.Kurt Tomlin. He says the party has gone too far. The way he speaks
:09:48. > :09:54.about the Moroccans he will go to jail and he has to go to jail for
:09:55. > :09:59.it. It is too far. Let me put it in English, do you want less Welsh
:10:00. > :10:05.people? Do you want less Scottish people? Do you want less people from
:10:06. > :10:08.Europe? No, it's not possible. In France, Maria Lipman has tried to
:10:09. > :10:13.rebrand the National front. It suggests they will do well in the
:10:14. > :10:19.elections also. Builders has elected a pact of far right parties but the
:10:20. > :10:25.support could be fragile. Ukip is not a racist party and Nigel Farage
:10:26. > :10:32.is careful to say that. He is an end to a European party and is open to
:10:33. > :10:36.closed borders. This is what people in fenland and so on in Denmark are
:10:37. > :10:39.saying. Those likely to top the polls are saying we are not racist
:10:40. > :10:43.but we are anti` European `` Finland. We want less things done in
:10:44. > :10:46.Brussels. UKIP says it won't join the likes of Le Pen and builders in
:10:47. > :10:53.an EU parliamentary group. Here in the Hague, the centre coalition
:10:54. > :10:58.knows it and the EU must do more to rebuild trust. When you look at the
:10:59. > :11:03.next European Commission they should strengthening the single market,
:11:04. > :11:13.making trade agreements with other parts of the world and transferring
:11:14. > :11:18.powers from Brussels to the member state as the only way to preserve
:11:19. > :11:21.Europe for the future. FIFA white in the Netherlands might struggle to
:11:22. > :11:26.beat its excess at the last elections, I'd Kurt filters could
:11:27. > :11:35.find themselves in Brussels joining others whose hostility to the EU has
:11:36. > :11:39.hit home `` at. Another country where the far right is riding high
:11:40. > :11:44.is France where it Marie Le Pen 's `` Maria Lipman 's National front
:11:45. > :11:53.made gains in the local elections. Middling towns, but nevertheless
:11:54. > :11:58.they took up over there. Largely at the expense of Francois Hollande 's
:11:59. > :12:04.Socialist party. We speak with an expert in the dynamics of the French
:12:05. > :12:08.right. Would it the fair to say that of this phenomenon of going outside
:12:09. > :12:14.the mainstream, that within Europe, the National front is the most
:12:15. > :12:20.successful case. It is one it is doing particularly well at the
:12:21. > :12:27.moment. It is very favourable for them. It has also worked a lot on
:12:28. > :12:31.its own image and strategy and I think that accounts for its excess.
:12:32. > :12:37.If you look at some of the places where it did well, industrial or
:12:38. > :12:43.former industrial towns in the north, Marseilles, one of the
:12:44. > :12:49.biggest districts there. What is striking is that they are all
:12:50. > :12:53.historically the old readouts of the Communist Party. Is it the same
:12:54. > :12:57.people? That's right. For a long time, people thought the National
:12:58. > :12:59.Front would do very well by transferring the vote from
:13:00. > :13:05.conservatives to the extreme right, but what we witnessed over the past
:13:06. > :13:08.2`3 years is a substantial shift from traditional socialist and
:13:09. > :13:16.communist voters towards the National Front. We describe in this
:13:17. > :13:21.country the National Front, which I have seen in France, the far right.
:13:22. > :13:25.When you look at it economic policies, in this country they look
:13:26. > :13:30.benign. They look like the sort of things Tony Benn is talking four,
:13:31. > :13:36.anti` euro, high government spending. It would not work very
:13:37. > :13:42.well with Nigel Farage for instance. It is rare that in the sense the
:13:43. > :13:46.National Front distances itself from neoliberal politics for a time now
:13:47. > :13:52.and adopts neither right nor left stances in economic and social
:13:53. > :13:55.policy, you could say that the policy put forward by the National
:13:56. > :14:05.Front are very close to an old left recipe. In the local French
:14:06. > :14:09.elections, there were 30,000 or thousands of municipalities up for
:14:10. > :14:14.the vote and the National Front only fronted up to about 560 of them.
:14:15. > :14:27.This time, they have to fight nationwide. What would be able good
:14:28. > :14:30.result for them? If you can see the National Front about 20, that would
:14:31. > :14:32.be a good result. Usually it does three well when there is a strong
:14:33. > :14:38.leader, so in the presidential election people voted for the man
:14:39. > :14:42.rather than the party. But over the past two weeks, the municipal
:14:43. > :14:48.election has shown that it can do well without a recognisable leader.
:14:49. > :14:53.You have places where the candidate was fairly unknown, and they did
:14:54. > :14:57.very well. It shows that people tend to vote for the National Front, for
:14:58. > :15:03.the content, for what they put on the table, rather than whether it is
:15:04. > :15:10.leading. Will be centre`right party, the party that Mr Sarkozy was
:15:11. > :15:17.president of, will that still come first? That is the big debate. The
:15:18. > :15:25.last result showed that the UN paid the Conservative party in France, it
:15:26. > :15:31.might just come first. The Socialists were below 20%. The
:15:32. > :15:34.Nationalists with 22%. One of the consequences of this rise of parties
:15:35. > :15:39.outside the mainstream, mainly on the right, but not entirely, is that
:15:40. > :15:44.your party is likely to come third in the European elections. We have
:15:45. > :15:48.to wait and see in the election. There is still a long way to go in
:15:49. > :15:56.the campaign. You are long way behind the polls. We are, if you
:15:57. > :16:00.believe the polls at the moment. It is likely there will be a low
:16:01. > :16:04.turnout, it is up to us to try to get the voters go to come and
:16:05. > :16:07.support us. At this stage in the political cycle, you should be
:16:08. > :16:14.romping home in European elections, against the government, it is that
:16:15. > :16:19.is what oppositions do. But you have a battle to beat Ukip. We have to
:16:20. > :16:23.get out and fight for every single vote. We have a different situation
:16:24. > :16:30.in Scotland than we have in other parts of England and Wales, where
:16:31. > :16:33.Ukip is threatening both parties. I think in Scotland, what we are
:16:34. > :16:39.trying to do is try to make sure we get as many votes for Labour to
:16:40. > :16:46.fight against the Nationalists. When I wear this badge in the European
:16:47. > :16:53.Parliament, they think it is about the UK, not about the EU. At a time
:16:54. > :17:00.when unemployment in the Eurozone is about 12%, youth is over 20%, in
:17:01. > :17:04.some countries it is as high as 60%, almost, in Spain and Greece.
:17:05. > :17:08.Economies are barely growing, welfare is being cut, poverty has
:17:09. > :17:13.been growing, particularly in the Club Med countries, why is it the
:17:14. > :17:18.far right that is making the running and not be left? Think the far right
:17:19. > :17:23.is very simple answers to many questions, and also they are
:17:24. > :17:29.antiestablishment. There is a perfect storm coming together. You
:17:30. > :17:32.are the establishment. It is interesting, when it talk about
:17:33. > :17:36.forming political groups, these people can't work together. The only
:17:37. > :17:42.parties, certainly my party, has a manifest for 31 parties saying that
:17:43. > :17:48.it covers 20 countries, and that is a manifesto for change and delivery.
:17:49. > :17:52.That isn't what I asked. What I try to ask is, why has the left, why had
:17:53. > :18:03.they perceive that 2008 was a crisis of capitalism, and we have seen what
:18:04. > :18:06.the outcome has been, why has the establishment not capitalised on
:18:07. > :18:14.that? Why has it been the far right? In Britain, the BNP is now
:18:15. > :18:22.nowhere... Ukip is nowhere. Where has the left unwell? For the first
:18:23. > :18:28.time since I was a in 1999, this could be the largest group in the
:18:29. > :18:34.European Parliament. In European Parliament elections, if we get one
:18:35. > :18:41.more MEP within get the chance to form the presidency of the European
:18:42. > :18:54.Commission. Your rants is that the national party is not a socialist
:18:55. > :19:03.party, it is just a nationalist tinge. These nomenclature is not all
:19:04. > :19:09.that interesting or useful. Let me go back to our guest, I suppose it
:19:10. > :19:12.is not surprising, is it, that when you look at the state of Europe now,
:19:13. > :19:17.and the lack of opportunity, growth, jobs, to Chile for young people, it
:19:18. > :19:28.is not surprising that nonmainstream parties are doing well ``
:19:29. > :19:34.particularly for young people. Mainstream parties seem to have
:19:35. > :19:37.tried out different solutions, and voters don't see how that can make a
:19:38. > :19:43.difference to their daily life. That is the great strength of extreme
:19:44. > :19:45.parties on both sides. In France, going that what you have just
:19:46. > :19:51.discussed, I think it is not surprising that the left is not
:19:52. > :19:55.doing so well. For many years, maybe ten years, the Conservative party
:19:56. > :19:59.and the socialist parties in France, put immigration, national
:20:00. > :20:04.identity, at the centre, has been the most important issues, and a
:20:05. > :20:07.radicalised these issues. I think that explains as well why it is the
:20:08. > :20:12.extreme right and not the extreme left. Who is going to be the extreme
:20:13. > :20:22.right candidate in the US presidential election? Certainly not
:20:23. > :20:31.Nicholas Sarkozy. I think if there is a candidate, it will be either
:20:32. > :20:40.the ex` PM. I think it is likely to be him. Do you know your ETP from
:20:41. > :20:50.your SND and good GU EE from your E F a? They do, they are paid to. If
:20:51. > :20:54.you don't, fear not. He is going to explain all in his latest A`Z of
:20:55. > :20:58.Europe. Look at all those MEPs, more than
:20:59. > :21:05.700. To make things more manageable, and the parliament has a of
:21:06. > :21:10.pan`European groupings. There is some crazy art on display that
:21:11. > :21:15.allows me to explain. Think of the group says political armies, each
:21:16. > :21:20.one has to have at least 25 foot soldiers from at least seven member
:21:21. > :21:26.states. You want to join the group, but you don't know which is which?
:21:27. > :21:29.Let me explain. There are a seven to choose from. On the centre`right,
:21:30. > :21:35.the European People's party, the largest, with 86% of seats. Also on
:21:36. > :21:38.the right, the European Conservatives and reformists with
:21:39. > :21:44.7%. That is where the Tories are. The Socialists and Democrats, where
:21:45. > :21:50.you will find Labour has a quarter. The Lib Dems are with the Liberals,
:21:51. > :21:54.Ukip's home is the European freedom and democracy group, and then there
:21:55. > :21:57.are two small groups for the Greens and Nationalists. They aren't quite
:21:58. > :22:02.as rigid as the political parties back at home. Sometimes, the line of
:22:03. > :22:06.the group, the majority line, is one, but there are two or three
:22:07. > :22:12.countries that are not satisfied, and they are going to vote with
:22:13. > :22:18.another group. This is a process of permanent negotiation. Do the
:22:19. > :22:21.political groups get any perks? They do, they get funding to pay for
:22:22. > :22:29.things like staff, officers and communications. Political perks,
:22:30. > :22:34.like the chairman, divvied up on group size. More members means more
:22:35. > :22:39.influence. Has anyone set up any new groups of lately? A very young
:22:40. > :22:43.looking David Cameron set up the European Conservatives and
:22:44. > :22:52.reformists, after withdrawing his MPs from the European People's
:22:53. > :22:56.party. The only ones who sit alone in the chamber are known as the non`
:22:57. > :22:58.attached. Some are shunned for holding extreme views, and others
:22:59. > :23:09.because they are extremely independent. But Hans Peter Martin
:23:10. > :23:13.from Austria, he was in an independent group. I was turned into
:23:14. > :23:17.a soldier, and they got a lot of letters from voters, e`mails, saying
:23:18. > :23:22.hey, you have been a well`known journalist, you have written
:23:23. > :23:26.interesting books, I voted for you as an original, I didn't want to
:23:27. > :23:30.have another party. The troops are preparing for a big skirmish, the
:23:31. > :23:38.European elections. It could see a change in the balance of power.
:23:39. > :23:44.He has now taken to talking to inanimate objects! How important are
:23:45. > :23:47.these groups? They are very important. They determine the
:23:48. > :23:55.positions in the Parliament, the whip, how we vote for different
:23:56. > :23:59.things, they are... Was at a mistake for you to come out of the
:24:00. > :24:06.centre`right union? Absolutely not. We stopped our association with the
:24:07. > :24:10.EEP, they want more integration, control of taxation, customs, home
:24:11. > :24:14.affairs, and we didn't agree with that. We wanted to set up an
:24:15. > :24:27.alternative with people we did agree with. You are a bit of a Billy no
:24:28. > :24:31.mates. We have 57 MPs from 11 member states, and will have more after the
:24:32. > :24:37.election. They are dribs and drabs, aren't they? They are not the main
:24:38. > :24:42.members. We have some coalitions, there aren't many governments
:24:43. > :24:48.anyway. That is a fair point. Is there much difference between the
:24:49. > :24:53.mainstream centre`right group and the socialist group? No, exactly.
:24:54. > :24:57.That's not true, there are differences. There are clear
:24:58. > :25:01.differences in terms of social policy, in terms of how we see
:25:02. > :25:05.things, and you can see how in this Parliament, sometimes votes can be
:25:06. > :25:09.down to that one vote, it is so close. It looks as though in the new
:25:10. > :25:13.Parliament, those votes again will be very close, and it looks as
:25:14. > :25:17.though, Martin you are sitting here as the leader of a delegation, it
:25:18. > :25:20.looks like you will have a very tough time trying to create a group,
:25:21. > :25:24.which I think is a good thing, because I don't want to vote your
:25:25. > :25:31.party into politics in what I want a strong socialist group. If the
:25:32. > :25:37.electorate decides, we will see. That is all for today, my thanks to
:25:38. > :25:52.my guess Martin Callinan and Catherine Stiller.
:25:53. > :26:01.Hello there. We saw quite a contrast in weather conditions across the UK.
:26:02. > :26:06.We will continue this picture through the course of the night,
:26:07. > :26:08.where it is staying windy across the North, with showers. Further