:00:00. > :00:39.Now on BBC News, it's time for Politics Europe.
:00:40. > :00:47.Hello and welcome to Politics Europe, your regular guide to the
:00:48. > :00:53.top stories in Russells and Strasbourg. Our top stories call in
:00:54. > :01:01.a yellow card over plans to give equal wages abroad in the EU. A
:01:02. > :01:08.merger of the UK's major mobile networks has been blocked, but will
:01:09. > :01:15.it mean a better deal for consumers? We find out exactly what MEPs in
:01:16. > :01:20.Strasbourg think of the deal with Turkey. And we go to Portugal, to
:01:21. > :01:21.look at how the country is struggling to recover from the
:01:22. > :01:31.economic crisis. All that and more in the next
:01:32. > :01:36.half-hour. Does this week, members of the European Parliament have met
:01:37. > :01:40.in Strasbourg. What have they been getting up to and what else is
:01:41. > :01:42.happening in Brussels? Here is our guide to the latest in Europe in 60
:01:43. > :01:56.seconds. No doubt it was in your diary, who
:01:57. > :02:01.could forget Europe Day? People came together to mark the annual
:02:02. > :02:09.celebration of peace and unity. Even Nigel Farage. Not really. EU
:02:10. > :02:13.ambassadors were dealing with the migrant crisis with the migrant
:02:14. > :02:20.crisis with a controls for a maximum of six months. New laws apply to the
:02:21. > :02:26.law enforcement agency to set up units to respond immediately to
:02:27. > :02:33.terrorist threats. The trans- Atlantic trade deal could be
:02:34. > :02:38.changed. Remember all that peace and Unity? It came under strain with 11
:02:39. > :02:44.countries disagreeing with the commission over its choice to cancel
:02:45. > :02:56.equal paperwork for Britain's overseas. For the next 30 minutes, I
:02:57. > :03:05.am joined by UKIP NEP Thomas and Arnott and Labour MEP, Richard. The
:03:06. > :03:09.decision by a group of East European governments has been to flash a
:03:10. > :03:13.yellow card over the proposal to level wage differences between local
:03:14. > :03:22.workers and those abroad within the EU. It is hard to make the yellow
:03:23. > :03:27.cards stick? This is the third time it's happened. For those who say
:03:28. > :03:34.there is no democracy in Europe, here it is. A red card would take it
:03:35. > :03:39.one step further. On this issue, Labour wants action to stop
:03:40. > :03:46.exploitation. We will carry on arguing the case. The very fact that
:03:47. > :03:54.there is a democratic debate going on, one I believe we can win, it is
:03:55. > :03:59.a very fundamental principle of equal pay for workers, whichever
:04:00. > :04:04.country they are from. That is big protection for low paid workers in
:04:05. > :04:09.Britain. I expect we can win it, but in a democratic fashion. That is
:04:10. > :04:14.what European politics should be about. What do you say on the
:04:15. > :04:20.ability of European parliaments to deal with what is going on in
:04:21. > :04:24.Brussels? It is the third time it has happened in a number of years.
:04:25. > :04:33.It's a difficult procedure to implement. It takes at least nine
:04:34. > :04:36.countries, all within eight weeks, to get something through their
:04:37. > :04:42.individual parliaments to be able to say to the commission, we want you
:04:43. > :04:46.to think again. On one of those previous occasions when this
:04:47. > :04:50.happens, the commission made it clear that it would go ahead with
:04:51. > :04:55.that kind of thing anyway. You can see that in the European Parliament
:04:56. > :05:01.time and time again. Is that likely to happen again? We will see. But we
:05:02. > :05:08.do need to clamp down on tax evasion, corruption, and Europe
:05:09. > :05:21.needs to have more teeth. You've changed your tactic. Voting to crack
:05:22. > :05:28.down on tax havens, voting against that... ? Nobody is saying that. We
:05:29. > :05:31.are saying we should do that at Westminster as a British government,
:05:32. > :05:38.it is not something that should be done at EU level. We were having a
:05:39. > :05:45.discussion about the democratic issue. I pointed out that this is
:05:46. > :05:52.not that democratic, but then we moved on to the issue instead of the
:05:53. > :06:02.principal. We will see. We sank Jeremy Corbyn for raising the issue
:06:03. > :06:14.in the first place. Moving on. The ?10.3 billion deal to marry the O2
:06:15. > :06:18.network and Three would reshape written's mobile phone market,
:06:19. > :06:33.leaving just three major network operators. The EU Commission had
:06:34. > :06:36.other ideas. -- Britain's. I am joined by our technology
:06:37. > :06:39.correspondence. If this was a merger between two British companies,
:06:40. > :06:46.largely affecting the British market, what is the provenance of
:06:47. > :06:51.Russells in this kind of merger? Deals above a certain level get
:06:52. > :06:56.referred to Brussels. There was another merger that was probably
:06:57. > :07:01.even a bigger deal, but that stayed in Britain because everything about
:07:02. > :07:10.it was happening in Britain. But the two companies are foreign. The
:07:11. > :07:16.Spanish company that owned O2 wanted to get rid of it, and Three is owned
:07:17. > :07:20.by Hutchison. They were both keen to have this case decided in Brussels
:07:21. > :07:27.because they thought Brussels would be kinder to them than our
:07:28. > :07:33.regulator. In the end, of common made its views very strongly known
:07:34. > :07:46.in Brussels. They said they don't really want to go from four
:07:47. > :07:50.operators to three. -- OfCom. Is not a case of this being approved by the
:07:51. > :07:58.British authorities and being overruled by Brussels, this went to
:07:59. > :08:03.Brussels and the British competition authorities are happy with the
:08:04. > :08:09.result? Very happy. They seemed worried that Brussels was going to
:08:10. > :08:13.let this through against their will. Big telecoms are upset about this,
:08:14. > :08:19.they would rather that Europe looked at the market as a whole, how many
:08:20. > :08:23.players there are in the market across Europe rather than just one
:08:24. > :08:31.country. They feel there needs to be some consolidation. They should look
:08:32. > :08:40.at my roaming charges if they want to make more money. What will the
:08:41. > :08:47.companies do now? Is that it for the merger was it probably is, although
:08:48. > :08:55.there is talk of an appeal. The company which owns O2 will look for
:08:56. > :09:08.another partner. There is talk of a virgin's owner coming in to the deal
:09:09. > :09:13.-- Virgin's owner. Is this not good in that it keeps up competition? Is
:09:14. > :09:18.the exact same principle as the previous discussion. We had to go
:09:19. > :09:23.out to Brussels to get an answer for something, and in the end, we have
:09:24. > :09:27.the same thing that OfCom wanted in the first place. I believe that
:09:28. > :09:34.should have been a decision for the UK to take copper whether we have
:09:35. > :09:39.three or four operators in the UK. That is something which should
:09:40. > :09:42.fundamentally be a decision for the British government. The fact that is
:09:43. > :09:49.being decided by Brussels is a fundamental problem. According to
:09:50. > :09:55.Rory, that is where the companies wanted it to be decided. The more
:09:56. > :10:00.general point, the number of mobile phone companies we should have
:10:01. > :10:09.operating in Britain should be a matter for the Brits. This is an
:10:10. > :10:18.issue between the companies. They are good companies. The European
:10:19. > :10:23.Unions should not have a view about that. They have also stepped in and
:10:24. > :10:30.stopped similar mergers recently in Denmark and Italy. Is point is that
:10:31. > :10:38.they shouldn't be doing that either. I can see the point that Brussels
:10:39. > :10:41.getting involved, it may be a European competition, but if this
:10:42. > :10:46.was about the British market should it not have been left to the British
:10:47. > :10:52.authorities? Not that the result would have been any different. He is
:10:53. > :10:59.right to say that this is another great example where what Britain
:11:00. > :11:06.wanted won. And it is in Europe's interests that we have investment in
:11:07. > :11:26.mobile phone technology. With Gordon to four -- 4G, we need competition
:11:27. > :11:30.not consolidation. I have no problem with competition. The UK should be
:11:31. > :11:35.taking those decisions and I believe that the decision would be the
:11:36. > :11:44.correct one. We should have to apply to Brussels to ask. Some of these
:11:45. > :11:51.things are good things, why don't we wake up and recognise it? The
:11:52. > :12:07.average telephone user is paying ?52 less a year on their mobile phone
:12:08. > :12:10.bill because of Europe. If I'm in Switzerland, there are no roaming
:12:11. > :12:19.charges whatsoever. It's called the free market. It is bringing prices
:12:20. > :12:27.down. How much do you paid to be part of the single market? The deal
:12:28. > :12:31.struck between the EU and Turkey in regards to the migrant crisis has
:12:32. > :12:38.had some success. It has contributed to the easing of the flow of people
:12:39. > :12:42.from Turkey to Greece. It hasn't been without controversy. Part of
:12:43. > :12:52.the deal was to give Turkey around 79 million citizens of free access
:12:53. > :12:59.to the EU and the promise of talks regarding Turkey becoming a member
:13:00. > :13:04.of the EU. But there is an issue regarding Turkey's refusal to change
:13:05. > :13:11.their laws on terrorism. Our correspondence is in Strasbourg.
:13:12. > :13:17.Migrants crossing a legally from Turkey to Greece are being sent
:13:18. > :13:23.back. The deal so far has slowed the influx of migrants. For every
:13:24. > :13:27.migrants deported to Turkey, a legitimate Syrian refugee is
:13:28. > :13:31.resettled in the EU. What does Turkey get in return? 3 billion
:13:32. > :13:37.euros in aid and the prospect of visa free travel for its citizens if
:13:38. > :13:40.the country needs certain standards. The question as to whether those
:13:41. > :13:46.have been reached has opened up a gulf between the commission and the
:13:47. > :13:50.European Parliament. The issue was debated in Strasbourg this week.
:13:51. > :13:55.There was agreement that the country is still falling short of the
:13:56. > :14:02.requirement. The majority in this Parliament has stated that we
:14:03. > :14:07.believe, especially in the last 12 months, Turkey is increasingly
:14:08. > :14:11.moving away from meeting European standards, rather than what one
:14:12. > :14:17.would expect from a candidate EU country. We have great concerns in
:14:18. > :14:26.the Parliament when it comes to the rule of law, democracy, press
:14:27. > :14:40.freedom. Fai benchmarks need to be reached by Turkey. -- five. Despite
:14:41. > :14:44.talks between EU officials and Turkish ministers, some MEPs are up
:14:45. > :14:51.in arms about the deal. I think that the best way forward is to put our
:14:52. > :14:59.own house in order. We need to solve the crisis ourselves by putting in
:15:00. > :15:06.place a European border and coastguard, a new European asylum
:15:07. > :15:14.system, new ways for legal migration. Angela Merkel has been
:15:15. > :15:17.accused of prematurely rolling out the red carpet for Turkey in
:15:18. > :15:25.exchange for help with the migrant crisis. Many MEPs here also believe
:15:26. > :15:30.it brings the idea of Turkey's joining of the EU closer. That has
:15:31. > :15:33.been dismissed by members of her political group. She is fighting for
:15:34. > :15:39.a good neighbourhood. She is working on the issue and tries to convince
:15:40. > :15:45.Turkey because Turkey is an important part of Nato. They are
:15:46. > :15:52.important as a neighbour between this area of Syria and Iraq. And it
:15:53. > :15:58.is sceptical of the entire project claim its leaders are deliberately
:15:59. > :15:59.linking the migrant deal with talks of leadership because they are
:16:00. > :16:12.looking beyond the current crisis. TRANSLATION: They want to allow
:16:13. > :16:22.Turkey into the European Union union because it would mean cheaper
:16:23. > :16:27.Labour. Time is running out. This vote on June 28, five days after the
:16:28. > :16:33.UK referendum. The signs are it will be rejected. Turkey 's president has
:16:34. > :16:44.warned that if it does not give the Visa waiver, he will and the
:16:45. > :16:51.migration deal. Is this EU - German deal in danger of unravelling? Is it
:16:52. > :16:57.sustainable doesn't respect human rights? We do not know and we are
:16:58. > :17:03.asking tough questions about it. Do you have to approve it as the
:17:04. > :17:12.Parliament? It is to scrutinise this deal but we are also responsible for
:17:13. > :17:22.some of the cash assistance. It has stopped people dying at sea stop we
:17:23. > :17:28.have to welcome that. It has two help the defenceless in Turkey. Are
:17:29. > :17:35.you worried about it? Of course. Some of the human rights NGOs have
:17:36. > :17:39.pulled out because they do not believe human rights are being
:17:40. > :17:44.respect that. Is there are danger this deal will unravel? Should we
:17:45. > :17:51.have done this deal in the first place? My point of view is the UK
:17:52. > :17:57.needs to leave the EU so what the European Union does with Turkey it
:17:58. > :18:08.is their problem once we are in, I have problems with the amount of
:18:09. > :18:13.money sending. We are sending our lot of money out to those countries
:18:14. > :18:19.to help them join the EU and see that the massive problem. In terms
:18:20. > :18:24.of the deal itself, if the UK were not in the European Union, well, it
:18:25. > :18:33.is matter for the EU to decide what with the UK in our have big
:18:34. > :18:38.problem... It doesn't mean that it is a lot easier for people to get
:18:39. > :18:46.closer to the UK and... But the rules... Is the Visa free waiver
:18:47. > :18:51.from Turks, and only 7 million Turks have passports anyway, it is not 79
:18:52. > :18:55.million going to start going to come, it still does not get them
:18:56. > :19:01.into this country. You saying more Turks would not apply for
:19:02. > :19:07.passports? But that is quite prolonged process. For our long
:19:08. > :19:11.period, the EU rewarded Turkey with assertions that talks and access to
:19:12. > :19:17.the single market as Turkey liberalised and became more modern,
:19:18. > :19:23.more democratic, now it seems to be rewarding Turkey as it becomes more
:19:24. > :19:29.the critique, -- theocratic and less liberal. The minister has been
:19:30. > :19:36.shunted out who did the deal. The president might be putting in one of
:19:37. > :19:40.his relatives as Prime Minister. And possibly wants to change the
:19:41. > :19:45.Constitution to have more power in his hand. I am not going to hide
:19:46. > :19:51.these concerns but it is not simply the humanitarian case but in
:19:52. > :20:01.economic terms it is cheaper to help refugees are where they are now.
:20:02. > :20:06.This is along term issue. Ukip Radek campaign saying millions of Turks
:20:07. > :20:20.were becoming end but it is not true. -- brand campaign. You cannot
:20:21. > :20:29.believe the claims. No one is saying that many people. No he did not.
:20:30. > :20:36.Look, if Turkey joined the European Union, and more chapters are open,
:20:37. > :20:41.eventually there will be the free movement right that anyone from
:20:42. > :20:46.Turkey who wishes to come to the UK could come and that would be A
:20:47. > :20:51.significant number. Provided we did not veto it and the French did not
:20:52. > :20:57.referendum. But things I would suggest... We have British veto
:20:58. > :21:02.against Turkey joining is something that is going to happen only... It
:21:03. > :21:09.only takes one point two scare people. But the problem with vetoes
:21:10. > :21:18.is that once you give veto, you cannot give it back. You have to
:21:19. > :21:25.trust Jeremy Corbyn... Only recently the Prime Minister used to be big
:21:26. > :21:27.fan of Turkey joining. We move onto Portugal because it was third
:21:28. > :21:37.country to have to ask for bail after Greece and Ireland. --
:21:38. > :21:42.bailout. It is still facing low growth and struggling to bounce its
:21:43. > :21:58.books. We went there to find out more.
:21:59. > :22:18.(MUSIC PLAYING). I suppose this is Portugal's burning ham, its second
:22:19. > :22:25.biggest city. ?62 billion were given on condition they made cuts to
:22:26. > :22:31.public spending. That was two years ago, but is everything signed? Not
:22:32. > :22:37.according to these under employed architects who now host walking
:22:38. > :22:45.tours with A bailout scheme. First new hotel. We are not blaming this
:22:46. > :22:49.hotel in particular or even the hotel people because that is not the
:22:50. > :22:58.issue but this hotel had over 5 billion euros in tax money. There is
:22:59. > :23:01.not the debate on this in Portugal. There is no general conversation
:23:02. > :23:07.about what we are supposed to do with the tax money. Instead, they
:23:08. > :23:12.would rather see this old car parks factory spruced up for the benefit
:23:13. > :23:18.of locals. That could be an informal school, someplace to take care of
:23:19. > :23:29.your bikes over there, I workshop for metal... I am an optimist. There
:23:30. > :23:32.are a lot of empty shops but the thing that upset this to the most is
:23:33. > :23:38.how many of their friends have emigrated. I feel sad that so many
:23:39. > :23:41.people had to go. That I do not like, I do not think it is smart as
:23:42. > :23:47.the country logic. We are desperately needing the same people
:23:48. > :23:55.we lost. That makes me sad... The rest is not so right politics.
:23:56. > :24:09.Things are looking much rosier here, they are in some port brands which
:24:10. > :24:16.and it is the company that has done OK. We bought businesses, launched
:24:17. > :24:22.businesses. People thought I was insane when I launched business in
:24:23. > :24:28.the middle of the crisis in 2010 by people want to travel, explore, and
:24:29. > :24:33.this is what you can do in Portugal. Recession is tough but it is in
:24:34. > :24:35.those environments where good businesses tend to do well and the
:24:36. > :24:47.weaker businesses tend to be weeded out. Politics is no more of
:24:48. > :24:49.complicated cocktail. The European Commission keeping close eye on what
:24:50. > :24:59.is going on. In the eurozone crisis never quite
:25:00. > :25:06.goes away. At least the plan for the people most did. They struck up the
:25:07. > :25:10.good relationship with British Labour and they have minority
:25:11. > :25:15.government that is going to be out of the row about scheme this year
:25:16. > :25:20.and which has replaced the Conservative government, they have
:25:21. > :25:26.brought in all the cuts but it is better news story than you think. We
:25:27. > :25:28.shall see. That is it for now. Thank you for joining us and come back and
:25:29. > :25:30.see you soon. Bye-bye.