:00:00. > :00:00.entrance test for Nigeria's immigration service. Now time for
:00:00. > :00:49.Politics Europe. Hello and welcome to Politics
:00:50. > :00:52.Europe. On today's programme, as the American and Russian foreign
:00:53. > :00:58.ministers meet in London the West underlines the threat of sanctions
:00:59. > :01:01.against Vladimir Putin. Following the Edward Snowden spying
:01:02. > :01:07.revelations, the EU Parliament agree sweeping new rules on data
:01:08. > :01:11.protection. A triumph for individual freedom or just more red tape? MEPs
:01:12. > :01:16.agree that mobile phone charges should be standard across the EU but
:01:17. > :01:25.will phone companies sign up to the plan? Do you have what it takes to
:01:26. > :01:28.become a top bureaucrat in the EU? We have the lowdown on what it takes
:01:29. > :01:38.to get into the European civil service. All that is to come. Here
:01:39. > :01:51.is our guide to the latest goings-on in Europe. Ahead of Sunday 's
:01:52. > :01:59.referendum in Crimea, Germany warned that Russia faced economic damage if
:02:00. > :02:02.it did not ease up tensions. Ed Milliband promised a referendum on
:02:03. > :02:07.EU membership but only if the EU was asked to transfer more powers to
:02:08. > :02:13.Brussels. George Soros, the man who helped break the pound, told the BBC
:02:14. > :02:19.that the EU may not survive its long-lasting stagnation. MEPs voted
:02:20. > :02:26.to introduce a common charge for all mobile phones and, finally, good
:02:27. > :02:31.news for the vice president of the European commission after a cottage
:02:32. > :02:34.pie that she bought in England was nicked. The Mac I have a lot of
:02:35. > :02:38.offers from people who said that their mother makes the best cottage
:02:39. > :02:40.pie in Great Britain so I will send one to you. People were unhappy that
:02:41. > :03:01.it was stolen. Who could have thought a cottage pie
:03:02. > :03:12.could cause such problems? Welcome to both of my guests. As you head
:03:13. > :03:18.towards the European elections, is the Parliament beginning to run
:03:19. > :03:24.down? You could say we are beginning to step up. We have more reports
:03:25. > :03:30.this week than normal, and when we meet in Strasbourg next month we
:03:31. > :03:36.will have a lot of work to do. There is a lot of legislation to be
:03:37. > :03:41.cleared. When you go down? We start in Easter and will go on until May
:03:42. > :03:47.22. What did you make of some people who have been saying that in the UK
:03:48. > :03:54.the Lib Dems could be wiped out at the EU elections? We will not be
:03:55. > :03:59.wiped out. Every party will suffer from the expected surge in the UKIP
:04:00. > :04:07.vote. Labour will suffer less than the Conservatives and the Lib Dems
:04:08. > :04:11.at we have to be out there fighting the case was staying in the EU and
:04:12. > :04:16.trying to face down the narrow nationalists in the UKIP. What is a
:04:17. > :04:21.good result for the Conservatives? Will focus on our agenda for reform
:04:22. > :04:26.and people need to know that if you want a referendum on EU then there
:04:27. > :04:31.is one party that will give you that choice. That will not be determined
:04:32. > :04:35.by voting in the EU elections. David Cameron has made it clear how
:04:36. > :04:40.important European elections are. Whether people like it or not the EU
:04:41. > :04:45.parliament has equal power over its member governments and that shows
:04:46. > :04:50.how important the role of MEPs is. If you want a good citizen so that
:04:51. > :04:53.it MEPs pushing the agenda for reform, vote for us. We will
:04:54. > :05:01.continue pushing the agenda for reform. John Kerry has met with his
:05:02. > :05:05.Russian counterpart in London in a final efforts to broker a deal on
:05:06. > :05:11.the deepening crisis in Ukraine. The talks, head of a referendum on
:05:12. > :05:15.Crimea on Sunday were residents of the region, largely ethnic Russian,
:05:16. > :05:22.although there are other minorities to, decide whether or not to join
:05:23. > :05:28.the Russian Federation. Here is a gloomy sounding Foreign Secretary,
:05:29. > :05:33.William Hague. The fact that Russia so far has not taken any action to
:05:34. > :05:37.de-escalate tension is makes this a formidable difficult tasks today and
:05:38. > :05:47.I think therefore we have to be realistic about that. In the absence
:05:48. > :05:53.of progress today, the EU and the United Kingdom will move to further
:05:54. > :05:59.measures as we have already agreed. If there is no diplomatic way
:06:00. > :06:09.forward, we will do that. We are joined from Cambridge by a Labour
:06:10. > :06:17.MEP. She has led a move to impose sections on Russia. In the world of
:06:18. > :06:23.politics it seems clear that Crimea is lost and that it is back as part
:06:24. > :06:30.of Russia again. Do you agree? We cannot agree because the invasion of
:06:31. > :06:34.Russia was clearly against international law... The invasion of
:06:35. > :06:42.Crimea you mean. You would call it an invasion? Yes. The EU parliament
:06:43. > :06:47.proposed a resolution that called it an invasion. If we ever decide to
:06:48. > :06:53.come to a deal which then recognises this change, that is an imitation
:06:54. > :06:55.not just a Vladimir Putin that is an imitation not just a Vladimir Putin
:06:56. > :07:02.but to others around the world to will happen with Crimea is that it
:07:03. > :07:07.will turn into another of the frozen conflicts that we see in Eastern
:07:08. > :07:10.Europe and Central Asia. I stood in Georgia after the Russian invasion,
:07:11. > :07:19.looking across the borderline at 3000 Russian troops so I know what
:07:20. > :07:24.it looks like and there is a huge fear and therefore we cannot accept
:07:25. > :07:29.this annexation of Crimea. Of course, 8500 troops on the borders
:07:30. > :07:35.with Ukraine are there and Moscow statement this morning talked about
:07:36. > :07:41.their right to defend their Russian compatriots. We must therefore fear
:07:42. > :07:45.action in eastern Ukraine as well. Is it going on in two stages?
:07:46. > :07:53.Assuming that the referendum goes Russia's way, whether or not it is
:07:54. > :08:00.democratic or not we can put aside for the moment, and the Russians say
:08:01. > :08:07.that they have done it and we will accept the will of the Crimean
:08:08. > :08:12.people, what should Europe to? It is an illegitimate referendum against
:08:13. > :08:23.Ukrainian constitution where there is not even an option for that move.
:08:24. > :08:28.It is being held at the barrel of a gun. What is Europe to? Europe has
:08:29. > :08:33.already said that if the referendum is ahead there must be more
:08:34. > :08:37.consequences. What worries me about that is that when they make the sort
:08:38. > :08:41.of statements, when John Kerry talks about 11 power talks, we hope it
:08:42. > :08:46.succeeds but there was no sign whatsoever on the ground that this
:08:47. > :08:53.referendum would not go ahead. As you say, the result is a foregone
:08:54. > :08:58.conclusion. It will be boycotted by opponents. We know the result
:08:59. > :09:02.already. I am deeply worried that this sort of pressure it that we
:09:03. > :09:08.have heard from William Hague but other European foreign ministers
:09:09. > :09:11.to, talking about consequences has not been followed through by
:09:12. > :09:15.actions. On Monday there will be a move towards greater sanctions but
:09:16. > :09:20.when we saw that Korea unfortunate incident whether private Downing
:09:21. > :09:25.Street brief was photographed and made public, I have been asked in
:09:26. > :09:28.meetings at Brussels this week is Cameron more interested in defending
:09:29. > :09:34.Russian banks in London or will he go ahead and support asset freezes?
:09:35. > :09:39.I do not believe that it is motivation, I hope it is not, but
:09:40. > :09:43.that is what is being asked? That is embarrassing and Downing Street that
:09:44. > :09:53.the bigger issue is whether Angela Merkel is prepared to go ahead and
:09:54. > :09:56.risk the gas being cut off. Her speech was absolutely right this
:09:57. > :10:01.week but I think she missed a trick. She should have gone stricter Moscow
:10:02. > :10:05.when this happened in exactly the way that the French president did so
:10:06. > :10:10.when the Russians went into Georgia. Had she done that and banker fist on
:10:11. > :10:14.the table, because Germany is so important for Russian trade, she
:10:15. > :10:20.might have secured something. Instead we have left it for the
:10:21. > :10:26.Americans and I hope that the talks will come to something, but if they
:10:27. > :10:33.don't we have to put sanctions in place. Let me bring in your fellow
:10:34. > :10:41.MEP here. Are we ready for this? Are we operate? If we do bring in tough
:10:42. > :10:47.sanctions, are we really ready for Russia than to say that the gas
:10:48. > :10:53.pipeline is being cut off as Mac are we ready for the Kremlin, which can
:10:54. > :11:06.be ruthless, to say OK then we will take over the BP assets in Russia
:11:07. > :11:16.and the oxide and car plant. -- VW plant. This is not a game of Risk,
:11:17. > :11:22.it is the 21st century. There should be serious consequences for this
:11:23. > :11:29.kind of action. If we act against Russia with economic sanctions, are
:11:30. > :11:33.we ready for retaliatory action on our European economic assets in
:11:34. > :11:37.Russia? Have to look at the consequences of what being
:11:38. > :11:42.announced. If you look at the Russian stock market it has fallen.
:11:43. > :11:49.Today's newspaper showed that there will be a doubling in after capital
:11:50. > :11:53.in Russia. It is already starting to hurt and further sanctions will hurt
:11:54. > :11:58.Russia more. That's go to our colleague in Cambridge. I would
:11:59. > :12:02.suggest to you that Crimea is already lost, it is a done deal, and
:12:03. > :12:08.that the big challenge now is with the mobilisation of the Russian army
:12:09. > :12:11.on the Ukrainian border, with Russian television spewing out
:12:12. > :12:18.regular propaganda that there has been a fascist takeover in Ukraine,
:12:19. > :12:22.that radicals look like they have arrived in the East as well, but
:12:23. > :12:30.that the issue will be what happens if and when Russia takes is Ukraine
:12:31. > :12:42.as well? Angela Merkel has become the bugbear in the media but she and
:12:43. > :12:47.the others, that group has said that they want to move towards Ukraine
:12:48. > :12:52.having a membership prospective for the European Union. We are talking
:12:53. > :12:56.about an agreement in which Ukraine could potentially joining the EU
:12:57. > :13:01.eventually. The idea that Germany is blocking sanctions, I do not agree.
:13:02. > :13:06.There is a huge Cold War frenzy on both sides. Colleagues from the
:13:07. > :13:11.Baltic states, Estonia for example, are worried that NATO will not stand
:13:12. > :13:18.by its defence commitment to them. On the Russian side, we are talking
:13:19. > :13:23.about this phrase, defend our compatriots, people killed in the
:13:24. > :13:29.demonstrations... I understand all that but what will you do? We have
:13:30. > :13:36.to be ready. We have to ensure that when politicians in Europe threatens
:13:37. > :13:41.serious consequences, they will follow them through. The rhetoric
:13:42. > :13:45.from reporting in Russia today, they called the EU like the wizard of
:13:46. > :13:53.Oz, that it pretends it has power but in reality it is weak. I call
:13:54. > :13:59.for the foreign ministers meeting on Monday to make good those
:14:00. > :14:03.commitments so that we can see real action in terms of these bands,
:14:04. > :14:08.asset freezes, and other sanctions that really show that it written
:14:09. > :14:17.that our words mean something in reality. We have to leave it there.
:14:18. > :14:25.What would we do if the Kremlin freezes European assets? We still
:14:26. > :14:34.have not had an answer to that. How do we protect our sons on the? It
:14:35. > :14:36.all comes out after revelations from Edward Snowden which claimed
:14:37. > :14:42.governments use mobile phones against like Angry Hurts to spy on
:14:43. > :14:48.us. -- ourselves. Tim Berners-Lee says the UK needs to go further than
:14:49. > :14:54.EU regulations to come with --, with a Bill of Rights. We have downloaded
:14:55. > :15:02.this report from Alex Forsyth who has been to Strasbourg to
:15:03. > :15:06.investigate. The internet is embedded in our
:15:07. > :15:11.daily lives. Every minute, billions of its of data is shared as we play
:15:12. > :15:18.and shop online. There have been reports about how our information is
:15:19. > :15:21.used. Particularly allegations that some agencies have been collecting
:15:22. > :15:26.fast quantities of data from e-mails, web cams and even the games
:15:27. > :15:32.we play on our phones. It has all caused concern. My private life is
:15:33. > :15:41.my private life and that is the main problem with Facebook. If everybody
:15:42. > :15:45.has access to my personal information that is not good. There
:15:46. > :15:56.is not a lot of information about security. When I use use the
:15:57. > :16:03.internet I want to know that my online data is not being followed.
:16:04. > :16:07.There is the need for more privacy on the one hand and secondly, growth
:16:08. > :16:12.on the internet, which is where the future lies. In future we will be
:16:13. > :16:17.buying and selling more and we want to do it safely. Firms will need
:16:18. > :16:20.permission to share your data and there will be large fines for anyone
:16:21. > :16:24.who breaks the rules, under this new law. They would need consent for
:16:25. > :16:28.profiling, when they use your information to build a picture of
:16:29. > :16:33.your life for things like targeted advertising. You have the right to
:16:34. > :16:40.have your data raised from the internet if wanted. If you want a
:16:41. > :16:45.digital market, which we need, you need to put this regulation in place
:16:46. > :16:50.as quickly as possible. That will be good for companies and it will
:16:51. > :16:55.preserve our data protection as a fundamental right. This week,
:16:56. > :17:01.regulation has had backing from EU parliament. It has taken two years
:17:02. > :17:03.to get here. Now, details will be negotiated between member states
:17:04. > :17:10.before implementation. That won't be easy. The UK has warned too much
:17:11. > :17:14.prescriptive red tape could cost businesses up to ?320 million each
:17:15. > :17:18.year, some in Europe are keen to make sure that does not happen. Low
:17:19. > :17:23.we are part of a single market so we should be part of a single set of
:17:24. > :17:32.rules. But we are at early stages. --. We need to look at the detail
:17:33. > :17:38.and ensure the report -- regulation is sustainable. There has not been a
:17:39. > :17:47.smooth path, this legislation being some of the most amended in history.
:17:48. > :17:58.It tax firms say it it is an workable. 60 universities have
:17:59. > :18:04.signed and said it will be harder to do research. They have access to
:18:05. > :18:09.data which is historic and abroad and they don't know the identities
:18:10. > :18:14.of individuals. Despite concerns, this advertisement from the EU makes
:18:15. > :18:18.clear that no one wants to feel exposed online. -- European
:18:19. > :18:23.Commission. These laws date from 1995, when just 1% of us were on the
:18:24. > :18:27.internet. There is support for a streamlined regulation for the whole
:18:28. > :18:36.of Europe. Getting agreement as to how that works will be hard.
:18:37. > :18:41.The European telecommunications network is against this, the GSM is
:18:42. > :18:47.against this, the French consumer groups are worried, Digital Europe
:18:48. > :18:51.is worried, is anyone backing this? If you talk to some of the people
:18:52. > :18:54.who look forward to the new services, they say that the current
:18:55. > :19:00.data protection laws date from before the internet H. They clearly
:19:01. > :19:04.need to be updated. -- internet age. We need the balance between
:19:05. > :19:08.making sure this internet will take off and we have innovation, but also
:19:09. > :19:12.ensuring people are comfortable with the data that is being shared.
:19:13. > :19:20.Achieving that Allens is important, and we are not there yet. -- that
:19:21. > :19:24.balance. We need to work towards the right balance between security on
:19:25. > :19:29.the one hand and data being used for if citing services. It has been
:19:30. > :19:35.commended 3999 times. Do you know what you are doing? I'm not sure how
:19:36. > :19:40.that figure is calculated. Neither am I. You have people speaking 22
:19:41. > :19:50.different languages in the EU parliament so that means you divided
:19:51. > :19:54.by 22 and you get... (CROSSTALK). There are talk about it being too
:19:55. > :19:58.vague, there being legitimate interest, something that is too
:19:59. > :20:03.broad a definition. Are not sure it is. It has been used in the last
:20:04. > :20:09.tata protection law. It is difficult to strike the right balance between
:20:10. > :20:13.allowing people to innovate and ensuring people's data is protected.
:20:14. > :20:19.There is no doubt that there are now people wishing to sell goods or
:20:20. > :20:22.services who are targeting profile -- and profiling customers on the
:20:23. > :20:29.basis of where they go, the spending habit and so on. That is, to my
:20:30. > :20:34.mind, and unacceptable abuse of individual data. Winnie to educate
:20:35. > :20:39.consumers that when they the deep -- data online, they should be aware
:20:40. > :20:45.that information will be used. -- we need to. I have the idea that the
:20:46. > :20:51.public is more idea about this than those in lamenting the law. A data
:20:52. > :20:58.protection Officer or officers will need to be implemented. I thought
:20:59. > :21:02.you were after less regulation. That is something we are concerned about
:21:03. > :21:07.and that is why we are at the early stage --officers. This has to be
:21:08. > :21:16.discussed between the 28 member states. It shows we need to be
:21:17. > :21:29.conservative and not cut off regulation. This won't stop the NSA
:21:30. > :21:33.or GCHQ spying ? Nick Clegg is right when he said we need a thorough
:21:34. > :21:37.review of what is being done with peoples individual data. In
:21:38. > :21:44.particular, mass surveillance. -- people's. Fancy working for the EU?
:21:45. > :21:49.One of the regular competitions to become a EU civil servant is open
:21:50. > :21:56.for applications. It is a famously tough multilingual process. How hard
:21:57. > :22:03.is it to become a Eurocrat? Here is Adam with the latest to Z of Europe
:22:04. > :22:10.were R is for recruitment. -- A to Z.
:22:11. > :22:15.To get here, most officials go through an infamous multistage,
:22:16. > :22:20.multilingual process called the Common core. I am going to get a
:22:21. > :22:29.taster. Here at the EU's recruitment agency. -- commcore. The
:22:30. > :22:39.institutions have hired between 1.5 and 2000 per year. Applicants tended
:22:40. > :22:45.to him ten to 70,000. Applications. It is less gruelling than it used to
:22:46. > :22:53.be. Until 2010, they used to be a test of EU knowledge. This was
:22:54. > :22:57.criticised. In our modernisation of the selection process, it was
:22:58. > :23:00.something we abolished. Those questions were very specialised
:23:01. > :23:05.sometimes. They changed rapidly and you could only prepare for the test
:23:06. > :23:09.if you are already here, for example. I could do with some
:23:10. > :23:13.preparation and there is an industry dedicated to that. This Russell 's
:23:14. > :23:22.bookshop has a section devoted to passing that test. -- Brussels. What
:23:23. > :23:28.is it you want in your life? This woman coaches hopefuls for the. If I
:23:29. > :23:39.was trying to get through the process what should I be focusing
:23:40. > :23:44.on? -- for a fee. I would rephrase that, if I want to go through the
:23:45. > :23:52.process. There is a different energy. Slightly or could pep talk
:23:53. > :23:57.over, it is test time. A mix of reasoning, maths and logic. Done by
:23:58. > :24:01.the computer. I will do the first part in my mother tongue. Unlike
:24:02. > :24:05.everyone else, I am missing part to comment because you have to do it in
:24:06. > :24:13.a second language and my French is a little bit rusty. It says I will
:24:14. > :24:17.need to work quickly and accurately. Which of the following
:24:18. > :24:22.statements... According to a large-scale study... Chlorophyll
:24:23. > :24:29.plank and energy... An hour later, and I am done. All I can say is that
:24:30. > :24:35.it was very intense. You are against the clock. The questions are very
:24:36. > :24:41.tough. And, you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself. I got the
:24:42. > :24:45.results a feud aid later. I got it at the Amsterdam airport. If I get
:24:46. > :24:48.through, I will have another day of exercises and even then I will only
:24:49. > :24:58.go into a recruitment pool with no guarantee of a job. So? Happy to
:24:59. > :25:01.confirm you did well, 28/40. I think they are just being nice because
:25:02. > :25:04.they go on to say I would not have passed most of the competition that
:25:05. > :25:12.they run but they may have passed one of the easy ones. Well. I think
:25:13. > :25:15.we can all agree we have not had to sit that test. How would you rate
:25:16. > :25:20.the quality of the EU civil servants you have to deal with? Roy
:25:21. > :25:31.Janssens, after being president of the commission said, he had
:25:32. > :25:39.brilliant and useless people. The test needs to be tough. If you pass
:25:40. > :25:44.the test, you in one of the Chris Houston jobs in the public service.
:25:45. > :25:53.The conditions makes Humphries look modest. That is all we have thank
:25:54. > :26:08.you for being my guest. Goodbye. -- that is all we have time for.
:26:09. > :26:16.Sunday should be a decent day for most of us. It will be a breezy day
:26:17. > :26:24.across northern parts of the country. Across Scotland we have had
:26:25. > :26:25.windy weather. Wins across the north of