a warm welcome for plans to strengthen europe's economy. france's president emmanuel macron is in germany for talks to bolster the single market. "we can move down" — the ecb's chief economist says the bank is ready to start cutting rates. and up on stage, keep calm — we'll look at the technology helping musicians cope with stage fright. welcome to business today, i'm mark lobel. let's start in germany where the french president emmanuel macron is on the second day of a state visit. he's there to meet chancellor olaf scholz for talks aimed at stregthening the eu's economy and help it catch up with the us and china. also on the agenda, the two european

heavyweights will be talking about plans for an eu capital markets union, in order to get investments and savings flowing across member states. however negotiations over these plans have stalled for nearly a decade because eu members do not want to relinquish control of national financial rules. so how close is the so—called single market for capital to becoming a reality? here's vim mice, ceo of the european banking federation in brussels with his thoughts. this, like many things in europe, it doesn't come with a big bang. it is usually part by part by part going forward. but it is so important that there is talk. it's not only the talk of macron and schulz, it is also the eurogroup who has been talking about it. there are several high—level reports that really want to make this real. what's so important is that we really get a move on and the practical side, because we've done all the analysis, we've done all the regulation, and now we need to move onward. as everybody sees that we need

to invest in a more sustainable future, which is billions and billions of money needed, we want to keep bright people in our digital transition in europe rather than have them move to other parts of the world. we need to spend more on defence. you really need to invest. it's that political momentum that i think will see some result. nicola veron is from the bruegel institute. he told me about the potential benefits of an eu capital markets initiative. financial system integration will not happen in one day so it is a long—term structural policy, but indeed it could have very significant impact for europe to finance innovation, finance investment projects. also finance urgent needs like climate transition and especially defence in the current geopolitical context. so this policy agenda has to be taken seriously. it remains to be seen, of course, what will be decided. but it is positive that there

is change in the air. the european central bank has suggested it will cut interest rates from historic hights next week. in an interview with the financial times, its chief economist philip lane gave a clear signal about what to expect. he said: "barring major surprises, at this point in time there is enough in what we see to remove the top level of restriction." if that goes ahead, the ecb would be one of the first major banks to cut rates, with others including the bank of england and the federal reserve holding on for now. joining me now is justin urquhart—stewart, founder of regionally, an investment platform. ijust i just wanted to start with why the ecb's chief economist is signalling so publicly about this possible cut in interest rates and what those major surprises that could dislodge it could be. ~ . , , ., .,

it could be. what he is trying to do is net to it could be. what he is trying to do is get to that _ it could be. what he is trying to do is get to that magic _ it could be. what he is trying to do is get to that magic word - it could be. what he is trying to do is get to that magic word which - it could be. what he is trying to do is get to that magic word which is. is get to that magic word which is confidence. at the moment what you've got is interest rates have been high compared to what people have been used to. what the —— but they want the economy to keep going and by doing that you get the consumer to be happy about moving or getting out and spending. if you can do that that is a positive sign stop the worrying thing that bit he was concerned about, is what happens if we have what we had last year which was problems with supply chains, that some of those base costs going up, because we are in a rather strange position where governments are pushing up interest, or central banks are putting up interest rates, to fight inflation. that inflation would normally be for the consumer. that is why it was so strange last year. putting up interest rates for the wrong reasons. however interest

rates should come down now, they can easily come down by a quarter or half. they could easily do a quarter percent and that would actually have a direct impact on the ability to go out and spend money. it a direct impact on the ability to go out and spend money.— a direct impact on the ability to go out and spend money. it would have a direct impact — out and spend money. it would have a direct impact on _ out and spend money. it would have a direct impact on a _ out and spend money. it would have a direct impact on a couple _ out and spend money. it would have a direct impact on a couple of— out and spend money. it would have a direct impact on a couple of things - direct impact on a couple of things because the president of the ecb says the ecb, in her words, is not fed dependent but the last time the ecb cut rates before the fed was in 2011, and before then it was 1999. that lag could lead to a risk on growth and inflation. it that lag could lead to a risk on growth and inflation.— that lag could lead to a risk on growth and inflation. it could. the ecb looks to _ growth and inflation. it could. the ecb looks to the _ growth and inflation. it could. the ecb looks to the americans - growth and inflation. it could. the ecb looks to the americans to - growth and inflation. it could. the| ecb looks to the americans to lead rather than say, actually, we can do something for ourselves. i think they are being a bit weak over this. they can cut those rates quite straightforwardly. that would have a better impact, especially in terms of investment, and would want companies going up and spending.

that is what you are seeing at the moment, a lot more companies holding back on their expenditure. a little improvement in that could go a long way to see movements in the growth of the economy, which we are seeing — it is tiny amount. you want to get a stage where you are dealing with half a percent growth. if you can do that within the next six months then you see some sensible changes. for now, thanks very much. africa faces its worst debt crisis in a generation, according to the charity christian aid. a majority of african nations are spending more on servicing debt than on health or education — or sometimes both. that's partly down to soaring interest rates and a strong us dollar. this week, the african development bank's annual meeting takes place and decision makers will consider how financial institutions can and should support economic growth and transition on the continent. our africa business correspondent jewel kireeungi has more. one of the key things that will be

discussed at these meetings is the issue of debt. a majority of countries in africa are facing significant financial challenges and they will be discussing how to elevate some of these debt scenarios that they have been seeing playing out. global economic issues have had a direct impact on african economies. we've seen global high interest rates being translated into the loans that african countries are taking from these countries. we have seen issues such as the covid—19 pandemic still having ripple effects in many economies across africa. so it's a myriad of challenges, both at the global economic level, as well as individual country—specific issues. now, have you ever suffered from stage fright? that nightmare of waking up on stage, unprepared, with powerful lights shining in your eyes or on live tv, with hundreds or maybe thousands of people staring at you with great expectations.

it can be a nerve wracking experience. but, deep breath, new technology may soon help control nerves on stage and help artists prepare for the big moment. click�*s spencer kelly visited the royal college of music to see how a new performance laboratory is putting musicians through an emotional rollercoaster. vocal warm-up. places, please, places. ok, they're ready for you. good luck. thank you. your heart is racing. the adrenaline is flowing. this is your moment. it's time to conquer your nerves, face the crowd and let all that practice pay off.

some say it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert and, forjosephine shaw, this performance is part of thatjourney as she blows our socks off with a rendition of sweeter than roses to a very unusual audience. i've always loved singing. my parents say i was a bit of an annoying child growing up. i was making lots of weird noises and apparently would hum myself to sleep! so eventually they were, like, let's put this into something useful and got me some singing lessons. talk to me about nerves. do you get them and how do you get over them? yeah, i get nerves all the time. getting over them, it's

always a tricky balance. sometimes the adrenalin helps you, but also you don't want the nerves to affect your singing or your technique if you're getting all tense. researchers here at the royal college of music in london say that practising and then performing is very different to practising performing. so, while it's difficult to get regular access to the real theatres and venues, they can simulate the experience here in their performance laboratory. that simulation begins before they step out into the lights. one of the things we've learned from our research is that our body's stress response to performance can be as, if not more powerful backstage than it is on stage. it's that anticipation of performance where anxiety can really hit. this helps us tailor our training to make sure we're not only preparing them for what happens on stage, under the lights, in front of the audience's eyes, but also how

they're coping backstage. how do they manage that anxiety? how do they get themselves physically and mentally into a place where they're ready to walk out on stage and give their best performance? once the students are on stage, george waddell can control everything. he can change the venue. he can change the reaction to make the night go as well or as badly as he wants. the performance laboratory is running in unreal engine, the video game software. each member of the audience is an individual video games character. they all behave independently and they don't all always show up. i got lucky tonight! what's really interesting about this space as well is there are 64 speakers hidden in the walls and ceiling, so if you change the venue, that changes the acoustics, which forces you to change your performance.

after raising another 6 billion from investors the funding from silicon valley investors will be used to take its first product to market, build advanced infrastructure and accelerate research and development for future technologies. qatar airways says it has launched an internal investigation after six passengers and six crew were injured during severe turbulence on a flight from doha to ireland. the qatar airways boeing 787 was met by emergency services when it landed shortly after midday on sunday at dublin airport. the incident comes just five days after a 73—year—old man died during severe turbulence on a singapore airlines flight. stay with us here on bbc news and keep up to date with all your business news at bbc.com or on the news app, including more on the severe turbulence incident that involved a singapore airlines flight last tuesday. you're up to date for now.

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hello from the bbc sport centre. let's start with tennis because it is day two of the french open and it's so far so good for the big names in early action in a drizzly paris. top seed iga swiatek is bidding for a fourth title in five years at roland garros and underlined herfavourites tag with a crushing 6—1, 6—2 victory over home qualifier lolia jea njean. swiatek wrapped up the win in just 61 minutes to setup a mouthwatering second round clash with unseeded four—time grand slam champion naomi osaka. number eight seed ons jabeur, who made the the quarter finals last year, tookjust under an hour and a half to win her match against sachia vickery of the usa. jabeur�*s had injury issues this year — before coming to paris she'd only won six matches and lost nine.