life story may have ground to a halt. 27 years ago but there's no holding back his dreams. thank you for watching. cinema starts may 27th on g.w. . spoke even europe. is here on the wrong.

what does the general public think about the e.u. these days. how do you feel about the e.u. portion if the rules are decided over our heads and just imposed on us simply britain wants to leave the e.u. would you like germany to leave the truth absolutely and we should go back to the dutch mark it would be an interesting what's the most common preconception about the e.u. that you hear most for you know that every country does its own thing we don't really have any you. would be i'm horrified by developments such as breakfast and what's happening in hungary you know it's not good that every country does its own thing on its own right now i have my doubts about it and it's why for those people are fed up with the e.u. . the most often heard objections are germany is the use paymaster. the e.u. is too weak true. he is too interfering.

is a bureaucratic monster. ok doesn't even ok we're going to see if there's any truth to these ideas let's go on further. by the idea. and well with an electric scooter already approved in some new countries and soon to be out in traffic in germany to. we're planning to sound out opinions not just here but also in italy poland and possibles. i take the train to hamburg to investigate the idea that germany is the paymaster that other people we surveyed put it. in my opinion we're paying for countries that aren't giving anything themselves just taking germany is financially robust and has good economic growth rate allin the but there are other countries that don't and they benefit from us and we're bailing out the southern european countries with it going to be division of the middle countries like greece

need to be helped out that takes effort and no one feels like it. without its supports germany would never have become one of the world's leading exportations. the cord a combo of is one of germany's main hubs of goods handling let's start by crunching the numbers. according to the european commission in 2017 germany was the biggest net contributor to the e.u. . a 10700000000 euro small to brussels than in back. written france italy and sweden also paid more into the budget than talkback. i'm eating and go it's not. born and bred in hamburg former s.p.

politician and party spokesman for the maritime economy and now co c.e.o. of port of hamburg marketing. of that we've made it a little longer that was quite a climb. just to see some people complain that germany is the e.u.'s paymaster and they're not wrong the fact is that on balance germany pays more money to brussels than any other member state do you understand why people get annoyed about that and consider it unfair. tax of germany is the strongest economy in the e.u. people might complain but it's not justified germany gets a lot back or journals if you recall the simple fact alone that we're on the euro zone means there are no currency barriers to trading with various other countries as europe's number one export nation that's a major advantage. for example the hamburg port also serves as

a port for the czech republic we handle $500000.00 containers that are czech so we also benefit from the czech export economy and what the czech republic imports from china for example. that sounds impressive close to 25 percent of jobs in germany depends on exports in recent years the country's foreign trade balance has showed a record surpluses. so germany is an excellent economic shape but what about other countries that are less well off. i'm off to italy i'm going to explore the dark side of the e.u. along with the widely held idea that the e.u. is too weak. the mediterranean no longer seems so a delay in the last 3 years an estimated. 10000 people have lost their lives trying

to cross it many of those who survived the journey ended up here in a prayer. why can't the e.u. solve this crisis what's the situation like today. for years refugees have been trying to reach italy by the mediterranean the e.u. has failed to relocate them evenly across the member states and italy has been largely left alone with the crisis far right populist seize the moment and were voted into power now the government has closed its alist pause as a result the number of refugees arriving in spain quadrupled in 2018 to 40000 feet . last. i'm eating even sunny he used to pick tomatoes as a day laborer now he lives a moment campaigns against the exploitation of refugees in southern this lease agricultural sector. is going to show me a guest house for refugees he caught on living as day laborers.

but for the many of the harvest workers live in the ghetto because they hope to find work in the fields in the ghettos of last places cities within the city that by desperation and crime. it up what a lot of the. problems on tells me that the mafia is involved in aspects forces of sr. so called up what adi act is intermediaries controlling the migrant workers often forcibly. the cost of transporting food and water is deducted from their wages leaving them with as little as $3.00 euros 50 a day. and a lot of the tomatoes they pick exported to germany where few are aware of the conditions in which they were harvested. the best

slaves for the couple are the agricultural businesses and the system to give off it's not right that goods harvested this way end up on consumers plates. we eat this produce every day europe needs to put a better monitoring system in place for agricultural production needs to be monitored and certified. diskette or as known as a model matter no no. it's right next to an official refugee camp it's a bizarre juxtaposition of worlds and one refugees waiting to find out if they can stay and then the other others whose asylum applications were turned down. the squalor the shocking. oh my god. but i thought well there are 3 twilights for everyone it stinks. oh my god.

but the men still shave here even though there's no running water. and. there's nothing to harvest these days. so the migrant workers spend all their time hanging around and i guess are. those who live at the edge of the camp of the lucky ones. there are 20 people share this stone building it's no way to live. how does he do you think the east too weak live none at all but our last dying to remember that the e.u. isn't intervening here to solve the problems it's not taking part in the discussion about immigration law. these are real people living breathing people who experienced torture crossed deserts to get here but. it's not the biz there

will be people who thought they were going to paradise on earth partly because they see the e.u.'s the cradle of human rights. but now they're here and they're being used as slaves they've been stripped of every last scrap of dignity so. the fact that a continent this wealthy 0 is letting people exist like this raises a lot of questions. paul ince joined the e.u. 15 years ago on my way there to get to the bottom of a completely opposite idea that the e.u. interferes too much. in warsaw i'm meeting some people to find out more in 2017 the e.u. commission triggered article 7 disciplinary measures for the 1st time in its history against poland. it was on the grounds of a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law the toughest sanctions also known as the

nuclear option suspend certain rights such as voting bot it requires a unanimous vote in the european council and hungry announced it would veto any sanctions that the e.u. might propose against poland. the threats proceedings against a member state is that going too far. do you think the e.u. is meddling in polish affairs. no i don't think so i haven't raised this retraced i would hope we're part of europe. and western standards and rules should influence poland will be a mystery that's something positive i think of them but as the what is now talking about us i think the e.u. can give us the best of everything freedom no borders or a better standard of living actually. i i don't care how do you think it's too complex to complicated for me. to just crazy for.

i find what's going on here a bit crazy when the right wing law and justice party came to power in 2015 it began introducing judicial reforms including lowering the retirement age of supreme court judges as a way of forcing out opponents of the government according to the e.u. the reforms threaten judicial independence putting democracy in jeopardy. the country's president is andre duda but poland's political mastermind is jaroslav kitchen leader of the law and justice party. 2 years ago regular protests against the judicial reforms were held here among the demonstrators was monica much worse a member of the grassroots movement see

a democrat see a. morning i hope you brought me the candle page where you say yes there's a lot it's not going to look from 2 years ago no not but similar yes almost the same yes do you remember the time 2 years ago. the movement slogan was a better and fairer poland in 2017 it mobilized thousands of people to protest against the reforms they took to the streets with candles night after night. but now for some reason it's stopped a ways to protest going. i think you can i mean expect from people to especially in hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands to be on the streets every day about something. and this is the major problem now in poland. that we have the current government throwing us every day with the new issues that we could potentially protest about. that the e.u.

is at least interfering a lot in national laws is that true is it a p.c. as a tool i wouldn't say it's a cliche definitely not it's also not true. what i would say is that this is the only institution to on the force that is sort of helping poland enough to go down the drain we have at the moment a systemic in which there's literally one person taking all of the major decisions a good leader can choose from yes just for the country which is absolutely unacceptable i mean this is not a democracy. that use most draconian disciplinary measure can't be enforced because one country vetoes it is it really fair to call the e.u. interfering.

in southern italy i'm still finding out what the e.u. is doing to help the country deal with the refugee situation. if it's too weak to. the things you how do you feel about the plight of refugees here in italy. what can i say i feel sorry for the immigrants i'd like to give them somewhere to live food work and i know it's not italy's problem it's the use problem a lot of the. you get the impression the e.u. is just too weak to find solutions. and had no not so no i think the e.u. is very strong and could find

a solution or maybe it just doesn't want to. well it's certainly left italy to deal with the issue alone. one of italy's biggest trade unions issues were up from the time i grant but only those with a residence permits now the right wing populist material subideas interior minister i'm told that hardly anyone is awarded a work upon us. so what europe can do it's just go rent more rights for these people that are even here for walking not for entertainment or something like that i mean it's really on the margins. some people in poland do think the e.u. is interfering too much. one of them is alexander rybin scots a german polish journalist who works for a staunch like conservative news organization that publishes a weekly magazine staff here are pro-government and one could say the skeptics.

he was interfering too much true. i'd say the european commission is meddling mainly in terms of the legal proceedings for most people the european commission used to be a weird club making sure bananas weren't crooked and issuing idiotic directives that no one needed. but i think the newer member states feel like they're treated differently than other countries as 3 of them and we're whole and is a big country and we aren't going to just be at the beck and call of germany and france don't qualify as so basically chancellor merkel calls the shots so yes to a large extent she is calling the shots. we need the e.u. 1st and foremost as a market and as an economic power the question is do we need a political eat you. have so we just shut it down and start over oh no no we need

reform. but if there were reform what would be left an economic union fenced off to others putting national interests 1st and no longer a union with common values that's not my kind of europe. and it's not his either in february this rising political star found the new left wing liberal party. polish for spring. according to the latest polls he's now the most popular politician in the country. be it on openly gay east. but he also now wants to boost the clean energy sector and support young entrepreneurs separate church and state and approve same sex marriage be it on wants poland to embrace europe and his message is going down well with young voters scott yes terry still when you put up

a stone on belongs to iraq and whether or not it makes progress is closely tied to the e.u. . at the moment poland isn't taking part in any discussion about the european union it doesn't have any ideas about how to contribute that's something we need to change. is further to be pro european and we'll fight to integrate poland more closely into the e.u. decision to. buy school. i asked our translator who is from warsaw what she thinks about the e.u. is treatment of poland. even the deal music's field i think the e.u. is too slow too wishy washy and too indecisive. we think it's regrettable that the e.u. doesn't intervene more but rather lets the government carry on with its nonsense function right that's one. yeah. well she didn't mince her words contrary to our 1st impressions people in poland are actually well disposed to the e.u.

and the latest polls show that a majority are in favor of it. that goes for italy too i'm still on the road trying to find out of the e.u. as a helpless bystander or a hopeful ally. i ask my translator what she thinks she's from naples and used to live in germany. on the ski the 3rd i get the feeling that lots of countries have understood that things can't go on like this that this would be easy they realize that this union needs to manage on different terms for all sits back and if you do that is often. everyone seems to agree that the e.u. needs to change but how. that's a question that sociologist from anetta from its researchers at the university here

for just. needs to what extent is europe to blame for the current situation what i meant that problem the problem with europe is that no one has paid enough attention to its social aspects economic europe is a more or less successful model but political europe has failed now we need to have a go at a social europe the one nonprofit up on the. exactly do you go about creating a social europe my visit to italy has been i have. how can the supposed union create social cohesion how can it work with a member state with a populist government that doesn't respect the e.u. . back in germany. many in poland and italy seem to want

a stronger but at the same time there's a widespread sense of political frustration and anger across the continent. to monitor they just do their own thing they don't ask us we're nobodies through free lunch i mean if you're kratz with fat cat salaries they spoke i think people are fed up with the e.u. . eastern germany isn't the only place where people are dissatisfied with the political establishment as a result the far right parties are gaining ground here and elsewhere in europe. in italy and austria they've even made it into government in hungary and poland the governments are increasingly drifting to the right. in germany support for the right wing populist party the f.t. is strongest in the east although poll showed its popularity that kind of drops likely still incites anyway and regional elections will take place in september

it's the 2nd strongest party. of the one cutting. and i'm about to meet an expert on the right wing extremism who is researching far right parties in the european parliament and interesting woman. you have been doing your research has shown that the far right is very provocative and very loud in parliament but in actual practice it's just a load of hot air are we more worried than we should be if the musicians we do need to be worried we can see that far right parties even when they aren't part of votes and don't win votes they still have an effect on politics. also. ahead of european elections a number of right wing populist part. these have joined forces in the european alliance of people and nations current polls show that they can make up over 25 percent of any peace why are more and more europeans voting for the far right. cut

off it's got something to do with an ongoing deep politicization of them that people haven't given any thought to what political values matter to them perhaps they're more interested in how they personally can get ahead how financially secure they are and how much they have in comparison to others. we know that a sense of inequality is widespread and that creates fertile ground for right wing populist and far right parties to grow and flourish awful time to nothing. but there also come to movement the younger generation is often dismissed as apolitical but the rise of activism such as the fridays for future movement shows that's not necessarily true. they also took to the streets to protest to ease recent decision to reform copyright law just to make decisions over people's heads.

together we're on our way to the very heart of the european union brussels the seat of the european council the commission and the parliament we want to see if there's any truth to the notion that the e.u. is basically a monster bureaucracy that is the oldest the e.u. has a massive amount of bureaucracy and it could definitely be slimmed down so it was trying to call for issues you had in kentucky public market the problem is they can't get anything done because there needs to be consensus whenever they vote on anything. at the team up and they're doing something but we don't really know what . those is home to a lot of people who work for the e.u. but in hamburg alone some 50000 people work in politics senate ministration one in 10000 europeans is an e.u. official in cologne a much higher percentage of the population is a civil servant brought. spend 6 percent of its budget on personnel germany's local councils spend 25 percent. so in terms of actual figures

it's not really the bureaucratic b.m.s. it's often made up to make. is the preconception more about feelings processes or even just a communication problem. i'm at the european parliament to meet danny and there's a lack of the party vote founded 3 years ago in response to the rising tide of populism and protests the party is now helping to enter the european parliament as the 1st pan-european party. was our eyes on our travels across europe we've had lots of people say that the e.u. works well as an economic union but that it's politically disastrous do you agree. it was one of the moment i would say that at the moment it's hard to understand what exactly is happening politically on a european level. you get the feeling that heads of government meet up and make backroom deals so that's why our 1st priority is to strengthen parliament to make sure that the members of the european parliament can propose legislation for now

they can't. and let's give people a vote for an m.e.p. and a vote for a party list so that people can build up relationships to the n.e.p. . is the e.u. capable of reform as it now stands we don't see any alternative breaking up the e.u. is nonsense to us it's perfectly obvious that it needs to be reformed. to eat with the e.u. is the biggest peace project since world war 2 its importance and value are

a measure of it but. i think europe is great and i believe it should become an even closer union i hope it remains intact and grow stronger from issues to me it's the only hope of surviving in today's world more down to be sure. i think it's good that it's the way it is it makes things easier in many ways. that's why we've had peace for 70 years and let's hope it stays that way and we can continue working on the e.u. and i hope that britain stays.

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you find in any marks of experience and explore fascinating world cultural heritage sites. world heritage 31615. u.s. secretary of state mark pompei o has made a surprise visit to brussels where e.u. officials have been trying to salvage a nuclear deal with iran washington wants the block to withdraw from the 2015 accord the e.u.'s top diplomat federica moca rini called on the u.s. and iran to exercise.