watching the news live from berlin up next doc film takes a look at the politics behind the euro currency and don't forget all the latest news and information is available on the website it's d.w. dot com or you can follow us on twitter at d. . and i'll be back at the top down. on my car you have. no milk and i'm game on with a brand new delusions are most vocal it's personal it's divisive it's about topics that affect us all a lot of solutions climate change and the return of. only green fans check it out.

in the e.u. germany's role is boychuk this new germany gives a lot of money to the e.u. it people always count on germany because we're stronger and they always ask for money of course because we are paymasters everywhere these are just that now you cannot we finance a lot is it true sure we pay a lot for the e.u. but what actually happens to the money where do those billions end up and what does germany get out of it. the e.u. promises equal living conditions in all member states does that make sense is it even peaceable. good wages for work well done perspectives for a better future. how do people live in the e.u. . is europe really growing together. we travel across europe from by. area

a poor member state through dependable all germany. to filming in ireland. but we start in italy a country that conjures up beautiful images to cations. excellent cuisine. everywhere we go we see large signs saying built with e.u. subsidies for decades money from brussels has gone into construction here nevertheless italy is in a state of crisis the south is still one of europe's poorest regions. so where have all the billions gone. this man should know they look at orlando has been mayor of palermo for almost 20 years he's something of a national hero in italy. and thanks to him the mafia and palermo has little influence these days the crime rate is the lowest in italy. the

locals like him. he shows us what he's achieved in palermo with european union funding. so the subtleties that appear in subsidies we use for example to modernize all street like york he folded up his money went into restoring historic buildings and promoting cultural institutions this hour will be the future story should will and that he. is one of europe's leading oprah houses following the paris and the vienna states all probability but he will steal money in a wood just to bring 1st class opera to the pool halls as a polemic what you put in levy it was 33 year. old this was subsidized with european funds which are designated to raising living conditions in the member states. you know that one 3rd of all you money is used to help it. equal living standards everywhere in the e.u.

. to help build a brand new tram network in palermo with 2 lines already in operation for example. happen dozen more lines are under construction. we asked the mayor of palermo why should german taxpayers finances. this. one 3rd of the money comes from the italian government. one 3rd comes solicited palermo and one 3rd from europe. the money makes palermo a better place to live in but it also benefits european industries the trams were built by boeing by ga with many parts made among high in germany i'm sort of just. getting back here so the german taxpayer did partly finance the project but since some parts were built in germany it also benefits the german state gets tax revenue and german workers have jobs. is this an argument that also

convinces economists. who have been complicit in the scam a little skeptical about the argument that delivering goods that we pay for as part of the cohesion policy program is profitable for germany it's the same logic as paying for my exports myself and giving the goods away so to speak. but does it still price food and so this is the price we pay to keep the e.u. together. if we didn't pay the e.u. would fall apart also no fun oh won't view how many times we have an interest in e.u. back in when we want to support german interests in both on the well market and in the global system of rule in very system to how shaft course that's. so germany hands over money to other member states in exchange for political support. gifts that also benefit the german economy. one e.u.

finance expert sees it differently. from who toil for every $100.00 euros a german earns almost 50 are deducted and welfare contributions taxes and so on just one euro out of those 50 goes to europe the 9 year olds remain in germany including the money to pay for health insurance in this respect europe is very thrifty only 150th of public spending goes to e.u. financing patient was. in terms of contributions to the e.u. per capita germany is far from the top. but if we take into account how much money the countries receive from the e.u. and so-called net payments germany is in 2nd place.

we travel on to sofia the bulgarian capital another recipient of german taxpayers money via e.u. subsidies. well gary has the weakest economy in the u. but you wouldn't guess that after walking around sofia. thanks to e.u. funding the city has good roads and a modern metro system. sofia is booming population is growing is this proof that european funding policies work. this policy works particularly well in the new member states the conditions there are improving also that the people remain where they are born with good opportunities are created for employment starting a family and enjoying a good standard of living throughout the e.u. . in rural northwest bulgaria things look very different there is still widespread poverty here. one some 3000 people lived in little brooch. today there are just

250. people did not stay moved to sophia or even germany. has founded an association to help those who stay. in this building is a former kindergarten that closed over 5 years ago because there are hardly any children left in the village just. some oh absolutely that really is the case. every day there's a funeral and nobody cares that's the reality. this former kindergarten is to be turned into a soup kitchen for the elderly the association has applied for subsidies but to no avail. kensho complains that only big companies get their hands on the money by paying agencies that are specialized in getting e.u. subsidies. or companies that charge 20 percent of the subsidy money to

write yeah occasions for with the project in glowing terms we didn't commission such accompanied 20 percent will be our salaries for 6 months and now we're in 3rd place on some waiting list. no 33rd place. we have to review each case individually but the decision as to where infrastructure will be built in bulgaria is 1st and foremost a matter for the bulgarian government and parliament when you were elected by the bulgarian people. a person in a rural area can make suggestions the mayor than does that. of the 10 minutes decided by parliament in sofia which applications for funding are passed on to the e.u. . new and then that. the new funding especially the money that goes to the regions is an essential part of european solidarity some of the money also benefits germany. but making sure the

money reaches those who really need it is left to the individual states. there is however an institution responsible for the common currency the e.c.b. . the euro had only been in existence for 7 years when crisis struck despite years of bailouts and 0 percent interest rates this crisis has not yet been overcome. is the euro really to blame. the euro was introduced nearly 20 years ago but there are german shoppers who still calculate prices and deutsche marks. $1000.00 german citizens were asked what they thought of the common currency.

78 percent said that they were satisfied with the euro only 21 percent were dissatisfied with the common currency. the mood in italy is quite different a country isn't. crisis the economy is in decline. more and more talons are feeling the pinch like. he works as a shoeshine or in palermo. his customers are lawyers businessmen people who can afford to pay $10.00 euros for a shoeshine and enjoy a chat at the same time. sometimes about europe. what do you think about the european elections. that brussels finally understands that europe should be a europe for the people. also for the people who need. the poor. to live the sort of. 7 years ago sebastiano worked for the local lawyers

association but during the euro crisis the lawyers also ran short of money sebastiano lost his job and couldn't find a new one he came up with the idea of reviving the shoeshine trade founded. sebastiano is now its chairman and not a fan of the euro. the euro didn't do me any good on the contrary the euro harmed me. prices have doubled but wages haven't. and when they say that we are now over the crisis they are just fooling people. we should not just look out for the multinationals but the small craftsman the small companies. the man on the street is still experiencing a crisis. because. that was not always the case.

if you compare the average economic strength of all euro countries with italy it becomes clear before the introduction of the euro italy was fairing better than the e.u. average but when the euro was introduced things went down. hill since the beginning of the financial crisis italian economy has been in a much worse state and it still hasn't recovered. what is wrong in italy and what do the italians think about the euro and the e.u. . budget amendment you do in the us i would say that germany is the lion. and italy they deserve. and so to speak so. we were better off with the. influx you and today with the euro we have low wages high prices. and we see we really are doing well.

and has been waiting in vain for customers for 2 hours. before shining shoes she worked in a shoe factory she's a typical victim of the problems italy's industry is facing i mean. i want and they thought i could see the crisis coming when i was working in the factory. but we made $150.00 pairs of shoes per week but about $750.00 per month but it slowly dropped to 50 pairs per week on nobody will shine much on i knew that i could soon be out of a job that i set up or somebody thought yesterday licia and. now she works on the street. but she still keeps in touch with her old factory colleagues. the company has existed for over 50 years and is now run by the son of the founder. used to employ more than 50

people. now just a dozen are left hand crafted shoes from italy were in high demand for decades but manual labor has become expensive in italy. quite high. taxes. many companies prefer to produce abroad. if you bring the finished product it's really just. here or there you can say it's made in italy. even though it's not ready made in italy. in the premier of the exchange rate could help in such a situation. products became too expensive abroad the lira could be devalued. that is no longer the case.

that if countries are very very different if they are very asymmetrical than they need the exchange rate as a kind of safety valve. it helps to make an adjustment if developments are to an equal but that is no longer possible because there is no exchange rate that can compensate as we have experienced some countries have not learned to cope with this over the last 10 years since the crisis began. what does the e.c.b. former chief economist say about this. don't blame the euro for your own weaknesses i think the number of weaknesses and a tendency to blame the euro as a way as a scapegoat you know to say that to hide a little bit your own problems and there was a tendency in some countries to depreciate the currency when they had 3 fundamental problems of competition but that was always always there was always temporary gains that it could have in competition the real problems were never solved actually one is you leave before us to reach it why isn't it indicated sufficiently why don't

you have the fusion of technology there's nothing to do with europe. italy would have to modernize its economic policies. the factory would have to invest in new machinery and more effective production methods. but that would create new problems for gaetano lombardo. coming to the bank of course the banks don't grant them the assistance that they were enjoying the price is the fear that the company will be unable to repay the loan in 102 years time either way but on. no loans no mortgages no securities nothing. italian banks are considered particularly crisis prone this could be one reason why it's hard to get a loan in italy despite the fact that the e.c.b. has been keeping interest rates at record lows for years. the low interest rates are designed to simplify lending processes and boost the economy.

but smaller companies that need to invest are often refused loans. why is that. very carefully credits because. in the past but conditions today thanks to the c b. that doesn't mean the business gets credit the bank no. responsibility. this factory owner does not have such problems his company growth is excelling. we're in poland and e.u. country with a booming economy but it still has its own currency the swati. florek greets a delegation of buyers from around europe he founded his company shortly after the iron curtain was raised it makes windows mainly skylights. today he has more than $4000.00 employees and

a 15 percent world market share the company is doing well just like the polish economy. why is that we ask. funny of poland just come through the crisis well because the swat team has dropped in value . competitive on the market. worse in greece where the currency could not be devalued. this is completely understandable from an economic point of view. as you can see down. well without the euro in recent years they know that if they introduced the euro they risk perhaps one day having to pay for the mistakes of other countries. and the polls say they do not want that. and i can understand the strategy that they're pursuing . the polls have learned from the experiences of the euro crisis and other countries. but does that really mean that the euro is not

a long term prospect for poland. i think that we want the euro that the proponent is still not ready for it. i think the economic standards of the standard of living in poland must increase 1st and then we can profit from joining the euro zone. the euro does not guarantee economic success everywhere in europe in southern europe we can see the kinds of problems the euro brings it companies are not competitive. the mountains of debt are growing and with them the risk of new crises. in comparison the german economy is booming with the euro many think thanks to the euro. europe is an important market for this company . techs makes special industrial vehicles called side loaders 400 people work in

this factory in eastern hassen. the region enjoys full employment and skilled workers are urgently needed do they owe their standard of living to the e.u. . what do germans think does the e.u. bring them advantages individually. in a representative survey 67 percent said that the your membership brought them advantages. 10 percent thought the advantages and disadvantages balanced out. 19 percent of those surveyed took a more negative view. the main advantages for employees would be secure jobs and good wages but how did germans rate their wage levels where do they think people are in the most in europe. i would say. and really.

dr anderson because i think i would put germany in 2nd place then france spain and italy. and where do you think people are in the least. it's a totally. i think the irish are ahead of germany on average and in mid to. low but just watch i think germany is further ahead. i think spain and italy are further behind. nobody knew that when it comes to these 5 countries germany is only in the middle and people in france and ireland have higher average incomes than in germany. when i was here joe has a doing fine they're not doing fine having a bed a roof over my head something to drink and something to eat that's not doing well that's simply the basic need of every human being. so how well is a german skilled worker doing christiane angle is 40 married and has 3 children.

after training as an agricultural machinery mechanic he changed to his current job . he's been welding heavy steel parts as a precision worker for hope tex for almost half his life. than if i'd. been with hook tech since january 1st 2001 next year it will be 20 years the working environment is very good i take home 2 and a half 1000 euros a month that makes him a typical german skilled worker pretty much an average german income he lives on the outskirts of in his parents' old farm together with his wife carina and their 3 children. i mean a has a part time job with a low income. together they have around $3000.00 euros net income for a month. they only have to pay the utilities for the apartment in their parent's house that means they can afford an annual skiing holiday in the alps and various other things but do they think they earn enough money to lead a good life as

a family with children or are things becoming increasingly tight as things go i think it's become more difficult wages are certainly not rising as fast as the costs. i don't know when that started or when things changed a lot but wages certainly don't go up as much as prices due to be deployed as. many people in germany think they have less purchasing power than in the past. but is it true. what do the experts think. if we have a tendency to forget what things were really like in the past we have magine them better than they were people might say everything gets worse and worse but in many ways that just isn't the case. for you. in the past you couldn't go abroad on holiday for you. know people started to go to italy

once a year. now people take 2 vacations pia pretty orderly beeped but when you think back and really think seriously about what a phone call costs for example. the vehicle today have much more purchasing power to feed off in fact the cost of living in rural areas such as here on the outskirts of is lower than in some german cities or other european regions so how satisfied is the angle family with their income and standard of living. well here in florida we still live very well and prices are still ok. just think and i think that germany in comparison to other e.u. countries is somewhere in the middle there are other e.u. countries with lower incomes but also countries with higher ones. when we compare average incomes in the e.u. germany is in fact behind countries like ireland belgium and france germany ranks 10th. italy takes 12th place followed by mostly eastern european states garia

landes 2nd to last. in comparison wages in germany are still high but clearly no longer at the top. it's true that for many years we had relatively strong wage restraint on the other hand employment has increased sharply so the question we should be asking is how many more people have jobs and that certainly the great success story in germany in the last few years. the fact that millions more people have full time jobs with all the welfare benefits shifting. but not only that if you compare the wages to the prices in germany in other words convert them into purchasing power german households are among the top in the e.u. . partly because of lower food prices.

but how big are the differences still in the e.u. . how does a skilled worker in both area really live since the country join the e.u. more and more companies like this one have emerged. erect some engineering makes metal parts for a number of german car makers. we need an. also a skilled worker in his late thirty's he's been responsible for the maintenance and repair of the factory machines for the past 8 years. because i came here by chance. an acquaintance told. he was looking for. i applied i got the job and. his gross monthly income is a 100 euros tax and insurance deductions are just under 30 percent so he's left with less than $1000.00 euros. in bulgaria that's a comparatively good income and his standard of living is fairly high. his

wife also works full time together they have almost 2000 euros per month. the state pension is quite low so they pay into a private retirement plan. the cost of living is low their rented apartment costs barely $150.00 euros a month. so skilled workers in bulk area are doing better than. here we go to the. and then we go to greece where a few weekends. the greek coast is nice and close according to a used to to stick spoke area is its poorest member but this family seems to be doing ok. we can meet all our expenses and our needs so right now things are good. we meet the 3rd skilled worker in our comparison at

fia interest in northern italy. italy is a founding member of the e.u. and in the european income statistics lies just behind germany. wants to show us what this means for him. he's a skilled metal worker in his mid forty's and has been with beyond for over 20 years he earns less than his german colleague. just 450 euros net but that isn't his biggest problem. in the beginning we were almost 10000 workers now we're 5000 i used to think a job with fiachra would be a guarantee of earning money and being able to feed my family. but today we are talking about wage reductions and insecurity. and. i don't know what the future will be for my children. and that's what i find most worrying. such

a quest for the political party. in order to avoid mass layoffs alessandro like all his colleagues has foregone a part of his wages for years. his wife also works full time to make ends meet together they bring home $2800.00 euros almost as much as the german family. they own a nice apartment which costs $1000.00 euros including utilities that's about the same as they would pay in rent. they only had enough money to get a mortgage because they sold her. parents' house is thought we owe it to her parents that we could never have bought an apartment like this. me but they saved their whole lives made sacrifices never went on holiday. and those were different times a different generation of. property acquired over generations has a long tradition in southern europe more than 2 thirds of all households own their

homes in germany just under half. if you consider the total assets that is real estate and savings germans clearly lie behind spaniards italians even greeks at the 15th place. why is that. we have as it were hidden for. namely all claims to health insurance of one accident insurance and pension funds. that typically not included in assets although the constitutional court has declared them to be guaranteed. to 4 moves pressed on time to torture and salute. the italians provide for old age primarily with property but need to watch every penny of school meals insurance higher food prices than in germany money fast becomes tight and maybe that's why.

we can't afford holidays and a hotel or expensive clubs. we rent an apartment by the sea where we cook for ourselves and because it's cheaper always here in italy on the uniform and if we need something new like a t.v. we always look for 0 interest offerings. of the 3 skilled workers in 3 countries although sondra seems the least satisfied because of low pay high costs and because many in italy are a lot worse off than he is. i sincerely hope that europe will change for the better right now i see a bleak future for my children there are hardly any jobs in italy with us. 30 year old still live at home and hardly anyone has children. anyone who went to university moved abroad that is the saddest thing of all but for the spiritual sort

of. people in the new e.u. member states benefit from europe the most but in italy the young generation no longer enjoys the same prosperity as their parents in fact they depend on them standards of living also depend on the economic policies of individual countries but what should those be is there a suitable recipe for everyone. for hundreds of years europe strength has lain in the fact that very different economic coaches existed within. you could each have their own strengths in. america they competed with each other but that's what made them make strangely successful do you got a dog. our next stop is the republic of ireland.

played by the euro crisis just a few years ago it's booming today. is it because ireland attracts american companies as a tax haven or have the irish found their own hitherto unknown recipe for economic success. we head to the countryside to meet a successful young entrepreneur. it's a bit of a mess. well this is where basically our dream starters it does look like a nightmare now but i mean you can see up here on the roof we had an old aluminum roof go up on the roof fix the hole move the timber back over again and the next to me that might be water coming down over here it's kind of touching the spice surprise on what is growing so yeah and that we open up new markets and keeps

getting very well received so it can see that changing by water. and this is the product that brought him so much success and electrically extended attic staircase with a patent valid in most of the world. peter morrow was originally a fitter for regular manual attic stairs. he came up with the idea of adding an electric motor and spent 2 years tinkering with the idea in his old barn he found ireland to be a paradise for entrepreneurs' minimal costs hardly any formalities. and an office that gives extensive support to start ups in almost every town. to force india to do was to complete a business training course but then we didn't have much equipment or any equipment

at all and they gave us funding towards find an issue quick window we needed to start production got us to meet mentors which are all the business successful business people who are in similar industries to our own god is meeting with them and talking to them and advising those and it's just a wonderful wonderful way to start out on the body's business. there are 31 local enterprise offices in ireland they even inspire entrepreneurship and school students the students have to market their products in a nationwide competition and the most successful when a substantial grant package. we meet the head of the office that helps peter morrow set up his company. is hugely important for ireland the parts and. it's a huge market for us for our experience as they grow and develop but a fundamental part of the importance to our local businesses is our financial our

co-founders by the european development fund so not only do you provide the markers but you also provide some of the sports help our local businesses. peter morrow now has 5 employees and his company has a turnover of more than $1000000.00 euros a year to begin with most of his products went to england but the threat of bragg's it caused the pound to slump peter sales fell and his company was at risk then the local enterprise office financed a trade fair stand for him in the united states. he landed a major order but he had just 6 weeks to deliver as many staircases as they usually produces in 4 months again he received support from the local enterprise office. they introduced us to a lean strategy for our. company which basically is a strategy for making your process on not more efficient so you can turn out the product much much quicker since we also applied for another grant from them which

is called an expansion grant which again we were eligible for and we've invested heavily in new equipment to again increase our production. with the new equipment he could more than double production and personnel and now exports worldwide the fruits of an irish industrial policy and an alleged tax haven that could set an example for germany. it is important for us not to be totally dependent on foreign direct investment into our land we have to be able to stand on our own to say so in the last 5 years the local and. have helped create. new jobs across the country we have more people employed now than we did before the recession hit. ireland is booming like almost no other e.u. country this can really be seen in dublin of course international corporations like

google apple and facebook who use the country as a tax haven are a factor. but ireland has long since begun to increase taxes for corporations and uses e.u. financial aid to build its own economy and to go its own way. our last stop is spain. thousands of young people left the country during the euro crisis but many are now returning. how do they view european differences and similarities. one person who came back to spain was paloma . she's a nurse until year ago she held a steady job in munich. she worked in germany for 5 years. then she returned home and now works in a private clinic and zaragoza she has only a temporary contract and earns a 3rd less but with similar outgoings. nevertheless she does not

regret coming back to spain because she finds her job much more challenging than in germany but i keep it simple because here in spain i can take blood or place an infusion drip i walk was like i do things here that doctors do in germany video i don't feel so much like a subordinate in germany i had the feeling i was just an assistant at the y. pretty good idea working environment is different here. what did she miss in germany what made her decide to return to spain. to. do whether the sun. you go out a lot with your colleagues after work you drink coffee or play sports together people take their jobs much more seriously in germany we take our work seriously too but it's different. but it's these are all fine examples which show we should respect our different traditions but it would be wrong to introduce the spanish

siesta in northern europe or to take it away from the spaniards because we don't have it in northern europe the fact that people go from one country to another and back again is of course great news for europe. fund for perhaps they didn't like some aspects of working in germany but perhaps some things in the german hospital were not so badly organized but it means knowledge can flow from spain to germany and also in the other direction to. people and countries can learn from each other to exchange experiences. but it appears the differences make a difference. and what does this mean for the future of e.u. economic and social policies. in a representative survey 55 percent of germans believe that every e.u. country must go its own way. however 37 percent a good 3rd say that the other countries should take germany as their role model.

but would that really make sense. i didn't think we should avoid thinking that you have to drive on the same motorway as everyone else opiate at different speeds good so none. does this for us we need to understand that it may be more important for each country with its specific economic to go its own way in order to create a transport network in europe from which everyone can benefit and it's. interested in or book one dimension is the other. the ability to move freely in europe for education and work is a win win situation for many poor regions are better off thanks to the e.u. billions and people are given prospects for the future. but this will not achieve equal prosperity for all there are different strengths and weaknesses as well as different mentalities in the e.u.

states. but these differences should be seen as an opportunity. to go africa. mean guinea again so countless for in india and hopes to say to countries mangroves. the coastal forests and been used to song production they're also being damaged by cattle heads. yes and camera some plastic. eco africa. 30 minutes on w.

m c can the fire war that's hard and in the end it's i mean you're not allowed to stay here anymore we will send you back. are you familiar with this. with the smugglers reliance and the what's your story. i mean with numbers of women especially of victims of violence. take part and send us your story we are trying always to understand this new culture. you are not a visitor nothing yet you want to become a citizen. in for migrants your platform for reliable information.

this is deja news live from berlin turkey pushes on with its offensive in the northern syria as international criticism outs with turkish backed troops wrapping up their bombardment of kurdish militia the death toll is rising and now france and germany have halted arms exports to turkey also coming up oh another crossroads as voters elect a new parliament today the ruling conservative long and justice party is seeking an absolute majority the critics fear another term could harm a once democracy.