hello and a very warm welcome to "focus on europe." thank you for joining us. in paris, the revolutionary spirit lives on. off the coast of italy, saving refugees, but at what cost? and in slovenia, why europe is about more than just crisis. but first, and friends from our passions are running high. the country is stuffed in an economic crisis so the government wants to push through economic reforms.

but many fear that means eroding workers rights. for months now, nelly rallies have been held -- nightly rallies have been held in paris. they are not simply all young evil with romantic ideas of revolution. some of the participants have very concrete reasons. reporter: re: spent nine hours cleaning apartments. despite that, she is here. she has been coming here for weeks for the social movement, arise at night. she brought up for children on her own. now she barely manages to keep yourself above water with her cleaning job. she is fighting for justice, even within the protest movement. course i don't completely agree with what's been said. >> what is at stake is the

continuation of this movement. without the evening general assemblies, it will lose its impact. people won't come. reporter: for him i came to paris two years ago. some of her employers let her stay overnight and shower. she can't afford to rent a place of her own. >> i have very precarious jobs. 30 hours with one client, 20 with another or even only 10. that doesn't look good if you want to find a place to rent. that is why nobody is accepting my application. reporter: fahima usually lives in this swat, where there's no electricity or hot water.

the other squatters don't like her much. some semester windows and kicked in her door. >> the squatters on to the middle class. they have lawyers. they know the procedures. but they do everything to marginalize the ones that are in the most precarious situation, the poor people, because they are scared of them. reporter:fahima was lucky that she has friends who support her and were able to lend her money to repair her windows at her door. the others in the building refused to talk to us. >> your clowns. you can tell just by looking at you. your approach, though a look, you listen to go and do your clowning elsewhere, please. thank you. have a nice day. reporter: famihima continues her

struggle for those who have a struggle letter. summer students. -- some are students. some have barricaded themselves in a trade union been living -- union building. fahima thinks this is a bad idea. >> the general assembly is taking place over there. we are starting ourselves from the movement. >> we need more structure. we need all these ideas to make sure something emerges. people the knowledge themselves on day. it is about being on time. >> sometimes i can come earlier. sometimes a common afternoon. reporter: fahima is angry. she says the country is run by the country leads come even within the movement.

>> we need a framework to talk. they think they are still at school. they spent too much time there did -- and do not want to leave. they need a bench in a chair. otherwise, they are lost. reporter: on one side of the square are students under the site is a soup kitchen. those in the queue are mainly immigrants. she hopes the movement will bring about more social justice in france and says that it has already triggered an important interest in politics. >> people have left their homes, burst their bubble, overcome their fears, their -- they have a voice and they are try to do something. so there is hope. reporter: fahmia has long been on the bottom rung of the social

ladder. she is ready to resist. whether the others wanted or not, she is ready to keep speaking out on social justice. anchor: in fact, protests are continuing oliver france. the demonstrators say they will weaken workers rights. what do you think ? the biggest challenge facing europe is how to do with the enormous influx of refugees and how to stop people risking their lives try to cross the mediterranean from africa. over the past year, the eu has been deployed warships. their main mission is to track down traffickers and destroy the votes they use. but critics say it could be making things worse. reporter: the german military vessel gets ready to rescue another group of refugees.

a rubber thing a crowded with people has come from the libyan coast and is now in distress. one at a time, they are asked to board the boat. the entire operation takes two hours. most of the refugees are from africa. they are exhausted and many are traumatized. for the first time in months, they are safe. for now at least. the paramedics on board the ship now been to work. christina and her colleagues give the refugees a quick medical checkup, measuring the heart rate and temperature. the goal is only to determine if anyone needs urgent medical attention. >> i responded quite nerve-racking before hand.

what sicknesses they have. it's always a surprise. reporter: but the ship is actually here as part of a european combat operation. it is one of five naval vessels charged with finding the traffickers, arresting them, and destroying their votes. but in recent mons, the germans haven't seen a single trafficker. >> i think this plan was drawn up before it was known how the traffickers would react. when we have learned is that they are actually able to adapt. at the start of our mission, they were accompanying the refugee boats until they were outside the libyan waters. but when they discovered there were military vessels here, they stopped coming out. reporter called as a result, the navy can only rescue those who have been trafficked but never sees the traffickers themselves. the refugees are given blankets,

water and food. since the operation began a year ago, the military has rescued around 14,000 people. up over 350 people. they started during the night and have been out on the water for over 10 hours. this group is from senegal. >> i was so afraid. the boat was rocking from side to side and spinning. some people fell out and had to climb back in. reporter: the mission is being coordinated by an aircraft carrier. the commander says the problem is that the ships are only allowed to patrol in international waters. he would like to expand the mandates right up to the libyan coast. >> in that condition, we will be able to control the movement of the smugglers and to interact and prevent them from being active at sea.

reporter: the frankfurt takes the refugees to sicily. during the trip, crew members ask the refugees about the smugglers. they find that the smugglers are using the naval vessels as part of the business. >> they told us come in soon as we were in international waters, we would be picked up. reporter: christine is just relieved that there are no serious injuries among this group of refugees. even though she knows that traffickers are using the military, she believes the mission is still worthwhile. >> passing ships are always required to pick up anyone in distress. and that is what they are doing. i think they are better than that, but they are trying anyway. reporter: christine's deployment on the frankfurt will in shortly. but she will leave with a good feeling, knowing that the number of refugees has been cut in half since the patrols began.

dan: for those of us were bridges, the story right now is the referendum over whether to stay in the european union or not. that is because many british people have become disillusioned with the eu. right now, the pulse are so tight that it is difficult to predict who will win. but not all europeans are becoming euro skeptic. in slovenia, many are all too aware of the benefits. >reporter: a celebrated bass baritone will be performing in his home village. and what better venue than the idyllic church overlooking the village in eastern slovenia. joseph is in charge of his village's arts program. the arts center has been recently. revamped. >> we could never have done it

just with local funding. . the village council would not have agreed to have our money agreed exclusively on the cultural center. that's why the subsidies are so vital. reporter: in addition to the library, the village now has a concert hall, a modern theater, and a cinema. because the mayor apply for all manner of eu funding. >> we have already made a lot of public buildings energy efficient. and now it is the library's turn. it will cost a little over 100,000 euros, most of which will be covered by the eu. >> he has been busy making the most of the new opportunities t -- opportunities and funds made available ever since slovenia joined the eu.

cutting-edge money-saving technology. russell's covered most of the construction costs. although -- brussels covered most of the construction costs. >> it was really difficult. mainly because of the slovenian government, not the eu. there is a bit too much democracy, but we accomplished it with a bit of determination and persistence. reporter: and the village is still battling for further assistance. it has joined forces with five other villages to launch a water supply system. part of the funding they need was promised by the slovenian government. but with a country still not fully recovered from the economic crisis, the money has been not -- has not been made available. >> yes, the villagers had to put

up the final installment from our budget. and now we have an audit to deal with. but we hope the issue will be resolved soon. reporter: weddings are always a sign of optimism. and people also believe their marriage with europe is a happy one. slovenia as a whole still appears eager to play the model soon roll, well behaved and eager to impress. most people in the country are impressed to be in the eu. not that they have forgotten when times were tough here. just five years ago, the village was language in -- was like pushing under high unemployment -- was languishing under high unemployment and few opportunities. >> it can't be perfect. but a lot of things are better.

>> there's a lot of renovation work. the new mayor is more active. >> yes, it's good. but eventually, we will have to pay it all back. reporter: he has been telling farmers in his cooperative to not become codependent on cheap loans from brussels and to be competent in their own potential. farmers largely produce milk, meat and wine. they have made substantial investments so far successfully. >> modernization is ok. but we can't farm the way we did 30 or 50 years ago. neither do we have to immediately match levels of germany, for example. moderation is the best strategy. reporter: that seems to be paying off for the residence here. big supporters of the eu and not

solely for a pragmatic reasons. there are further plans approa,f course. at sunset, the church fills with villagers for the concert. it is a village with a bright future. danny: the joys of the eu is that something you hear much about these days. the first time i went to the portuguese capital lisbon, i was bowled over by how beautiful the city is. it is hard to believe it was recently plagued by a devastating heroin epidemic. nearly 70% of the population was addicted to it. in 2001, the governments of drastic and controversial action rather than, clampdown on drugs, they decriminalized them and decided to treat folks on heroin

rather than punishing them. we have been talking to those affected. reporter: every morning at 10:00, the van from the state run program stops in this district. heroin addicts can get methadone for free. possession of up to two grams of heroin is legal in portugal, but many want to give up. >> my dose, please. reporter: ricardo follows at the methadone with lots of water. he used to live in the u.s. and that is where he started using heroin. he was a dealer and nearly went to prison but was deported back to portugal instead. >> to me, it was a blessing because i got separated from my family and everything but i never would have gone out of the prison system there. i would be on drugs and in and out of prison. reporter: one of the poorest cities in europe introduced one of the most liberal policies.

addicts are treated not as criminals, but a sick people needing help. >> this project is aimed at minimizing the risks. we work on the streets. that makes it easier for us to reach people. every day, we are at five different locations in lisbon. reporter: they look forward to their that i -- that addicts don't have to hide anymore. >> people who take drugs look for places where they can consume them safely. places like this whole year -- hole here.

there are still no projects for assisted drug taking because the government hasn't had the courage to introduce that yet. but i think we need to talk about it very seriously. reporter: since the 1990's, there has been a recurring public debate in portugal over how to deal with the country's drug problem. arsina works for the portuguese drug ministry. >> we had politicians whose children and relatives had a drug problem. we had doctors, journalists and lawyers who were affected by it. perhaps that is why it was introduced, decriminalized drug consumption, because all levels of society was affected by it. reporter: today, portugal only has three deaths from drug overdose per one million inhabitants. that is way below the eu average of 7.3 deaths.

social workers help heroin addicts on the street. >> we try to have a good relationship with all of them so they can say the truth to us. >> is there anyone there? reporter: soria and andrea exchange new syringes for old ones. in 2014, the figure dropped to 4%. >> do you want more? l >> yes and i've got more here. reporter: the state doesn't force the addicts to come off drugs. but if they want to get clean, they can receive help anytime.

dan: one of the things that i loved about living in london in the 1990's was the club scene. today, things are very different. many of the clubs i remember have closed it down. that is partly because of rising rents. but also because young people in britain just seem to be going tonight labs -- nightclubs -- going to nightclubs less. the financial pressures are greater. they. would rather spend more time on the careers rather than on the dance floor. that doesn't mean people are not going out. instead, they are making useful contacts. a members club is back in vogue. reporter: it really does it get any more british than this. the royal overseas league is a private members club that was founded over 100 years ago. >> the clubs express the british soul in a way because they are very traditional and british people are very traditional and

have a strong sense of history. and also, a club is somewhere that defines your class to some extent. and there nothing a british person likes more than defining their class. reporter: perspective -- prospective members have to be proposed by existing members. many young people want to become members. for example, jackie. >> one thing with london that one has to learn is that it can be quite a lonely place. club, while it is exclusive in his ways, it has a clubhouse and is a membership base. it is a community. reporter: you can read the paper, take afternoon tea or just chat. the calm atmosphere is far removed from the hectic world outside. >> the digital revolution has

changed everything. the job market is uncertain. somewhere like a club, you know what to expect. it has been the same for hundreds of years. it is unlikely to change for the next. a sense of roots and belonging as well as lots of wine and good food. reporter: but something is changing. just a few blocks away, there is another private members club. the hospital club is a self-proclaimed center for london's creative community. designers, writers, musicians, actors, producers meet here to go to exhibitions and concerts or to eat and work. the have been members for two years. >> taking meetings with some distributors or actors a want to take them to a nice environment. you want to make them feel you are not in a small office in the middle of nowhere. because london is really

expensive. so you have a nice central london location to meet people. reporter: many members use the club as their office. so the annual membership fee, which is equivalent to, a thousand euros makes sound business sense. >> for me, the main value is that, for the same price of an office for a month in central london, i paid that for a year to be a member here. it is really amazing value for the money. reporter: the building houses workspaces, editing suites and even a tv studio. but it's the networking that counts. >> you can talk to anybody. sometimes you're in a lift and you're talking to some in you find out they are the head of a massive corporation. and sometimes links are made like that. >> new private members club's are quite different in many ways. they feel like a bar or a restaurant. they are more commercialized.

people go there to work more openly with their computers, go on their phones perhaps in the club. but what they have in common is that they are exclusive. in order to get in, you need to be a member. and that i think is attractive to a lot of people. reporter: modern or traditional, a private members club remembered -- remains unexcused of domain for like-minded people who can afford to belong. danny: back in my day, members clubs would not have done well. the idea of exclusivity was not looked at well at all. do feel free to get in touch in a time with your thoughts and comments. goodbye frome and i look forward to seeing you next week. same time, same place.

♪ hello there and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm kathryn cobb kobayashi in tokyo. political showdown, japan's prime minister with a tax hike and oppositions parties with a no confidence motion against his cabinets in response. recovering from trama. a psychiatrist with disaster experience helps children there after the quake. and display, people around the world get a chance to see mars during its closest approach to the earth in a