daniel: the commissioner president jean-claude juncker has been remarkably quiet.ut it to you that the commission has zero credibility to handle this issue of tax avoidance because after all, the commission president, is accused of encouraging tax avoidance when he was the prime minister. pierre: that is absolutely false. this commission has done more for fighting tax evasion than all the commissions in the previous 20 years. daniel:-ish uncle juncker a credible -- is jean-claude juncker credible figurehead? pierre: wait a minute. a new period, a period of transparency. i am tax commissioner and i have full trust of jean-claude juncker. i act in his name. i have 11 proposals and directives. of them, six have been inducted. which is not easy, considering the rule of unanimity. we are really a team that is dedicated -- daniel: he is the architect of massive tax avoidance in luxembourg. pierre: you cannot say that. daniel: in 2003 he encouraged amazon to put its tax base in luxembourg. pierre: in this commission, we are very confidently the champions of fighting tax f

but notjean—claude juncker.it a "swiss—specific" situation, and said last year that any deal reached with switzerland would not be a blueprint for the united kingdom. here's our switzerland correspondent, imogen foulkes. with brussels wanting to get something from this meeting, the eu wa nts switzerla nd something from this meeting, the eu wants switzerland to commit another $1 billion to support new eu members in central and eastern europe. a first billion was paid by the swiss 10 years ago. the swiss want their bilateral ties with the eu, by far the biggest trading partner of switzerland, back on track. a compromise has already been found under which no quotas will be introduced unless unemployment reaches unprecedented levels. and the swiss government appears ready to stamp up the $1 billion. in return, brussels will grant equal status to the swiss stock exchange and may start talks on access to the energy market. it is an interesting message for future non—eu energy market. it is an interesting message forfu

many people see it that way although notjean—claude juncker. swiss specific situation. he said last year any deal reached with switzerland would not be a blueprint for the uk. ben, with switzerland would not be a blueprint forthe uk. ben, overdue. thank you. let's speak to image and folk5 thank you. let's speak to image and folks who joins us from burma. imogen we heard this would not be a blueprint for the uk but there are similarities. yes, but some differences as well. we know that this was narrowly voted to introduce quotas on eu migrants in 2014. after that the eu put switzerland's bilateral deals, very important to the swiss economy, on hold. since then the swiss have found a compromise, which would mean introducing quotas only in certain sectors and only if unemployment reaches levels that it has not reached in switzerland for decades. so switzerland ‘5 commitment to free movement of people remains unchanged. that is something that voters in britain who wanted brexit. wa nt voters in britain who wanted brexit. want any more. so there's t

and jean-claude juncker. look to you, based on what the times has said? it's a big breakthrough. you have british business saying we need a transition deal by january. that business saying we need a transition deal byjanuary. that is so people can start moving production and staff overseas. this is huge. the irish peace of the jigsaw has three issues. ireland is the most controversial. in the 20 minutes since we have seen this the dup don't sound worried, but the key bit is what do you do with the north and the republic. it is complicated. but does the north stay with the uk instead, while there are talks about having a republic in the eu. the north thisjoint of having a republic in the eu. the north this joint of republic, how does it stay in the uk and not be pa rt of does it stay in the uk and not be part of the eu? this would involve the government involving a package of powers to northern ireland to enable customs convergence with the irish republic on areas such as agriculture. and there are energy plan

nevertheless, it falls short of full european defence union that commission presidentjean—claude junckerddress this year. estonia's defence minister, juri luik, said even with pesco in force, collective defence will always remain in nato. despite traditional british scepticism about further integration, boris johnson has welcomed the move and said the uk was supportive and would be like a flying buttress to support the cathedral. well, to discuss this here in the studio, we have the new ukip leader, henry bolton, and in cambridge, the labour mep, alex mayer. alex mayer, if i could start with you first. labour governments, as well as conservative governments, have always been iffy about europe getting its act together on defence and basically we have been accused of blocking it. is labour now actually in favour of closer eu defence co—operation? yes, we are. and i think that what's happened over the last few months and years is that the whole geopolitical situation has changed. when i talk particularly to my eastern european colleagues in the european parliament, they're particularly worr

the big event is that monday lunch between john claude juncker and theresa may.advantages the name of this chart. #.99 is the g the index headed for its third consecutive monthly gain around its highest level since 2015 taking its advance to almost double that of the stoxx 600. morgan stanley is betting the trend will continue. it has made swiss stocks a key overweight recommendation for next year. saying it will benefit from the weaker swiss franc and a when marketlt volatility could return. a lack of inflation, particularly core inflation in the eurozone. the unemployment rate today is unexpectedly dropping. consumer price growth missing estimates. the jobless rates sliding to a .8%, the lowest in nine years. the november inflation 1.6% on a headline basis, analysts forecasting 1.6%. core inflation is going nowhere. this is why you have this synchronized upswing within the eurozone, but inflation is going nowhere. which, is why you don't have an end date as of now for the qe bond buying program beyond 20. how's it looking over there? let's start with inflation

before you go i must show you some pictures of, well, if your nemesis, jean—claude juncker?ve you ever seen an honorary degree in portugal. have you ever seen an outfit like this? he doesn't look too pleased with it, does he? well, we academics are used to fancy dress and ridiculous attire. but allowed me to say that jean—claude juncker could never be my nemesis in the eu, simply because he was never significant. every time he was never significant. every time he tried to help, we knew we would get seriously clobbered, as a demonstration of the limits of his power. yanis varoufakis there in characteristic t—shirt, but perhaps not the leather jacket. characteristic t—shirt, but perhaps not the leatherjacket. four years ago things were not looking great for the us baseball team the houston astros. in 2011 they lost 101 games in one season, and sincejoining in 1962 they had never won the world series. but all that has changed... victory in the seventh and deciding game of the la dodgers medley won the championship for the first time in their history, and not the only cause for

the european commission in brussels to coincide with a deadline on monday for a month with jean—claude junckerhief. it was expected that she would not and could not come here empty—handed. tonight, there are rumours swirling around that a framework deal has been agreed on the financial settlement. that is money the eu says the uk goes from its time as an eu member, and has to honour. the commission is not confirming it, nor is the government, but the eu, according to my sources, has been upbeat about progress on the money issue. the talk here is about a0 billion euros. if that is the case or a dismal, they will be used for the uk. back in september, the prime minister offered 20 billion in her speech in florence. from the eu side, a0 billion would be at the lower end of what it would expect from the uk, but it would be crucially enough to greenlight going on to talk about trade and transition. but, and this isa trade and transition. but, and this is a big one, up until now, at the big stumbling block to the uk in regressing in those talks had been a money issue. now it is ireland. the irish go

critical meeting on monday between theresa may and jean—claude juncker. in the european council meeting there are 27 countries who will have their own say on this. yes, and that's a crucial point, because it's pa rt of that's a crucial point, because it's part of the reason why the eu is saying this is not all settled yet. first we have to get over the hurdle of next week when the deadline is there for the uk to have done enough to satisfy the eu's negotiators. what those negotiators then say if they are happy we'll go to the 27 other countries in the eu in the middle of december, at their big summit when they will be here. they will be the ones who will sign off and say yes, they are happy with what the uk is now proposing, or know they are not. if they say nope we have a serious problem. if they say yes they are happy it will then be the green light to move things forward to discussing the future ties between the uk and the eu. but still, the indications are there are still, the indications are there are still some difficult issues. the money isn't tota

we had jean—claude juncker outlining a very ambitious vision for a more integrated, united europe, weor europe to develop much closer financial integration with a financial minister, a finance minister. some beginnings of pan—european taxation, a defence force. but at the same time, there is a massive leadership problem. angela merkel is in trouble. your spanish government is weak, it has corruption scandals as well as the catalonia problem. mr macron is not very popular. where is the leadership that will make these dreams of a powerful, integrated eu into reality? i tell you something, spain has always been a very pro— european country, except some, like mr puigdemont, who was insulting european union yesterday. we will be among the most ambitious. we had gone through a very, very difficult crisis, economic crisis in spain, we are now growing. we will get over this catalan constitutional crisis. legality has been restored. we will be the leading, the deepening of the european union. i can assure you of that. we have to end there. butjorge toledo, in madrid, thank you very much for be

in sweden, secretary of state david davis was avuncular in interviews in berlin — while jean claude juncker the chancellor delivers his budget to westminster on wednesday — will the contents of philip hammond's ministerial red box be enough to keep things on track and save theresa may's premiership? the uk government seems to have launched something of a charm offensive in europe to try and make some progress on brexit discussions a lot to chew over there. is that a nervous laugh? these negotiations any more, this is a hostage crisis! the conditions under which the prisoner will be released won't be discussed until the money is counted on the table. you have to remember that for the eu, it's terribly important that this all looks as bloody as possible and as difficult as possible, in order to discourage anybody else who might get this idea, don't try this at home. they could break for little reason the wheel because it was a tiny failing economy, a basket case and the population didn't want to leave the eu. that's not the case with britain. written as the second—largest contributor to the b

jean-claude juncker told the spanish newspaper "el pais" today he can't accept when regions go against nations, especially outside the law. after catalonian leaders declared independence in october, spain dissolved the catalan government, arrested its leaders, and scheduled a new regional election next month. northern ireland political leader gerry adams is resigning as as president of sinn fein. the nationalist party he's headed since 1983. adams told a party convention last night, "leadership means knowing when it's time for change, and that time is now." adams, who's 69, also said he won't run for re-election to the irish parliament next year. adams was a key negotiator of the 1998 "good friday" agreement that ended fighting in northern ireland between catholics seeking a union with ireland and protestants wanting to stay in the u.k. bangladesh said today it is negotiating with neighboring myanmar to take back some of the 600,000 rohingya muslims who have fled since august. the minority rohingya, living in crowded refugee camps, crossed the border to escape a military crackdown myan

what i was trying to point out is thatjean—claude juncker was right in his state of the union speech,e, it is the currency of the whole european union, apart from the uk, which is leaving, and denmark. so i would prefer to use existing european institutions instead of creating new ones like euros in parliament. and as a german i also see the necessity that we have to develop the rescue mechanism for the euro into the european monetary fund. one thing is very clear. it is not only a point from the german liberals but also from my party. we will not accept the mutualisation of debts. i see a lot of common ground with french president macron and i am sure that french vision can be combined with german pragmatism to keep the european engine going. briefly, on that one point, you have just said clearly that you will not accept the mutualisation of debt. that is a red line, is it? that means there will be a severe brake on the deep economic, monastery in fiscal integration that juncker and indeed macron envisaged. the germans aren't going to break on that, is that clear? this was a clear vi

he cannot afford play santa claus to jean—claude juncker and donald tusk, a needs to make sure we aree absolutely contracted for, and for every pound he unnecessarily gives away to the european union is a pound not being spent on british public services. when theresa may and senior ministers meet later to discuss the size of the brexit bill, they will know agreeing to pay more will quicken the talks but also caused anger amongst some. getting agreement within cabinet is crucial and as eu leaders keep pointing out, the clock is ticking. in a moment, we'll speak to our assistant political editor norman smith in westminster, but first, to brussels and our europe correspondent damian grammaticas. damian, what is the message the eu negotiator michel barnier is trying to send? i think it's very interesting, the speech this morning clearly comes within the context of the things you are hearing in the debate in the uk. the highlight at the top, michel barnier saying the eu wants the most ambitious free trade agreement with the uk but to achieve that his speech went on to lay out conditions, a

european commission president jean—claude juncker has received an honorary degree in portugal this weeks unique academic dress. and move over george osborne, fake could be another former politician in journalism. alex salmond is part of a group that wants to take control of the scotsman newspaper. he says he wants it to be more pro—scotland. alex partridge. and finally, ministers like to show they're being straight with mp5. and so it was when boris johnson appeared before the foreign affairs committee. i don't want to be misleading. you're doing a very good job of it. on the contrary, i don't think the committee could possibly be misled by anything i have said since i haven't said anything on... laughter. exactly! a rare example of a politician not only failing to answer a question but making a feature of it. and that's it. but dojoin keith macdougall on bbc parliament on monday night at 11pm for a full round up of the day here at westminster. but for now, from me, mandy baker, goodbye. good afternoon. for the vast majority it is a beautiful crisp autumn day, get out and enjoy it if yo

we're in switzerland, where european commission president, jean claude—juncker, will be holding talksnext couple of hours. they will be trying to get strained eu—swiss relations back on track. the talks are being closely watched here in the uk, not least because switzerland's been held up by some as a model for post—brexit britain, not in the eu but enjoying close trade ties. lots more on that in the business briefing in 20 minutes' time. james hughes is chief market analyst at axi trader, a brokerage firm i'll be speaking to you a little later in the news briefing but first let's talk about the big news here in the uk on wednesday, the budget. it is not a surprise. it will be downgraded again. we will not see above 2% growth in this whole forecast. that is a big deal. however, a lot of this goes into the unknown. much of this outlook goes on what brexit means for the uk. the simple answer for that is we don't know. the reason these growth forecasts are so low is we don't know what the deal is. we don't know what the deals mean for the economy. we see productivity incredibly low at th

we had jean—claude juncker outlining a very ambitious vision for a more integrated, united europe, weessity for europe to develop much closer financial integration with a financial minister, a finance minister. some beginnings of pan—european taxation, a defence force. i sat the same time, there is a massive leadership problem. angela merkel is in trouble. —— but at the centre. your government is weak, it has corruption scandals as well as the catalonia problem. mr macron is not very popular. where is the leadership that will make these dreams of a powerful, integrated eu into reality? i tell you something, spain has always been a very pro— european country, except some, like mr puigdemont, who was insulting european union yesterday. we will be among the most ambitious. we had gone through a very, very difficult crisis, economic crisis in spain, we are now growing. we will get over this catalan constitutional crisis. legality has been restored. we will be the leading the deepening of the european union. i can assure you of that. thank you. jorge toledo, thank you very much had been on

that everytime jean—claude juncker opened his mouth, 1 million britons rome why they voted the way theyte now, it would prove the 60- 40. let's not debate a second referendum today. we can debate money, because we hear that in the coming days, theresa may will perhaps talk about — of course, it is denied by number ten, as you know, everyone— what is to come. this is a blip in terms of the european budget and economy. nobody ca res european budget and economy. nobody cares about the money. i think this is... no, really. the britsjabba the money, but nobody else does. we are the second largest contributor! it is still big deal. —— care about the money. if britain wants to leave, it has 2— levy continue. to me, this reminds me of my wife, she was there and all the students asked if god can make a square circle. and the nun said that go to make anything. —— manager. the brexiteers believe we can be happy and have our ca ke believe we can be happy and have our cake and eat it. like with the irish border. you can either have ireland inside the eu and the customs union, or you can have it not.

probably means on monday when there is a meeting between prime minister theresa may and jean—claude junckerd has been positive. we are above a dollar 3a and that's interesting because we have seen a reaction in the stock market as well. despite record highs on the us markets, the ftse 100 well. despite record highs on the us markets, the ftse100 is down this morning and that's a reflection of the pound rising because that's bad news for uk exporters and overseas. we have seen the opposite when the pound has been falling. a weak pound has been good for the ftse100. give us has been good for the ftse100. give us your interpretation of why the pound has strengthened today? is that because the expectation is yes, trade talks, negotiations can maybe start in the near future or is it some assessment of the divorce bill's size, what do you think? well, i think it is a positive assessment of the fact that we are edging closer towards actually starting the trade talks. i think what we shouldn't forget though is that the divorce bill, settling that bill, even if it is at £55 billion is just bill, eve

on that day she is scheduled to meet shot clock choke up -- jean-claude juncker.hours a day powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts, in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. thank you. let's take a look at how trading is going in australia. if has been underway for happy hour. looking like this. the dollar holding steady at 12 the bond yield seeing a bit of a hiccup in the yield and 2%. points rightout 10 now. let's look at some early movers right out in the asian focus group raising. that is raising their new zealand company. up to 2% now bring that really and iron ore we saw them celebrating after the contract with a two month high. for the spring of next year, that is being very critical with shares up 1%. givenare some headwinds that we have seen the chinese corporate credit for this campaign could be a reality check. down aboutng shares 2% of the other hand falling after j.p. morgan downgraded to neutral. at futures we are expected 150 points pass the open it looks to be the case. 111 so far. has been eight years since the client began their

do you think we should have heard more from jean—claude juncker and the eu should have weighed in onit is a shame for the whole of the eu. the eu should not stick its head in the sand any more and should speak up. this is about a fundamental democratic values which are at stake. if the eu fails to defend our rights as citizens and democratic values, then our democracies will crumble and... thank you very much i'm afraid i have to stop you there. the dj and producer goldie is considered one of the pioneers of dance music in this country. now 52, he winningly describes himself as ‘the doris stokes of drum ‘n' bass‘. he says it's because he likes to channel the spirits of his favourite musicians into his own records. in his new memoir, ‘all things remembered', goldie recounts his progress from care homes and fosters parents to life on the streets as a graffiti artist — to the nation's embrace with roles injames bond and ‘strictly‘. goldie's been talking to our culture correspondent, stephen smith. beware some flashing lights in the film which, of course, befits the star. goldie, it's ve

it is worth noting thatjean—claude juncker and donald tusk are at this meeting.ye on that and let you know of any progress. more reaction coming into the attack in sinai. we have this tweet coming in from theresa may. again expressing her shock at what has happened. i will show that to you later. appalled by the sickening attack in north sinai. condolences to all those affected by this evil and powerfully attack. the latest figures we have our 200 dead, including many children in the bomb and gun attack in northern sinai. the new president of zimbabwe has defended the actions of robert mugabe. he vowed to rebuild the country and insisted elections would go ahead as planned next year. he was speaking ata planned next year. he was speaking at a ceremony attended by thousands of cheering supporters. the president paid tribute to mr mugabe's in the fight for independence. let me pay tribute to the founding father of our nation, robert mugabe. he led us in our struggle for national independence will stop he assumed responsibilities of leadership at a very challenging

makes her next overseas trip, which will be on monday, when she has a date in the diary with jean—claude junckermmission in brussels. we think this will be a critical day in the brexit story, because we know that the eu have said a deadline for the beginning of decemberfor said a deadline for the beginning of december for the uk to said a deadline for the beginning of decemberfor the uk to prove substantial progress three core issues, how the border between northern ireland and the republic will work after brexit, the rights of eu citizens post brexit and of course the financial settlement, the brexit bill. we think that is when the eu negotiators will make their judgment about whether or not sufficient progress has been made for them to recommend the eu leaders in the middle of december that talks can progress to the future relationship and the beginning of trade discussions. so, an absolutely critical week coming up, and clearly what we are seeing around the brexit bill is an acceleration of britain's attem pts bill is an acceleration of britain's atte m pts to bill is an acceleration of brita

the deadline is monday next week when theresa may is due here in brussels for lunch with jean—claude junckere what they are looking for the broad areas of the commitments that the uk will meet, what things it will actually pay for, not a final figure. so that needs to be sorted, but crucially too the issue of ireland still outstanding, and still very difficult to see the eu saying how will the uk resolve contradictions in its position? it wants to leave the single market, the customs union, but have no border controls between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. the eu says thatis republic of ireland. the eu says that is impossible, how is the uk proposing to get over that issue? the other problem of course for citizens who will be left on the two sides, and which courts will the european courts be able to oversee the guarantee of their rights? those things also have to be agreed, and then any agreement has to be put to then any agreement has to be put to the eu leaders of the 27 other countries before they can sign off on it, so still some way of signing off on this. in the uk, the

financial settlement ahead of a meeting on monday between theresa may, the prime minister, and jean—claude junckerion to it. the financial times has been reporting that the pound jumped on this report being released. we know the british government is denying the british government is denying the story and the european union has declined to comment. so make of all that what you will. we didn‘t want to ignore it completely because it‘s being so widely covered. now a quick reminder that north korea has carried out a missile test, just as we end this half of outside source, let me play you what president trump said about that. thank you very much. as you probably have heard, and some of you have reported a missile was launched a little while ago from north korea. i will only tell you that we will take care of it. we have general matison in the room with us. we‘ve had a long discussion on it. it is a situation that we will handle. in the next half, we have stories from burkina faso, from germany and also from kenya. see you then. hello there. november has been a very stormy month across parts of the we

meeting donald tusk president of the eu council and then on december the force will meet jean—claude junckermusic, certainly at this irish government papers to be believed, is not hugely encouraging. heavy rain has caused flooding across parts of lancashire and north wales. 70 people had to be rescued from their homes overnight and more than 150 properties were left without power. two lanes on the m6 motorway are closed. rail lines were shut between preston and lancaster but have since reopened, though with trains running at reduced speeds. we spoke to some residents in galgate lancashire about what happened. i went to work today, thought little of it, came home and thought, right, it's pretty high, it's still going to keep on raining all night, let's start moving some stuff out of the way. and itjust came in faster and faster and faster and there came a point where we were bucketing it out, bailing it out. we had pumps going. it came a point where it was bucket versus river and the river won. and it is now like this. i have lifted as much as i can from the ground—floor but there are bikes d

then he will be back in brussels two seaterjean—claude juncker on the 11th of december. —— to speak tothe future relationship. the arguments are pretty well rehearsed narrow, the rates of eu nationals living in the uk, they are close to a deal on that. still some outstanding issues, but the eu wa nted outstanding issues, but the eu wanted a lot more clarity on the uk's financial commitments and what it is willing to pay for as it leaves the eu. and whether it will live up to its promise with a hard border between ireland's and northern ireland. probably not settling reaching an agreement on either of those issues today, but this summit is called the eastern partnership summit and is an opportunity for the eu to speak the leaders of the sixth countries neighbouring to the east. it is about trade, security and regional stability. even that has been drawn into the brexit processor that in that the prime minister arrived here today and said that the uk will still be committed to those issues across europe even when we leave the european union. the uk is prepared to pay £100 million over th

political, they have to be settled by sitting down and haggling, the prime minister, presidentjean—claude junckera completely different way. shell barnier and the 27 remaining members of the the eu think it was a case of the uk settling its accounts, paying up things that it promised to do when it was a member, even if the bills come after the uk is no longer a member and has left. david davis says he wants to link the money to talks about future trade arrangements. —— michel barnier. he wa nts to arrangements. —— michel barnier. he wants to talk about transition period and trade deal, that they may share in the future, it is now about how do the politicians find a way of reconciling those two very different positions. those things holding things up, but they outlined other issues that continue to cause a headache. northern ireland, there is broad agreement, nearly broad agreement, on the principles of the fa ct agreement, on the principles of the fact that you have got to protect the good friday agreement which ensures the peace process and the common travel area, which allows people to move bet

you remember the jean—claude juncker speech, the state of eu, brexit was dealt with ina state of eu, less so. the interface between london and brussels is diminishing all the time. thank you all. still to come: it's going to become illegal for sports coaches to have a sexual relationship with 16 and 17 year olds in their care. will young people in sport feel safer? we'll speak to the ceo of uk coaching. robert mugabe, the man who has ruled zimbabwe with an iron fist for nearly four decades, has been seen in public for the first time since the military takeover at a university graduation ceremony in harare. these are the aimenings of robert mugabe. he wore slowly along a red carpet and joined the crowd of graduates singing the national anthem. our correspondent is in zimbabwe. how much progress has been made? we don't know, the military says they're continuing negotiations. there is a team from the neighbouring country, south africa, here trying to broker a deal. the development today is very significant of robert mugabe stepping out of his official residence, because up until yesterd

he cannot afford play santa claus to jean—claude juncker and donald tusk, a needs to make sure we arefor, and for every pound he unnecessarily gives away to the european union is a pound not being spent on british public services. when theresa may and senior ministers meet later to discuss the size of the brexit bill, they will know agreeing to pay more will quicken the talks but also cause anger amongst some. getting agreement within cabinet is crucial and as eu leaders keep pointing out, the clock is ticking. the conservative mpjohn redwood joins us live from westminster. i saw you smile when nigel evans said we should not be playing santa claus. is that a view you share? of course. the prime minister has been very careful in a language throughout, she has always said we will pay those things we have debate. i have not seen any legal base for payments other than our contributions after the date of leaving. in mind the extra nine months today over the court proceedings, it does mean that roughly 30 billion of payments will be made on the date when we decide to leave until the date wh