why does germany want the eu -- the u.k. to stay within the eu?ommon market is quite interesting. can i ask whether there is a concern in berlin about whether or not there's been too much french influence? i.e., the u.k. acts as a force against too much france. what would the eu look like post-u.k. exit? >> it would be not good for germany if u.k. is not in the eu. i understand, there was always kind of an alliance between berlin and london. we want to maintain this alliance. while i'm quite sure angela merkel is doing her best to convince even the british people that you should be with us in europe. >> how hard will that job be? >> [inaudible] i think it is a difficult job but i think at the end of the day, british voters, they must understand that europe is something which is for all of us , which we have to maintain this kind of unity we have already. look at 70 years of peace in europe as something which is really to be maintained. >> the problem, michael, and this is what guy was talking about, people talking to each other in a different lang

he told ryan chilcote sanctions are not working the way the eu intended. >> as far as that eu is concerned-- it is coming to the conclusion that sanctions are not working in political terms. they may be having an effect on both sides in the economic a rea, but not politically. the room for further sanctions is minimal. >> when the greek government came out and said they do not support new sanctions, they had not consented to the statement that the eu put out calling for this meeting and a discussion of new sanctions, you must have been delighted. >> it is not only the new greek government but the governments of existing member states like hungary. the president of the czech republic. many others. the italian government. the french government has made similar statements. now everybody is talking that the road to putting an end to sanctions goes to the full implementation of the minsk agreement. >> join us on twitter and tell us what you think of the show. iag getting a new shareholder. cap tar -- qatar airways. >> how jack ma lost $1.5 billion in a single day. ♪ >> time for today's company

or is the eu just playing tough? >> the eu is in a difficult position.led this meeting. if they don't do anything, it will be seen as a sign of weakness and they are very concerned about appearing weak in this struggle with russia. the new foreign minister for greece will decide whether this is just a rhetorical position or whether they are going to use it in backroom negotiations to try to cut a deal elsewhere. or whether this is a matter of principle and they really are against sanctions. in any case, the most we are looking at coming out of this meeting tomorrow in brussels is an expansion of the blacklist of individual subject -- individuals subject to travel bans and blacklists. >> sanctions -- have they worked? >> they have certainly hurt the russian economy. i don't think anyone would argue with that. have they changed the russian position in ukraine? the evidence appears to putin hardening his line. he feels like he lost all the report he had with angela merkel obama, francois hollande. the comments we are getting out of the kremlin and the viole

the eu has taken a position in the ukraine crisis, and we want to join th eu, but we have ties to russia and depend on russian energy, and much of our foreign trade depends on russia and the eu. >> he has made up his mind -- he has joined the extremists. serbia should ally itself with russia side by that's his vision of the future -- ally itself with russia side-by-side. that's his vision of the future. >> we want a greater serbia with normal jobs and wages for people. that's my vision for the future of serbia. >> most serbians share the dream of a better future, but the majority would prefer that future to remain allied with europe. >> divided loyalties for serbia. is it a good idea to let serbia, with its links to russia, into the eu? get in touch with me on twitter and let me know what you think. now to poland, which was one of the few european countries to escape the financial crisis relatively unscathed. the economy has kept growing, and having pushed through tough economic reforms in the 1990's, it is often held up as a model for other countries to follow. one of the reasons poland

president and the former vice president and we have more from catherine covering the summit at the eupia capitol and of course it seems like it's no ordinary eu summit what is at stake here exactly? >> absolutely. security in the continent is at stake here and what the leaders have been talking about. many sideline meetings on different countries that are in crisis. the opening session of the summit is still going on and those who made speeches are focusing on security and the au chair, the au commission chair talked a lot about security in the continent but she also talked about eu agenda 2063 and need to diversify economies and also the need to feed itself and a speech by ban ki-moon who touched and the crisis and on boko haram he said the u.n. will support africa troops and expressed concerns about the peace process and called for decisive action of rebels in drc and offensive now that is going on against this group. he also raised concerns about extremism in the horn of africa and uncomfortable to some of the leaders who are in that meeting he cautioned leaders who refused to leav

germany's foreign minister says the eu is closely watching how the situation develops. they suggest further sanctions. >> an attack, or even an offensive on our you pull -- on mariupol and beyond would require that we react. >> russia accused it of being a proxy for nato, which he says is focused on the geopolitical containment of russia, not on the interests of the ukrainian evil. pro-russian separatists have been battling the ukrainian forces in the east of the country since april of last year. the u.n. puts the death toll at over 5000. >> what could be in store for further sanctions? we put that question to our chief correspondent in berlin. >> the eu has some and all of its foreign ministers to meet to discuss the issue. he said there is no eagerness among the ministers to rush toward additional sanctions, but that much would depend on the weather and renewed fighting which is the worst consists last -- the worst since last september. the germans have long pursued a double track on the one hand -- a double track, on one hand, diplomatic, but also a very firm commitm

will battle in eu legislation in the future. they also aren't worried about compromising european labor and environmental standards. the u.s. auto industry could profit more from the agreement that in german carmakers. >> our strong market position gives us a lot of confidence. we are able to compete on a global scale. fewer barriers would allow us to be more successful. we could also create more jobs. >> industry managers want to avoid a breakdown in negotiations. if this were to happen the u.s. could find a strong ally in asia and europe would be sitting in the backseat. >> in tennis, serena williams is through to the semi finals of the australian open. williams raced to victory in just over an hour but venus was not as fortunate. she was sent packing by fellow american madison keys. >> venus williams is out of the australian open. madison keys overcame victory. she faces her opponent's younger sister serena in the next round. the defending men's champion remains on course after a straight set victory against nishikori. he was

what exactly do eu foreign ministers have in mind?cooperation between states is absolutely crucial. the ministers have pointed out that this cooperation is important when it comes to cooperation with arab countries. this is true for a number of points on their agenda. if you look at the illegal arms trade, where do weapons come from? if you look at the question, how can police forces cooperate in a better way? one aim is to support police forces in the middle east, but also in north africa. of course, the ministers want to avoid that european citizens, who could potentially be radicalized in middle eastern countries, can leave europe in the first place. there is one point -- it was the antiterrorism coordinator today who said, this is the key point. that is the control of the internet. how can we sit here -- secure that middle eastern radical organizations are not recruiting european citizens on the internet? >> to make this anti-terror alliance work normally, russia would be a key partner. we have seen a report earlier. the situation

there is also mutual eu-u.s. responsibility to achieve a successful outcome on the 2015 development agenda this year, ending extreme policy and achieving sustainable development alongside other dangerous climate change are defining challenges of my generation. eu and u.s. leadership is driving an agreement in the u.n. general assembly for an ambitious sets of targets for the 2015 framework would also send a very strong sign in support of effective multilateralism. that would also be a sign that we have learned some of our lessons when it comes to the co coherence of our choices and our policies. to conclude, at a time of unprecedented uncertainty, our collective joint responsibility is that of trying to take this as an opportunity to finally lead the endless transition that my generation has been living towards a real new global order. at such complex times, i understand it might seem naive even to say so. yet the alternative is not sustainable for all. and the only way in which we can realistically think to achi

. >> we are working very swiftly in order, finally, to have an eu pnr.oday we've found out that all member states agree with this guideline. >> the announcement came at the end of an eu meeting of home affairs and justice ministers. ministers also agreed to tighten restriction on the internet. they plan to ask for cooperation from web-related companies so radical ideas will not spread among young people through social media. member states will continue discussions on how to improve the exchange of information on arms trafficking and financial sources for terrorism. eu officials are trying to strengthen anti-terrorism measures in the wake of recent deadly attacks by islamic extremists in paris and elsewhere. the subject will be high on the agenda at an eu summit next month. >>> fighting in eastern ukraine between pro-russian separatists and government forces has intensified despite a truce. the battles are centered around a key railway hub that's currently controlled by government forces. the truce was agreed on in september. separatists are trying to lay

that's the only way to balance the perspectives of the united states and eu. our challenges, is our trading partners are negotiating with us but they also want to negotiate and have good relations with the european union. they are stuck in the middle. we're trying to find a middle naj path that will protect our trade names. >> i appreciate that. let me bring up the bio tech situation. there are currently 12 products awaiting final approval. the queue is growing. the european commission announced the intention to conduct a review of the entire u oe pi an bio tech approval process. there's concern that the 12 products pending final approval will not advance. the eu is like calling for instant replays on every play. that's just not going to work. would you comment on that, please? >> well, we share that concern. we've raised it in our meetings with the european union. i've had now three meetings with my new counterpart, the trade commissioner. we've made clear that these are products that our own european food agency have determined are safe. they have an obligat

it does not have to happen solely at the eu level but it must happen globally.t says there is a global threat and it requires a global response. jihadist him have bombs, they say. -- jihadists don't have bombs they say. and when editorial says they must address radical islam because they are the first -- the french must address radical islam because they are the first victims. the front page photo of the china daily, you can see protesters in yemen holding up a sign saying "stop charlie" and the words in arabic next to that saying, you cannot depict mohammed, saying he is the messenger of allah. and this picture reflecting a call for a boycott of french products and death to blasphemers. >> you also look at the pakistani papers where one article tried to pin down the causes of military extremists. >> one of the papers that we know is doawn. this was written by a former pakistan and back at her -- pakistan ambassador to the united nations. he says one of the causes is the failure of the muslim state to deliver jobs and justice to young people. muslim states are w

>> well the primary goal and mechanism of eu intervention is diplomacy.war situation and the installation that we witness around mariupol and about are still supposed to feed into the diplomatic effort. if russia wants to create new on the ground some of them can trade them for concessions in ukraine. they want ukrainian civilization. they want ukraine to continue paying for these in the region and they want ukraine to basically stop the process of association with the eu and with nato. and ukraine has been trying to report new on the ground and we get to territory. so basically, whatever happens, this is not a war for the sake of war. both russia and ukraine on the ground in order to stand from their diplomatic bargaining power. and what they can do active pressure on russia and go back to the negotiating table, and give ukraine more time to focus on its economy and reform process. >> thank you for joining us from brussels. time to catch up with the business. aaron is with us now. things looking better for me? >> if you want to use the miles. i need to g

arriving in the belgian capital, talks will also focus on the eu's relations with russia. baba has more. >> the foreign policy chief of the eu met with the secretary-general of the arab league. others have been stressing the need for greater coordination and sharing information with arab and muslim nations stressing that they're the first to suffer from what's called jihadi terrorism. many ministers have already made it clear on monday that they don't see the ultimate solution in bringing in tougher legislation across the eu but rather, in trying to deal with so-called jihadis that go to places like iraq and syria and then return. the eu's antiterror coordinator stressing people who do come back should be jailed unless they have blood on their hands otherwise they should be put into some kind of program for deradicallization. at the same time, many ministers are stressing the real solution is also to be found on the internet trying to crack down on hate speech and people who try to recruit fighters through social media and the internet. now all of the measures that are bei

the united states of fomenting the new cold accusing the united states of the new cold war but the eu is promising more trade sanctions if russia doesn't back off ukraine and russia interference set off a wide ranging conflict doing damage from war saw to berlin and weapons are not limited to rocket planes or launcher and people depend to live from oil to apples. these polish apple farmers are on the economic war ranging between russia and the west sparked by the real war in ukraine. polish apples were a casualty after moscow slammed the door on most agricultural imports from the european union, a tit for tat slapped on russia and has major pain in the farming community and an hour's drive south of war saw, orchards as far as the eye can see grow this the famous apple, it's delicious and they love these and so do other people. in 2013 they exported over 56% of all apple exports and ended on august first and there is nobody to buy the apples now and that is going to cost apple growers 659 million this year. and apple grower the situation is dire. in a typical year 40% of the apples he

they too were to be privatized as a condition of greece's bailout by the eu and imf.inancial markets have reacted with dismay. shares in greece's biggest banks have fallen by up to half since sunday's election. >> that's get a quick check on markets. we know greece has been weighing heavily on the markets all this week. is that still the case today? >> it is still the case. it is weighing very heavily in terms of the mood here, the confidence in the market, and the political and economic situation. it is not being shown quite as clearly when you look at the share prices. the dax is losing slightly, and stock prices in athens are recovering also. banks not making nearly the losses they incurred in the past few days. the kind of policies that the new prime minister in athens seems to want to push through backtracking on reforms, edging closer to russia, that makes people here very nervous. >> germany has entered a. of -- a period of deflation. what is behind this? >> it's mainly the energy prices that are forcing price levels statistically officially down. when you go t

eu immigration is likely to be the top of the agenda.hancellor is willing to compromise on policy as long as freedom of movement rights are not called into question. the talks come is cameron renews his out to renegotiate britain's relationship with europe. s&p 500 futures higher after a five-day losing streak. that is the worst run for u.s. equities in 13 months. investors await minutes from the u.s. federal reserve later today. looking for any sign on when the central bank will hike interest rates. inflation data in the euro zone is in focus today. we are about an hour and a half from what is is affected to be the first job in consumer prices in five years. prices in december fell .1%. as europe struggles to achieve inflation, let's turn to currencies. the big story for the fx market is dollar strength. what are we expecting in 2015? perhaps more the same. let's welcome david bloom. happy new year. >> happy new year to you. >> sterling $1.48. euro-dollar, $1.15. you are soul consensus this year. >> the dog has found the bone. it is a d

power of germany, will probably keep greece in eu.n't think we should take any pleasure at all in seeing the eu weakened. after all, it has been a quite important force for stability in the european continent. that stability is now being threatened so badly by russia. i think they deserve all the moral support we can give them. lou: i certainly would take no pleasure to see the eu being diminished. i take no pleasure in seeing greece diminished. i have to say to you, i believe the policies followed in greece and the leadership on the part of the eu has been absolutely pitiful. to go to these reflexive austerity programs without support. that is, financial. economic support for greece, i mean, this was -- i think a terrible terrible act on the part of the eu, the ecb, and the imf. >> and i agree with you about that. and i think the stringent reforms are exactly the thing that have brought this thing antireformist government into power. >> and very quickly. we're out of time. but do you hold any hope for normalization of relations with

the required unanimous support from the 28 eu governments. the ease policy in an unscheduled statement, and singapore they said they would week a slower pace of appreciation and the countries dollar. the monetary authority also cuts its inflation forecast -- forecast for 2015. >> greece is preparing for a fight on renegotiating its debt. another bill that nation was to pay its obligation off early. portugal went to make an early repayment of its loans after seeing it fall in its borrowing cost. portugal has raised almost half of its cash. lower yields than estimated. 3.7% of imf loans. islamic state has been to kill a captured jordanian pilot. that is according to an intelligence group. a video shows a photograph being held while a voice reporting to be the -- japanese prime minister had repeatedly said it's government would not negotiate with terrorists. >> let's go to our middle east editor who has got more. elliott, a reporter says the ball is in the jordanians court. >> yeah. this is all from an audio recording that was distributed by the

there's a version of that debate in the eu.looking at this issue or reading your book why should they care about the decline of the eu? >> europe is the highest gdp in the world. it's the largest area of the world, larger than the united states, in terms of economic growth. whether it stays together whether it divides affects two things. american international economic relations and it also affects nato. because if europe fragments along these political lines, it's -- we barely have nato now. there's going to be very little left. and right now the united states -- >> when you say nato you mean standing up to putin, dealing with our enemies. >> i mean belonging to that making commitments to that, and standing up to putin. dealing with the ukrainian question. so what i was going to say was that general hodges the commander of u.s. forces in europe said he was going to be placing tanks in the baltics, poland, and romania. he said it this weekend. who are our allies in europe? so when we talk about the alliance, what does that mean

to leave the eu. with the eu in such a poor state why would they want to be a member of that club?u for that analysis. we are back in a couple of minutes. see you then. ♪ >> welcome back. let's talk cyber security. let's go to tel aviv and talk to elliott got can -- gotkin.e. we got an exclusive with a new cyber security company. great to have you with us. you are a cyber security. you don't provide software in the way of the companies do. >> we give the ceo and board of managers the tools, the integration tools, that can give them the knowledge about the threats and assets and what measures they need to protect the organizations. when i speak about intelligence we speak about thousands of techs every minute in the world. we do it automatically. we are connected to that information. we calculate we analyze, we give a suspect for -- specific route to the organization on their dashboard -- listen, be careful, there are attacks that concern your company. >> if sony pitchers had you on board, how would you have helped them anticipate the attack that was so devastating? >> if i may say,

with the eu, we're very much encouraging them to move ahead. we were disappointed that over the course of 2014 they didn't approve any bio tech events. there's a back log of bio tech events that have been designated as safe by the european safe food agency. we're encouraging the agencies to take those up consistent with its wto obligations and to approve those. >> i've had a number of u.s. companies visit with me about the need to address currency manipulation and tpp. has that issue being raised in oeg oegiation negotiations. this is an issue of top importance from the administration. we're pursuing it from the president on down directly from countrilies like china and also the g 7 and g 20 to move to countries to move toward market determined exchange rates. i know you'll be seeing secretary lieu hereou here soon. he obviously has the lead on those issues. it's something that he and i are obviously consulting on and continue to engage with others about. >> is your answer it's been negotiated with individual countries from the president's inte

they're also saying the eu should not rush with new sanctions. let's get out to jeff on the ground in moscow. and jeff the pressure really on with both the ail price decline continuing. of course a further meeting of european foreign ministers taking place today. >> yeah absolutely. clearly further sanctions from the eu would not be welcomed at this stage by the russian government. we have also had some suggestion that washington is looking at what it might also do to rachet up the pressure on this government. what we know is this round of sanctions if it were to be imposed and signed off in the middle of february it would result in a lengthening of the existing sanctions and potentially there could be other companies cited or other individuals cited that may be excluded from access to capital markets. that's one of the key challenges here. there's concerns about liquidity in the banking system. and we have seen the government come out and provide support to specific names vtb bank has received in excess of 2 billion in support and we have seen e

you noted in your top risks for 2015 that friction among eu state is worsening.ld be germany, france, and the u.k. working together to provide leadership. good incidents like this out coalesce european leadership, or will they move further apart and retreat into their homes? >> this might give you a bump into operation but look, there are deep structural issues austerity or no austerity, pension reform or pen -- or no pension reform. terrorism will not overcome the structural issues. secondly, a major hurdle is what i see as a u.s. retreat. usually, you have the world's leading power setting in one stuff it's the fans like this -- stuff hits the fan like this. the u.s. will not be stepping into european economics like it used to be. >> what does this mean for the effort to continue to grow the economy, to get it out of recession, to generate inflation, and to build on the reforms after the eurozone crisis? >> i think it is going to be again, an impediment, but not a strong one. it will suck resources into homeland security type departments, but the main issues ar

but the incident occurred near the headquarters of the eu police academy in kabul. earlier on monday, an explosion detonated new the city's international airport. attacks by taliban led militants surged in the latter half of 2014 as nato troops and their 13 year con that and thousands of troops withdrew. last week my the f -- last week, the afghan president announced his own security forces had officially assumed full control. >> in southern australia battling to contain wildfires that have destroyed dozens of homes. a forecast of strong winds and a heat wave is making the situation more urgent. about 30 people have been hospitalized, many with breathing difficulties. this time last year, 173 people were killed in fires in the state of victoria. the death of a tiny baby has begun -- become the the source of a serious conversation about racism and the treatment of minorities here in france after a load -- after a local man refused a roma couple bearing their child in the cemetery. the child has finally been laid to rest elsewhere. the men in question insists it's all

switzerland is neither a part of the eu or a part of the eea but it is able to be part of the eu's single market. >> it's a trading partner. >> but it's so jury rigged over there. the way they have this put together. and the euro zone is different than the eu. half these countries they still have their own poll. >> was it pegged. >> i don't think so but i didn't know that the swiss franc was pegged until yesterday. they've been doing it since 2011. >> a couple still has the kroner and one of them doesn't. and they're over there wondering why we vn grown any here. i wonder why? we have a good system here. everyone should adopt the dollar and actually let -- >> and link our economy to every other economy. >> no. >> they're maying music. >> i feel bad. >> thank you for coming in. >> when we come back joe is going to continue the education for all of us -- i'm learning. i'm learning. also david winters is now firing back at barry diller at comments he made and a coke board member. he did it on squawk box yesterday. a war of words. we'll bring it to you next but first here's a look back at thi

>> this is hitting the eu at a particularly bad time in general.not doing very well, with the exception of germany. when you look at the greek problem, and i think -- there are two issues that are relatively simple. you can stretch out the payments. you can lower the percentage of gdp that is used to make the payments. the problem right now is that somebody else prints the currency and they need that currency for at least the short-term. this should be able to pay the bills, but right now they can't. >> does a weak euro benefit greece? or does it matter? >> a doesn't really matter. they want to go back and renegotiate what happened three and four years ago. i think we will watch a buddy cop movie between michael neuner -- michael noonan the finance minister in ireland, who as a conciliatory things that greece, and the leaders increase. >> although ireland was able to cut their deficit significantly in an environment of very low growth, in fact, in an environment of contraction. >> there is lies the contagion. yet the population that has risen up an

needed. >> the eu should do more we're hearing that a lot but what more could the eu be doing in yourpinion to disrupt this people-smuggling operation? >> fishes they need to increase the scale and scope of their rescue operations. there are other things they could be doing as well. for example the european commission has said that people should be able to claim asylum in anniversarying countries so they wouldn't need -- in nearch countries. nearch north yearch countries. african countries. 3 plus million why is qurns rfgz million owner syrian rfgz that there are. >> is you it your belief that the port operators are taking a bit of a payoff? >> there certainly is policing that can be done. but i think it's important to say that whatever the circumstances, you know, there is a responsibility to do everything we can to save lives. and unfortunately the eu's not actually doing enough right now. >> the italian rescue operation currently cost the italian government the equivalent of about $11 million a month. a greek ferry that caught fire in the adriatic sea earlier this week arrived in p

. >> he also said he hoped 2015 will be a year of reforms and pave the way for eventual eu membership. it's now almost a gear since the protests have forced the former president to flee the country. >> in our series looking back at 2014 from our correspondents, we return to the central square in the ukrainian capital to gauge people's hopes for the new year. >> people come from all over ukraine to independence square in kiev to mourn the people killed in protests that led to the overthrow of the government in february. they numbered more than 100. since elections in october ukraine has had a new government. many faces are familiar. trust is thein. >> i don't know what to think of the government yet. i have hope but it's such a shame that all these people had to die. but most of all, i just want the promises to be kept that were made to the people when they were standing there. that's what people died for, why they were killed. >> ukraine's economy is in tatters and its currency has lost 50% of its value in just one year. the russian annexation of crimea and the war in eastern ukraine

to convince the eu, angela merkel, mr.s making structural changes in the way it operates. >> it is still early. we are waiting for him to step down. give us a sense of where they may reach out. who might be in the offing at the moment? >> that is a big question and right now there is no figure -- italy needs someone like napolit ano who can sit above the political fray who is authoritative and knows the methods of reaching compromise. deraraghi's name has come up however he has not said if he is interested in leaving the ecb to come to italy. other options are the former eu president and italian prime minister. he was a candidate two years ago in the italian parliament failed to elect someone. typically, a former premiers, warmer central bankers -- former central bankers. >> dan, i'm sure you will have your year to the ground. when that new name comes out, we will speak to you. thank you for joining us this morning. >> you can tell us what you think the happen in italy on twitter. i was just tweaking out the growth shadow

they talk about how greece and the eu are on a collision course.iza is going to find itself in confrontation with the eu as it looks to relax the austerity program that has been imposed by berlin and brussels. it is interesting to look at the german press and how they are focusing. in frankfurter, tsipras is -- out of frankfurt, tsipras is facing a dilemma. he's going to have to compromise with the troika or face a . bankruptcy. concessions will be necessary from both sides, says this paper. whether or not this is possible remains to be seen. >> other papers are worrying about a domino effect. >> this paper says that the european wide consensus on austerity has cracked wide open. they are talking about a revolution in athens. the revolution, according to the independent, is down to -- bound to tempt other countries to 10test austerity. there is another anti-austerity party in spain called podemos. it has made political games lately. you can see this article in el pais it talks about the leader, pablo iglesias, you can see him here with alexis tsipr

left-leaning may indicate they do not want to be part of the eu.of the majority in parliament. parliament has a maximum of 300 seats. they have 149. you're going to find out in the next few minutes, get an actual majority. so far, only three quarters have been counted. they will meet with the independent greeks at 10:30. those of the developments in the last few seconds. i'm very interested in the whole debate about the euro. after following it all these years, you cannot keep bailing them out. the concern is, what next? >> people have been pained by the austerity measures. that people have voted in, they have spoken, spain, italy, portugal. all coming up. i saw a sign that said "change europe." >> if they were not to pay the debt, they would default. and there would be a greek exit of the euro. the euro right now hovering above an 11 year low of 1.113. had bond yields down by 30%. they are expecting this victory from the anti-austerity party. but not expecting a majority. if they get a majority, they will form a coalition with the minor party, whi

>> yes, the eu rules say that each country within the eu can choose whatever tax rate it wants.l tax competition perfectly permissible. but if you go off to a particular company, because you want to attract that company into your country to do business there and give them a special rate that's no-no. not permitted in the eu. >> and is it also a case of -- you look around the world and you see many countries who would do all they can to attract these multi-nationals. they want them there to build factories, set up shops, spend money, create jobs. there's global competition between countries. >> that's right. as our prime minister and finance minister has said on many times, it's a global risk. and most countries in the world, in one way or another, set up their tax systems to attract multi-nationals and big business generally in for all those reasons that you're talking about. it will do good for their citizens if those companies bring investment and jobs and such like into the country. that all-in competition. what the eu has said, that's okay providing you set up your tax syste

there are members in the new party that say we should leave the eu all together.y it is a precedent. >> yes, it is. plainly the briefings again the belief out there at the present is that that would be just about survivable. if you look at how the bond markets have behaved in the last year or so back there 2010 when the greek crisis first blew up we now see that the spanish debt and italian debt is almost no risk of leaving the euro, no risk of defaults. two and a half years ago the last greek elections they were signaling real panic over the possibility that that could happen. so there is a belief that the rest of the euro zone can carry on. but the critical thing is there no so precedence of this up until now. the whole point of the eurozone is that you are so totally committed to this currency that there is no way you can leave. >> srennivasan: right. >> once one country has left, it becomes far more possible for others to leave. >> srennivasan: before that depar ture point, does it embolden more parties on the far left in other countries? >> almost certainly.

the hint in the statement was that this might be extended to eu citizens. the question is, how do you do that in a functional and practical way? that could cause huge queues at airports. the question is what databases do you check those against? do we have the intelligence to understand who might be a danger and who might not? the third aspect is, do you do this on a selective basis? do you choose particular countries of origin, particular nationalities to target? that is problematic from the point of view of ethnic profiling. on the internal border controls the question is, how do you do that in a non-systematic way? it has to be non-systematic otherwise we are introducing internal borders. how do you do that in a cost-effective way? to reinstate main border checks along internal borders would be an extremely costly thing in terms of human resources and infrastructure. >> some countries may decide that they will take the short-term option andriy institute this major border crossing. do you think we will end up with a more fragmented picture? >> you might s

maybe not just for the sanctions, but for the eu foreign policy in general.fore tuesday, before we got the new greek cabinet, there was a lot of certainty that there would be new sanctions imposed against russia. then the greeks came out and said they don't agree with the statement that came out of the eu on tuesday calling for this emergency meeting. basically expressing their doubts about more sanctions. they complained that they hadn't been consulted, regardless of the fact that they'd only been in power for a few minutes at that point. it has surprised a lot of people and changed the dynamic, certainly the trend that we are seeing, when it comes to sanctions. that is one of the reasons maybe we don't get a whole lot today. so far, it all comes down to the new greek foreign minister. there's a lot of concern about him in brussels. there's a photo circulating of him with someone that many would describe as a worrisome russian nationalist, a guy who has been championing the idea of russian involvement and occupation of eastern ukraine. they have ties with th

both are opposed to the conditions attached to the eu bailout.d a willingness to negotiate those conditions as long as tsipras drops his demands for a write-down of greece's debt. moscovici urged patience and said that europe was willing to work with greece. >> of course, the union and the commission is willing to continue and is ready to help greece to be a country staying on its feet, help greece to be a country creating job growth help greece to pay its debt. >> gdp figures in the u.k. out later. the stimulus, lots to talk about. thanks for joining us today. finance ministers from the eurozone signaled their willingness to meet with tsipras as long as the prime minister drops his demand for a get right down -- a debt writedown. how will a compromise be reached? >> this is something of a game of poker, really. it is a question of who is going to blink first. are people going to overplay their hands? there is a danger of a train crash. there could be some sort of deal . if you listen to what tsipras said in the election campaign you have to thin

there's none, of course, as you know, to eu passport holders.ou can move around that system freely with no border control. >> we know the importance and the influence and propaganda, especially when it comes to these extremists. how concerns of use of her as propaganda for terrorists if she's alive and if she's able to speak out in. >> well, it ought to be a concern. it's not just propaganda. i think the value to the islamic state fighters of having foreigners who are native language speakers who have pass worth por portes, who can cross borders is enormous. the contrast, the united states has done extremely well compared to centers of jihadist terrorism, like london, paris, madrid, et cetera. it's a huge challenge. you can't change a free society. you have to maintain sort of maturity and sobriety about dealing with the issue. but it's a threat to all of us. >> sure. how can we take that away in the united states, as far as law enforcement tracking risks like the kouachi brothers when they leave and train abroad and come back. what can our take

how will the world's premier corporate tax-haven re-position itself once the eu's financial loopholes have been tightened? join us for the next half hour which is looking something like this. rebranding luxembourg. the ever-enterprising grand duchy sures up new ways to keep the money flowing. tlc, elephant-style. some hard-earned time out for laos' endangered beasts of burden. australia, "no way!" the onetime immigration nation goes to new and drastic lengths to discourage refugees. another year is almost over. and another tax year too. a good time then for the european union to tighten up the fiscal loopholes which allow multinational companies like amazon and fiat to reduce their tax bills by channeling their money through luxembourg, the little landlocked country which has become the world's premier corporate tax haven. with its controversial bank secrecy rules due to be lifted in 2017, luxembourg is already positioning itself to attract a new category of client. who would have thought that luxembourg has an underbelly? but there are parts of the grand duchy that the corporate worl

athens agreed to the deal in the international bailout with the eu and imf. cosco already operates two of the three container terminals. >> we are deeply concerned about the situation. the situation has always been good. the port has been success story. it is in the interest of both the greek and chinese people. >> stakes in the country's second-biggest port were also slated to be sold. halting these deals could put the final payments of greece's bailout loans in jeopardy. the prime minister says he will stand by his campaign pledge to renegotiate greece's debt comments which have sent the greek market tumbling. germany advised athens not expect danger changes -- expect major changes, saying it expects greece to stick to its commitment. >> facebook has announced its latest results. >> the big figures aren't in terms of profits but in terms of number of users, which grew by 13% to 1.4 billion people, more than the population of china. people are spending more time on facebook. that's important for advertisers. the increase in profits was needed, as the company

that is the question before eu foreign ministers.hey will debate widening measures against the nation that has felt the pain of a falling currency. 69 rubles on the dollar. that is a stronger dollar, a weaker ruble. let's get over to brussels. ryan, what are we expecting today? what is on the agenda? >> clearly a majority of the foreign ministers would like to see new sanctions imposed against russia economic sanctions, sections focused on the energy industry, on the defense sector and on the banking industry. kind of like what we have already seen but taking it a step further. they'd like to see an expansion of the black list of individual subject to asset freezes and travel bans and companies as well. however there is another step they could take before they do that and that is to roll over some of the existing sanctions. the way the sanctions work, they have to be renewed every six months. they have to be renewed by everyone an agreement, decisions made by the unanimity of all 28 states. the sanctions introduced last year were san

we did just here for the president of latvia and they hold the rotating president of the eu and they said there will be more sanctions on thursday and the president of latvia saying we should expect an expansion of the individuals that will be suspect to asset freezing in the european union. it is difficult to know. there are a lot of companies in the eu and we may have to wait until thursday morning. >> let's get the investor perspective. we are joined by lucy mcdonald great to have you with us. this story comes out we probably sit at your terminal and think i saw that coming, but does this act like gloom for you? >> it is a bit of a sideshow the issue we need to keep an ion is the corporate -- eye on is the corporate debt. is it a surprise? no, it is an ongoing cut. and something from a global equity perspective you need to watch for some downgrades to earnings on the margin. it is not a big part of many companies but consumer companies in europe like the one you mentioned yesterday, on the margin the ruble weakness is helpful than me to see any volatility that comes from it. >> ov