this means each allow our governments to submit to the european commission and to the european council of ministers in the first half of the year before it goes to the national parliament a draft budget. this is incredible issue. was asked by the european commission for years and rejected by member states to the sovereignty of parliament but now it is in place. so this is one aspect. then the acceptance of a much enhanced economic surveillance on even the process of fracture reforms in member states so there is an acceptance of more operational instruments of supervision by the e.u.. in itself, slow. 27 or the 17 members of the euro area has moved considerably, thanks to the greek crisis and if i look in five years time i would imagine euro area that would have composition more numerous than the current one. i don't see countries going out of the euro. i see some countries coming in the euro in the next few years. i believe the permanent crisis management system which we will put in place soon will be there as an ordinary crisis management. the e.u. was not contacted to manage crisis a

the leverage of the european commission. for example, the fact that the european commission has now opened infringement procedures that is putting legal and political stimulus on countries to comply with services directive, liberalizing the services area. and they issued most recently two infringement procedures symbolically enough. one vis-a-vis germany, the other vis-a-vis greece says even in germany there is hope for greater domestic liberalization. and something i normally try to convey to our anglo saxon friends there's not much hope to persuade germany to play the growth game through the frame of mind. i think they are more likely to respond positively if one calls them to fully go in the direction of their invection, social market economy of the 50s and 60s open up markets. and i believe that if germany fully went to the opening up of its domestic services sector, that will stimulate its own growth as well as through increased exports of services from other eu member states to germany, the whole of european growth. bu

european companies european parliament the european commission can be blamed on this situation course they didn't do their homework what they really did they will have they're going. to create their underground storage is commonly infrastructure infrastructure but what they really did. speak to no different export. options from iran from. now on other projects course because pro have to cut off some supplies to you. it's because you have such a scheme for more gas because of the cold weather but in practice tell us how we use it to switch up the tops and increase supply well technically it's not there to use a course once you decide to increase the production somewhere in the mold. it will take you three four five days to bring this mount of gas to you so. should you do to avoid repeats of the situation again. according to my opinion. and have to. show the clear signals how much gas will it need for not for the show a period of time like today they need some extra gas because there is no enough guess of the spot market. but. long term prospects of the ghost supply in europe and accord

the european commission president -- european monetary commission, they have all criticized -- >> but hungary said if you are in convene -- with the european laws we are changing it. we all members of the club. what except that the rules and if something -- they are criticizing us specifically. but what you said is that democracy is in danger. >> what about the very specific criticism about the independence of the judiciary being eroded? your wife has been appointed head of the national judiciary office. she has been appointed for nine years. very difficult to remove her. we have a whole stack of judges who have to retire. she is going to have the power to appoint judges who are very close -- not alone -- but she is married to you and you are very close -- is that -- >> i resigned when she was appointed to this position. i resigned all of my political positions. >> you are no longer an ally of the prime minister? >> i am supporting him -- >> that is what i need. >> but my wife is a judge for 25 years. she was the president of the labour court of budapest and is an excellent lawyer. i

this means that each of our governments has to submit to the european commission and european council of ministers. in the first half of the year before it goes to the national parliament, a draft budget, this is incredible if you think of it. this was asked by the european commission for years and years and always rejected by member states isn't this -- to the parliament. it's in place. that's one aspect. then the acceptance of a much enhanced economic surveyance, there is operational influence of supervision by the eu. so the in itself slow structure of the 27 or of the 17 members of the euro area has moved, has moved considerably, thanks, one should say, to the greek -- if i say in one year time, i would imagine a euro area that would have composition more numerous than the current one. i don't see honestly countries going out of the euro. i see some countries coming in the euro in the next few years. i believe that the permanent crisis management system, esm, which we will put in place soon will be there as an ordinary instrument for crisis management. the eu was not contracted to

all the same, the european commission's final ruling still came as a major blow for deutsche borse. >> this is a black day for europe and its future competitiveness on the world's financial markets. rejecting the proposed merger endorsed the creation of a european-based global stock exchange leader. >> combining georgia burse and the nyse would have created the world's biggest exchange operator. >> these two companies constrain each other's prices and compete for technology and innovation. therefore, the merger would have eliminated the help the process of competition. >> but some observers say that the combined exchange would not have been as powerful as the european commission feared. >> derivatives trading is global. that means we have to at least draw derivatives exchanges in the u.s. and asia into the equation. then things look different. >> he wants to return quickly to business as usual. even without the merger, deutsche borse is still a major player among global stock exchanges. >> european stocks advanced to six-month highs thursday in reaction to better than expected manufac

in contrast, the european commission says some companies are likely to dip into recession.n spain, italy, and portugal, production, exports, and domestic consumption are falling, exacerbating the woes for companies and job seekers. overall, the european economy is expected to shrink at 0.6%, following a period of slight growth in 2011. two sectors entered negative territory, similarly to spain, greece, and portugal. european debt is still at the root of the problem. it is hoped the rescue package for greece will promote a recovery at the end of the year. >> markets reacted negatively to that downbeat forecast. blue chips in frankfurt rallied, but then slipped or lower. we have this summary from frankfurt. >> the fear of recession in the eurozone is not new, but the fact that the eu commission said to loud and clear the danger is great that the eurozone could fall into recession dragged down the mood here on the frankfurt floor. share prices are falling again. in the morning, the mood had been far better after the -- has been issued. the business climate had rose. this shows

but for the first time, the european commission has the right to come and check whether the member states have really translated the stability pact in their legislation. and if they have not done it, the european court of justice can sue them. it's a paradox, if you want. we have a stability and growth pact, which is like european legislation, if you want. for all the other european legislation, for all the directives, the supreme court, the european court of justice, can sue a country that would not have applied the directives and the country must apply them. but in the lisbon treaty, we said okay, we're going to do the same with the stability pact. all the heads have said oh, no, no, no. we're not going to do that. it's so important because it's hitting our budgets. so we don't want the european court of justice to meddle with that. and we saw that it doesn't work, especially when you have a common currency. then it should be even more binding. so it's not a question of a transfer. it's a question of finding a way to apply what we had already committed ourselves to. and if we don't, we'

the european commission is behind safer internet date. 70 countries around the world are taking part. in germany, the partner is the click save initiative. >> as we are all aware, the internet plays a big role in our lives, the lives of adults, but also those of teenagers and smaller children. there's a whole series of problems in europe, especially in germany. the main focus has been on issues like cyber bullying, data protection, and how people behave in social networks. projects like this one are few and far between. that is partly because teachers often feel less comfortable with new technologies than their pupils. >> for more, we are joined now by konstantin klein, our technology correspondent. welcome. >> the key headline of this year's state for internet date is connecting generations and educating each other. this is what this day is about. it is not about controlling the internet, blocking access, or other was regulating the internet. it is just about education. in this context, i would like to emphasize the structure of the internet. it is merely an infrastructure like publi

european level want this discussion. took place between the heads of the government and the lead this is like the commission the european parliament absolutely no no say in all things this is not democratic deficit as they call it this is that the lapses of democracy and perhaps as i said at the beginning we see the future of europe we have countless of the good being human in what's hot. today greece again fails to meet its targets do you think there's anything left in the country that could be cut to help make these ends meet. well a little. money and livelihoods to cotton like which to destroy. you can push people on the way until they leave the country if they can or they live off the obvious fields as the what the. the med we have is going to do percent unemployment fifty percent unemployment over here is a huge increase in homelessness in a county that did not have such a phenomenon of course a huge increase in suicide so you have that kind of situation in the past the europeans the africans and the asians you know that limits and of course many people and in the regimes so want but now this is what's happening to

for cold weather and the global warming the second european commission and the europeans who for thelast two or three years established the policy they don't want long term twangers they want to have the support deliveries which crazed competitiveness and due to the fact now they have a lot of trading at least a lot of quite a few gas on this hops and gas according to the normal during the initial delivered the gas and. couldn't be blamed for this situation. so look at the stock markets in europe they recovered a little in the off name but remain down for the day concerns over the greek economy with the main drag will be in the seas on monday russian markets they had a late surge when the day flood let's take a look at some of the main movers on the mind six on monday. gazprom followed the overall market into the black in the last hour of trade precious metals producer groups on the rise the price of polymath all reached an all time high earlier today for the investors cashed those gains in the afternoon p.t.b. bank is down on news it will use its own profit to compensate the losses

in fact, a european commission official said that greece had already missed the deadline and that thel was now in the greek's court. the signs are getting clear that the european union does want signs from greece that they are willing to implement reforms and that they are going to do it. nicklaus at sarkozy -- merkel answer's -- and sarkozy say this is not up to greece to decide right now. >> those talks coming up tomorrow, very important. thank you very much. >> how or the market's reacting to those developments? let's check out with our correspondent at the frankfurt stock exchange. he told us about the mood on the floor there. >> people here on the floor were incredulous, looking at the continued back and forth around greece. one trader here said, for example, i am speechless. it has been going on for weeks, yet they're still no results. but it is still relatively optimistic that there will still be a result, that sovereignty fault can be avoided. the high level of the dax that you see, not for the day, that is not a terribly good result, but since the beginning of the year + 15%

sanctions are a game that two can play and turnabout is fair play in international affairs the european commission and the relevant powers have been making a big noise over the past couple of weeks about how they are going to embargo and boycott all iranian oil starting on july first well it's pretty obvious the iranians decided not to wait around until july first they've decided to to impose their own embargo boycott on the offending powers and they're starting with the the two biggest imperialist bullies on the schoolyard the british and the french who are now so weak that they can only act together they are a kind of imperialist bicycle built for two they haven't had time to carefully arrange the fallback options and the alternative sources of oil so this is a little bit of a surprise to them the iranians have been under sanctions for thirty years when i was in iran you see a lot of prosperity a lot of economic activity there had been a shock in january as a result of the very stringent sort of secondary boycott sanctions that the u.s. had put in but the iranians will tell you they have lived u

nuclear inspectors is on its way to the country a second such visit within a month earlier the european commission claimed that the block has enough oil reserves to last for around one hundred twenty days saudi arabia has also stepped in it by saying it is prepared to supply extra oil if needed but some experts fear that this move none the less will have a negative impact on an already struggling european economy historian at webster tarpley says iran is imposing its own oil embargo to show that it will not be bullied. economic sanctions are a game that two can play and turnabout is fair play in international affairs the european commission and the relevant powers have been making a big noise over the past couple of weeks about how they are going to embargo and boycott all iranian oil starting on july first well it's pretty obvious the iranians decided not to wait around until july first they decided to to impose their own embargo boycott on the offending powers and they're starting with the the two biggest imperialist bullies on the schoolyard the british and the french who are now so weak that t

the european commission may look into this particular deal over competition issues. >> bp has turned itself around. >> in the last few months of last year the company made a profit of $7.6 billion. for the whole year it made $24 billion. they made a loss of $5 billion prior. higher oil prices helping. more in about 15 minutes. >> thank you very much. you are watching "bbc world news." what is in store for the 200th birthday of one of britain does in most iconic ofauthors? as the cold weather continues in europe, eight people died after heavy rain caused flooding in southern bulgaria. the government declared a state of emergency. two rivers surging down to turkey. governments have taken emergency measures to conserve gas supplies. flood waters continue rising in eastern australia. thousands of people evacuated. the town of st. george was the worst hit. the water is 15 meters higher than normal. police on strike in the brazilian city of bahia who have clashed with soldiers. they've cut off electricity to force out several thousand police officers and their families. the murder rate mor

as for this man here, european commission president jose manuel barroso, he added that the eu is assumingl responsibility for its own debt problems as it goes cap in hand to china. >> we are taking all the necessary steps to ensure stability of the continents and play our part in global solutions. this is a long process. i've been saying it. we share the experience and the virtue of endurance, resilience and perseverance. we have the strength and we have the will. >> barroso says eu has the will, china says they are will be to help still no concrete pledges to buy that debt as the summit ends today. what happens next? head to cnn.com and check out this latest article, "will china come to the eu's rescue." nina? >> many thanks for that. >>> coming up, sales of whitney houston's albums have surged following the singer's death, it's not only the estate that stands to benefit from the sales. we will tell you who else is in line from the fruits of her success. stay with us on "world business today." snow and wind may disrupt a few flights across the continent. let's go to ivan cabrera at the c

the european commission vice president olli rehn laid out the details. >> this program is supported by very substantial contribution by the private sector as jean claude jun kefr explained. this requires a haircut of 53.5%, and there are several efforts will reduce the greek public debt to the level of 120.5% over gdp by 2020. >> olli rehn pointing out it's the private bondholders taking the bigger hit. imf boss christine lagarde welcomed the deal saying it laid the foundation for greece to return to prosperity. >> the combination of these significant efforts plus the ambitious program with a clear focus on competitiveness should really give enough space for greece to restore its competitiveness, to improve its debt sustainability and to demonstrate that with good and solid and rigorous implementation checked on a regular basis by the various partners associated with the program, it can get back on track. >> well, with a colossal debt and years of austerity ahead, that journey could be a long one. joining us with more from agent then is elida. what do you see as the reaction in greece?

that has been sent up with the international monetary fund, the european central bank and the european commission. this monitoring process is adjusted every time but now we are talking about private sector involvement, about the second bailout. i am confident that markets will believe us and markets will react to us and that will mean that greece has a chance with this bailout to overcome the crisis. >> month by month, you are going to have to prove that you are on track to deliver this but you have an election in april. you might get to april and find that you actually can not deliver this because there is not enough money in the streets. people cannot even make their bank payments. it's just physically might not work. next don't know when the election would be. there are rumors about april. the whole point of this is to enable the state function and pay at salaries. the scenario that you just described is exactly what we're trying to avoid through this assistance we are receiving from our partners. >> you need to get that signed off very very quickly, don't you. >> we need to get this through t

i think really the european commission and the council need to think how it is possible that a ship full of arms is able to leave the poor to go to syria to supply al-assad with arms to use against the civilian population. we have to be vigilant. we know that the arab league has itown agenda. we know that there are all sorts of initiatives being taken out because of the situation and delicacy, the european union needs to be very clear. and say on the 24th it's fine because it sends a message, an important message and that is that this the story of the people fighting against oppressors and the way in which we consider that we have a chessboard and if we move this particular piece on the chessboard, which is syria and all thoughts of outcome is made up her. we need to provide support for these people. and this story in syria is a story of society working for rights and for democracy. we must be aware that this is wh is at stake and this is where we concentrate our efforts. so this meeting on the 24th, intervention from the president. those countries have continued to provide support for s

european commission president manuel baroso has urged greece to accept conditions for the bailout package. baroso said all is focusing on greece. >> it is very important not only for greece but the euro to keep greece in euro. for that we are urging the political parties in greece to make a commitment to the common goals. i think it's very important for them. >> and on the tokyo foreign exchange, the yen is lower against both the dollar and the euro this wednesday morning. that's on easing concerns over europe's debt problems. right now the dollar is trading against the yen at 76.92-93. investors are selling the yen and buying back the dollar and euro. that's on speculation that greece and the eu will soon reach an agreement over an aid package. share prices are rising in tokyo pushing the key index closer to 9,000. investors are placing buy orders on export-related shares as the yen weakens against the dollar and euro. the nikkei a gain of half a percent so far. the broader topix also up by half a percent. an overnight gain on wall street also gave relief to investors. the dow jones adva

european council president and european commission president met chinese premier on tuesday. they didn't quite get a clear commitment from china. the eu asked china to hope boost the financial base of the european financial stability and the international monetary fund. china expressed willingness to continue talks with terks. this is because china's exports have been falling and the economy is slowing down due to the debt problems in the euro zone, is largest trade partner for china. >> translator: china is preparing to support the european union. we will cooperate with them and hold dialogue. >> we welcome the positive attitude and engagement china and premier have taken publicly towards the stability of the euro zone and the european union. >> china's believed likely to continue discussing cautiously when and how it can support the eu in view of the strong opposition back in the country against providing support for europe. japan central bank has decided to step up monetary easing to boost the economy. the decision comes after the country gdp shrank in october-december peri

the european commission says it suspects the south korean firm is not giving other companies fair access to the patents it holds on smart phone technology. this technology is considered essential for european mobile phones. samsung and u.s. rival apple are involved in patent litigation in several countries around the world. both seek injunctions to block each other's sales, claiming infringement of technology patents. >>> housing starts in japan improved slightly in 2011, but remained below 1 million units for the third year in a row. the land and infrastructure ministry said on tuesday that housing starts totalled 834,117 units last year, up 2.6% from the previous year. new condominiums posted 29% of growth on expectations for recovery and demand, mainly in the greater tokyo area. the construction of apartments and other buildings has been sluggish since the collapse of lehman brothers which triggered the financial crisis. they say incentive for homes reintroduced last year is likely to push up housing demand, but says a rapid recovery is unlikely because construction projects are susce

you know pretty much yields to the pressure from the troika of the european commission the european central bank and the international monetary fund max how does the republican vision here in the united states of balanced budgets and cutting spending correlate with the greek austerity program. was pretty hard to imagine any government kind of imposing austerity program as harsh as the one being pushed on the greeks internally without an external pressure that being said i think we should be watching greece and to a large extent ireland which we talk about less than the u.k. which we talk about less even though they're less severe as the ghost of christmas future if we follow the sort of scrooge approach to try to balance this budget you simply can't cut your way back to prosperity you need growth you need opportunity and casting off a generation of young people their dreams their aspirations their edges. haitians and offering them no opportunity i mean greece is pushing through one hundred fifty thousand more public sector job cuts across the board double digit wage cuts for people who've a

it also means that the european union, the european commission in particular, will strike a much more robust monitor of what is going on inside greece and sending in technical inspectors to try to speed up progress on things like tax evasion, privatization. promises that greece has made in the past. greece has made promises they have not kept. this looks pretty painful for greek ministers because they say they are doing an awful lot already. >> the syrian city of homs has suffered a six successive day of shelling by government forces. >> activists say that the latest attacks have killed up to 100 people. homs is despairing that they will not get any international help. president obama has decried what he called the outrageous bloodshed. there is still no international response. >> the terrifying on slot that homs is under at the moment. no one is immune from the shells and rockets it seems, according to this amateur footage. twisted metal, rubble, and polls bear testimony to the bombardment. the syrian government says that it is fighting armed rebels but what about the civilians? a ch

the european commission says hungary has violated the rule of bringing to less than 3% of gross domestic product. the eu reduced regulations that allows it to punish member states for failing to observe discipline. the finance ministers are expected to approve the plan next month. if hungary fails to rectify the situation by january next year, the nation will be the first to receive a sanction under the new rules. >> this decision today is to be regarded as an incentive to correct a deviation not a punishment. it is a fair and proportionate measure over a preventive nature. >> meanwhile, the hungarian government countered in a statement. it said the proposal is unfounded and unfair. >>> a bank of japan survey shows that more japanese people are seeking lowing risk financial assets as the economic slowdown continues. the average value of assets in households of two or more people was more than $140,000. that's down 1.6% in yen terms from a year earlier. the fall was due to plunging stock prices amid the eurozone debt worries. when asked what type they want to increase, the percentage of t

so far the european commission this is not a social democratic. organization this is a neo liberal economic organization they have order of priority and the people of the e.u. than the ordinary people in ordinary working mand or people who live from a salary the only real solution is not to what to you is not imposing on your own solution this social democracy. the arab league is calling on the u.n. security council to pass a resolution creating a joint peacekeeping force for syria it also also international support for the opposition and hopes to pile further pressure on the regime. has the latest from cairo where they upon our body has been meeting. syria will probably see un peacekeepers arrive in the country in order to try and reinstall arab league meeting in cairo on sunday took them about eleven hours to come up with a with a decisive response to the situation in the country which has seen a lot of bloodshed over the past eleven months the arab league has asked for tightening sanctions which i have already been imposed on syria they aborted

. >> the european commission had issued a report.y said the eurozone, 17 countries that use the currency, will have a mild recession. but they recommend 2012 we will see the economy contracting by about 0.3%. the dry coming through not just from greece and portugal -- the drag coming not just from greece and portugal, but from the netherlands. he is the eu commissioner for economic affairs. he says although the figures are not great, there is some cause for optimism. >> compared to our november forecast, prospects have worsened and risks to the growth outlook to remain. but there are signs of stabilization at the same time, especially in the more recent time. >> timing is everything on this. you have this report, and a very influential survey that shows business sentiment is on the rise for february. >> thank you. two members of international force in afghanistan have been shot dead by a man and afghan army uniform. it happened shortly after the taliban called on all afghans to kill westerners in retaliation weree copies of the cross

you had quite a high ranking delegation heading there was headed up by the president of the european commission and president of the european council as well so it was a manual process herman van rompuy both of them despite that high ranking delegation didn't get any more guarantees apart from good and positive words by chinese counterparts so no financial interactions nothing guaranteed in terms of financial stimulus is really what they want the reason they're in china is because china has the money they need right now three point two trillion dollars reserve currency fund that could help stabilize the markets here understand why the chinese are somewhat wary of this investment because it can all make indicators are only really worsening also that sifu good at the moment which is default greek default and exit from the euro zone what's being talked about increasingly by greek politicians the public but also by those eurozone leaders and that can't be interpreted as anything else but a real slap in the face for the greek government now they have passed another round of very unpopular austerity

european parliament if you have enough signatures. in my party, in the city we said that perhaps we should have direct election of the commission president so that he would be more identified with the voters. but i think that we have a much simpler task. the european parliament has become extremely powerful. bury the mps in europe do not realize how powerful they are. they don't feel powerful. it's very interesting to watch. the mep in the party in europe represent totally different positions than the positions they defend in their home parliament. and the american president asked me, he said what happens in the european parliament? because they take decisions that are completely different from the decisions taken by the german parliament or the french parliament. and for instance in germany, we have very tight links between the parliaments of the lender and the federal parliament. they defend the same position. for instance, in my party, all the representatives of my party are against euro bonds, and it's the same in the lender. but it's not the case in the european parliament. that's why there is no identification between the members o

this means that each of our governments has to submit to the european commission and to the european of the year, before it goes to the national parliament, a draft budget. this is incredible if you think of it. this was asked by the european commission for years and years and always rejected by a member states. but now it is in place, so this is one aspect. then, the acceptance of a much enhanced economic surveillance and the process of structural reforms and member states, so there is acceptance of more operational instruments of supervision by the eu, so the in itself slow structure of the 27 or 17 members of the euro area has moved considerably, thanks, one should say, to the great crisis. if it -- to the greek crisis. if i look in five years' time, i would imagine a your area that would have a composition more numerous than the current one. i do not see honestly country's going out of the euro. i see some countries coming in. in the next few years. i believe that the permanent crisis management system, which we will put in place soon, will be there as an ordinary instrument for

but the european commission's own research which emerged last night says the plan is accident prone and debt could swell dramatically only falling back to today's levels in 2020 despite the bailout. it's concentrating elsewhere in europe. here in the u.k. meeting the spanish prime minister david cameron calls for financial protection. >> greece has made its choice. we now have to focus on the next step which is constructing a fire wall that is large enough to prevent contagion within the eurozone. >> reporter: and spain may need that fire wall. markets are turning their attention to other countries in the eurozone. >> what we think could be the next stage is that the market refocuses on how italy and spain in particular restore their economic growth so it may be over the next couple of weeks that we see a renewed crisis in the rest of europe. >> reporter: on the streets of athens, the reality of their situation is sinking in. >> i believe that greece won't bear this burden. >> i have children. i'm just scared for them. they may want to live abroad. >> reporter: the full consequences of

massive fifteen thousand jobs cuts already been accepted this is pressure mounts on what the european commission spokesman saying the deadline is already passed the country must now accept even more painful cuts if it's to get a one hundred thirty billion euro second a lifeline from international creditors if the deal falls through greece is expected to default by the end of march trevor evans a professor at the berlin school of economics and wall says more austerity measures will only make the situation worse. but at the moment it's a very close play they're putting great pressure on greece to make these cuts greece is having enormous political difficulties and make you make cuts but furthermore if they do make these cuts it's just going to drive greece into an even deeper recession which means it will have even less money to meet its foreign debt repayments. the only possibility of greece but also portugal or ireland repaying their debts here is if they get long term financing that means that they can begin to invest in projects that have a future based on skilled labor not on cutting wages an