in the wrong into you will not get even warrant by european commission if you are a new one you have to face warnings and associate in the case of romania bulgaria or so very practical consequences in the form of frozen european funds and so on and so on now you've been tackling corruption in europe for decades you come from the part of the world and you are not from eastern europe where you understand the corruption corruption is in some ways part of the political culture what are the most alarming examples of correction on the continent that you personally have come across what is the most alarming. form of corruption is when politicians. winning elections they think that the state you should be has become their reward for their election with other words they take the. winning the election they take it as winning that separation of the treasure switch over there and a source of many countries already that. the highest level of politicians were simply destroying the countries for their personal needs because they thought they have right to do it before they have right to put all thei

opposing ideas on how best to boost growth. >> applause for the new president elect of the european commission, the most powerful job in brussels. thaddeus young will over-see national budget and negotiate international trade deals. delivering a speech in french, english and german, his economic policies aim to appeal to a wide spectrum. as the i.m.f. drops its growth forecast for the year from 1.1% to 1%. he wins support from socialists. >> i would like over the next few years, over the next three years, to have 300 billion euros in terms of public and private investment raised and mobilized. >> music to the ears of italy's prime minister and others, who gave support to young. struggling with a debt of more than 130% of g.d.p., they want to move away from austerity measures. >> rules in europe have to deal with stability as well as growth. without stability there can be no growth. but without growth there can be no stability. when we are concerned only with stability, we are destroying a piece of the future. >> on the other side of the eck truck, despite remaining fixed on austerity, germany

the european commission has paved the way for germany's biggest operator. they are going to take over e-plus. at is the german unit of k.b.n. is 8.6 billion deal will merge them. that will bring the number of major operators in germany from four to three. news from france. e hopes of a french market onsolidation have taken a hit. it was one step ahead and one step back to consolidate europe's telecom industry. the european commission's approval is a change. they predict more for europe's fragmented market. here is more. >> with the european commission's blessing, the number of mobile operators in germany is set to drop from four to three, a move that analysts say is going to add to take overs. at the same time, 60% of customers in europe are with the continent's four main providers. a larger pool of players have seen prices improve substantials. after years of falling revenues d price wars, european telecoms are turning to cons occasions as a means to grow. in the u.s., the amount companies spend on investing in infrastructure is nearly double than the amou

before the break we were talking about the expenses and the costs and indeed according to the european commission the initial transition of your brain will require somewhat eleven billion euros that the e.u. is supposedly a willing to provide to train over the next few years now the european union is still recovering from an economic crisis and in many countries there are still economic difficulties the stereotype is very painful do you think it was prudent on the part of the e.u. to take these substantial financial and political of legations like ukraine why didn't you just wait a couple of years until this recovery is complete and until ukraine fully stay stabilized this but listen this pick is to do exactly that this is a blueprint for reforms this is the way i mean how to modernize ukraine the money you talked about is a combination of ground loans and it's not for three years but this for seven years and now it's it's worse for us to invest in the stability of our partner countries do you think the people in europe will support that because it's not only about whether your ukrainians want to

. >> jean-claude juncker has been elected the head of the european commission after a vote in parliament. the process of selecting a commission president was highly contested, but he managed to rise above the fray. >> the conservative candidate has promised a lot to different people and faces a tough road ahead. the former prime minister of luxembourg campaigned hard to win the parliament's support including a nod to british eurosceptics. he acknowledged that many people think the eu is too involved in national affairs. >> not every problem in europe has to be a problem for the european union. we have to take care of major issues. >> in the end, he won a clear majority. in addition to strong support from conservatives in many social democrats green lawmakers also vetted for him. >> hopefully, he feels more committed to the parliament than his predecessor. >> yunker gave an impassioned speech, arguing for a re-industrialization of europe. >> he did not try to run the show or tell everybody what they wanted to hear. he made it clear that some things are ok for him and some things are not.

the european commission. providing in the periphery. >> is the currency board at risk? >> this is very unpredictable. i've never experienced this, the oligarch getting back at each other to try and destalize a banking system. they highlight a very serious problem that bulgaria has around the forces in the economy. for now, this largely covers a large amount of the hole that exists in the banking system. so for the moment, there's never been pressure of households trying to convert deposits into euros, all banks trying to draw money out from this intervention. to create that from happening, we would see greater risk from the board. >> could you put the numbers on this for me? if i look at the mpls, it looks quite terrifying. but you yourself say even in the worst case scenario, the whole in the sector is only 2.6 billion euros. so it seems very manageable. >> absolutely. assistance is about 2%, 3% of gdp. so it's not insubstantial in terms of the size of the economy, but bulgaria is lucky. it has very low debt

the european commission recently asserted -- and is now headed by mr. cker, that the european parliament is really effective armament for the european union. does he agree with me that we must assert our national parliament and it must avail and therefore he is completely right in what he did this weekend? >> my honorable friend makes an important point. there are those in europe that say the only democratic legitimacy in europe is the european parliament and somehow the parliament is the essence of democracy. this is completely wrong. it consists of president to have a much bigger democratic mandate been the european parliament. if there is another such election like this, you could have a candidate for the commission presidency that was deeply against the interest of other member states. perhaps a candidate who did not believe the baltic states belonged in the european union. that is why the principles at stake are so important. >> initially, sweden, poland and italy expressed reservations about the appointment of mr. juncker. what does the president -

for your brain to be found to be you and russia well to discuss that i'm now joined by the european commission our final argument and neighborhood policy staff and mr pillar thank you very much for taking time to talk to us and it's my pleasure now in many of your previous interviews you talked about good neighborly relations as a prerequisite for countries either joining the e.u. or integrating more closely with the union how do you define good neighborly relations what are they based on i think first of all it's about respecting each other number one number two it's about creating the conditions for each of the neighbors to have its super and right to decide to about the future and number three it's about the number of the contacts. and trade i can i make some politics and also people to people contacts well i think one point that was missing in your reply was security and there is of course an express link between the security and good neighborly relations and i think that's the main reason why the e.u. has long demanded that all the countries that want to be associated with the union the b

discusses what's going on in ukraine with the european commission or stay with us are worlds apart. yes it's official the mainstream media must be made up of stereotypical gossipy teenage girls i mean how else can you explain the fact that michelle obama using the term chipped has become a scandal i don't white house summit on working families mrs obama explained that when she was working part time she realized she was getting chipped because she was sexual king full time but only getting paid the part time salary technically the term gypped is somewhat racist it implies a gypsy's are all con men but in the modern world i think most people don't even know where the term comes from i doubt michelle obama likes a medieval peasant shield her children from wandering gypsies who could give them the evil eye or seriously question if there was any deep racial intent in the statement i personally would let the first lady off the hook but the question is would she do the same for me or any other person in the media probably not but thankfully for mrs obama she can't be fired from being the f

russia's biggest oil company rosneft these sanctions will undoubtably hurt them meanwhile the european commission said that these measures are likely to cut zero point three percent of g.d.p. off of use economic growth this year and zero point four percent next year even if the crisis is contained and without a serious disruption of energy supplies now russia's finance minister sergei lavrov has said that russia plans have no tit for tat reprisals however according to the telegraph russia's parliament is already drawing up legislation to blacklist aggressor countries specifically specifically targeting authors and consultants which includes companies like deloitte ernst and young boston consulting and mckinsey. now this would trigger bonding covenant clauses that rely on external audit's which could provoke brutal brutal market reactions now as for the u.s. companies like. exxon mobil and how the burden went up taking a hit as well tuesday's sanctions basically reduce access to some of the world's largest energy companies from one of the biggest untapped energy locales on the planet an estimated

the european parliament will either confirm jean-claude juncker at the next president of the european commission or reject him. look at the figures. jean-claude juncker needs the backings of half the number of seats plus one, a simple majority. in theory, jean-claude juncker can rely on the support of the largest groups in the european socialist, and the and democrats. there are some rebels within these groups. that includes the british labor. they do not seem to like jean-claude juncker. he will rely on the support of other groups. the liberals, the fourth largest group in the parliament. i think he should get a majority. i think he will get the majority, but voting is by secret ballot. one last thing. when he addressed the assembly, jean-claude juncker call for an investment plan for europe, a sign he is trying to woo the centerleft. >> what would be his toughest challenge? >> the heads in state will meet in brussels to discuss further appointments. that includes a replacement for the top diplomatic chief, and replacement for the president of the european council. confirmed,oncerned -- he will

he needs 376 votes to be elected next president of the european commission.'ll let you into a secret. i think he's going to get it. that's because a deal has been done between the center right and center left groups in the parliament to divide up jobs. that should give him more votes than he needs to succeed. will there will be a debate before the vote. we can expect criticism of him from the antiskeptic parties here. the former prime minister will accept at a critical time. he'll probably have two big issues to deal with during his time in office. number one, sorting out the economy and the way it's governed. number two, dealing with britain's relationships with the rest of the european union. that's in the future. straight away, he needs to sort out other members of his commission. 28 commissioners, one from each member state. it sounds easy, but it's not. everybo everybody wants the best jobs. his leadership and powers will be put to the test right away. >> chris morris reporting there. if you're looking for holiday destinations out of this world, you migh

>> well, there is a development at the european commission level or european union level in general, which is rather worrying. the commission is entirely focused on equity financing, venture capital in particular. and it seems as though venture capital is the answer to everything. venture capitalists are looking for companies with high risk and high return and most small businesses don't fit that profile. therefore, they're not eligible for venture capital. the first source of financing is still the old fashioned bank loan. so what we would like to see is for the eu to stimulate bank lending. >> does that mean it has to be done at the national level surely and not at the ecb level? >> well, i think at eu level that could also be a stimulation of loan guarantee schemes. for instance, by subsidies. obviously, in the end, there's plenty to do. >> there was an article in the sc talking about delays in terms of details regarding the possible securitization program and acrobat securities. does that give you further worry that basically nothing will change? >> well, that's always a worry we

so for many years, they have lobbied the european commission and eventually won. >> some other stories, unemployment in the euro zone fell slightly in may, adding to fears the normal way to recovery may be leaving millions behind. were added jobs across the continent, even in the biggest economy, germany. unemployment stayed at 6.7% when it had been expected to fall. more than 200,000 workers have gone on strike in south africa. 15% pay rise but employers have only offered eight percent. stocks in club med jumped 10% today after the italian businessman made a takeover attempt. a significant rise. the chinese are expected to apply with another bid. back to you, tom. >> right. that is it from me as well. thank you for watching. i will be back at half past 9:00. >> the observers. >> a new look at the news. eyewitness accounts from those of the heart of the action all over the world. exclusive videos you have never seen before. all verified by our journalists. >> the observers on france 24 and france24.com. >> this is the current front-runner to be indonesia's next president. he is playing

i expect the european commission upon come up with possible sanctions of level three. >> so you have situation, hala, where the russian economy is heading towards a recession. sanctions look as if they're going to be placed on, if not today, in a really harsh fashion, at least someday soon. yet the narrative that the russian people understand, which has been built-up around this conflict in ukraine is that mr. putin is defending the legitimate interests of russian-speaking people in eastern ukraine against western interference, against kiev, who is attacking its own people in a civil war. if he is to back down from that position, on which his popularity has been based, and he's now at over 80% in the approval ratings, you know, from all the analysts i've spoken to, they just don't see that happening. so it's very difficult to see what impact these sanctions will have, if not to push him into a corner and possibly reinforce his defiance. and that is perhaps why nato, and american intelligence is pointing to the fact that russia has not taken away troops from the border. it's done the

the problem is this, you know there are 28 members of the european commission. you can't get 28 people to agree to sanctions. you can't get three countries to agree to it. the english have a vested interest in what happens in the banking system. the germans get 40% of their gas from russia. you got people who are at odds with each other within the commission and as a consequence it's difficult. you have to be discreet about these things and make them very pinpointed. i don't know what obama can do, in other words, without the cooperation of the europeans. so i don't know how he can help. >> a leader has to get the cooperation of the other people. that's part of his job. okay. he just can't let putin get away with murder. >> that's easy for to you say. you don't know what you're talking about. you can say that all day long. have you seen 28 nations agree on anything? no. so don't tell me that. >> go ahead, john. >> that's a place maybe obama could start, demand that for example russia be kicked out of the united nations or threaten to leave ourselves or leave our

there have been positive statements coming out of european commission officials. i think there are really -- >> like i'm positive i'm going to take this away from you? >> so they said things are 90% baked. at this point to get positive statements out of the european commissions to cool some of the rhetoric, to let things lie because who knows what else the guardian has? who knows what else the post has? who knows what the next revelation is? to clear some of the rhetoric around this would be hugely helpful to industry. >> glen greenwald said he was doing his finale on americans spied on. it may be that they're largely done, though you never know. one of the things that's been missing from this discussion and really needs to be part of it is there's a cost to all of these things and to the campaign of recrimination against the national security agency. it produces less intelligence. we know less about the world and it's a very dangerous world in which a risk averse intelligence agency responding to all of these things produces less warning about things that are goi

discusses ukraine's crisis with the european commission of four and large meant worlds apart is next. hello and welcome to all the conventional wisdom. is that we all have a stake in global security but how to secure that security and not only a point of contention that's increasingly. how do you protect and.

thee is an interview with former european commission president who is exceptionally pessimistic.the headline is redesigned and powerless. he says nobody is able to stop world has and the become too accustomed to the situation. the invasion of iraq come he says, is the original sin that shot the usa's credibility. the u.n. no longer has power to send in peacekeepers. china is interested only in its economy. >> one of those conflicts is gaza which is causing some soul-searching in new york. >> that is i, including among zionists. new york muzzin gate -- new york magazine published a column from a man who has previously been a liberal that is a supporter but israel. now he says he is having a change of heart. he says it dawned on me that i'm hasof the liberal jews who grown less pro-liberal over the last decade. he is not abandoning zionism, but he is being more critical, criticizing the israeli government, suffering peace talks with the palestinian authority of the last decade through increased settlement building and also a fairly unyielding refusal to compromise. and he mentions

at this point, to get positive statements out of the european commission to cool some of the rhetoric, to let things lie, because who knows what else the guardian has, who knows what else the post has. to cool some of the rhetoric around this would be hugely helpful to industry. >> yeah, glen said he was doing it finale on americans who've been spied on. >> i can't believe it. >> so it may be that they are largely done, though you never know. one of the things that's been missing from this discussion and really needs to be part of it is there's a cost to all of these things and to the campaign of recrimination against the national security agency. it produces less intelligence, we know less about the world, and it's a very dangerous world in which a risk averse intelligence agency responding to all of these things produces less warning about things that are going to get americans killed. this is an enormous problem. and i live this. the last time we had this kind of climate was not surprisingly the second term of the last democratic president we had when -- a time when republicans dis

a joint statement the president of the european council home and van rompuy the head of the european commission or as in manuel but also said that these sanctions were intended to send a strong warning to russia where is previously sanctions imposed by the e.u. it targeted individuals or one particular company these are targeting huge sectors of the russian economy so what they are looking at is energy where russia will have restricted access to technologies in the financial sector would be blocking russian access to e.u. funds that are available and in defense a arms embargo banning both the import and export of weapons into or out of russia however any previously existing contracts won't be affected by that now the united kingdom has announced that it wants to push ahead with even further stronger sanctions against russia what we are expecting is later on wednesday to hear the full wording of the sanctions agreed on by all the e.u. heads of government and the sides are expected to come into effect on the first of august will be reviewed after three months whereby they can be scrapped or conti

french minister for women's rights wrote in protest to the european commission, calling the change, quote, an insult to the millions of victims of sexual exploitation worldwide. unquote. others see accounting shenanigans. with euro's own growth flat, the change will give an overnight boost to gdp. that makes it easier for member states to meet the eu spending caps of 3% of gdp, thus easing pressure on government to control spending. if adopted in the united states, the accounting changes could boost our gdp by as much as 3% overnight. >> what do you think of those stats? is it a good idea or a bad idea to include illicit activity in counting the size of gross domestic product? >> i think it's nonsense to be honest with you. if you think there is a product that comes out of what we used to call prostitution, i don't know what it's going to be called in the government categories, or in gambling where there's nothing that comes out of it other than what that activity is, and frankly it gives the credibility to both of those activities that i don't think should be apart. >> gambling is legal

the european commission is set on unraveling the mysteries of the human mind but the multi billion euro project to simulate the workings of the brain has been criticized by neuroscientists they fear it's doomed to be an expensive failure correspondent peter all of which is mind to about. the human brain it's incredibly complex so complex in fact we know little about how it works european scientists are planning to supercomputers to try and change that all parts of the human brain project with this technology we can do behavioral experiments in simulation with a degree of fidelity that wasn't possible before the neuro about its platform will provide interfaces to real systems in simulation we consider this a starting point for completely new develop development in the potter it's not only in robotics that they hope to break ground the program will also seek out new ways to treat brain injuries and mental health problems the project is based in switzerland but over the next ten years will involve institutions europe wide one of the sticking points though is the cost currently estimated at

statement from the president of the european council herman van rompuy the president of the european commission jose manuel barroso says that these sanctions are designed to send a clear message and warning to russia now the form that they'll take is looking at individual sectors of the russian economy and putting sanctions on them the main ones are going to be concerning energy where russia will be restricted its access to technology in financial sector where they'll be russia will be blocked from accessing russian banks will be blocked from accessing e.u. funding and defense where both imports and exports of russian arms will be found no deals that have already been struck including the deal between france and russia for two helicopter. ships two helicopter base ships that will go ahead as planned but no fresh deals will be announced also included in the latest barrage of sanctions will be new inclusions on the so-called black list for individual sanctions eight more individuals and three companies have been added to that list now will find out exactly the wording of these new sanctions on th

signed an association deal with brussels last friday there was no vote on the issue and the european commission's enlargement chief stephan fuel doesn't think that would have been necessary he spoke to artie's ochs on a boyko on her show worlds apart in the case of ukraine we have one part of the country waging a conflict with another part of the country and yet nor referendum you think was the war and what was the one w. called democracy. no no no no i'm sorry i mean referenda in the presence of the people in the group uniforms without insignia about true refers to hear of they are not ours and then a couple of weeks after all they have been ours. so referral and under the color shriek of that's one thing the second thing carol this is going to read about me allowance and i don't i don't know why i don't why i the argument that it won't really hear me is so fired of one part of ukraine and good thing in another part of ukraine. and you can watch the full interview there with the european commissioner for knowledge and neighborhood policy on thursday right here on r.t. international. israel has b

it's believed that the plane was shot down by a missile however the european commission says it has seen no evidence to confirm this so far the russian president and the chancellor of germany have agreed on holding an international investigation into the crash a team of monitors from europe's main security watchdog arrived at the scene on friday earlier some of them complained that local self-defense forces were limiting their movements to the area but their access has been widened international experts working there say they face a difficult task. linguistic team. but it's not our job of multi investigation because for you also to speculate on it but what you're here for is to see what measures are close look at the very muted security. measures and what measures have been taken to do we've seen a human and most efficient way allegations have emerged of unidentified people arriving at the scene apparently trying to remove the bodies and loot the crash site however o.s.c. monitors say that some bodies have so far only been moved to a road side a non have yet left the site or they've refu

it's believed that the plane was shot down by a missile however the european commission says it is seen no evidence confirming this so far the russian president and the chancellor of germany have agreed on holding an international investigation into the crash team of monitors from europe's main security watchdog arrived at the scene on friday earlier some of them complained the local self-defense forces were limiting their movements to the area but they now have full access international experts working there say they face a difficult task i mean first a good team. but it's not our job you're not investigating the calls for you also do not speculate on it but what you're here for is to see what measures are in place for the me to the security. measures and what measures have been taken to do we've seen a human and most efficient way. among course of monies to get to the scene of the tragedy while the monitors were exploring it and he filed this report we are now way past the twenty four hour mark that the bodies of the people that died at the crash malaysia airlines flight have been lyi