what about other multinationals, are they also being investigated by the european commission? peans have launched four different probes since 2014, apple in ireland, we talked about that already, starbucks has come under investigation with their dealings in the netherlands and fiat was investigated over their dealings with luxembourg, amazon is the fourth, and the europeans are said to be looking into mcdonald's. fourth, and the europeans are said to be looking into mcdonald'sm fourth, and the europeans are said to be looking into mcdonald's. it is a long, protracted legal process. thanks so much for that update. in other business news, pepsico's latest earnings aren't as sweet as they once were. demand for gatorade is weak and marketing missteps led toa drop is weak and marketing missteps led to a drop in its north american quarterly sales. revenue falling 3.5% to $5.3 billion. the consumption has been falling for the last 12 years as more people choose healthier options. that has forced sober makers to bulk up their portfolio of noncarbonated drinks and launch low and no calo

expect these multinational companies to be paying theirfair share of taxes and we've seen the european commissionter microsoft, after google, after amazon and in a way it reinforces the sense that the european union does have that economic muscle to take on those big american companies. it's got the world's richest market, 500 million people, and the competition department of the european commission is the one area where they really do wield some power. and is this a sign that national governments don't have the same sort of muscle? i think there is something to be noted across—the—board with these cases, but it's not that the european commission is necessarily in the right, it's that our system of taxing corporate, especially multinationals, doesn't work any more, it's not fit for purpose in 2017. you need something like the european commission to come in and say luxembourg got it wrong, ireland last year apparently got it wrong. but that doesn't seem to be a very effective way of taxing big corporate. it's unfair that the amazons and the googles of the world are able to not avoid... sorry, not

patience has run out of the european commission taking to the podium that you competition commission announced that brussels had island in its sights taking the country's government to the european court of justice for its failure to collect taxes from us giant apple than a year ago the commission adopted the decision. requiring ireland to recover up to thirteen billion euros in illegal from apple however ireland has still not recovered any money not even in part apple is currently appealing the case it argues that the revenues in question a subject to u.s. tax rules instead meanwhile luxemburg was also singled out by the commission on wednesday ruling that it has granted online shopping giant amazon on due tax benefits for the past eight years leading around three quarters of its profits untaxed the uses that gave it an unfair advantage over other companies. not justified. amazon now has to reap a tax benefit worth around two hundred fifty million euros plus interest the commission's position is clear it states that no matter your flag or ownership paying your taxes is part of doing

the european commission has been looking at this corporate structure in luxembourg were most of its europeansed. especially how payments are channelled between luxembourg's main operating company which deals with sales across europe and a tax—exempt partnership owned by its parents in the united states. luxembourg's operating company makes royalty payments to this tax—exempt partnership. as a result, its tax liability in luxembourg is reduced. amazon hasn't done anything wrong. it has done something illegal. it has a letter, known as a comfort letter from the luxembourg government is saying these arrangements are fine under luxembourg law. the european commission are saying, wait a minute. if you look at arrangements other companies have in luxembourg this is not the same, therefore this constitutes illegal state aid. so luxembourg will have to recover the money potentially from know this is we know this is why is the commission getting involved, is there not the next element that jean—claude juncker was prime minister of luxembourg? he's working against his own government's decisions, in a

welcome to your business i'm crystal kober in berlin the european commission is turning the screws on u.s. tech companies on wednesday it ordered amazon to repay a quarter of a billion euros and back at the commission is taking ireland to court for failing to collect billions from apple patience has run out of the european commission taking to the podium that you competition commission announced that brussels had on and in its sights taking the country's government to the european court of justice for its failure to collect taxes from us giant apple then a year ago the commission docked at the decision. requiring ireland to recover up to thirteen billion euros in the league from apple however i am has still not recovered any money not even in part. apple is currently appealing the case it argues that the revenues in question a subject to u.s. tax rules instead meanwhile luxemburg was also singled out by the commission on wednesday ruling that it has granted online shopping giant amazon on due tax benefits for the past eight years leading around three quarters of its profits untaxed th

the premises of the european institutional european commission which is a very tangible. measure of the can be seen by everybody but then we have a full range of measures on them security but also on a time against by the time pollution that will be decided and which are war thirty over five hundred million five hundred sixty to be clear so we go from the raft of measures to reduce the leakage of plastics into the environment by the blast biggest strategy that we will limit both micro beads micro plastics but also single use a plastic to be used and also to reduce the discharges of worship generated waste and car going to the seas so these are concrete measures that the e.u. is that we are pushing for and that we had from all over the wall the commitments that went well beyond our expectations mr preview let me just put that now to miss churton from greenpeace are those kinds of commitments that we're hearing there from the european commission from the european union is that enough. good question well overall it's definitely on us to congratulate the european commission a

patience has run out of the european commission taking to the podium the e.u. ompetition commission announced that brussels had on and in its sights taking the country's government to the european court of justice for its failure to collect taxes from us giant apple than a year ago the commission docked at the decision. requiring ireland to recover up to thirteen billion euros in the league from apple. however ireland has still not recovered any money not even in part for its part apple is appealing the case it argues that the revenues in question a subject to u.s. tax rules instead meanwhile luxemburg was also signalled out by the commission on wednesday with a ruling that it had granted online shopping giant amazon on do tax benefits for the past eight years needing around three quarters of its profits untaxed the e.u. says that gave it an unfair advantage over other companies not justified amazon now has to repay the tax benefit worth around two hundred fifty million euros plus interest the commission's position is clear it states that no matter your flag or

commission is also ordering amazon to pay two hundred fifty million euros in back taxes to luxembourg vest august at the small western european country had granted the online shopping giant an illegal tax break meaning almost three quarters of its profits had gone taxed so the e.u. commission seems to mean business but why now well let's ask our brussels correspondent bob. both ireland and luxembourg and holland as well of course they're all know that for their generous tax rules in order to attract big corporations why is the european commission having a problem with it now. it's not having a problem now but it's going through the back catalogue and sort of making little points into all those cases that have been thrown up particularly if we remember three years ago as to the looks leagues of scandals where that which was one of those cases where the european commission suddenly had to look at all these practices and say no this can't be true this cannot be allowed those are cases of illegal state aid they are big big multinational companies are being favored by those states as opposed to normal regular local companies or ev

they're looking today into a proposal by the european commission to reform the posted worker a directive and that goes back to an initiative taken by the french president in particular but supported by many particularly western european countries the rich nations inside europe if you want who wants to eliminate unfair competition now the reason for that is we've seen in the report the example of. a builder but you can also take a carpenter let's say from bulgaria who is only needs to be paid the minimum wage if for instance he works here in belgium now the in addition to that he only has to pay the taxes back in his home country in bulgaria and also the social charges and that gives him a comparative competitive advantage that local companies contextually compete with so the idea of the ministers is now to restrict that post that worker status to to potentially even just one year and the big concern that eastern european countries in the e.u. have was that is that this would actually take away that competitive advantage the reason why in the first place is the european workforce is emplo

let's start with the european commission.t is expected to announce later today the result of its long probe into member states tax deals with multinational companies. this time, luxembourg is in the spotlight. it has been accused of offering illegal tax brea ks to accused of offering illegal tax breaks to amazon, the retail giant. the decision is not against amazon itself but the country which can be forced to present amazon with a bill forced to present amazon with a bill for alleged back taxes. the case echoes a similar ruling against ireland which forced it to claim 13 billion euros from apple, a decision that has been appealed both by ireland and by apple. i am joined by a senior market analyst. we feel that we have been here before and it seems that the competition commission is a determined woman on a mission. absolutely. this does look like the situation with apple but this time involving a different country. it looks like the way things are playing out here is that the eu wishes to build up a case of different compani

the european commission has rejected theresa may's claim that the ball is in the eu's court when it comes to brexit. we'll have the latest from westminster and brussels. also this lunchtime: the independent inquiry into child abuse in england and wales has begun hearing evidence about the former liberal mp, sir cyril smith. the trial of an army sergeant accused of trying to kill his wife by tampering with her parachute hears more evidence about victoria cilliers‘ jump. the oscar—winning producer harvey weinstein has been fired by his own film company following allegations of decades of sexual harassment. us vice president mike pence walks out of an nfl game — part of a continuing row about american football players about kneeling during the national anthem. and the pound coin cut—off — will companies ignore sunday's deadline for the old round coins, and continue to accept them? and in sport on bbc news, nothing to fear — manager chris coleman rallies his wales team as they prepare for a crucial world cup qualifier against the republic of ireland. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news

also today, the european commission president denies saying that mrs may had been despondent and begging help last week. we'll have the latest from westminster and brussels, and speaking to a former head of the cbi, on the calls for ministers to agree an urgent transitional brexit deal. the other main stories on bbc news at 5 — drivers of some older and more polluting vehicles will now pay almost double, to drive in central london, in new measures to tackle pollution. the widow of an american soldier, who died in action, says president trump struggled to remember his name, when he called to offer sympathy. the world's coral reefs are being turned into "bleached deserts", a warning today from sir david attenborough. if you've ever seen a coral reef and you think what that once was, that's enough to make you weep. and we talk to a second world war veteran about life at 100 and meeting royalty, as the number of centenarians is expected to rise dramatically. it's 5pm. our main story is the prime minister's report on the eu summit in brussels last week. theresa may told mps this afternoon tha

commission is also ordering amazon to pay two hundred fifty million euros in back taxes to luxembourg this august said the small western european country had granted the online shopping giant an illegal tax break meaning almost three quarters of its profits had gone untaxed so the e.u. commission seems to mean business but why now well let's ask our brussels correspondent bob vs both ireland and luxembourg and holland as well of course they're all known for their generous tax rules in order to attract big corporations why is the european commission having a problem with it now. it's not having a problem now but it's going through the back catalogue and sort of making little points into all those cases that have been thrown up particularly if we remember three years ago as were the looks leagues scandals where that which was one of those cases where the european commission suddenly had to look at all these practices of the say no this can't be true this cannot be allowed those are cases of illegal state aid they are big big multinational companies are being favored by those states as opposed to normal regular local companies or

european commission president jean—claude juncker and european council chief donald tusk are there to everything from security to migration and climate change. but they will also be trying to revive talks on a free trade deal, which started a decade ago but have made little progress. the european union is india's biggest trading partner. the two sides traded over 90 billion dollars‘ worth of goods last year. including the service sector it's a £120 billion a year relationship. but there are some big issues. india protects its local industries with import taxes or tariffs on foreign goods. the eu would like to see those slashed, particularly on cars, as well as wines and spirits. for india the big priority is visas. it wants immigration rules relaxed, making it easierfor indian professionals to work in europe. but the eu says visas are question for national governments, not something it can regulate. are we expecting any major announcements today? absolutely, first let me tell you, the visitor the eu delegation has started on a very high symbolic note, they have gone to the site of the

the european commission has replied saying no, the ball is in your court.ng on. so we're in a sort of stand—off between both sides. number ten is also trying to get a bit of momentum going, trying to crank up the pressure on the european commission, because we learned that they are going to publish this afternoon the crucial white paper on trade and customs arrangements post brexit. this is absolutely fundamental to our future relations with the eu, a pivotal pa rt relations with the eu, a pivotal part of the whole post brexit superstructure. those details will be published this afternoon. i think the thinking in downing street is ineffective say to the eu saying we're putting this on the table as well, we are spelling out the arrangement we want on trade and customs. either way we have already published about 20 other position papers, to show intent, momentum, we are getting on with the business. there has been a lot of chitchat on how david davis isn't always in brussels and we don't seem that serious. this is the british government saying we are deadly s

the president the european commission said in the speech only a couple of weeks ago that having seen off nationalist movements in the last twelve months all strayer the netherlands france and merkel and restored in germany as well the sense it was back in charge and we said we must move forward together in unity and so the very last thing that the european commission wants right to the end the twenty seventeen is yet another fracture and so i think whatever negotiations the european union might be involved with it would have the end goal of stopping kathlyn independence for them that's absolutely a red line laurin sydney in madrid thank you very much for that let's get the view now from. sonia last night was a big climb down for there's no denying that i think what's the feeling this morning in boston and throughout the cotton on your region. well as you mentioned big climb down but certainly not one that many people had gathered to hear mr preacher once address were necessarily surprised even reflecting on the papers today looking at a left wing daily here pause for a dialogue is th

the european commission has rejected theresa may's claim that the ball is in the eu's court when it comes to brexit. we'll have the latest from westminster and brussels. also this lunchtime: the independent inquiry into child abuse in england and wales has begun hearing evidence about the former liberal mp, sir cyril smith. the trial of an army sergeant accused of trying to kill his wife by tampering with her parachute hears more evidence about victoria cilliers‘ jump. the oscar—winning producer harvey weinstein has been fired by his own film company following allegations of decades of sexual harassment. us vice president mike pence walks

pledged a declaration to break away from spain it will come within days he says this after the european commission reprimands the capital and government telling it to respect the rule of law and enter into a dialogue with majority. also coming up u.s. president donald trump arrives in las vegas in the wake of the most deadly match shooting in modern u.s. history investigators are hoping that the shooter's girlfriend will shed light on a possible motive and mishaps as british prime minister to resign may attempt to rally support at her conservative party's annual conference several painful interruptions to rail her speech we will look at what went wrong. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program thanks for joining us spain is headed for a major showdown after sunday's disputed independence referendum catalan leader carlos pushed along is refusing to backtrack pledging a definite ration of into. pendants from spain in a matter of days no matter what the consequence is now at this hour a statement by the leader is being broadcast for the world to see you are looking there are live pictures and we are mo

the weekend's referendum has been declared unlawful by the european commission.an's president ashraf ghani has told the bbc that a ‘corner has been turned' and the security situation in his country is improving. now it's time for world business report. catalan catastrophe looms for spain — as it risks the loss of a 200 billion euro economy — and a quarter of its exports and tourists. plus — it's a giant of the internet — but a minnow in the world of mobile phones. can google‘s new pixel device change that? we take a closer look.. welcome to world business report. i'm sally bundock. also coming up — business leaders are gathering in delhi for the world economic forum — we'll be going live to our correspondent there. but first. we start in spain where the region of catalonia is threatening to declare independence on monday, after holding its banned referendum at the weekend. behind the push for independence is — among other things — the feeling among many catalans the region doesn't get a fair deal given its huge economic importance to spain. so how important is it

ahead, according to a joint statement issued tonight by theresa may and the president of the european commissionaude juncker. they held talks over dinner in brussels this evening in readiness for the crucial european summit which takes place later this week. tonight's statement talked of a ‘constructive and friendly atmosphere' despite all the recent talk of ‘deadlock‘ and growing tensions between the two sides, as our europe editor katya adler reports from brussels. great expectations of the prime minister's dinner in brussels were a little one—sided. the european commission is theresa may's latest stop, in a month long charm offensive across europe. pressure from home demands she wrangles concessions from the eu, moving asap to stage two of brexit negotiations on trade and transition deals. but that is unlikely to happen tonight. we do not know exactly what will be on the menu in there, but probably a main helping of polite conversation with a side dish of awkwardness. the eu has made clear that it does not regard a private dinner as a forum for brexit negotiations. they see this visit as symb

after tonight's dinner in brussels, and the recent talk of deadlock, theresa may and the european commissionresident jean—claude juncker said they'd talked in a "friendly and constructive atmosphere". tonight's talks also included iran's nuclear programme, counter—terrorism, and internet extremism. we'll have the latest from brussels and from westminster. also tonight... storm ophelia — one of the most powerful storms to hit ireland and parts of the uk in recent years — has caused loss of life and power cuts to thousands of homes. we report from the kurdish—held city of kirkuk, where iraqi government forces have entered, taking over some areas. well, we've suddenly had to pullback. there was a sustained outburst of gunfire at the position up ahead. we can't be sure where it came from. a bomb attack in the somali capital mogadishu is now believed to have killed more than 300 people. and — how scientists came across the effects of a cosmic collision — which happened 130 million years ago. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: would west brom deny leicester the victory that would move the for

the firing line it's been ordered to pay two hundred ninety four million dollars to luxemburg european commission says between two thousand and six and two thousand and fourteen amazon used the country as a haven to avoid european taxes for i would joining me from new york now is tax expert james henry james is a senior fellow with columbia university on sustainable development and a global justice fellow with yale university thanks for being with us so i want to ask you first of all just broadly speaking is this a tax plan that is going to benefit most americans or is it largely going to benefit the wealthy. well i think it's pretty clear that this plan was set out by goldman sachs and so you know that gary cohen who is former president of. goldman sachs is now trump's leading economics advisor the plan calls for a fairly radical change in the corporate income tax to what's called a territorial income tax. major companies like apple and google which have parked a lot of money in tax a vns offshore about two trillion dollars would be able to bring that back at a very low tax rate. and. the rate t

commission come into all this. well every time european member states fail to deliver it is foreseen that the european commission jumps in to finish the job and in this life aside story the member states never able to produce a majority in any direction because they are all of where of the sensitivity of this issue for example in the civil society in the european union so nobody is really keen to touch this hot potato nobody is keen to make the decision and the life aside stance really is a symbol for this political attitude regarding the member states if it gets too hot in the kitchen they prefer to leave for europe they preferred to leave the european commission alone visited dealing with it so this is something we are having since we are observing since two years now in the story ok and what is monsanto saying about all this life state of course a key ingredient of one sometimes top selling round of weed killer and of course the evils of big markets a house monsanto reacting. of course there is no doubt months under made a lot of money

president for help during a dinner last week the european commission president today denied that the prime minister's office has been signed or today the prime minister went to parliament with a positive attitude about the next stage of breaks it talks here's part of what she said and what she had to hear. he talked about us making real progress but we haven't reached a final agreement but it's going to happen. i do have a degree of confidence i don't have a degree of confidence that we'll be able to get to the point of sufficient this by december.

the paper is also reporting on catalonia's independence referendum and the european commission's refusalo condemn spanish police violence against supporters. in the financial times, uber‘s uk boss has quit the company on the eve of talks between its new chief executive and transport regulators over a decision to remove the car—hailing app's london licence. meanwhile, home—sharing app airbnb is doing extremely well in china! the south china morning post says the central government's new two child policy means a surge in newborns and that families want to holiday in the comfort of homes instead of traditional apartments. and, finally, singapore has introduced a bill to raise the legal smoking age to 21 and ban e—cigarettes. the straits timees says it's part of a plan to stop young people taking up smoking. so let's begin. joining me now isjoseph sternberg, the europe editor of the wall streetjournal. good to see you. let us start with a depressing story, the latest depressing story, the latest depressing story, the latest depressing story from america in terms of gun massacres. what will i

behind spain's prime minister as the country's graces deepens with both sides taking in the european commission to rebuke scottland leaders telling them to respect the rule of law after the region held a disputed independence referendum on sunday also coming up. mishaps as british prime minister to resign made attempts to rally support at her conservative party's annual conference but several interruptions darrelle her speech will her reaction like that. and u.s. president donald trump arrives in las vegas in the wake of the most deadly nashua ting and modern u.s. history investigators hoping the shooter's girlfriend could shed light on a possible motive. thanks very much for your company. spain is headed for a major showdown in catalonia as leader refusing to back track play. just to declare independence in a matter of days no matter the consequences all this senior officials rally behind spain's central government in madrid coming to its defense while european commission vice president. said catalonia ignored the rule of law by holding sunday's on authorised independence referendum lawmakers

president for help during a dinner it last week the european commission president today denied that the prime minister's office has been signed or today the prime minister went to parliament with a positive attitude about the next stage of breaks it talks here's part of what she said and what she had to hear. he talked about us making real progress but we haven't reached a final agreement but it's going to happen. i have a degree of confidence i don't have a degree of confidence that we'll be able to get to the point of sufficient progress by december off of the from a speech that is a new momentum the florence speech was a step forward on that should be a positive response to the willingness to work on the interim period and that has been a stop placed a momentum now as it happens those aren't my words though the words of chancellor merkel the t.v. show. the swedish prime minister the italian prime minister the polish prime minister and the danish prime minister the outcome of crushing out with no deal to become a deregulated tax haven the dream of a powerful faction oh i think she

it comes amid claims that mrs may pleaded with the european commission president for help last week, was nervous and discouraged. jean—claude juncker today denied being the source of the story. we'll bring you the latest from westminster. a new charge for owners of older, polluting cars to drive into london. they'll have to pay almost twice as much from today. with hundreds of thousands of rohingya muslim refugees in bangladesh, the un asks governments to pledge more cash. the widow of a fallen american soldier says president trump struggled in a condolence call to remember her husband's name. and the return of blue planet, we speak to sir david attenborough. what we're discovering is the world is more intricate, wonderful, astonishing than we ever dreamed of. as the tea charge comes under false, we tell you all you need to know. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. theresa may has told mps that brexit talks with eu leaders last week made important progress and that she had a "degree of confidence" that negotiations on trade could begin in december. but a leaked account o

meanwhile, the european commission president denies saying that mrs may had been despondent and begging for help last week. she was not tired, she was fighting, as is her duty, so everything for me was ok. so she didn't plead with you for help? no, no. the widow of an american soldier who died in action says president trump struggled to remember his name when he called to offer sympathy. an army sergeant accused of sabotaging his wife's parachute also coming up this hour, a united nations plea forfurther funds to aid the desperate situation of rohingya refugees who've fled myanmar. £260 million has been pledged so far. bangladesh says it has been placed in an untenable position, with nearly a million rohingyas having crossed the border. the world's coral reefs are being turned into "bleached deserts" — a warning today from sir david attenborough. if you've ever seen a coral reef and you think what that once was, that's enough to make you weep. in sport, organisers of the venice marathon apologise after motorcycle escorts take the race leaders the wrong way, costing them the race. good e

what we are seeing, the british government have made significant overtures to the european commissionpeech the prime minister was clear that we were looking for a transition deal that is in both interests and that contributions might continue in that period, she has made generous offers on mutual recognition of citizens rights and in a range of other areas, and be bald is in the eu's court to respond positively to that —— the ball. it is ridiculous that they are even saying today that they will not contemplate trade talks about the future arrangements, their current position is that michel barnier won't even talk about a transition deal, and that is clearly not reasonable and it will damage the national interests of france and germany and the other nation states because there are hundreds of thousands ofjobs because there are hundreds of thousands of jobs in because there are hundreds of thousands ofjobs in those countries that depend on trade with the uk just as much as theirjobs here that also on trade with europe so they are getting to the point where the european commission's unre

a warning from the european commission president who says the uk "will have to pay" if it wants brexitotiations to progress to a future trade deal. 8,000 firefighters struggle to control the deadliest fires in california's history — more than 31 people have died with hundreds of people missing. thousands of homes have been raized to the ground — only burned out cars and chimneys stacks remain. this is a mandatory evacuation. your presence here is not welcome if you are not a first responder. president trump is to announce a tougher stance on iran — which he's said is aimed at ending its "pursuit of death and destruction". inspired by children from the mumbai slums — manchester united'sjuan mata is calling on other footballers raise money for charity. coming up in the sport on bbc news, it is set to be the biggest reform in test cricket. the i cctv announces plans for a world—class championship and a one day international league. -- -- the i cctv. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. more public figures have spoken out against the producer harvey weinstein in a sexual abus

but the spanish government and now the european commission have declared the poll illegal.nce that occurred. 0ur correspondent gavin lee is in barcelona. the whole of the city certainly in the centre, here in placa de catalu nya, festival the centre, here in placa de catalunya, festival atmosphere, people are on the streets, they have listened a short while ago to the cata la n listened a short while ago to the catalan president, carles puigdemont, one day after the violence of the referendum voting day, he says 90% of people voted for independence of 2 million who voted, they want independence and they will have the eu to orchestrate the twins 0mar el—hussein and the catalan government. —— orchestrate between spain and the catalan government. this is how the last 2a hours have played out. voiceover: last 2a hours have played out. v0|ceover: barcelona, calm on the streets this morning, after the fighting yesterday at the ballots, the people of catalonia dusting themselves off after a brutal day of voting. the band referendum pitting voters and independence activists against

denmark wanted to limit the use of nitrites the european commission was against it and in two thousand and three in court the danes won in the name of the protection of public health. i am very happy about european court decisions than european. public but i want to do it that. and the commissioner to sponsor is in better conditions and yet since this court ruling e.u. regulations are just as lax as ever. from my point of view we must be more and not just asking to change the. need for follow ups to keep. on board popular coutts but i'm just not put off it absolutely but it's but it's of course it's. time perfect that's just what the food industry wants and what it is built its strategy on for years. because when it comes to nitrite industrialists have been waiting out the clock for forty eight. years of scientific manipulation blackmail and intense lobbying so the meat business can carry on bringing home the bacon. and it all began on the other side of the atlantic. if you think we're exaggerating listen to this. in the late one nine hundred seventy s. nitrite was almost banned in the

by a spokeswoman here at the european commission of course if they did really talk would they admitted that is the second question because a commission has always said that they will only talk to the spanish government that is the e.u. member and that catalonia but as i said you know the spokeswoman the spokes person our sources said this never actually happened. when in brussels a thank you doubtless we will speak later to madrid then when we find a public welcome pablo madrid's options it does call for independence. well first and foremost maximum expectation here in spain everyone's press is held to at the moment to see what's going to happen and also we're going to see what the government of money and out of the hole in the people's party are going to decide they have a few options they said that they're definitely going to take a hard line with this they're going to be firm one of the main possibilities is the article one fifty five which is the suspension of autonomy what does that mean that would basically have enough madrid that would take control of all the affairs that the ca

jean—claudejuncker is the president of the european commission, the part of the european commission,ore slowly than people envisaged at the start of the whole process. he said one of the big stumbling blocks was money and the uk to acknowledging its financial obligations it has to be eu as it leaves. he gave the analogy of somebody buying 28 beers to their collea g u es somebody buying 28 beers to their colleagues in the bar and then leaving without paying. you have to pay, said mrjean—claude juncker. here's what he said. we cannot have for the time being a compromise as far as the remaining financial commitment of the uk are concerned. a5 financial commitment of the uk are concerned. as we financial commitment of the uk are concerned. as we are financial commitment of the uk are concerned. as we are not able to do this. we will not be able to say to the european council in october, now we can move to the second phase of the negotiations. that means reshaping of the british— european future. things have to be done, things have to be delivered. he also talks about the right of eu nati

the tax crackdown steps up a gear — in the european commissions sights luxembourg and amazon.ead of us bank wells fargo gets a grilling by us lawmakers over its corporate culture, and the millions of fake accounts it created. catalonia will declare independence from spain in a matter of days, that's according to the leader of the region's government, who has given an interview to the bbc. the spanish king has also intervened. in a rare tv address he called for unity, while talking of the catalan authorities ‘irresponsible conduct‘. hundreds of thousands of people have been out on the streets of catalonia in protest at police violence during the referendum vote on sunday. our europe reporter gavin lee reports from barcelona. catalonia is a region the size of eltham and there are 7500 people living here. goes on sunday, people, nearly 2 million voted. 90% of those voted yes for independence. that is about 5.3 million eligible voters, just over 42% of the voting population. bear in mind, more than half of the people he did not vote. the other thing, while we have been told about