and so far the european union has struggled to cope as the death toll has mounted and the economic damagesened, european solidarity and coordinated action have been in short supply. my guest todayis have been in short supply. my guest today is the long serving influential dutch mep sophie into failed. has this pandemic exposed wea kness failed. has this pandemic exposed weakness at the heart of the european project? sophie in brussels, welcome to heart talk. welcome, you are a euro file, you make no apology for your enthusiasm for the european project. i wondered then how disappointed you are with the european union's response to this massive coronavirus challenge. frustration is part of life. but if i look at the development of the european union over the decades, i note that every time it was a crisis that triggered further integration and development and everybody is struggling with this crisis and yes so is the european union. it took a while and we can see that first of all of the response to the health crisis to start with has really taken momentum now. in terms for example the join

terry already one of the key elements those discussions on how to recover the economy in the european union in particular and in the euro zone that is something that we'll probably hear in a few minutes from both corn and merkel and this comes as european countries step by step gradually reopening and changing some of those restrictions that we have been covering both for a very long time obviously all focused on national circumstances so each country obviously making decisions based on those national circumstances so that means and now the focus more and more is on how to fight this internationally and in particular when we look at the economic aspect of it all because it is clear that the european union countries and again in particular the eurozone will suffer very hard from this crisis there are already reports that the eurozone could contract 7.7 percent this year we've also heard for example from germany's economy minister a few weeks ago that germany is preparing for his worst recession in decades so obviously now all european countries are trying to find common ways out of this in f

well, so far the european union has struggled to cope as the death toll has mounted on the economic damageorsened, european solidarity and co—ordinated action have been in short supply. my guest today is the long serving influential dutch mep, sophie in ‘t veld. has this pandemic exposed weakness at the heart of the european project? sophie in ‘t veld in brussels, welcome to hardtalk. hello. you are a euro file. you make no apology for your enthusiasm for the european project. i wonder then how disappointed you are with the european union's response to this massive coronavirus challenge. look, frustration is part of life, but if i look at the development of the european union over the decade, i noted that every time it was a crisis that triggered further integration and development, and everybody is struggling with this crisis, and, yes, so was the european union. but it took a while and we can see that first of all the response to the health crisis to start with has really taken momentum now in terms of, for example, the joint procurement of protective materials and stuff like that. yes,

way, as the dutch people are very pragmatic, that we are much better off in a — inside a strong european unionart of european integration... but if you wouldn't mind, just address my specific point. will you let me finish my thought? we don't know yet how european union is going to deal with this massive economic problem. we know that you're facing, across europe, recession, gdp could fall by up to 15%. there is going to be a massive hole in the public finances, particularly in countries like italy. the italians say, "we can'tjust take more and more loans from brussels, we need grants and we need debt sharing." will the dutch public, the german public wear that or not? look, that will be a very tough one, it will be very tough to swallow, and of course there will be negotiations on exactly what the package will look like. but i think, yes, it is correct to say that you cannot pile debt on a country more and more and more and sort of already put that debt on the next two, three generations. that is simply not doable. at the same time, you also have to be fair to the dutch voters, to the german

says the new europeans well what i often say to cliques in continental europe and inside the european union is if you want to find the strongest pro european be in europe you need to look nickel tell me united kingdom and especially scotland and so i think that it's a case of not knowing what you have until it's gone something else and we have to go in because i didn't leave it when they will rejoin the european union when it does alex i think people need to understand as i think many do in scotland i may say said so europe is not just the interests also community values i think we can learn a lot from scotland and the way with scotland understands that we have multiple identities we can be scottish it is europe. and we don't have to kind of almost spite our face by meeting year in units just because we think we have to be british rather than european we can be toast and i think when that particular penny drops i think the talk will turn roger casale from at the way thank you very much indeed thank you alex. in a fair vanilli pro european party i like neil m.s.p. is something of a rebel a s

looked at in detail by the european commission which is the guardian of the treaties of how the european unionworks and they found that in no way did it go against any democratic norm or european law and they said that repeatedly so there is a difference between a political campaign there is a difference between pressure groups saying you know what they would like to say because their ideology their values are different from the few does government and and the and the difference between that and the facts and the real look at facts and reality and the real record of the government well let's look at what some of your people think about that according to one survey between march the 3rd and march the 10th by the friedrich ebert foundation 50 percent half of your citizens now think that conditions for democracy and press freedom have worsened in hungary this was before your emergency law and only 17 percent 17 thought that there's been any progress in that field in those fields doesn't say much for your democratic credentials does it. i don't think so there are several surveys in fact only able

and union is not a failure for european union this is a challenge that they have to deal with and i'm convinced that we can do it together it is a failure where 19000 the locked up in a camp that is only designed for 3000 and your programs funding the among other things the libyan coast guard result in hundreds and thousands of people being incarcerated against their will raped beaten and sold sold as slaves we're all russian of the programs that you found in this direction no shame no shame. you're happy about the situation you know. you have got to have this odd situation in libya but i may i just answer your question i'm not ashamed what we are doing from the european union i do not see how the very very dangerous bad situation in libya would be better if you were a peon union was not there helping refugees to be relocated out of this camps in libya helping people for voluntary returns out of libya to their home countries if we were not there if we were not there to helping out trying to teach the libyan coast guard on humanitarian rights what would be better if you peon union was

situation in libya but i may i just answer your question i'm not ashamed but we are doing from the european union i do not see how the very very dangerous bad situation in libya would be better if you were a peon union was not there helping refugees to be relocated out of this camps in libya helping people for voluntary returns out of libya to their home countries if we were not there if we were not there to helping out trying to teach the libyan coast guard on humanitarian rights what would be better if you peen union was not there i concede or rights commission. johansson records or having your own comfort zone thank you very much in the theater thank you. thank you. before the guns finally fell silent. the most. 45 germany surrendered. they are. in 15 minutes on t.w. . millenniums do some things a bit differently and other things very differently. the older generation on the labor markets. their focus not confident and optimistic and it was nothing less good to change the proof. to check the pools of generation one. made in germany. in 90 minutes on d w. this state of emergency is the normal.

situation in libya but i may i just see a question i'm not ashamed but we are doing from the european union i do not see how the very very dangerous bad situation in libya would be better if you were a peon union was not there helping refugees to be relocated out of this camps in libya helping people for voluntary returns out of libya to their home countries if we were not there if we were not there to helping out trying to teach the libyan coast guard on humanitarian rights what would be better if you peon union was not there i concede all right commissioner johansson records are having your own comfort zone thank you very much in the theater thank you. thank you. eric in northern greece. splitting the population in. fear for their jobs in the mines and power stations. mothers fighting someone into the energy of a plumber shalimar makes. for a blessing extracting calling her a couple. coming up on d w. t are gradually opening up again shopping is finally possible without the internet. so we decided to check out the big designers and ask them which styles are in demand which colors are the

situation in libya but i may i just answer your question i'm not ashamed what we are doing from the european union i do not see how the very very dangerous bad situation in libya would be better if you were a peon union was not there helping refugees to be relocated out of this camps in libya helping people for voluntary returns out of libya to their home countries if we were not there if we were not there to helping out trying to teach the libyan coast guard on humanitarian rights what would be better if you peon union was not there i concede all right commissioner johansson records are having your own comfort zone thank you very much in the theatre thank you. thank you. survived the nazi persecution. for non jewish friends in berlin helped turn to remain very close to her rescuers all her life. resisted some real center in the land commemorates the unsung hero and the courageous big ancient man some kids from. europe. in 30 minutes on d w. every day counts for us and for our planet. global ideas is on its way to bring you more conservation. how to make scene is greener how can we protect having

level and agreed or not to european union level it's not at all clear that that will be the case but that is at least the proposal presented by paris and berlin so there could still be wrangling ahead of the european level on this told us but we heard both manuel mccall and chancellor merkel saying that in the case of mccaughan that european that europe needs more sovereignty merkel saying that we may need to change the treaty and they're talking about giving power to the european union on health affairs that all sounds like quite a major step going beyond recovery fund indeed and that's why they were talking as well for example of joint proposals on pandemic prevention or joint proposals on back. same development those were all issues that were also discussed it was not only about this recovery fund it was also about other proposals that includes this idea of his health proposal that the european union level or the green deal that bigger size asian this is something again that goes beyond this specific element of the recovery fund and that's why this has also been described terr

situation in libya but i may i just see a question i'm not ashamed but we are doing from the european union i do not see how the very very dangerous bad situation in libya would be better if you were a peon union was not there helping refugees to be relocated out of this camps in libya helping people for voluntary returns out of libya to their home countries if we were not there if we were not there to helping and trying to teach the libyan coast guard on humanitarian rights what would be better if you peon union was not there i concede all right commissioner johansson records are having your own comfort zone thank you very much in the theater thank you. thank you. do some things a bit differently another strain is very different. the older generation on the labor markets. their focus confidence than optimistic live on nothing less the chance to. check the pulse generation like slaves in germany. let me turn to minutes on d.w. . griffith award. for. we know that this is a scary time for the coronavirus is changing the world changing our lives so please take care of yourself good distance wa

every european union country must approve the plan. one of the chances of that? also, coming up, police in hong kong as a territory's government debates a law that would make it a crime to insult the chinese national anthem. plus, kenya pot anti-coronavirus prescription for the homeless, a serving of blue of jet fuel for breakfast. d-30 minutes and counting at cape canaveral in florida. the crowds of gather to watch the u.s. launch private enterprise into outer space. ♪ i am brent goff. welcome. the european union is considering an unprecedented plan and an unprecedented expensive plan to return to normality after the pandemic. european commission president urszula today unveiled a 750 billion euro plan dealt member states bounce back. much of it will be funded by common european union debt, a new approach proposed by germany and france. she described it as an ambitious answer to the challenge and said the european union faces the choice of member states going it alone, or responding together. >> the european union's massive recovery funding plan is aimed at help

situation in libya but i may i just answer your question i'm not ashamed but we are doing from the european union i do not see how the very very dangerous bad situation in libya would be better if you were a peon union was not there helping refugees to be relocated out of this camps in libya helping people for voluntary returns out of libya to their home countries if we were not there if we were not there to helping out trying to teach the libyan coast guard on humanitarian rights what would be better if you peon union was not there i concede all right commissioner johansson records are having your own comfort zone thank you very much indeed thank you. thank you. wait a 2nd we want the whole picture facts instead of make i.d.'s shift the level of. reality to cryptocurrency to your topics for live in an ever changing digital world let's talk to digitize a showman. 15 minutes w. to be in good shape. a rosy complection the seductive luck. the makeup industry constantly learns women with new promises. many uses every day . but a dream look can also become a nightmare. when cosmetics to be harmful. in

unveiling a 750000000000 euro recovery fun every european union country must approve the plan what are the chances of back also coming up tonight while your police on the streets in hong kong as the territory's government debates a wall that would make it a crime to insult the chinese national anthem plus kenya's anti corona virus prescription for the homeless a serving of glue and jet fuel every morning for breakfast and t. minus 30 minutes and counting at cape canaveral in florida the crowds have gathered to watch the u.s. launch private enterprise into space. i'm off to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and all around the world welcome tonight the european union is considering an unprecedented plan and an unprecedentedly expensive plan to return to normality after the pandemic. european commission president results on the law and today unveiled a 750000000000 euro plan to help member states belt's back economically much of it will be funded by common european union debt a new approach proposed by germany and france. described the fund as an ambitious answer to the challenge

well i don't not agree that the european union is built on a failure so i think that we are being built to actually have a lot of a difficult but actually quite a sex access full cooperation of course to our difficulties and in my view. it is a failure that member states and parliament can have not been able to reach an agreement on the proposals a common european migration and asylum proposal that was presented by the previous commission so this is my task now to present a new proposal that hopefully can get everybody on board and find it acceptable for everybody we have 60 migrants have that have reached they are now in another shape in canteen i think it's appropriate to put newly arrived i think canteen but of course we also need more of solidarity between member states and this is what i'm working on for the new proposal that i'm going to present you about the commission's been calling for more solidarity on this for 5 years and just a month ago the use top court ruled that poland hungary and the czech republic a broken the law by refusing to oust refugees to help ease the burden t

at a central level would take up that's there are in fact guaranteed by all countries in the european union that money is going to be paid directly to the countries concerned not as a loan but as a direct payment and the repayment of the learner's then the responsibility of all other countries in the european union communally in other words germany too would be standing off for some other state in that sense it's a total reversal of german positions this plan meantime it is by no means a done deal is the real challenge now convincing the other e.u. partners to come i'm bored. absolutely that's going to be a very very difficult task already the countries opposed to such measures such as australia the netherlands denmark and sweden have voice their opposition to this new move at the same time one has to say president mccall of france said if germany and france cannot agree on anything then there will be no agreement in the european union so the agreement between these 2 very important central countries in europe is an important basis for the possibility of this plan being adopted but one can

provide their citizens a little bit of normalcy so they're opening up at least a part of the european union and again we're talking about lithuania latvia and estonia and they say they sprung into action early and took early steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus when the pen to make a europe lithuania disk declared a state of emergency in late february and then immediately shut down the entire country and then you had a stone you know who on the exact same day march 13th. they also declared states of emergency and this is as you know weeks ahead of the united states and the united kingdom which lead the world in the 1st and 2nd highest rates of the coronavirus so when we take a closer look at this block of nations these 3 baltic states the population is about 6000000 and of that population they've only had 120 deaths and the infection the new infection rates are are slowly trickling and so they feel like they have a handle on this and they believe that they again they owe this to the quick response that they had and that this has paved the way for them to be able to open at least a po

judges ruled that some parts of the program aren't backed by european union treaties.nder quantitative easing, the ecb buys bonds of eurozone governments. is on its longest winning streak in nine months. new york crude is up for a fifth day in a row. there are signs that the worst of the global supply glut may be over. there's been only a modest rising in inventories at cushing, oklahoma. global news 24 hours a day, on air and on quicktake by bloomberg, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm ritika gupta. this is bloomberg. guy: thank you very much, indeed. let's talk about what is happening in the trade environment. we clearly have a market responding today to more positive comments coming through from the administration in washington about whether there will be an extension in terms of the tariffs being applied to china. this is a 3d game of chess because the eu is also finding itself caught amongst the various stories developing here. one is to figure out how to deal with the united states. and how it ultimately deals with

well 1st of all for the acute crisis we put forward the european union and the member states a sum of 3.4 trillion which is for example the flexibility of state date the flexibility of all the european funds but also a program to keep people the employees in their companies being paid for short time work so that the healthy companies can restart immediately the economy picks up again this has been put out at the 1st answer for the corona crisis but you're right we need a big creek cover instrument and for that we proposed that we work on the 7 year budget of the european union topped by a recovery instrument that is marshall plan like which we can then channel through the budget and give it to the member states because the budget is per se an instrument for investment for solidarity back but all $27.00 member states but also for cohesion and conversion and therefore it is so important to have this instrument in place we're going on a drag now we've got a strong backing by the european council that was necessary and good and it's a big endeavor but i'm positive that we're going to deli

that should be mentioned on the summit between china and european union china is pursuing its belton road initiative making inroads also into europe do you think that europe is capable of speaking with one voice when it comes to a foreign policy approach to china that would have any effective influence. this is the question of a common strategy looking to those countries of the european union that are economically linked to the bed wrote initiative for china and some of them on this of course because they see that. it's giving money for their project but they have also political topics on the agenda that should be pushed through by doing this economic. ject. by the way i think to have a land line between china and europe it's a good idea part of their lead lined it's an enclosed to my constituency and also i was fadia but linking political questions with this doctrine economic project is not there what we can accept and this what needs to be the message of all the 27 european union member states to china when we have this summit in autumn. mr hart thank you for speaking with u

it is so special because for the 1st time in history in the history of the european union the european commission is allowed or it hopes that it will be allowed to take up a debt they want to go to the capital markets and say we need 750000000000 please here and we will give this to the member states to sort of weather the consequences of the crisis and to sort of reform industries to sort of set their country up for the future so that is really new that has never happened before at the same time the european commission also wants its own money they won't be able to be able to take in money from from the. trading the emissions trading system so in sorenson's for they would raise a corporate a certain a small segment of the corporate tax a plastic tax so they want to take some money in not to be so totally dependent on the contribution of the member states although that is also new so this whole thing and then 500000000000 out of this are supposed to be given grants that has never have been before either that such a huge sum would be disbursed to the member states so all this whole pack

public safety is always 1st so that is of main message still in the european union but we see in the last weeks already the national level the numbers are going down thanks to the positive behavior and development on national level having this in mind if we lock down keep . making the things more liberal on national level then we also have to have to give back the right of freedom of movement to the citizens of europe that's why those things are interlinked if you are liberalizing on national level you have to open borders about. ok talking about you know that the public opinion polls show that many people in europe remain skeptical about opening borders how can you reassure people. well it's about come and standards and european union it makes no difference and the question of the fight against kovi to the fight against corona whether you're in a hotel in as a german citizens or whether you go with a german citizens to have it there is no no no difference so what we need is now european wide common standards a kind of a certificated where people can immediately identify that this ho

news live from her legs but european union takes the lead in the search for a vaccine against the corona virus. and we can only defeat that virus by a vaccine and pulled out we need a global coordinated action was to continue commission president versus the founder line launches a campaign to raise 7500000000 euros to fund research also coming up the kenyan government bans entry to 2 refugee camps as fears grow over the spread of the virus but will it be enough to protect hundreds of thousands of people to live there and hundreds of protesters some armed to gathered in the capital building in the united states state of michigan to demand and and to coronavirus restrictions. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program the european union aims to raise 7500000000 euros next week to fund research into a vaccine for the coronavirus as well as developing new treatments and more efficient testing but you commission says that the goal is to develop a vaccine treatment and tests that are available to all who need it and at an affordable price the hope is that donors will continue to stump up funds and

rather than to formally expelled it suspended it but it didn't expel and you know why it is the european union'sdget to you to provide so these are the kinds of things that can be done but frankly so far european political leaders have been quite timid they issued a so-called protest when or by established this dictatorship but they didn't name hungary it was just a being a blanching eric statement of principle it was so bland that orbán joined it was you say it's a question of. accountability it's a question of pressuring hungry i want to get to that a little bit later but 1st i want to turn to surveillance now. that is another measure that we have seen emerged amid this coronavirus crisis you have called corona virus the new terrorism through that lens where is the balance between surveillance and civil liberties right now. well i think what's interesting is what we've seen over the last few weeks as the debate on this topic has evolved is that there's growing recognition that respect for privacy is actually essential for this surveillance to work and let me explain the leading option right no

this is deja vu news live from berlin the european union takes the lead in the search for a vaccine against the corona virus and we can only defeat that virus by a vaccine and for that we need a global cordy made it option because with a new commission president 1st of funding line launches a campaign to raise 7500000000 euros to fund the research also coming up the kenyan government banning entry to 2 refugee camps as fears grow over the spread of the virus but will it be enough to protect the hundreds of thousands of people who live there and hundreds of protesters some armed to gather in the capitol building in the u.s. state of michigan to demand an end to coronavirus restrictions. i'm sorry kelly welcome to the program german chancellor angela merkel and french president of manual mock wrong have thrown their support behind to raise billions of euros to fund research into a vaccine for the coronavirus the e.u. is convening a donors conference next week in a bid to raise 7500000000 euros the e.u. commission says that the goal is to develop a vaccine treatment and. tests that are availab

well it's about come and standards and european union it makes no difference and the question of the fight against kovi in the fight against corona whether you're in a hotel in as a german citizens or whether you go with the german citizens to have it there is no no no difference so what we need is now european wide common standards a kind of a certificated where people can immediately identify that this hotel is working with the european standards and fight against corona out there is what we need now to come in understanding how to answer and the challenges in madrid the same like in berlin or in so that is what we have to put on the table we need an european wide standard so what about the external board is when do you think that the continent will be free and open or should be free and open to the rest of the worlds. we have a very good understanding and a very good knowledge about the situation inside of the european union the numbers are clear the death rate is is it's public is transparent so we know what is going on in the european union there is not the case in africa that i

an agreement as quickly as possible on all these proposals we are at a defining moment for the european union but i'm confident the past weeks have shown that there is a growing awareness of the need to invest together in the european common good and to do this by laying the foundations for the well being of europe's next generation and i always think where there is a will there is a way thank you thank you very much we will now move to your questions i would just like to remind you that we have to do interpretation from english french german italian and spanish all right commission president was a life on the line there talking about the e.u. 750000000000 euro rescue package meant to help member states recover from the coronavirus pandemic being called next generation is a u.n. let's bring back our barbara vessel who's been listening in to of the statement from the commission president barbara what do you think of the most important takeaways from what we've heard from was a hard line about what this rescue package will mean. i think the most important takeaways are that of course for the 1s

italy it'sit costs european union membership?ow important to you is the membership of other eu countries like italy? chancellor kurz: well, there is no debate about the membership of italy in the european union. we are united in the european union with good cooperation and i think we will manage this ables and we will also be to manage the economic situation. be within it will norma's difficulty. >> austria, germany, the netherlands, all of these countries were well prepared before the crisis hit, but there are other european countries like italy and spain, which were already in a bad fiscal situation. paymuch are you prepared to in order to keep the european union together? in order to save the countries that were hit so much harder? maurice: it is clear --chancellor kurz: it is clear we want to support them and show solidarity. the minute they agreed on this 500 billion euro package to support these countries and in a european level, we are also in a discussion if more help is needed. >> so, do you think it is possible -- the a

that will probably see also when this joint french german proposal is discussed further in the european union. until as we heard that the money will mccrone he is appealing for more european sovereign she and uncle americal she is suggesting that european union treaty changes may be needed i mean these are not small things what do you make of this they are not small things and that idea of european sovereignty was mentioned specifically in the statement that was then sent by both governments when it came to when it comes to the health pot of the statements of what was described as a strategic health solver and. asking for the european union to develop joint proposals when it comes to prevention of pandemics or joint proposals when it comes the development of vaccines that was a big word they used precisely when it comes to this aspect of health and it's important to stress that although the focus has been placed on the recovery fund that was not the only proposal that the 2 lead us presented today there were 4 in total the other one being as i say a very important one the issue of health sove

and in the european union, the rulings of the european union, the rulings of the european union, the t ofjustice, they have to be implemented by the member states, the buck stops with that court. the national courts have no say. so the ruling of the german constitutional court can set a really dangerous precedent in european practice. it can lead to, for instance, countries like hungary, which is already in a state of emergency and practically a non—democracy in europe, or poland, or even the countries of greece, the government of greece, italy, portugal, questioning rulings of the ecb on the grounds that they violated the remit of the european institutions. the ecb being the european central bag? yes, the european central bag? yes, the european central bank. so if you start to have many member states questioning the legitimacy of european institutions, that's pretty much the beginning of the end. on the other point you made about the lack of solidarity between the north and south and so the divisions between the alleged saints of the north and the alleged sinners of the south, this e

well yes freedom of movement is the cornerstone of the european union and i as an american really look at it with envy and i see people here who are frustrated hanging out in their apartments or on their balconies or just in their neighborhoods and they want to be someplace else and so there's a little bit of a of normalcy that these governments are bringing to their citizens and it's really simple the way it works so these people can come in and travel within the 3 countries with ease no problem and they're not required to do the 14 days of pointy all of the visitors have to do this and of course you have the. regular safety rules that apply so social distancing like you and i and washing your hands and wearing a face mask so all of this is happening starting next week may for 15th and they're hoping that the other european union states will be able to quickly follow their lead. stacey riverdance thank you so much. and he is a look at he is are on top of the latest pandemic news more than 3800000 people have been infected with a corona virus globally and nearly 270000 have died the de