manfred weber has been at the helm of the center right european peoples party since two thousand and fourteen under his tenure he has called for action against member states who defy official e.u. positions is also a known critic of the e.u. is perceived a dependency on russian energy webber's latest remarks against north stream to have come under fire at home in germany. well does that i find it rather strange that manfred weber let us germans know that he's against this project through a polish newspaper and we're talking about our country's interests named their libel and his life i think we shouldn't play with the future of our country. manfred weber does have some support over nord stream it to germany's green party has called the project dubious from a geo political viewpoint and north stream too is the second leg of a pipeline network running from russia to germany the pipelines supporters say preventing the project completion would lead it to gas shortages and higher prices a german political analyst told us of the claims of dependency on russian energy are unfounded. he's an

manfred weber launches his campaign one month ahead of parliament elections.e faces challenges from populism and economic slowdown and global trade. he says the eu may have to update regulations to allow it to compete globally with the likes of china and the u.s. >> on the global stage, europe asked define our key industries, what we see as our future markets, and we have to defend them and create also global champions in key industries. voters have's sweeping changes for the constitution which includes allowing the president to remain in power until 2030. it has drawn condemnation from rights groups about figures. it won via landslide but less than half of eligible voters took part. global news 24 hours a day, on-air and tictoc on twitter, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. nejra: debra mao in hong kong, thank you so much. difference technology company dassault systemes with second non-ifrs and -- proposing a 12% dividend increase to 65 euros. is some of the numbers we have had out this morning an

manfred weber launches his campaign months ahead of parliament elections. the european group faces challenges from populism and economic slowdown, and global trade. he says that you may have to update regulations to compete globally with the likes of china and the u.s. >> europe must define our key industries that we see as our future markets. we have to defend them and create global champions in key industries. agreed to invest $1 billion in convertible bonds that could give the japanese conglomerate a minority stake. upash injection could shore confidence after a series of wrongdoinga legend at the singapore operations. global news, 24 hours a day on air and at tic-toc on twitter, powered by 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. this is bloomberg. matt: thank you very much. akzonobel has reported profits that missed estimates, this comes as they are grappling with higher raw materials costs and a slowdown in the automotive market. joining us from amsterdam is thierry f.j. vanlacker, ceo, akzo nobel. let me ask you why you missed ?he lo

manfred weber who leads the largest political group and the european parliament, says the e.u.gether to overcome trade tensions. he spoke to maria tadeo in athens. partner,europe is a not somebody you can give in order. you have to speak to each other. myself and my party are ready to discuss about taking away all the tariffs on the table. trade in favor of free and we believe our products in europe are good products, but it must be discussed in a respectful way and we hope we can do this with our friends in america, as we discuss about a new trade agreement. onia: if we see the tariffs in particular german carmakers and the exports are under pressure because of the global uncertainty, when that trigger immediate retaliation because you have no other option? that is what i meant when i said respectful cooperation. in the steel sector, there was not immediate action afterwards and europe must act. we have the same interests. we want free trade. -- if we seee together the market on industrial goods and services, then the trade relationships are not so bad for the americans, when

i find it rather strange that manfred weber let us germans know that he's against this project through a polish newspaper and we're talking about our country's interests named daryl liable and i think we shouldn't play with the future while country. well known fred bever does have some support over nord stream to germany's green party has called the project dubious from a geo political point of view north stream two is currently on tour a construction designed to deliver gas from north western russia to north eastern germany the pipeline supporters say blocking the project would lead to gas shortages of higher prices i spoke to a political analyst at the berlin center for cusp in region studies who believes it's a bit of a stretch to claim europe's hoped on russian. he's now an electoral campaign to attract voters and as you know there are a lot of countries in eastern europe as ansel's europe who are not in favor of not stream and to gain the votes of those voters he is you know campaigning against not streaming we are not depending on russian gas this is completely this information i

i find it rather strange that manfred weber let us germans know that he's against this project through a polish newspaper and we're talking about our country's interests named era libel and i think we shouldn't play with the future of our country mr verver does have some support over north stream to germany's green party has called the project juby is from a geo political point of view north stream two is currently under construction is the zine to deliver gas from north western russia to north eastern germany it's been a point of contention for e.u. members in the us mainly centered on concerns about energy dependence on russia but the pipeline supporters worry that blocking it will lead to gas shortages and higher prices and this discuss some of those issues now with me here during feldman is a political analyst at the berlin center for caspian region studies at the free university of berlin welcome germany is one of the few european countries which has consistently showed support for the north stream to pipeline how surprised are you that mr faber is so against the official position

manfred weber hopes to replace jean-claude juncker as president of the european commission.xclusive conversation in athens, he said he would like the eu to treat china more as a partner than a competitor. he also emphasized the need to reshape the bloc's trade relationship. manfred: for my part, it is a party of trade. we voted for the trade agreements with japan, with canada, always a party of trade. the socialists are not so much, the greens are not so much. we believe in trade, both sides of public development. and on the chinese side we should be in favor of trade, but europe is naive for what is going on in china. they define key industries, big global champions, especially in the traffic field, and you must allow companies to grow and to establish a size that gives you the chance to compete on a global level with big companies from china. that is why i think we have to change the competition law to allow for the future. generally, i'm a friend of competition because it brings good prices and good quality of products, but in special markets, you need to understand that