A collision course im sarah harman in berlin this is the day. I say to people european leaders to all parliaments in europe to all the peoples of europe for the look at how times look at in the face and you see we have no choice but to hope kind of the europe we know is too weak or too slow too inefficient. For you to call something instead of concentrating on Wasting Energy on internal divisions might know if we have been doing for such a long time. You dont want somebody put on the roof a line in the worst case and guaranteed genuine sovereignty in the real world and today i think fifty to defend our interests and values than those that did i suppose upon which im proposing to germany a new partnership that we will not agree on everything not immediately but we will discuss everything. Also coming up on the program a shock announcement from saudi arabia its going to allow women to drive something that had previously been banned under the wall they. Will be here with me in the studio tell us more but first should the eurozone have a joint Budget French president manuel micron certainly thinks so it was one of those main points as he outlined his plan to transforming europe he says has become too weak and too slow but not everyone agrees with his vision that joint budget in particular is going to be a hard sell here in germany not to mention some of his other ideas like closer you coordination on defense and immigration are likely to be opposed by right wing anti e. U. Politicians. At a time when the european project is under attack as never before in my newer met call spent nearly two hours laying out his vision for a united europe. The europe we know is too weak to slow and too inefficient but only europe and europe alone can give us the capacity to act against the big challenges we face now. Flanked by french and european flags he said europe needed to relaunch itself with greater cooperation on issues including Asylum SeekersBorder Protection and intelligence. Whats missing in europe today with regard to defense it is a common strategic culture in our incapacity to act together in a convincing manner puts our credibility in question. As well as Strategic Issues he also called for the creation of a Transnational Agency to foster european innovation Financial Stability and Corporate Tax were also in areas where he said much deeper cooperation was needed. For you to. Instead of concentrating all our energy on our internal divisions as weve been doing now for far too long instead of losing our way in arguments in a european civil war arguing about budgets finances politics or whatever we need to consider how to build a europe that strong. But at a time when tensions between eastern and western europe are stressing the union and Member States are still battling to overcome nearly a decade of economic crisis calls idealistic discourse was not going to please everyone outside the venue several hundred students protested against his planned reform agenda in the countryside to his speech will have received a less than favorable response rural france is where far right leader lookin has her support. And the future of your. As an entity will depend on whether the unions two strongest members france and germany can Work Together to defeat the common enemy with the. Goal of see how microns vision is going down here in berlin ive got our chief Political Correspondent a crane with me here linda macron envisions a europe with greater cooperation at all sorts of levels does he have uncle americal support. Well after his own election she was mildly if nonspecifically encouraging saying that she certainly did want to Work Together with france to reenergize europe and following the german vote on sunday she said that she can in visage more europe if it leads to a more competitive e. U. And also to more jobs and more clout for europe abroad she also said that she has no red lines when it comes to e. U. Policy and interestingly enough president mccraw used a similar phrase in his own speech saying that there need be no red lines when it comes to discussing whats good for europe so whats all the talk of red lines well it has everything to do with the fact that one of those potential Coalition Partners in a new government has said that his party does have red lines he is the leader of the business friendly free democrats and he doesnt at all like the notion of a common euro zone budget or a common finance minister believing that both would leave in the lead in the direction of germany footing the bill for various issues and problems of the indebted to southern European Countries and interestingly enough a second potential Coalition Partner of the chancellor namely her own Bavarian Sister Party the Christian Social Union they also raise their voice after mccrone speech today saying that they too see some red lines when it comes to that common budget and the common finance minister so with this point she may be mildly receptive to mr message in this area of common Economic Policy but shes going to have some tough persuading to do with those potential Coalition Partners are shes got to get her potential partners on board the timing of this speech though is so interesting why is that crown doing it now after the german election before the weeks of coalition wrangling make in. Were told that he absolutely intentionally timed this speech for this particular moment the reason is he absolutely must have germany on board germany is the country that pays most into the e. U. Budget if he wants a common budget and they dont go along the idea is dead in the water so he must have german support apparently the idea in paris and he did speak to the chancellor twice in the past two days is that he wants to get that plan out there before theres a Coalition Agreement in place before any Coalition Partners have locked in their policy on europe in other words hes hoping to influence the debate and get a foot in the door right now at this crucial juncture ok now merkel opened germanys doors in twenty fifteen and a lot of people say its one of the reasons for party suffered such losses in this election because many voters disagree with that decision do you think the chance or would fight for a european asylum office. Of the type that he is proposing. Lets say i think she could be receptive to the idea if it were to lead to a fairer and more equitable distribution of refugees within europe as is actually foreseen by e. U. Law all of the euro your European Union member countries that subscribe to the dublin treaty are actually obligated to take a proportional share of refugees but a number of countries such as hungry for example have made clear that they dont intend to comply with that obligation so if this agency could somehow push that process forward could truly lead to implementation of that law or to a better system a fairer distribution i think that many people here in germany would be very very receptive briefly melinda macron has proposed a european budget in germany weve just seen a party which began as a euro skeptic party capture nearly a hundred seats in the bonus how do you think those plans for a european budget will go down here in germany. Germany is very divided on this as many other issues yes we have some strong euro skeptic voices though that part of the that you mentioned of the far right alternative for Germany Party will be in the opposition so it will not be shaping government policy but government policy may get shaped partly in reaction to this presence of the party on the political spectrum amongst the potential Coalition Partners that america was looking at as i said to our very very skeptical but there is one thats very supportive of mr mccalls idea in exactly this area that is the green party so we will see how it plays out in Coalition Negotiations but it is a very very tough moment for these kind of far reaching visionary proposals to find of this on audience here all right melinda crane thank you very much for your analysis. German chancellor Angela Merkel is coming under increasing pressure she works to cobble together a new government or a very in sister party the c. S. U. Insist that policy changes have to happen after the conservatives big election losses but the chancellor already has her hands full as she seeks to build a coalition with both the probusiness free democrats and the environmentalist greens two parties that dont have much in common. The chancellor and the head of her sister party the c. S. U. Have an urgent task winning back their voters who supported the far right in sundays election the question is how and thats a source of friction between the two Party Leaders the former transportation minister a member of the c. S. U. Says the conservatives work is cut out for them. Then of this year we have to remember the whole political spectrum. From the center to the democratic right wing. That could mean the chancellor and her conservatives drifting further right to steal the populist fire the two parties are mulling over their options for the next Coalition Governments make up for merkel there is only one possibility governing with the business friendly free democrats and the environmentally oriented green party the greens say such a coalition would come at a price pushing through the greens agenda. We face enormous challenges the greens are prepared to make them head on but its clear they cant be any sleepwalking here if the coalition works out fine but if it doesnt forget and. The free democrats say its imperative that the two conservative sister parties find common ground. Its always the same with the c. S. U. You never know if theyll have the same position tomorrow i think they could use a session in couples counseling with medicals party at. The social democrats have reiterated their position after their punishing election result they will not join a new government with the chancellor. Via gear and indeed were going into opposition thats in service of the country and the service to our democracy the wrangling for a new governing coalition continues. More turmoil for the far right alternative for germany after their resoundingly lection success coleader country says shes leaving the party they said to be the Third Largest group in the new German Parliament after taking nearly thirteen percent of the vote it should have been a moment of triumph for the a. F. P. The first meeting of their new Parliamentary Group the freshly elected f. T. Lawmakers chose Elise Speidel and alexander golland as coal parliamentary leaders the duo faced a barrage of questions about Party Chairwoman franco petris shock announcement that she will resign for galland petris move was the logical consequence of her recent actions. I have to admit im thankful that she has gone down this route because im not a big fan of Party Expulsion processes so its good that she solve the problem this way you just go pretty much you guys are going to. Be a treat once the face of the f. T. Held her own press conference she explained why she and her husband also an f. D. A. Member have decided to leave the party. He said of on our goals have not changed one bit since the election of course i still want to work towards political change in two thousand and twenty one initially as an individual member of parliament and perhaps later in a different constellation. That statement already has many inside and outside the f. T. Wondering if petri has plans to set up a rival far right party. War on the rise of the far right here in germany im joined now by James Kirchick hes with a conservative think tank the Brookings Institute and hes the author of the book the end of europe dictators demagogues and the coming dark its james thanks for being with us on the day first off what do you make of the f. D. A. Success here in germany. Well obviously its a major historical point in german history that you havent had a party of this nature far right populist party hasnt been in the bundestag really since the one nine hundred fifty s. Since the immediate postwar period so certainly its going to change the tone of political debate in germany in german politicians compared to most other countries are very polite cordial they like consensus and now we have a group of rabble rousers who are really going to up and that political culture and i think youre going to see a lot more heated political rhetoric in germany that you really havent seen for a very long time how much of this do you think is a vote for the a. F. D. Itself and how much of it was a protest vote against merkels refugee policy yeah there were polls that came out showing that about sixty percent of people who voted for the a. F. D. Were voting as a protest they didnt necessarily agree with the entire agenda of the f. T. But i think its fair to say that most of the people who voted for the party whether it was a protest vote or a broader conviction vote are unhappy with the migration policy that chancellor merkel took we have about a million if not more voters from the christian democrats left that party to vote for the a. F. D. And they did so primarily for this reason and thats why you have or see offer in bavaria saying that the c. S. U. Is going to have to cover up its right flank ok what about this theory that the a. F. P. Is influence in the German Parliament is going to be a warrant or their numbers suggest theyve only got thirteen percent of the vote roughly because of their the power to do just what youre describing to force these mainstream parties further to the right kind of like you cant did to the conservatives in the u. K. Ahead of bracks and do you see that happening here in germany. Yeah thats a good point i mean in particular on the issues of migration and identity theres been a sort of false consensus among german political elites for for quite some time where the elite opinion was out of step with a large number of germans and now we have a party that the extreme is going to be dissenting from that consensus and there really wasnt any difference on migration policy from the greens to the social democrats to the christian democrats and now you have a party thats you know fundamentally at odds with that consensus so i think theyre going to be instigating a lot of debates within the parliament and you know part of that is going to be obnoxious part of it might even be xena phobic and nationalistic and racist but part of its going to be good because i think german politics could use a little more debate amongst its political leaders a lot of people here in germany are really had to tend to say german publics politics become americanised and sink to that level of discourse if i can say is that the things have taken on in the states i want to talk about your book though for a second you wrote a book called the end of europe what do you mean by that. Well i wouldnt let me just say first i wouldnt say that german politics are becoming americanize that it is becoming more europeanized i mean if you look at most of Continental Europe theyve long had far right parties and in neighboring france you have Marine Le Pen she got thirty five she got thirty four percent of the vote you mentioned ukip or earlier when britain has a very contentious political culture so i think you know germany was an outlier by obviously because of its history there was a taboo on the extreme right there still is obviously but you know seventy five years after World War Two that taboo is is disintegrating and germany is becoming more of a normal european country in that regard as far as my book goes the end of europe i talk about the end of europe as weve come to really know its over the past twenty five thirty years as a place of of peace of Economic Prosperity of political moderation and i think in all ways were seeing this break down and i really think that the results of sundays election attests to this and that you know germany has now really really joins the club of countries that are dealing with this with this populous problem on the other hand we did see merkel reelected despite her refugee policy and recently we solved that criminal act and running on a strong european ticket in france that contradicts your idea that europe is coming to an end well i mean literally coming to an end and i dont think anyone was seriously doubting that mccrone would win or that merkel would win but these are major developments and if you compare the amount of support that the National Front received in its election this year versus when. Pan ran fifteen years ago it doubled we have up in germany we have a fifty which went from not being in parliament four years ago. Now being the Third Largest party we have breaks it we have russia. Seizing territory by force for the first time on the european continent since World War Two so theres all sorts of really negative developments happening on the european continent right now and im not sure which direction its going to go all right times they are changing thats James Kirchick joining us from washington hes with the Brookings Institute thanks for sharing your view on europe. Well a shock announcement from saudi arabia the kingdom is finally lifting its ban on women driving saudi king soundman has issued a new decree officially ending the ban on women behind the wheel the saudi representative to the u. N. Broke the news earlier today you may be interested to know that a few minutes ago arroyo decree has been issued in saudi arabia giving women the right to drive. This is a historic day for Saudi Society for men and women and we can now say at last. At last its twenty seventeen it feels kind of weird to be talking about women driving but thats what were going to do im joined now by my colleague the d. W. Anchor and reporter john far of joel karim i have to say this surprised me i didnt see this coming did you actually know what i know is that since years since months and like every single day there are a lot of women rights activists who are working for does step today and theyre trying everything some of them went so far that they drove to provoke to have a kind of an action in saudi arabia and then they were imprisoned so they had to leave the country others are still in prison so its a long struggle to reach this moment today allowing saudi woman to drive which is now an el countries on this planet allow women to drive saudi arabia was the last country that didnt allow women to drive but if you look on the social media for no everyone is really celebrating and everyone is just enjoying the moment i just checked some of the tweets and even talk to some of the women rights activists who are celebrating this moment like many others share the fools who wrote a book about about her struggle. To drive shes just said for me this is not a moment where i just want to enjoy and live the moment where weve been struggling for a long time at the same time we have to be. A very critical and distance to whats happening thats the first step allowing women to drive and there are still a lot of steps to be done concerning like the guardian i know you have even a hash tag trending up there alone to drive which is saying i want to be my own guardian because i mean the question would be if whom and wants to issue her driving license now does she have to get the ok from the guardian which is her father or her husband or her son and there are different steps that will be done so still a lot of open question when it comes to this but we do have a woman whos directly affected and whos been working for a long time get the right to drive her name is tom adore me she joins us now on the line from saudi arabia tell me more thanks for being with us this surprise announcement today how did you feel when you heard the news. Hi thank you for having me. Im so featureless i was overwhelmed i was relieved i was laughing and crying hysterically at the same time i was in disbelief i had to i was i was in the shower when my phone such a draining and it wouldnt stop ringing it was ringing nonstop and i thought it was an emergency because its late at night and i ran out of out of the shower and i answered and one of my friends were what i think im virtually the woman can drive now and i believe i said no thats not true and i went to see i switched on the t. V. To the local news channel and i thought there and i just gathered then i couldnt say anything i said i was just signed lens and that i was breathing i was trying to breathe trying to control my emotions trying to see billys i mean its a historic will start a moment said. Its a happy day its the day when we realize all our efforts and trouble and activism and sacrifices that we took out of our effort and kind man family. Connections and and. We dont realize you know we cant we cant go right we recreate them and theyre supposed to say. Happy thank you but its a happy day and were so happy for you tom at all we want to let you go out and celebrate and enjoy this moment of victory that youve worked so hard and thanks for sharing some of your happiness with us here thank you the day itself all the best. To some other fish to listening to us as more group come out there because i well i had different interviews with the mother i know how much she and other womans struggle to reach this moment today its a big deal and just very briefly because they dont have as much time do you think this is a sign that saudi arabia is modernizing or is it a mistake to read too much into this i would say its part of the vision of twenty thirty which is about modernizing saudi arabia and i mean its all about economical reforms to twenty thirty and you cannot have Economic Reforms you dont have social reforms and part of it is to fight unemployment and i thing allowing women to drive is part of integrating them in the work system and allowing time to work because the number of graduates in saudi arabia are more women but the number of unemployment is also is also by women so you know this is an economic decision and a lot of ways i would i would go and say its also part of an economy. Decision because if you want to fight unemployment if you want to change structures if you want to do reforms you have to do you have to have a social reforms and this social reforms will for sure help women to be part to be an active part in the clinical system and to be able to work because even when they want to drive and go to work and have their meetings its impossible so now its more free it will help them and as again said its a first step but theres still a lot to do still a lot to do just for abdul karim thanks for walking us through some of the points on this is a happy day and its nice to end on this positive news. The day is nearly done but were going to take our conversation online youll find us on twitter either at the w. News or you can tweet right at me at sarah harman five three dont forget to use our hash tag the day and remember no matter what happens or back tomorrow for more there that. The return of imagine. A very special citoyen civil has just hit the road. An iconic car now recreated as a sustainable way. And we went along for spinning. Your romance next d w. D w media center see it find it here it discover. Video and audio podcast and language courses in the d. W. Media center at media center dot w dot com. Hi welcome to the show im louise house and i will be here taking you through this next half an hour which is