German Green Sven Giegold talks about the prospects for the year ahead, Irish MEP Marian Harkin talks about her country's EU Presidency.

7 Days: Ireland in the hot seat

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A new year, a new country holding the EU  presidency, Ireland, but the same problems.

No banking union, but we do have the  promise of a single supervisory mechanism,

and several countries with massive debts,  high unemployment and little growth.

Here to discuss that  is German Green, Sven Giegold,

who's a member of the Economic  and Monetary Affairs Committee.

when I ask a series of questions to which  I'd like you to answer only yes or no.

German Finance Minister  Wolfgang Schäuble says

the worst of the euro crisis is over.  Is he right?

That's the view of Chancellor Merkel too.  Is she just electioneering?

IMF economists now admit  the austerity measures they imposed

were maybe too tough and the wrong thing.

US experts say Europe has a problem  with low productivity.

They say we don't spend enough  on research. Is that true?

Banking union is taking a long time  to achieve, isn't it?

Are you worried that  not enough has been done

to prevent a repeat  of the banking crisis we had?

Are you worried that anti-EU populist  policies and thoughts are gaining ground?

OK, we've just about run out of time  with that one,

but thank you very much for taking part.

We'll go to our roundup of the news next  and our proper discussion will come shortly.

But can I just ask first of all if you take  an optimistic or a pessimistic view of 2013?

Generally, I always have an optimistic view

and without this you can't do good politics.

Chancellor Merkel has said she thinks 2013  will be tougher than 2012 for many people.

Yeah. That's why I would not say  the worst is over. The worst is not over.

If you look at the poverty and  unemployment rates in some EU countries,

That's really a point of view of an astronaut  and not somebody who lives on the ground.

Do you feel there's the political will  to do what needs to be done

or is there too much division  and electioneering?

There's a lot of electioneering.  You can see this

because some important things  are simply not done.

So all the adaptation is happening through  taxes on the poor and spending cuts,

but there are no taxes on people  who could afford it, really.

Secondly, there is a big hole  when it comes to green growth.

We'll continue talking about  Europe's economic woes in just a moment,

but here is a brief look ahead to next  week with Mariam Zaidi.

The first plenary session of the new year  gets underway in Strasbourg next week.

And as with all new beginnings  comes change.

It was farewell Cyprus and hello to Ireland

as they take over the six-month  rotating EU Council presidency.

Ireland has promised to bring hope  and recovery to Europe

and, importantly,  to tackle the EU's debt crisis.

MEPs will debate the new presidency  and the challenges it faces on Wednesday.

The economy will continue  to dominate the headlines this year.

High on the agenda for MEPs will be  the creation of the EU's banking union

and better provisions  for credit rating agencies.

The debt crisis has created division  and discord amongst Member States

and for an alliance built on the foundations  of political and economic unity,

can the EU come together to better protect  the rights of the people it serves?

We have a continent where a lot of people  are still suffering from poverty.

Your own party and the left generally  have said all along

that more should be done  to stimulate growth

I think the house here in the European  Parliament more or less agrees

that not enough has been done  to stimulate growth.

The difference might be whether  you're ready to use European instruments.

What we have seen with the budget  is that the budget was cut basically,

and cuts were made in precisely the areas  which should deliver sustainable growth.

So agricultural policy remains  more or less untouched.

But what we need in research,  in education spending...

There the planned increases  which would have helped

The second point is whether you are ready,  and there are differences,

so the economy which is based on  low carbon, little resource usage,

and turning around the economy  in a sustainable way.

There we disagree.  But in general in the euro crisis,

very little has been done  to help sustainable growth.

We still have the problem of the financial  framework for the next seven years.

between the Parliament  and Commission on the one side

and the Council, particularly some of the  more rightwing governments, on the other.

That's what I was referring to.  So in the latest compromise proposals...

It's always the same pattern.  You do not touch the different stakeholders

who have got money so far  from this budget.

We've put billions over the next period  into a fusion reactor

which will never be applied in reality  as it's too expensive. Everybody knows this.

We could put this money into sustainable  energy, into energy efficiency research.

That would be much more effective.  But no stakeholder is really touched.

And who is basically suffering  because of that?

Those who get jobs in the future,  as they don't have a strong lobby.