Unlimited, clean energy - but at what cost? MEPs aren't sure the experimental nuclear fusion project ITER is worth the additional costs it is now incurring - 35 years before any results can be expected. Away from Brussels - EuroparlTV joins MEP Mariya Ned

The News: Costly dreams of clean energy - MEP in her constituency

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/13715101/N001-100527-EN.srt

Europe believes   in the nuclear reactor project ITER

which has accrued spectacular   additional costs. So, how to finance it?

An MEP on the ground – EuroparlTV   followed one all the way to Bulgaria.

Portrait of an MEP   in her electoral district.

And a round up of   other European headlines.

the Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor   of the ITER project should be built.

But the reactor is in trouble before   its construction has really even begun,

with significant additional costs foreseen.

The bill for the EU alone could   go up from 2.7 to 7.2 billion euros.

In a time of economic crisis   this is not going down well.

We are in favour of this project   and will support it as much as possible.

But I think this increase of costs   is not possible at the moment.

We should debate with the researchers   to see how to overcome this problem.

The EU will fund 45%   of this international project.

Its share of the cost overrun   for 2012-2013 will be 1.4 billion euros.

EU countries don’t want to dig into their   budgets to cover this additional cost.

We should abandon ITER   in its current configuration

since the construction   will begin only in 2012

and the explosion of the new budgets   shows that

ITER is absolutely not a priority   on the European and international level.

The project aims to provide –   in 35 years, at best –

clean and unlimited energy, thanks   to the process of nuclear fusion.

The funding just has to be guaranteed.   Time is pressing.

On Wednesday the EU countries set up   a committee of experts to find a solution

before the decisive meeting of all the   countries involved on June 17 in China.

Mariya Nedelcheva was elected MEP   less than a year ago.

At the end of each week   she returns to her electoral district.

Destination Sofia, Bulgaria,   where she meets her voters,

party and all those   whose interests she defends.

meeting experts with whom she considers   the challenges facing the country.

The first is interested   in everything related to energy.

It’s a very important question   for all Europeans.

On the agenda is also   the European strategy for the Danube

discussed in the EP   at the beginning of 2010 -

taking care of the regions   bordering the river

that runs through 6 Member States   including Bulgaria.

Mariya Nedelcheva   examines job creation

and the sustainable development   of infrastructure along the river.

We’re going   to the main town of the region

that I was elected from   and that I come from.

I will meet, on the one hand, farmers,   and on the other young people

as I'm preoccupied   with these two problems.

A member of the Agriculture   and Rural Development Committee,

tobacco farmers   wait to meet Mariya Nedelcheva.

This time it’s about   the CAP reform after 2013.

Their message is very clear: there’s   not enough information about the CAP.

The CAP as it is now is very complex and   needs to be discussed with the citizens.

Listening to the citizens' concerns   and explaining the EU's challenges

is fieldwork that she believes   is as essential as it is inevitable.

is to convey these opinions and questions   in Brussels and Strasbourg.

The Balkans: 'yes, but',   says the Commission.

It's OK for Bosnians and Albanians   to travel in the Schengen area

without a visa,   with only a biometric passport –

if the two countries intensify   their fight against corruption and crime.

For the Commission this remains to be   seen. Freedom of movement is important

as it conducts the two countries gently   towards integration into the EU.

Opening up competition   on the car repairs market.

Manufacturers lose the power   to force motorists

to have their cars repaired   by authorised dealers only.

The kick-off of this progressive reform   is next Tuesday.

The vast majority of Europeans   favour stricter measures against smoking.

For example three out for four people   support banning smoking in restaurants.

Coming up just before   the World No Tobacco Day on May 31,

this survey indicates also   that almost 1/3 Europeans still smoke.