Journalists from La Tribune and La Libre Belgique join us to discuss the week's hottest topics, most notably at the EU-China summit actually Chinese journalists were barred which caused a stir in the media.

Press Corner: The EU and the world

Hello, and welcome to  Press Corner on EuroparlTV.

we look at China, Brazil, and terrorism,  which all hit the European headlines.

To discuss our news round up we have  Caroline Grasso from EuroparlTV,

and Florence Autret, Brussels  correspondent for La Tribune.

My thanks to both our guests  for accepting our invitation.

during the first big international summit  in Brussels, the EU-Asia summit.

The Chinese Prime Minister,  Wen Jiabao, was here.

Of course, there was a lot of talk  about trade, human rights,

and also the yuan,  the Chinese currency.

The Europeans asked China  to revalue its currency,

which disadvantages EU exports  in favour of China.

Wen Jiabao got annoyed and asked  them to stop putting pressure on China.

In short Wen Jiabao  asked for time and flexibility,

and we're not at all sure  that the message got through.

We do know that the PM of China,  whose economy is growing,

where he signed agreements with  the Prime Minister George Papandreou,

including one to buy  part of the Greek debt

in return for Greece releasing  concessions in certain ports,

including Piraeus, one of the biggest  Mediterranean ports, to China.

Obviously the press commented on  this Chinese advance into Europe.

The Daily Telegraph's headline  was the 'new Silk Road into Europe'.

More ironically,  the French news website Médiapart

summed it up by saying,  'China buys Greece!'

China is advancing its pawns into Europe.  Florence, a comment.

You might wonder whether they're going  to make Greece into a Trojan horse.

It's the Trojan War in reverse,  with the Asians coming to our continent.

You might even wonder whether, once  China has bought 15% of the Greek debt,

they'll have a seat on the Ecofin Council  of Ministers which could cause problems.

The other way of looking at it is that  Chinese growth benefits everyone.

A strong yuan is a problem  for our exporters,

but it's also a way to reduce  the cost of our imports.

The trade deficit of countries like France,  where it's growing, would be much worse

if the yuan was revalued by 10 or 15%  because that reduces buying power.

So I think that there's truth  on both sides in this -

on the Chinese side  and the European side.

A few weeks or months ago,  when the Greek crisis was at its height,

the Turks arrived in Athens  to make trade proposals

and to ask their Greek friends  to work more closely with them.

They may be starting something or not.  Sabine.

On the Turkish presence in Greece,  you have to say that it's beneficial.

Maintaining trade relationships  improves peace.

If that means Greece  can spend less on weapons and defence

and can commit these sums to social  areas, then it's rather a good thing.

This EU-Asia summit was marked  by some journalistic concerns

during the week of this summit.  What happened, Florence?

At the end of the EU-China summit,  there was going to be a press conference.

But the Chinese authorities  asked the Council of Ministers

to deny access to Chinese journalists  who they consider to be undesirable,

even though they had been accredited  by the European institutions.

At first, the Council's press department  apparently agreed to do so,

so the accredited Chinese journalist  was denied entry and complained.

Then the institutions changed their minds  and said, 'Everyone must be allowed in.'

In the end the Chinese, since they  couldn't impose their ways here,

That sort of problem has already  happened here at the EP with Russia.

Another topic in the European news  is the terrorist alert

issued by the United States  in Europe in early October.

It was the first time the US has issued  a warning about the whole of Europe.

This unilateral alert caused  quite a bit of reaction in the EU.

The German Interior Minister,  Thomas de Maizière,

thinks the US has contributed  to spreading fear.

Belgium is minimising the alert  for fear of causing panic among citizens.

But the British and the Swedish  are taking it seriously.

The media talked of  real and imminent threats,

while governments have  recommended raising the threat level.

brought up the issue  of media coverage of the threat.

whether this threat was real,  palpable and dangerous.

-Do we know now?  Yes, we now know that it's a global threat.

but 25 young European jihadists  are involved,

who have trained  in Afghanistan and Pakistan

and are planning to take action  in Europe.

They have European passports,  so they are harder to identify.

The Americans  had to explain themselves.

It was during the last meeting  of interior ministers on 7 October.

from the US Homeland Security  Department, as this alert is a problem.

Experts say that panic about an attack  is already a victory for al-Qaeda.

Even the head of  French security and intelligence

thinks that the soldiers  patrolling under the Eiffel Tower -

we've seen it on TV  and also in the press -

are free publicity  and a godsend for al-Qaeda.

Now to my two guests, isn't prevention  better than cure in the end?

I'm certainly not an expert  on the terrorist threat in Europe.

It's the eternal problem of Europe's  autonomy from the US on security issues.

We've been completely enmeshed  with the US for 50 years.

That hasn't changed  with the terrorist threat.

In relation to intelligence  we're clearly behind the United States.