Gianni Pittella gives his assessment of the EU's road to recovery and Erminia Mazzoni explains the Petitions Committee's role in safeguarding EU citizens' rights.

7 Days: Light at the end of the tunnel?

Hello. A week ago  Europe heaved a sigh of relief.

The German Constitutional Court  gave the bailout fund the go-ahead.

The Dutch voted  for pro-European parties,

which hadn't happened  for over ten years.

Will the markets stop harassing  the eurozone?

And when will the major problems  of unemployment and growth be solved?

First Vice-President  of the European Parliament.

Do you like this word 'first'?  -It means what it says.

You substitute the President.  -It wasn't my choice.

The chamber voted for me out of  the 14 candidates in a secret ballot.

The role of first Vice-President  is very rewarding.

Before discussing whether  we've reached the end of the tunnel

I'll subject you  to our minute of truth, 'Yes or No'.

Are you optimistic about the eurozone?  -Yes.

Do you have a solution for the EU  against the economic crisis? -Yes.

Cohn-Bendit wants to help Greece  with a social fund,

otherwise the far right  will gain ground.

60% of German citizens said their lives  would be better without the euro.

Does that statistic frighten you?  -Yes.

Can this trend be reversed  before the next European elections?

Will it really be able to control them?  -Yes.

All banks or just the biggest ones?  -All of them.

Is the approach to immigration wrong?  -Yes.

Military intervention in Syria?  -Not yet.

Will Monti be confirmed as Prime Minister  after the elections?

I'd like Bersani.  -The Secretary of the Democratic Party.

Time's up. Thank you, Gianni Pittella.  -Thank you.

About this time last year we were  immersed in the eurozone crisis.

People were talking about eurobonds  and growth solutions,

Now we've got a growth package  that was approved in June

and finally some weapons to defend  ourselves against speculative attacks.

But the topics we'll talk about  are basically the same.

We started doing things  once some governments had changed.

Parliament has stuck to its guns  from the beginning

weren't given consideration by Merkel,  Sarkozy, the Dutch Prime Minister,

The Sarkozy-Merkel partnership.  -Exactly, and Berlusconi too.

Then Hollande, Monti  and Victor Ponta came along,

Monti's not a socialist  but his outlook is progressive,

It's no coincidence that you remembered  that in the EU Council in June

the first measures for growth  were approved.

Before that we didn't talk about growth,  only austerity.

This growth package  was emphatically approved,

but in reality  it's a system of incentives

And if we look at recent figures  from the Central Bank, from last week,

the forecast isn't that great  for this year or next year.

and for citizens who will vote  in the EU elections in 20 months' time,

the situation  is getting worse every day.

In 'La Repubblica' Barbara Spinelli,  our most influential leader writer,

writes that we should do more  than simple maintenance. So?

It's time for renewal, reforms,  effective measures...

There are plenty of ideas.  -Give us some examples.

We must put the decisions  made in June into practice.

It's not Parliament's job  to put them into practice,

it's the job of the European Commission  in some cases,

the European Investment Bank in others,  or the European Council.

So project bonds, refinancing  the European Investment Bank,

the tax on financial transactions,  the Golden Rule,

all these things decided in June  still haven't been put into practice.

The European Central Bank is working  towards calming the markets. Excellent.

And we need to progress  with the project for banking union,

economic union,  budgetary union and political union.

I'm still talking about EU citizens.  The Greeks are in a bad way.

Together with my colleagues  Berlinguer and Podimata,

eminent personalities  from the world of culture,

I recently launched an appeal telling  people, 'You're suffocating the Greeks.'

Greece's previous governments  were irresponsible,

but now they're making  terrible sacrifices.

contains conditions that are like a noose  round the necks of Greek citizens.

And so we asked  if we could dilute these conditions

being put to the Greek people  in the coming years

We should take note  that they are making sacrifices

and not make the economy and the social  situation any worse for the Greek people.

Let's watch the rest of the week's news  and then we'll return to our discussion.

Here's Laeticia Markakis  with a round-up.

Travelling without polluting.  This week was European Mobility Week.