Theodoros Skylakakis scrutinises the plans to save the eurozone and Michèle Rivasi discusses the revision of the Seveso II Directive on hazardous substances.

7 Days: Saving the euro, toxic chemicals

Welcome to 7 Days in Europe,  where we look at issues in the headlines

The biggest headline remains  the sovereign debt crisis

and whether or not the euro can be saved.

To talk about that,  my first guest is a Greek member

of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats  for Europe, Theodoros Skylakakis.

Before we go any further,  do you think the euro can be saved?

Yes, of course. There is no fundamental  problem in saving the euro.

The economic fundamentals of Europe  and the eurozone are good, not bad.

So it's just political decisions  that have to be made.

OK. As usual we're going to start 7 Days  with our Yes-No segment,

in which I pose a series of questions to  which my guest can only answer Yes or No.

Treaty changes: They think treaty changes  are necessary and Mr Van Rompuy doesn't.

Do we need to change the Treaties?  -Yes.

Will that be possible  given the opposition at the moment

in some of the most affected countries?  -Yes.

It was France and Germany that broke  the Stability and Growth Pact the last time.

Standard & Poor's has threatened  to downgrade all eurozone countries.

A French professor says  the EP has done too little,

'watched the train go by'. Is he right?  -Yes.

Can you see Greek bonds recovering  within the next three years?

Are you happy to have your country  run by an ex-Goldman Sachs economist?

What about Italy,  also run by an ex-Goldman Sachs man?

Very informative.  I liked the 'Yes-No' bit.

We'll look now at some of the stories  in the news today with Caroline Grasso.

On Thursday the 27 were to decide on the  Franco-German proposal for treaty reform.

They propose more automatic sanctions  for countries with excessive deficits.

Given the lack of action from the EU,  Standard & Poor's is threatening

to downgrade 15 eurozone countries,  including France and Germany.

In Europe, regulations for motorcycles  are too complex

and protect neither the environment  nor the safety of their users.

The EP put forward proposals on Monday  to improve the situation.

Now we have to work with  more than 30 regulations

and as of 1 January 2014  there will be just one.

Light motorcycles are only involved  in 2% of distances travelled,

but are implicated  in 16% of fatal accidents.

Among the proposals is the requirement  for an ABS system on every motorcycle.

On Monday MEPs on  the Civil Liberties Committee voted yes

The aim is to simplify procedures  and guarantee equal social rights

between European workers  and those from other countries.

It's also a way of combating  illegal immigration.

The European Year of Volunteering  will soon end.

About 100 million people, one in five,  work as volunteers in Europe,

40% of people are involved  in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands,

while only 10% of Italians or Bulgarians  give up their time for free.

Next year will be  the European Year for Active Ageing.

Looking at the current plight  of the euro,

do you feel that the plan that seems to be  on the table from Sarkozy and Merkel

has a chance of restoring things properly?

in terms of some kind of guarantee  for the sovereign debt all over Europe.

You will never solve this crisis  with just fiscal discipline.

The people of your country, Greece, but  also of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland,

They feel they're paying  for a mistake made by the bankers.

They won't accept treaty changes, will they,  if they are presumably subject to referenda?

I don't presume that.  If you look at the procedures,

it can go all over Europe  without any referenda.

It's different.  In our case it was not the bankers.

It was the politicians  who did the major damage,

because we spent a huge amount of money  in the past 10 years

But it's still a very difficult situation

and we can only restore confidence in  Greece if we restore confidence in Europe.

because there's a lack of confidence  in Europe as well.

Even Germany is finding it hard  to sell its bonds at the moment,

partly because people can get better rates  from slightly riskier countries.

Yes, but I don't think there is a real problem  for Germany, to be realistic.

But the real problem for Germany will come

because the loss of confidence  all over Europe will have a huge effect

So if people stop buying because of  a loss of confidence in the economy,

Standard & Poor's has threatened to  downgrade all the eurozone countries.

But should we take any notice? They were  completely wrong in 2007, '08 and '09.

I would also add that  they were very confident

about all the European economies  until the crisis.

If we are convincing to the markets,  the rating agencies have no influence at all.

The problem is  we're not convincing the markets.

in confronting political costs  in our own countries.

Have the leaders of Europe taken too long  to get to grips with this?