Jo Leinen gives his take on British PM David Cameron's EU referendum proposal and Corinne Lepage discusses the safety of nuclear installations in Europe and beyond.

7 Days: We mustn't let ourselves be blocked by the UK

Where is Europe going  at the beginning of 2013

as the Franco-German couple  celebrates their 50th anniversary

and the United Kingdom  could leave the Union?

That will be the topic  for this edition of 7 Days in Europe.

With me today to comment on the news  is Jo Leinen. Hello.

You're a member of the Socialists  and Democrats Group and a German MEP.

The rule in this programme  is one minute of questions and answers.

You must answer Yes or No if possible.  Off we go.

David Cameron confirmed on Wednesday  that a referendum on EU membership

would take place if he is re-elected in 2015.

To stay in the EU, Cameron is demanding  a union centred on the internal market.

The 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty  took place in Berlin this year.

Is it a sign that everything now happens  in Germany?

No. Things happen in Paris and Berlin.  -A bit of hesitation.

Are Angela Merkel and François Hollande  obliged to get on together?

A Dutchman, Jeroen Dijsselbloem,  is to replace Jean-Claude Juncker

as head of the Eurogroup.  Is it a good decision?

There are always new surprises in Europe.

We'll know in two weeks whether or not  Europe will have a budget for 2014-2020...

Alas, there goes the gong,  but I'll still ask you the question.

In two weeks we'll know whether we'll have  a European budget for 2014-2020.

Can the European Parliament really oppose  the choice of the Member States?

if the budget for the five years is too bad.

I think we must refuse. We need to have  a putsch, as Helmut Schmidt said.

Right. The battle is only just starting,  if I understand your message.

Right. We'll now watch this roundup  of the week's news. Here we go.

Improving the mobility of workers in Europe

was the aim of members of the Internal  Market Committee on Wednesday.

Their focus was the reform of  the professional qualifications directive.

It would create  a European professional card.

This card should ease  the lives of the many workers

who want to exercise their skills  in another EU country.

A Eurobarometer survey says  over half of young Europeans questioned

would be prepared to work  in another EU country.

The future of European agriculture  is on the agenda.

On Wednesday and Thursday,  MEPs on the Agriculture Committee

were at last to vote on the reform  of the Union's Common Agricultural Policy.

General financing,  direct payments to farmers

or environmental improvement.  The debate is crucial.

All that remains is to persuade  Member States

This was the political event of the week.

Half a century after General de Gaulle  and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer,

Angela Merkel and François Hollande  marked on Monday and Tuesday in Berlin

the Elysée Treaty. Signed in 1963  to seal the peace between Paris and Berlin,

the treaty put in place a close collaboration  between the two countries in many fields.

50 years later,  and despite serious differences,

the Franco-German pairing is  a driving force of European integration.

Jo Leinen, the other major political event  of the week

was of course the speech  by the British Prime Minister on Europe.

Europe today without the United Kingdom...

Europe started without the United Kingdom.

Of course it's desirable  for Great Britain to stay in,

but not under any conditions  which they impose on their partners.

It's not possible to have one country  which has all the advantages

while the others have other obligations.

So I think it's a fairly tough route  that David Cameron is taking.

To recap, David Cameron said it's in  the British interest to stay in Europe,

but in a reformed Europe,  focused on the single market.

It's a speech  that comes from the contradiction

within the Conservative Party  in Great Britain.

It's not a speech  that comes from a strong position.

It comes more from a position of weakness

because he's stuck  between different groups.

UKIP wants Great Britain  to leave the European Union.

The backbenchers,  the MPs in Westminster,

Public opinion is poorly informed on Europe

and knows little about the interests  that Great Britain has in this Europe.

is that at last we'll see the start in  Great Britain of a serious and lively debate,

but a serious debate on the advantages  and disadvantages of the EU.

which is already affected  by an unprecedented economic crisis?

Is this pressure necessary at the moment?

France, Germany and the others mustn't  let themselves be blocked by Great Britain.

We have principles in the European Union.

Sometimes we have unanimity when a yes  is also required from Great Britain,

but at the moment  we must be innovative.

We can, if necessary, work  outside of the communautaire system

in the hope that in a few years we can bring  it back into the European Union system,

as we did at the time  for the Schengen Treaty.

It was outside  and later it was brought back inside.

The truth is, and no doubt  David Cameron is right to say it,

that Europe, at any rate the eurozone,  is moving towards more integration.

The British apparently  don't want to be more involved.

So we are in any case moving towards  a new European agenda,