MEPs vote on alternative financing methods on European and global level. We talk to Green MEP Philippe Lamberts about the future of the eurozone.

The News: Innovative financing - Eurozone future

A financial transaction tax  at a European level?

MEPs will vote on alternative financing  methods on European and global level.

The future of the eurozone is at stake  this month, according to experts.

And also in this edition,  the rest of today’s news in images.

that’s how much a financial transaction  tax on a European level could bring in.

All that's needed is a deduction  of some hundredths of a percent

Taxpayers have been obliged  to assume the main burden

that were used to bail out  the financial sector, the banking sector.

It was discussed notably in 2008,  at the height of the financial crisis.

Championed by Angela Merkel,  the German Chancellor,

What would be the consequences of this  tax, assuming it’s not introduced globally?

That’s the crucial issue.  Europe is generally in favour of this tax,

but we’d have to make sure that  it won't destroy our financial centres.

Another issue: what to do  with the money it would bring in?

Fill the coffers of Member States,  severely tested by the financial crisis?

Another solution would be using  a part of it to help developing countries.

This conservative MEP thinks  it would be a bad idea.

Giving a handout  is not going to make you better off,

you are just going to live from day to day  in the same level of poverty.

How did it become rich? It created  innovation, the industrial revolution.

It manufactured things,  it produced wealth

and it got rich. That's what we have to do  in the developing countries.

MEPs must convince the Member States  without alarming the financial markets.

These proposals will be voted upon  in the plenary on Tuesday in Strasbourg.

The future of the euro is unresolved.  On the eve of a special eurozone summit,

MEP Philippe Lamberts answers  the questions of Jim Gibbons.

Philippe Lamberts, at the last governors'  meeting at the European Central Bank,

they're counting on the Parliament  to toughen up the rules on the euro.

Do you feel he's got  the wrong end of the stick?

It depends on what you call  toughening up the rules.

If you mean toughen up the burden on  taxpayers, on workers, then of course.

I think that's the way he sees it,  as cutting public spending,

because in his definition too much public  spending is wrong. It doesn't deliver.

Whereas the key thing  he should be concerned with

is the balance between  the states' expenditure and income.

But he's very much after expenditure,  that's what he means by tougher rules,

and there I cannot follow him.  - He talks about 2004 and 2005

when the Stability and Growth Pact  was tough on small countries.

and the rules were changed  to let them off.

He says, automaticity of sanctions is vital.  That's not in the rules.

I see the point.  There's no point in having rules,

if you don't have a strong stick  to ensure enforcement.

No discussion about that.  We're making the following point.

We can only have very strict  and stringent rules on state budgets

if we can work both ways.  Be tough on the expenditure,

but tough on revenue as well.  That means taxation.

The Governor of the Bank of England,  Mervyn King -

the UK is not within the eurozone,  but it does rely on a strong euro as well.

He's said there are signs that  the banking industry, the finance industry

hasn't learned its lessons.  The imbalances are growing again,

and the search for short-term yield  over long-term sustainability is back.

We're heading for a second crisis.  - I think so.

Look at the profits and balance sheets  that banks have presented for 2010.

It's obvious that they're gambling again.

The casino is still wide open  and they are enjoying it.

Budget cuts should not be  an impediment to public health,

while monitoring and preventive  measures must remain a top priority.

MEPs want to reduce health inequalities,  with special attention paid to minorities.

A resolution will be discussed on Monday,  with a vote foreseen for Tuesday.

Migration from Libya and Tunisia  is on the increase.

As the EU announced on Sunday  that it would send a mission to Tripoli

to evaluate the humanitarian situation,  the exodus continues.

In the early hours of Monday morning,  850 illegal immigrants

arrived on the Southern Italian island  of Lampedusa in 11 separate landings.

is the tax revenue lost each year  by developing countries,

primarily due to inefficient tax systems.

MEPs will give their opinion  on the ‘Tax and Development’ report

according to which the tax base needs to  be widened and the tax rates increased.