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Episode details

World Service,13 Jan 2016,26 mins

Deadlock in Spain

World Business Report

Available for over a year

Spain’s new parliament begins today, but the country is still without a government. Mike Johnson talks to Begoña Villacis, a senior member of the country’s Ciudadanos party, about the fundamental disagreements between policy makers over the direction of the Spanish economy. And Paul Willis, the UK boss of Volkswagen, is brought before the UK Parliament’s environment committee over the company’s emissions cheating scandal. Rebecca Pow and Angela Smith, MPs who serve on the committee, explain their thoughts on what Europe's biggest car maker had to say. Plus the European Commission opens an inquiry into whether new media laws in Poland break democracy rules. Steven Hoffman, editor-in-chief of The Krakow Post, talks about how the inquiry could ultimately cast doubt on the country’s participation in the Eurovision song contest - of all things. And, Michelle Fleury talks to Mary Barra, the CEO of American carmaker General Motors, about the company’s controversial decision to manufacture one of its latest Buick models in China. (Mariano Rajoy, Spain's acting Prime Minister. Photo Credit: EPA)

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