Author Thomas Harding is in the process of doing what the descendants of many Holocaust victims would find unimaginable: applying for a German passport.

When Britain voted to leave the European Union in June, the 48-year-old had to make a decision that was never necessary before the referendum - should he request the restoration of German citizenship stripped from his family by the Third Reich? He needed only a few hours to make up his mind.

“This is more than the practical, this is also about something for us, or for me, it's about something spiritual, it's about reconciliation,’’ he said. “It's about acknowledging the truth of the horrors of the past but also about trying to build a better future together, and as a European, that's what I hope to do."

It is one of the complicated realities of the UK’s pending divorce from the EU that many Britons whose ancestors came from other parts of Europe are claiming citizenship in other member states so they can retain ties to the Continent. Inquiries about passports are up at the German, Austrian, French and Polish embassies.

Some want to retain the ability to travel easily from country to country or maintain business ties. Others just want to be part of the European Union.

But for Jews whose families fled Germany to escape Adolf Hitler, the decision means re-examining long-held beliefs about history and the country that once persecuted them.

The children and grandchildren of Jewish refugees are taking advantage of a law that allows the descendants of people persecuted by the Nazis to regain the citizenship that was stripped from them in the 1930s and 1940s. More than 400 Britons have sought information about the law since the June 23 referendum, and German authorities have received at least 100 formal applications, compared with about 20 annually in recent years.

Michael Newman, chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees, said Brexit has fuelled interest in German citizenship, but it’s hard to know how many people will actually apply. Jews are now able to consider such a step because Germany has made huge strides in addressing the past, creating a culture of remembrance, he said.

“No amount of blood money or memorials will satisfy or suffice for some people but in terms of addressing its past and owning up to it and looking into things, it's done much that many other countries haven't,’’ said Newman.

Many of those seeking restoration of their citizenship don’t intend to live in Germany, but want the freedom to travel and work in EU nations.

Ben Lewis, a 49-year-old documentary filmmaker, is among those who would like to regain German citizenship.

Lewis, whose film and production company has worked for years on the continent, sees the potential of Brexit as an abomination, particularly the anti-immigrant sentiment that influenced many people to vote to leave.

“I just want to take a firm stance, a documented stance etched in acid on stone, that I object to Brexit," he said.

The decision for many might have been prompted by Brexit, but had been years in the making for some. Harding, for one, has long been coming to terms with his German past, a journey documented in part in his book, “The House by the Lake.’’

The way Harding sees it, Germany is now showing leadership by taking in over a million refugees.

As the result of the EU referendum became clear on the morning of June 24, Harding was on the phone to the German embassy to inquire about citizenship.

It’s logical, he says, for Jews to cling to the EU, which was created to build international links that would make another European war impossible.

“It was much less about saying goodbye to Britain than saying hello to Europe," he said.

London - 5 October 2016

1. Pan down from German and European Union flags to entrance of German Embassy in London

2. Various of flags

3. Mid of author Thomas Harding sitting on grass looking at passport that belonged to his German Jewish grandfather

4. Close of Harding's face

5. Various of passport

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Harding, author, in the process of applying for restoration of German passport following Brexit vote:

"This is more than the practical, this is also about something for us, or for me, it's about something spiritual, it's about reconciliation. It's about acknowledging the truth of the horrors of the past but also about trying to build a better future together, and as a European, that's what I hope to do."

7. Cutaway passport and photo of Harding's grandparents

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Harding, author, in the process of applying for restoration of German passport following Brexit vote:

"I think what has happened to me is I have become much more open towards Germany and at the same time following Brexit, I realised that there was going to be a very real loss. It was likely that me and my family would be unable to live and work in 27 countries in Europe and given the fact that I didn't have to give up my British passport, I didn't have to live in Germany by necessity or learn German, show I could speak German, it didn't seem like there was anything to lose and so for me, it was much less about saying goodbye to Britain than saying hello to Europe."

9. Harding flicking through passport

10. Mid of exhibit of Jewish Museum in London

11. Soft focus, yellow star that Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany

12. Set up of documentary maker Ben Lewis

13. Close of Lewis looking at museum exhibit

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ben Lewis, documentary maker, in the process of applying for restoration of German passport following Brexit vote:

"Well, it was immediately after Brexit I thought the restoration of German citizenship was something that I wanted, because before Brexit I was part of the EU anyway. I was a European, I was deeply engaged in German culture from the age of 14 when I first started learning German, and in a way my whole life was orientated around creating links around rebuilding, if you like, as a Jew, links between myself, in Britain and German culture."

15. Cutaway hands

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Ben Lewis, documentary maker, in the process of applying for restoration of German passport following Brexit vote:

"I have many motivations for wanting to get German citizenship. I am thinking a lot about my child, I want him to have the same advantages in life that I had, you know, to be able to play on a European field. I've worked all over Europe in my life. I love Berlin - I could imagine living there. Perhaps that would happen in the future. And I just want to take a firm stance, a documented stance, something etched in acid on stone, that I object to Brexit."

17. Set up shot of Michael Newman, chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees

18. Newman typing

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Newman, chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees:

"Well I think this is uppermost in the minds of the government that they are not going to walk away from any post Holocaust responsibilities and I think most people would look at what Germany has done since the Second World War in terms of addressing its past, the culture of remembrance, the educational resources, it's committed to teaching about the holocaust and see that what it has done has been leading the way and if you look at issues like restitution, archive, opening archives, documentation centres, even opening and creating museums, they are, they're leading the way in many respects in dealing with their history. It remains of course very subjective because no amount of blood, money or memorials will satisfy or suffice for some people but in terms of addressing its past and owning up to it and looking into things, it's done much that many other countries haven't."

20. Wide of German Embassy entrance for public

21. Close of entrance

22. Sign reading 'Welcome' in German and English

On the streets of Belfast, armoured police vehicles and check points have been replaced by busloads of tourists visiting the colourful murals that testify to a troubled past.

In the divided city where Catholics and Protestants still live separated in many places, former IRA member Jack Duffin leads a group of visitors along Falls Road, a mainly-Catholic Republican stronghold in the Northern Irish capital.

"There were armed attacks on nationalist communities throughout Belfast, but in particular on this road," he tells a group comprising Australian, English, Americans, Danes and others.

Duffin tells his story about a struggle born in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He's still fighting to reunite Ireland, and thinks Brexit may help achieve that goal.

Yet Belfast Political Tours offers visitors a more nuanced view of the conflict, and in a sign of efforts to reconcile the telling of this history, the group then walks through the gate along the peace wall and meets with a Unionist tour guide - on the other side of the political divide - to hear the Protestant community's version of events.

More than twenty years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to decades of violence, the heavily secure gate closes at night to the relief of some who live here.

Fears about a return to the violence that killed more than 3,500 people over three decades have made Northern Ireland the biggest hurdle for U.K. and European Union negotiators trying to hammer out an agreement on Britain's departure from the 28-nation free trade bloc.

While negotiators are focused on arrangements for securing the border, they don't want to do anything that will inflame the underlying tensions between those who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom and those who want it to be reunited with the Republic of Ireland.

People who want Northern Ireland to remain an integral part of the U.K. oppose any Brexit deal that weakens that relationship.

"There would be an organic explosion of anger and people would take to the streets and obviously any sensible person would be urging people ... to do so peacefully,'' said Jamie Bryson, editor of the Unionist Voice newsletter.

"But we all have to live in the real world and know that once mass amounts of people take to the streets and once something happens and that genie gets out of the bottle it's going to be difficult to put it back in.''

Others think that genie had never actually been contained.

Kate Nash says The Troubles never really ended.

While the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought an era of relative peace and prosperity to Northern Ireland, paramilitary groups still exist on both sides and lower levels of violence continue to plague the community, says the 70-year-old grandmother who lost a brother in what became known as Bloody Sunday.

Her brother, a dock worker went to the demonstration near his home in Londonderry on Jan. 30, 1972 because it was a local happening - not because he was involved with the IRA.

Thousands had gathered to protest internment, but things went badly wrong.

British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians, killing 13.

"I'm always disturbed so I don't feel the troubles are over. I really don't feel that," she said.

Brexit, she fears, may cause the smouldering conflict to flare up once again, especially if there are renewed customs and passport controls along the border between the Republic of Ireland and the U.K.'s Northern Ireland.

"The bigger worry would be the border. If they're going to man the border, who's going to man it? Is it the army? Is it the police? Because it's most certainly going to create violence again. It's really something that will start violence again because they will be targets for IRA or whoever."

The EU has underpinned the Good Friday Agreement, negotiated with the help of the U.S., because both Britain and the Republic of Ireland were members of the bloc.

That meant people and goods could flow freely across the frontier and allowed authorities to tear down the hated border posts once paramilitary groups agreed to put away their weapons.

Over the past 20 years, the border has became largely invisible, marked only by changing speed limits and signs targeted by vandals who obscure the word "Northern'' with spray paint.

After Brexit, the frontier will become an external border once again and negotiators are struggling to find a way to regulate trade without rebuilding checkpoints and destroying the cross-border links that have spurred economic growth on both sides.

Sorting out the issue has forced all sides to confront the past even as they grapple with an uncertain present.

"Brexit has been the greatest existential threat to the peace process in 25 years,'' said Eamon Phoenix, a historian at Stranmillis University College, Queen's University Belfast.

"The island of Ireland has enjoyed really unbroken peace for 25 years after violence in which 3,500 people died ... and suddenly in the last three years we have the risk to all that."

The conflict was born almost a century ago when the Republic of Ireland, dominated by Catholics, won its independence but Northern Ireland, with a Protestant majority, remained part of the United Kingdom.

Republicans on both sides of the border opposed partition from the outset in 1921, and the conflict flared into what became known as The Troubles in the 1960s.

The Good Friday accord, which includes a power-sharing agreement between Unionist and Republican parties, helped soften questions of identity because people could identify as British or Irish, regardless of where they lived, Phoenix said.

That allowed people to cooperate and delay their long-term aspirations.

Memories of the conflict are still raw for many Northern Ireland residents, and as talk of renewed violence from both sides of the conflict returns, a bandage has been torn from a wound that appears never to have fully healed.

Belfast, Northern Ireland - 15 October 2019

++16:9++

1. Tracking shot of tourists walking along painted murals on the peace walls

2. Various of tourists walking and looking at murals, UPSOUND (English) off-camera from Republican guide: "People who are watching the Brexit negotiations can see that the whole problem is the fact that we have a border here in Ireland at all."

3. Tourist taking a photo

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jack Duffin, Republican tour guide:

"There were armed attacks on nationalist communities throughout Belfast, but in particular on this road. And the first one really was right here."

5. Wide of walking tour group, UPSOUND (English): "What they've done here in Ireland goes back many hundreds of years."

6. Woman listening

7. Pan following car driving through a peace wall separating Catholic and Protestant communities

8. Close of barbed wire

9. Close of flood lights

10. Fence with protestant home in background

11. Wide of group walking through peace wall gate

12. Group walking into the Protestant area

13. Tracking show of group walking

14. Group in front of huge wall separating communities

15. People listening to Protestant guide

16. Wide of group with Protestant guide, UPSOUND (English): "We can never change the history, that's impossible, but we can change the future. We've stopped thirty years of conflict here. We've moved mountains to get where we are now."

17. Mid of peace wall spray painted with text (English) reading: "No surrender to the E.U."

18. Close of words (English) reading: "No surrender"

19. Tilt down from UK flags tied to lamp post to street

20. Pull focus from UK flag to unionist paramilitary mural painting of armed men wearing balaclavas

21. Various of unionist Jamie Bryson activist walking by the mural

22. Bryson sitting, talking

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Jamie Bryson, Unionist activist, editor of Unionist Voice:

"The unionist and loyalist community, I think, is at one on the most basic fundamental point, which is that we must leave the European Union and we must leave as one United Kingdom. And that means leaving the customs union, leaving the single market and being outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. I think it is absolutely absurd to suggest that Northern Ireland would be subsumed, as it were, into an economic united Ireland."

24. Wide of Protestant street with numerous UK flags

25. String of UK flags with church spire in background

26. Mural condemning killings carried out by Republicans

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Jamie Bryson, Unionist activist, editor of Unionist Voice:

"I think the problem is when you have a mass amount of angry people, especially angry young people and there are a lot of angry young people in the unionist community, taking to the streets, who feel almost as if their country is being torn off them, then I think it doesn't take much for that to explode into violence. That's something nobody wants to see, but I think we all have to live in the real world and know that once mass amounts of people take to the streets, once something happens and that genie gets out of the bottle, it's going to be very difficult to put it back in."

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Londonderry, Northern Ireland - 14 October 2019

++16:9++

28. Wide of republican neighbourhood and site of Bloody Sunday killings in 1972

29. Mural reading "You are now entering Free Derry" in foreground, with mural painting with boy wearing gas mask in background

30. Close of Bloody Sunday memorial

31. Tilt down of memorial to 13 victims of Bloody Sunday killings

32. Close of photo of 19 year old Bloody Sunday victim William Nash, UPSOUND (English) of his sister Kate Nash: "He used to strum on his guitar, he couldn't play it very well but he used to strum. His favourite singer was Marty Robbins, you know (singing) 'Out in the west Texas town of El Paso'… he played that song every night. He loved that song."

33. SOUNDBITE (English) Kate Nash, sister of Bloody Sunday victim:

"I'm always disturbed, so I don't feel the Troubles are over. I really don't feel that. When I hear or read of paramilitary activity, I'm always worried about that. The war will be over for me when I see paramilitaries gone from the communities, people not frightened to speak up, which they are. They are now and it's twenty years after the peace process."

ARCHIVE: Londonderry, Northern Ireland - 30 January 1998

++4:3++

34. Various of people putting wreaths at base of memorial to victims

35. Woman observing two minutes silence

36. Crowd at memorial observing two minutes silence

37. Memorial with wreaths at base

Londonderry, Northern Ireland - 14 October 2019

++16:9++

38. SOUNDBITE (English) Kate Nash, sister of Bloody Sunday victim:

"The bigger worry would be the border. If they're going to man the border, who's going to man it? Is it the army? Is it the police? Because it's most certainly going to create violence again. It's really something that will start violence again because what they will be doing is, they will be targets for the IRA, or whoever."

Belfast, Northern Ireland - 15 October 2019

++16:9++

39. Tilt down of sign at entrance of gallery dedicated The Troubles at Ulster Museum

40. Close of poster of controversial Northern Ireland army regiment

41. Close of photo of victims of the Troubles

42. Close of weapon

43. Tilt down signed memorandum marking final draft of Good Friday Agreement

44. Close of memorandum

45. Various of Eamon Phoenix, Professor of History at Queen's University

46. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Eamon Phoenix, Professor of History at Queen's University:

"Well certainly Brexit has been the greatest existential threat to the peace process in 25 years. This society, Northern Ireland, the island of Ireland, has enjoyed really unbroken peace for 25 years after violence in which 3,500 people died, intimidation, if you like the fear factor, all of that abnormality, and suddenly in the last three years we have the risk to all that."

47. Cutaway of Phoenix' hands

48. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Eamon Phoenix, Professor of History at Queen's University:

"Until Brexit, people had a softer view of identity. They were prepared to cooperate in this space, Northern Ireland, within the structures of this agreement that recognised all identities and provided equality of treatment. And they would hold their aspirations on the long finger (delay it for a long time). Suddenly those aspirations have been sort of prioritised. And that is a factor which is leading to instability."

ARCHIVE: Portadown, Northern Ireland - 23 February 1998

++4:3++

49. Aftermath of bomb blast

ARCHIVE: Markethill, County Armagh – 16 September 1997

++4:3++

50. Bomb damage in Markethill

51. Broken shop window

Newtown Hamilton - 24 June 1998

++4:3++

52. Various of aftermath of explosion on streets

LEAD IN:

Britons living in Spain are adjusting to a post-Brexit reality, which means they must apply for residency or stay fewer than 90 days at a time.

There are also consequences for education.

STORY-LINE:

The dream of a life on Spain's Costa del Sol has become a nightmare for many British expats.

Henny Illingworth is a British real estate agent who has been living in here for almost four years.

She, like many others, is uncertain of her position and future in a post-Brexit Spain.

"Previously, as an EU citizen in Spain, I had the right to be here and now I just have permission to stay. It does feel a big difference and it feels that there has been a huge amount of uncertainty, misinformation the last few years.  It leaves us feeling am I safe? Am I stable here? It's not a very nice feeling to live with," says Illingworth.

As a "third country" to the EU, British tourists, including people who have second homes in Spain but haven't taken residency, can no longer come and go as they please.

Since 1st January, British people living in or visiting Spain must register as resident, or apply for the appropriate visa.

If you were legally resident in Spain before 1 January 2021, 'your rights will be protected by the Withdrawal Agreement', according to the UK Government's website, 'children must also be registered with their own residency document'.

The British government also advises Britons to register for healthcare as a resident in Spain.

British driving licences will need to be changed to Spanish ones for people who have registered as resident, with a deadline of 30 June 2021, according to the UK Government's website.

British citizens, who are not registered Spanish residents, can spend up to three months out of every six in Spain. It's the so called 90/180-days rule which refers to not spending more than '90-days in any 180-day period' in the Schengen area.

As an estate agent, Illingworth says that many Brits who spent months in Spain every year are staying away, some are selling their Spanish properties, put off by both recent COVID-19 travel restrictions and Brexit rules.

"We actually have some properties up for sale which were previously,  they are known as British "swallows", they would come over for a few months of the year and some of those people then rent out their properties for business during the summer, some of then leave them empty. But now, British citizens are going to have to follow this strict 90/180-day rule, which before they could come over for five or four months and some people are selling up because it's just not worth it for them."

Others are worried about how their British families will be able to visit them in Spain.

Kirsty Ridyard has been living in Malaga since 2005 and her sister has a holiday home in the Axarquia, near Alcaucin, 45 minutes by car from Malaga.

She has several concerns.

"Personal and professionally it is going to affect me. Professionally we cannot get the products that we need to teach chemistry effectively in Spain because they are sourced in Britain and those are so expensive over there now, it's going to be prohibitive," she says.

"And personally, I just don't know what it's going to happen with the transport. It used to be like hopping on a bus getting on a plane to go to London and getting back, for me and my family who are still there. But now we just don't know if we are going to need visas or not."

Increased education costs are also worrying one of her students, Spaniard Victoria Rincon, who was hoping to go to the UK to study, but says that UK fees are too expensive.


"I have applied (to universities) in England, but I think I will not go because the fees are too high. And I think that is what is happening to a lot of people in Europe. We are going to miss their education in England because of the price. And then, I think I'm going to Netherlands."


James John Riley is 51 years-old and was born in Manchester. He came to Malaga, Spain, 20 years ago, as a teacher of geography and history in the British International school, his wife is also British and a teacher.

Their son, Jaime, is 13 years-old.

The family enjoys life in Spain, but they are worried about the future and whether Brexit will bring problems for Jaime's education.

"Now, unfortunately, it seems to be that it is more difficult for him to go to British university, even though he has got British passport and both of his parents are British. And it seems to be, even though I've looked a lot on the internet and I've gone on the UK gov (government) website I can not find the information about this and it seems to be from other sources. they're saying he will be classed as an international student," says Riley.

Almost 50 percent of British expats in Spain live in the two regions of Alicante (Costa Blanca) and Malaga (Costa del Sol).

There are now more than 360,000 British residents registered in Spain, according to official Spanish figures.

18 million British tourists visited Spain each year between 2017 and 2019.

But the tourism industry here has been hit by both Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aaron Lopez is the manager of Doctor Livingston bar in Malaga's city center. He says that tourism has dropped by 70 percent due to the pandemic.

"In the center of Malaga we notice it. We work with tourism, and since we do not have tourism, sales have dropped, employment has dropped, and invoicing has dropped", says Lopez.

The people of the Costa del Sol are looking forward to a post pandemic future when airplanes and cruise ships will return tourists to Spain's sunshine coast, though there many be fewer Brits who turn their holiday into a lifestyle.

Rincon de la Victoria, Malaga, Spain - 23 February 2021


1. Zoom out of real estate agent Henny Illingworth walking on beach
2. Mid of Illingworth asking for cappuccino on a coffee terrace 
3. Various of Illingworth drinking coffee while looking at the sea
4. Cutaway of a black & white mural in the bar which shows women playing at the beach
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Henny Illingworth, real estate agent:
"Previously, as an EU citizen in Spain, I had the right to be here and now I just have permission to stay. It does feel a big difference and it feels that there has been a huge amount of uncertainty, misinformation the last few years.  It leaves us feeling am I safe? Am I stable here? It's not a very nice feeling to live with."


6. Wide of a closed ice cream shop and buildings on the sea front 
7. Wide of empty tennis pitch, buildings and the sea
8. Mid of a street sign
9. Mid of people walking and cycling next to the beach

Alcaucin, Malaga, Spain - 24 February 2021

10. Various of real state company signs advertising houses and apartments to rent and to sell 


Rincon de la Victoria, Malaga, Spain - 23 February 2021

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Henny Illingworth, real estate agent:
"We actually have some properties up for sale which were previously,  they are known as British "swallows", they would come over for a few months of the year and some of those people then rent out their properties for business during the summer, some of then leave them empty. But now, British citizens are going to have to follow this strict 90/180-day rule, which before they could come over for five or four months and some people are selling up because it's just not worth it for them."

Alcaucin, Malaga, Spain - 24 February 2021

12. Wide of a man shopping in a supermarket specialising in British products
13. Tilt down from the man taking a product and putting it in the basket
14. Cutaway of corned beef can
15. Cutaway of stewed steak can and chilli can 
16. Tilt down of man paying
17. Wide of people in line to pay at the supermarket
18. Mid of a man taking things out of a delivery box


Malaga, Spain - 18 February 2021

19. Mid of UK and Spain flags on a balcony
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Kirsty Ridyard, director of Phoenix College Malaga:
"Personal and professionally it is going to affect me. Professionally we cannot get the products that we need to teach chemistry effectively in Spain because they are sourced in Britain and those are so expensive over there now, it's going to be prohibitive. And personally, I just don't know what it's going to happen with the transport. It used to be like hopping on a bus getting on a plane to go to London and getting back, for me and my family who are still there. But now we just don't know if we are going to need visas or not."


21. Various of students taking biology lessons in Phoenix College 
22. Tilt up from chemistry bottles to student Victoria Rincon
23. Wide of Victoria Rincon and an another student during chemistry class
24. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Victoria Rincon, 18 years-old, student:
"I have applied (to universities) in England, but I think I will not go because the fees are too high. And I think that is what is happening to a lot of people in Europe. We are going to miss their education in England because of the price. And then, I think I'm going to Netherlands."


Malaga, Spain - 23 February 2021

25. Pan right of teacher James Riley and his son Jaime shopping in Atarazanas market 
26. Mid of James Riley and his son Jaime having shrimps at a bar terrace
27. Tilt down from Manchester City banner to James Riley walking through his house
28. Mid of James Riley reading musical magazine which shows David Bowie on the front
29. Mid of James Riley reading magazine while his son Jaime plays the guitar
30. Various of James Riley showing their passports. It reads (English) "European Union" and "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"
31. SOUNDBITE (English) James Riley, teacher:
"Now, unfortunately, it seems to be that it is more difficult for him to go to British university, even though he has got British passport and both of his parents are British. And it seems to be, even though I've looked a lot on the internet and I've gone on the UK gov (government) website I can not find the information about this and it seems to be from other sources. they're saying he will be classed as an international student."


Malaga, Spain - February 18th, 2021

32. Wide of Malaga's shopping street, Calle Larios
33. Wide of souvenir shop closed while an elderly couple rolls a suitcase down the street 
34. Wide of Irish pub 
35. Mid of two women having a beer
36. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Aaron Lopez, Bar manager:
"From one day to the next, it (tourism) has dropped by 70 percent and in the center of Malaga we notice it. We work with tourism, and since we do not have tourism, sales have dropped, employment has dropped, and invoicing has dropped."


37. Wide inside flamenco dress shop
38. Close of kids' flamenco shoes
39. Cutaway of Malaga souvenirs

40. Wide of Malaga's port, empty of yachts

Romanian truckers are hardly jumping at job contracts the UK government has created in order to solve its lack of haulage drivers.

Truckers attending a protest on working conditions in Bucharest on Wednesday said the British offer of three-month contracts is not enough to tempt drivers to the UK, citing the length of the contract not being long enough to make the job worth it.

Britain said on Saturday it will issue thousands of emergency visas to foreign truck drivers to help fix supply-chain problems that have caused empty supermarket shelves, long lines at gas stations and shuttered pumps.

The goverment said it would issue 5,000 three-month visas for truck drivers starting in October, and another 5,500 for poultry workers. But it stuck to its insistence that in the long term British workers should be trained to take the driving jobs, and transportation companies must improve their pay and working conditions to keep them.

The haulage industry says the U.K. is short tens of thousands of truckers, due to a perfect storm of factors including the coronavirus pandemic, an aging workforce and an exodus of foreign workers following Britain's departure from the European Union last year.

Post-Brexit immigration rules mean newly arrived EU citizens can no longer work visa-free in Britain, as they could when the U.K. was a member of the trade bloc. Trucking companies have been urging the British government to loosen immigration rules so drivers can more easily be recruited from across Europe.

Bucharest - 29 September 2021

1. Tracking shot of trucks parked next to one another for protest

2. Wide of trucks parked in Victoria Square in front of government buildings during protest on working conditions

3. Various of trucks parked in front of government buildings during protest

4 . Various of truckers during protest

5. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) Emanuel (surname not provided), truck driver:

"The problem in the UK occured after Brexit. The moment they exited the community, many many drivers left, came back to their countries because they had no UK papers and could no longer be hired and work there. Now in the UK they have a really big problem, we used to transport goods to the UK but now, for transporters, there are many more formalities that need to be done, many papers, customs, we lose time, many days and therefore it s no longer profitable for us as transporters from east Europe to take goods to the UK."

6. Truckers

7. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) Bron Zoltan, truck driver:

"I heard about this thing, visa for three months, ok, you give me a contract for three months, and then what? What will happen to me? I leave my job in my country where I have a contract, I work for you in the UK for three months, you give me a salary in UK pounds, maybe it'll be a good salary, but after three months I might wait for a month or two to look for a permanent job? If they guarantee a contract for say five years with all conditions for work and safety and all and at that moment the problem is solved. No one will then complain there's no truck drivers. First of all you need to offer a decent salary to a truck driver, a modest salary, I'm not talking about a big salary at all, but a decent one."

8. Various of truckers' protest

With marching bands and all groups of society out in strength, Norway celebrates Constitution Day, taking pride in its sovereignty.

The small Scandinavian country's independence was hard won, having been ruled by Denmark for more than 400 years, and then by Sweden for nearly another century.

For some people, the experience of having been ruled from afar can explain Norway's reluctance to embrace the European Union project.

"We are on the edge of Europe and we know what it means to be governed from abroad," says Hans Petter Bergseth who is marching with friends from his skiing club. "I think it's deep in our soul that we want to be independent."

But whilst Norway has twice rejected EU membership in referendums in 1972 and 1994, the nation relies on a close relationship with Brussels. Seventy to 80 percent of all Norwegian exports go to the EU markets and cooperation is viewed as essential in the areas of education, research and many more.

Access to the EU's single market comes at a price.

Norway has signed up the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, and therefore had to implement more than three quarters of all EU laws with no formal influence on how they are drafted.

More importantly, Norway has had to agree to four EU-style freedoms: free movement of goods, services, people and capital.

Today, Norway has more EU migrants per person than Britain. More than 300,000 EU nationals live here, mostly people from Poland and Sweden attracted by the prospects of high-paid jobs and a generous welfare state.

For many companies, this influx of foreign workers has been beneficial. In the small fishing village of Skjervoy several hours north of Tromso, a salmon processing plant has become dependent on foreign workers.

"We don't have enough Norwegian workers who want to work in the fish industry," explains plant manager Tore Pedersen.

Many of these foreign workers are from Romania, like Christian, who arrived nearly four years ago after growing tired of poorly paid jobs in Italy.

"I'm travelling with a Romanian passport, I've had no problem," he explains.

This factory processes 365 tons of fish per day: salmon fillets and whole fish destined for restaurants and dining tables across Europe. It's the main employer in the village, and managers say the business would not be able to grow without foreign workers willing to work the assembly lines.

Here, most workers are unionised and Pedersen says foreign workers are paid the same as Norwegians. Something the unions dispute.

Across the fishing industry, construction industry, hotel and restaurants, they report cases of employers using foreign workers that are not unionized and therefore don't benefit from the collective bargaining agreements that guarantee a minimum wage and regulated working conditions.

"If they don't know the system, they work up to 12 hours," complains union leader Gunn Paulsen, who was picketing a hotel during a four-week long strike across the Norwegian hotel industry calling for better pay. "They ruin it for the next (person) who's coming in, the Norwegians coming in who know the regulations."

Whilst many large hotel groups are unionized, smaller or independent ones without a protection are free to pay their staff whatever they wish. "However low they get in Norway they get higher than in other countries," said Paulsen.

For Professor Bjorn Hersoug from the Arctic University of Tromso, companies that seek to get around ordinary labour conditions by outsourcing the hiring for foreign workers represent a threat to the Norwegian model that balances free markets with a strong social welfare state.

"There is a fear of labour dumping," says Hersoug. "In some instances, it looks like they have working conditions that are considerably worse than agreed through the ordinary agreements for minimum wages for example."

But despite the challenges brought by the EEA agreement, cooperation with the EU and access to the single market remains essential for Norway.

"The EEA agreement is something I would call a corner stone in the Norwegian economy," says Elisabeth Aspaker, the Norwegian Minister of the EEA and EU Affairs.

"We have to face the reality that the EU is our most important market," she says. "We do need cooperation when it comes to research, education, and in many other aspects."

With marching bands and all groups of society out in strength, Norway celebrates Constitution Day, taking pride in its sovereignty.

The small Scandinavian country's independence was hard won, having been ruled by Denmark for more than 400 years, and then by Sweden for nearly another century.

For some people, the experience of having been ruled from afar can explain Norway's reluctance to embrace the European Union project.

"We are on the edge of Europe and we know what it means to be governed from abroad," says Hans Petter Bergseth who is marching with friends from his skiing club. "I think it's deep in our soul that we want to be independent."

But whilst Norway has twice rejected EU membership in referendums in 1972 and 1994, the nation relies on a close relationship with Brussels. Seventy to 80 percent of all Norwegian exports go to the EU markets and cooperation is viewed as essential in the areas of education, research and many more.

Access to the EU's single market comes at a price.

Norway has signed up the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, and therefore had to implement more than three quarters of all EU laws with no formal influence on how they are drafted.

More importantly, Norway has had to agree to four EU-style freedoms: free movement of goods, services, people and capital.

Today, Norway has more EU migrants per person than Britain. More than 300,000 EU nationals live here, mostly people from Poland and Sweden attracted by the prospects of high-paid jobs and a generous welfare state.

For many companies, this influx of foreign workers has been beneficial. In the small fishing village of Skjervoy several hours north of Tromso, a salmon processing plant has become dependent on foreign workers.

"We don't have enough Norwegian workers who want to work in the fish industry," explains plant manager Tore Pedersen.

Many of these foreign workers are from Romania, like Christian, who arrived nearly four years ago after growing tired of poorly paid jobs in Italy.

"I'm travelling with a Romanian passport, I've had no problem," he explains.

This factory processes 365 tons of fish per day: salmon fillets and whole fish destined for restaurants and dining tables across Europe. It's the main employer in the village, and managers say the business would not be able to grow without foreign workers willing to work the assembly lines.

Here, most workers are unionised and Pedersen says foreign workers are paid the same as Norwegians. Something the unions dispute.

Across the fishing industry, construction industry, hotel and restaurants, they report cases of employers using foreign workers that are not unionized and therefore don't benefit from the collective bargaining agreements that guarantee a minimum wage and regulated working conditions.

"If they don't know the system, they work up to 12 hours," complains union leader Gunn Paulsen, who was picketing a hotel during a four-week long strike across the Norwegian hotel industry calling for better pay. "They ruin it for the next (person) who's coming in, the Norwegians coming in who know the regulations."

Whilst many large hotel groups are unionized, smaller or independent ones without a protection are free to pay their staff whatever they wish. "However low they get in Norway they get higher than in other countries," said Paulsen.

For Professor Bjorn Hersoug from the Arctic University of Tromso, companies that seek to get around ordinary labour conditions by outsourcing the hiring for foreign workers represent a threat to the Norwegian model that balances free markets with a strong social welfare state.

"There is a fear of labour dumping," says Hersoug. "In some instances, it looks like they have working conditions that are considerably worse than agreed through the ordinary agreements for minimum wages for example."

But despite the challenges brought by the EEA agreement, cooperation with the EU and access to the single market remains essential for Norway.

"The EEA agreement is something I would call a corner stone in the Norwegian economy," says Elisabeth Aspaker, the Norwegian Minister of the EEA and EU Affairs.

"We have to face the reality that the EU is our most important market," she says. "We do need cooperation when it comes to research, education, and in many other aspects."

AP TELEVISION

Tromso - 17 May 2016

1. Various of Constitution Day parade

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Hans Petter Bergseth, 53-year-old medical adviser:

"Well, it's a young nation. Quite a proud nation. We are on the edge of Europe and we know what it means to be governed from abroad or we know what it means to be governed by larger countries. So I think it's deep in our soul that we want to be independent pretty much yes."

3. Various of Constitution Day parade

AP TELEVISION

Skjervoy - 18 May 2016

4. Various of Skjervoy harbour

5. Various exteriors of salmon processing plant

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Tore Pedersen, Fish processing plant manager:

"We have 180 people working here at Skjervoy and 60 percent of the workers are from other countries. It's a fact that we don't have enough Norwegian workers who want to work in the fish industry, so we need people from other countries to come and work at Skjervoy."

7. Christian in front of the processing plant

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Christian, No last Name given, factory worker from Romania:

"My name is Christian and I come from Romania. I've been here for four years - almost four years. I'm travelling with a Romanian passport, I've don't have any problems with travel. We don't need a visa or something like that - it's very easy to come here from Romania. It's a nice country to come to."

9. Various of filleting assembly line

10. Various of salmon packaging line

11. Various of salmon slaughter room

AP TELEVISION

Tromso - 17 May, 2016

12. Various of Tromso seen from onboard a boat in the fjord

AP TELEVISION

Tromso - 20 May, 2016

13. Various of local hotel staff on strike

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Gunn Paulsen, Union Leader:

"Before the oil strikes (meaning the fall in oil prices) it has been good for Norway because you had to have people working here, but then it started what we call in Norway the 'Monkey business' - that they started to pay lower to the people from other places, because they accept it, because however low they get in Norway they get higher than in other countries. So this is the bad thing."

15. Cutaway

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Gunn Paulsen, Union Leader:

"If they don't know the system, they work up to 12 hours. It's not nice because they ruin it for the next (person) who's coming in, the Norwegians coming in who know the regulations - but you can't say anything to the others working like this, because it's okay, they've always been doing this."

AP TELEVISION

Tromso - 19 May, 2016

17. Various of Tromso harbour

18. Professor Bjorn Hersoug walking along harbour seafront

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Prof. Bjorn Hersoug, Arctic University of Tromso:

"You know, seen from the Norwegian point of view, if you can get around the ordinary salary conditions, the labour conditions by hiring a company from, for example, from Poland, and you make a deal with this Polish company where they provide you with the labour which is unorganised (non-unionized) then you are getting around the rules. You can legally pay them less, but that kind of undermines the whole Norwegian model in the longer run."

20. Cutaway

21. SOUNDBITE (English) Prof. Bjorn Hersoug, Arctic University of Tromso

"We see that we have a number of people coming from the European Union countries and in some instances it looks like they have working conditions that are considerably worse than agreed through the ordinary Norwegian agreements for minimum wages for example. So there is kind of a fear of labour dumping."

AP TELEVISION

Tromso, Norway - 17 MAY 2016

22. Various of Tromso seen from onboard a boat in the fjord

AP TELEVISION

Brussels, Belgium - 25 MAY 2016

23. Various of EU flags

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Elisabeth Aspaker, Minister of the EEA and EU Affairs:

"I think Norway is in a very special situation. We have this huge fortune in our oil, we have developed a solid welfare state and people think 'we can do by ourselves' or 'we can go on alone.' But in another way, we have to face the reality that the EU is our most important market, up to 70 or 80 percent of all the exported goods from Norway go to the EU market, and we do need cooperation when it comes to research, education, and in many other aspects. These days it's about migration, it's about security policy. So the EEA agreement is something I would call a corner stone in the Norwegian economy and if you go to the Parliament today, they will be a solid majority for the agreement although we are not a member of the EU."

32. Various of Norway House in Brussels

Talk to Brian Hall about economics, trading blocs, or the value of the British currency, and there's one factor, and one factor only, shaping his view in the June 23 referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union: immigration.

He's tired of eastern Europeans arriving on these shores, and he plans to use his vote to make that point.

"How it has changed is influx of Europeans from eastern Europe in Dover," said the proprietor of the W & G Hall convenience store. "It's dragged the town down because there has been 'white flight' as well which is what's happening and people are just moving away and the town is just 'going down the pan' (deteriorating)."

The "remain" camp led by Prime Minister David Cameron appears to have won the economic argument, with key business figures warning that leaving the EU might bring calamity, but the "leave" camp may be winning the emotional argument about how unchecked immigration is transforming British life.

Led by former London Mayor Boris Johnson and UK Independence Party chief Nigel Farage, they claim that British workers have been hurt because EU "freedom of movement" laws mean that Hungarians, Slovaks, Poles and others can come to Britain visa-free to live, work and claim benefits.

They warn that if Turkey joins the EU - a prospect that is not imminent - it will give millions more access to Britain. And they point out that Cameron's government has failed to make good on promises to cut immigration.

That's created plenty of resentment in Dover, Britain's prime port for ferry and vehicle traffic across the English Channel.

On a clear day, the coast of France is visible from Dover's famous white cliffs, and they provided a vital vantage point for the early detection of German bombers heading toward London during World War II. The concern now is not enemy attack - although an armed Russian submarine was recently intercepted in the Channel - but Europeans who arrive legally under the EU's rules guaranteeing the free movement of people.

To the chagrin of some locals, the rules give Poles, Slovaks, Romanians and others from countries admitted to the EU after the collapse of the Soviet bloc the same right to live and work in Dover as Britons who have been here for generations.

Some long-time residents say they are angry about having to compete for medical care and school places for their children with newcomers who have no ties to Britain.

The "leave" campaign has not spelled out how it intends to curb immigration, but its "Take Back Control" campaign slogan sums up the group's approach.

Its leaders argue that by walking away from the 28-nation bloc, Britain will once again be able to enact and enforce its own visa policies, without having its hands tied by the EU's implacable freedom of movement policies.

No longer, they say, would citizens of poorer Eastern European countries be able to come to Britain and enjoy the same privileges as Britons.

That argument is gaining traction in Dover, a slightly rundown small town.

"If we come out of the EU, we can support our own country which we should do, instead of helping everyone else out," said Paul Rayworth, a 48-year-old local, repeating a familiar claim made by legions of "leave" backers.

Three recent research reports that find EU immigrants actually pay more in taxes to Britain than they take out in benefits and services, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in London.

And John Powell, Director of National Operations at Migrant Help UK is optimistic NGOs such as his can make a difference for the better.

"Of course, you get any group, anywhere, in any part of the country, in any country - there will always be some tension and the trick is to make people aware of each other's differences, to integrate them, to make them understand and then that's the trick there to living in harmony," he says.

"And I think by and large we do achieve it here. We have in the past put forward projects, for instance with the Roma community in Dover to help better integration and others."

The resentment of newcomers in Dover is hardly universal. Some residents believe Britain has an obligation to offer a helping hand.

To 58-year-old local Bill Burne, the world has changed and it is time to move on.

"I believe we are living under an illusion that we are still great. I don't know about leaving the European market because I don't know the effects of it but I feel we should have a reality check."

Talk to Brian Hall about economics, trading blocs, or the value of the British currency, and there's one factor, and one factor only, shaping his view in the June 23 referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union: immigration.

He's tired of eastern Europeans arriving on these shores, and he plans to use his vote to make that point.

"How it has changed is influx of Europeans from eastern Europe in Dover," said the proprietor of the W & G Hall convenience store. "It's dragged the town down because there has been 'white flight' as well which is what's happening and people are just moving away and the town is just 'going down the pan' (deteriorating)."

The "remain" camp led by Prime Minister David Cameron appears to have won the economic argument, with key business figures warning that leaving the EU might bring calamity, but the "leave" camp may be winning the emotional argument about how unchecked immigration is transforming British life.

Led by former London Mayor Boris Johnson and UK Independence Party chief Nigel Farage, they claim that British workers have been hurt because EU "freedom of movement" laws mean that Hungarians, Slovaks, Poles and others can come to Britain visa-free to live, work and claim benefits.

They warn that if Turkey joins the EU - a prospect that is not imminent - it will give millions more access to Britain. And they point out that Cameron's government has failed to make good on promises to cut immigration.

That's created plenty of resentment in Dover, Britain's prime port for ferry and vehicle traffic across the English Channel.

On a clear day, the coast of France is visible from Dover's famous white cliffs, and they provided a vital vantage point for the early detection of German bombers heading toward London during World War II. The concern now is not enemy attack - although an armed Russian submarine was recently intercepted in the Channel - but Europeans who arrive legally under the EU's rules guaranteeing the free movement of people.

To the chagrin of some locals, the rules give Poles, Slovaks, Romanians and others from countries admitted to the EU after the collapse of the Soviet bloc the same right to live and work in Dover as Britons who have been here for generations.

Some long-time residents say they are angry about having to compete for medical care and school places for their children with newcomers who have no ties to Britain.

The "leave" campaign has not spelled out how it intends to curb immigration, but its "Take Back Control" campaign slogan sums up the group's approach.

Its leaders argue that by walking away from the 28-nation bloc, Britain will once again be able to enact and enforce its own visa policies, without having its hands tied by the EU's implacable freedom of movement policies.

No longer, they say, would citizens of poorer Eastern European countries be able to come to Britain and enjoy the same privileges as Britons.

That argument is gaining traction in Dover, a slightly rundown small town.

"If we come out of the EU, we can support our own country which we should do, instead of helping everyone else out," said Paul Rayworth, a 48-year-old local, repeating a familiar claim made by legions of "leave" backers.

Three recent research reports that find EU immigrants actually pay more in taxes to Britain than they take out in benefits and services, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in London.

And John Powell, Director of National Operations at Migrant Help UK is optimistic NGOs such as his can make a difference for the better.

"Of course, you get any group, anywhere, in any part of the country, in any country - there will always be some tension and the trick is to make people aware of each other's differences, to integrate them, to make them understand and then that's the trick there to living in harmony," he says.

"And I think by and large we do achieve it here. We have in the past put forward projects, for instance with the Roma community in Dover to help better integration and others."

The resentment of newcomers in Dover is hardly universal. Some residents believe Britain has an obligation to offer a helping hand.

To 58-year-old local Bill Burne, the world has changed and it is time to move on.

"I believe we are living under an illusion that we are still great. I don't know about leaving the European market because I don't know the effects of it but I feel we should have a reality check."

Dover - 10 June 2016

1. Pan of Dover

2. White cliffs and port

3. Ferry leaving port

4. Dover city centre

5. Various of pub with sign with menu, reading: (English) "We take euros"

6. Various of migrants in city centre

7. Exterior of W & G Hall convenience store

8. Various set up of Brian Hall, owner of W & G Hall convenience store

9. SOUNDBITE (English): Brian Hall, owner of W & G Hall convenience store

"Well, how it has changed is influx of Europeans from eastern Europe. In Dover it's mainly Roma gypsies as well. So, you know, I've not had a problem. We've had Poles here, hardworking. But the percentage of them (migrants) in the town has just become too much, you know. It's dragged the town down because there has been 'white flight' as well which is what's happening and people are just moving away and the town is just 'going down the pan' (deteriorating)."

10. Flags of teams playing in the European Championships in France

11. SOUNDBITE (English): Brian Hall, owner of W & G Hall convenience store

"I get on with everybody, I've been here 40 years, I'm a pillar of the community and the town's just changed out of all recognition and not for the better. I'm not saying it's just because of the immigrants coming in. I think seaside towns generally in this country, whether it be Margate, Ramsgate, Hastings - you know they seem to get more than their fair share. I know there's other places around the country, like Peterborough and Boston, where the agricultural workers are, in Cambridgeshire. So... they, they just don't seem to... they're never going to integrate as they should."

12. Various of England paraphernalia in shop

13. Various of England (St George) flag in a house window

14. Various set up shots of John Powell, Director of National Operations at Migrant Help UK

15. SOUNDBITE (English): John Powell, Director of National Operations at Migrant Help UK

"Of course, you get any group, anywhere, in any part of the country, in any country - there will always be some tension and the trick is to make people aware of each other's differences, integrate them, make them understand and then that's the trick there to living in harmony. And I think by and large we do achieve it here. We have in the past put forward projects, for instance with the Roma community in Dover, to help better integration and others."

16. Dover town hall

17. Monument to those killed in the First and Second World War outside town hall

18. Main shopping street in Dover

19. Flags of European countries

20. SOUNDBITE (English): Paul Rayworth, 48-year-old local

"If we come out of the EU, we can support our own country which we should do, instead of helping everyone else out. Billions, and all that - the money is going nowhere, innit? It's, like, just draining us dry. We used to be Great Britain. Now we're just Britain so really we should get the 'great' back and sort ourselves out really, shouldn't we?"

21. Mid of street

22. SOUNDBITE (English): Jason Lancett, 48-year-old construction worker

"I'll be voting out because a lot of political reasons. One, immigration. Two, fishermen, the local fishermen. Three, the local homeless people. There are more homeless people in Dover as you can see, more drug addicts. The people they do let into the country, they're not contributing into the community. I'll be voting out and that's one of the reasons."

23. Mid of street

24. SOUNDBITE (English): Bill Burne, 58-year-old local

"I believe we are living under an illusion that we are still 'great'. I don't know about leaving the European market because I don't know the effects of it. But I feel we should have a reality check."

25. Various of port

26. Various wide shots of Dover

27. Wide of Dover castle

European Union workers who work in Britain expressed fear and confusion over what happens next on Saturday, as their adoptive country begins the long process of unwinding its many ties to continental Europe.

An entire class of cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, workers, students and strivers who have made the UK their home since Britain opened its borders to its EU neighbours now see their futures in limbo.

Immigrants have changed the face of Britain, turning London's Kensington neighbourhood into a suburb of Paris, sleepy English towns like Boston into Baltic enclaves, and filling supermarket shelves across the nation with Polish lager and Wiejska sausage.

The biggest impact may be on the Poles - the largest group of foreign EU workers in the UK.

An estimated 850,000 people have left Poland for the UK to seek wages and opportunities far beyond what they could ever expect in their ex-communist homeland - a flow so dramatic that Polish is now England's second-most-spoken language.

But despite others' concerns, Polish businessman Andrew Makulsky was optimistic.

Over the long-term though, the lives of the estimated three million EU citizens living in Britain may change in ways big and small.

A survey commissioned by the Financial Times found that if Britain's current immigration rules were applied to EU nationals, the overwhelming majority would lose their jobs and be forced to leave the country - catastrophic news for Spanish barristers, Romanian strawberry pickers, German investment bankers and the industries that rely on them.

Greek expatriate Flora Michalopoulou settled in the United Kingdom in early 2014 after difficult times in Greece following the financial crisis.

A trained psychologist working with autistic children, she worked for months with no pay. When her partner's employment suffered the same fate, they decided to move to Scotland.

Flora had previously studied in England but by 2014 it felt too expensive, so they opted for Edinburgh.

She said the UK's vote to leave the European Union came as a shock and she doesn't really know what it vote will mean.

Back in London, French investment banker Marc Miller feared the consequences the referendum would have on him because of London's role as a financial services centre.

Under British law, EU immigrants who have resided in the UK for more than five years can apply for permanent residency.

In practice, however, few EU citizens have bothered as their passports already allow them to travel freely and easily access education, health care, pensions and other services in Britain.

European Union workers who work in Britain expressed fear and confusion over what happens next on Saturday, as their adoptive country begins the long process of unwinding its many ties to continental Europe.

An entire class of cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, workers, students and strivers who have made the UK their home since Britain opened its borders to its EU neighbours now see their futures in limbo.

Immigrants have changed the face of Britain, turning London's Kensington neighbourhood into a suburb of Paris, sleepy English towns like Boston into Baltic enclaves, and filling supermarket shelves across the nation with Polish lager and Wiejska sausage.

The biggest impact may be on the Poles - the largest group of foreign EU workers in the UK.

An estimated 850,000 people have left Poland for the UK to seek wages and opportunities far beyond what they could ever expect in their ex-communist homeland - a flow so dramatic that Polish is now England's second-most-spoken language.

But despite others' concerns, Polish businessman Andrew Makulsky was optimistic.

Over the long-term though, the lives of the estimated three million EU citizens living in Britain may change in ways big and small.

A survey commissioned by the Financial Times found that if Britain's current immigration rules were applied to EU nationals, the overwhelming majority would lose their jobs and be forced to leave the country - catastrophic news for Spanish barristers, Romanian strawberry pickers, German investment bankers and the industries that rely on them.

Greek expatriate Flora Michalopoulou settled in the United Kingdom in early 2014 after difficult times in Greece following the financial crisis.

A trained psychologist working with autistic children, she worked for months with no pay. When her partner's employment suffered the same fate, they decided to move to Scotland.

Flora had previously studied in England but by 2014 it felt too expensive, so they opted for Edinburgh.

She said the UK's vote to leave the European Union came as a shock and she doesn't really know what it vote will mean.

Back in London, French investment banker Marc Miller feared the consequences the referendum would have on him because of London's role as a financial services centre.

Under British law, EU immigrants who have resided in the UK for more than five years can apply for permanent residency.

In practice, however, few EU citizens have bothered as their passports already allow them to travel freely and easily access education, health care, pensions and other services in Britain.

London - 25 June 2016

1. Polish people singing Polish national anthem and cheering before watching Poland - Sweden Euro 2016 football match

2. Andrew Makulsky playing trumpet

3. Polish flag

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Makulsky, Chairman of Polish club and restaurant and businessman:

"We are working here, very hard. Everybody works officially, legally, we pay taxes to Her Majesty. I am sure everything is fine. Maybe today and yesterday - big panic, but slowly slowly, I think situation will be back to normal. It's not very good news about what happened yesterday, but I am thinking positive."

6. Various of people in Polish club

Edinburgh, Scotland - 25 June 2016

7. View of Edinburgh castle

8. Various of people walking in the hills

9. Greek expatriate Flora Michalopoulou walking in the hills overlooking the mountain

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Flora Michalopoulou, Greek expatriate living in Scotland:

"So I had been living in Greece and because of the financial crisis I wasn't getting paid for my work and I couldn't find another job, so I decided to move back to the UK and I came and settled in Edinburgh in February 2014. (Michalopoulou walking past Edinburgh Castle) We've been here ever since, and now our life is here. Well, the initial reaction is a feeling of not being wanted, and there is part of me that thinks maybe there is something in that. Maybe I am taking the job away from someone who's local and maybe deserves it, in a way. On the other hand, I work hard for what I do, my employers want me to be here. I'm sure that if it came to supporting me staying here by documentation or something like that, I'm sure they would. But it's very discordant because we felt very welcome in Scotland by the people, by employers, by the government, everything. It's been so positive and so welcoming. And this referendum was kind of a slap in the face. It's like you're not wanted by everyone. You're not wanted anywhere."

13. Flora's dog Boughatsa, named after a Greek cream pastry, running around the hills

14. Various of flowers

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Flora Michalopoulou, Greek expatriate living in Scotland:

"I think we're in denial that anything will change, because we are here and we are settled here. I don't think and they (her Greek friends) don't think we're going to find a difference in our everyday life or in how we apply for jobs, we apply for houses and how we live our life. But it may not be true. Maybe we'll need visas or it'll be expensive or it may be that we'll need to become residents, or it may be that coming in or out of the country is going to be all that more difficult and all the more difficult for our families to come visit us."

16. Flora stroking Boughatsa

17. Close-up Boughatsa

18. Boughatsa running around the hills

19. Various landscape

London - 25 June 2016

20. Various of London streets

21. Mid of French cafe

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Marc Miller, French investment banker:

"I think that the result is actually really bad. It's bad for me personally, because I believe that as a banker in this country I will be affected certainly by what has happened."

23. Cutaway sign reading "Boulangerie

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Marc Miller, French investment banker:

"Part of ability to sell services will be taken away, which means job losses here and consecutively probably relocation to other European countries, which probably could be a benefit for other European countries, and I think it will be, but it will clearly be a negative for London as financial services centre."

25. Various of Marc Miller walking away

MAYOR: THERE ARE DIFFERENT VIEWS ON STATUE IN BRISTOL

The Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said on Thursday (16 JULY 2020) he had to take down the statue of a black protester to honour the city's democratic process of debate.

Officials on Thursday removed a statue of a Black Lives Matter activist that was installed on a pedestal once occupied by a monument to a 17th-century slave trader.

Artist Marc Quinn created the resin and steel likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the pedestal after demonstrators pulled down the statue of Edward Colston and dumped it in Bristol’s harbor on June 7.

Rees said there were people in the city "who had lost a piece of themselves" with Colston's statue being pulled down and that he had to tread carefully to make sure all voices were heard in the city.

Speaking about Quinn's statue of Jen Reid, Rees said: "It was put up there without consultation with the city. We've put a process in place that involves the whole city in deciding what goes on that plinth."

He added that Quinn could have involved black artists in the process rather than doing it himself.

Asked why he hadn't removed the statue of Colston when he was elected, Rees said that he had come to power at a delicate time with the Brexit vote happening in 2016 and it could have been provocative for a black mayor to have removed the statue.

Reid's statue was erected before dawn on Wednesday without the approval of city authorities, but 24 hours later it was gone.

Bristol City Council said the sculpture "will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection.”

Colston was a trader who made a fortune transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas on Bristol-based ships. His money funded schools and charities in Bristol, 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest of London.

The toppling of his statue was part of a worldwide reckoning with racism and slavery sparked by the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis in May.

City authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and say it will be placed in a museum, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Bristol - 16 July, 2020

1. Wide of empty plinth man walking past, sign

2. Close up of sign reading (English) "An Injury to One is an Injury to All."

3. Close up of a box on top of the statue reading " Grenfell Tower RIP "

4. Wide of plinth with man walking past and looking

Bristol - 15 July, 2020

5. Various of the statue of Jen Reid sculptured by artist Marc Quinn called A Surge of Power, now removed

Bristol - 16 July, 2020

6. Set up of Bristol mayor Marvin Rees

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"It's provoked debate. It's a totally different context to the Colston statue, it was put up there without permission or consultation with the city.  We've put a process in place that we believe is the right process because it involves the whole city in deciding what goes on, on that plinth if anything and this came outside that process.  It's really important that we took it down, we had to take it down because it is not respecting the process we worked to create."

8. Cutaway close of eyes

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"This is a whole city. There were people in Bristol who were elated that Colston got pulled down. There were some people who were sympathetic that the Colston statue got pulled down but were dismayed by the way it happened. There were people who feel they have lost a bit of themselves in the statue being pulled down. None of those people are going anywhere.  We all still live in the city together and we have to find a way of leading Bristol that actually shows everyone that they are respected even if they don't get what they want. Managing our public spaces has to be the result of a process that's included all of those perspectives, it doesn't mean going at the pace of the slowest but it does mean taking people with you."

10. Cutaway hands

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"As a white artist in a race and class privileged elitist industry he could have even talked to black artists and said actually rather than just doing it myself I'd like to begin to redress the race and class inequalities in this sector in which I work and make my money and I want to create space for new artists to come through who have historically been excluded because of their race and class background.  But you make decisions about what you do and that decision wasn't made."

12. Cutaway

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"If I had focused on the statue in the middle of Brexit when I came in, (Nigel) Farage is on the prowl, people are wondering who they are, as the first black mayor of a major European city it's all I would have been talking about for the past few years just like today the statue conversation is taking me away from conversations on local government finance, regeneration, child hunger, work experience, that's all I would have done."

14. Various of exteriors of the M Shed museum where both the statue of Edward Colston and Jen Reid are being kept in storage for the time being

The Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said on Thursday he had to take down the statue of a black protester to honour the city's democratic process of debate.

Officials on Thursday removed a statue of a Black Lives Matter activist that was installed on a pedestal once occupied by a monument to a 17th-century slave trader.

Artist Marc Quinn created the resin and steel likeness of Jen Reid, a protester photographed standing on the pedestal after demonstrators pulled down the statue of Edward Colston and dumped it in Bristol’s harbor on June 7.

Rees said there were people in the city "who had lost a piece of themselves" with Colston's statue being pulled down and that he had to tread carefully to make sure all voices were heard in the city.

Speaking about Quinn's statue of Jen Reid, Rees said: "It was put up there without consultation with the city. We've put a process in place that involves the whole city in deciding what goes on that plinth."

He added that Quinn could have involved black artists in the process rather than doing it himself.

Asked why he hadn't removed the statue of Colston when he was elected, Rees said that he had come to power at a delicate time with the Brexit vote happening in 2016 and it could have been provocative for a black mayor to have removed the statue.

Reid's statue was erected before dawn on Wednesday without the approval of city authorities, but 24 hours later it was gone.

Bristol City Council said the sculpture "will be held at our museum for the artist to collect or donate to our collection.”

Colston was a trader who made a fortune transporting enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas on Bristol-based ships. His money funded schools and charities in Bristol, 120 miles (195 kilometers) southwest of London.

The toppling of his statue was part of a worldwide reckoning with racism and slavery sparked by the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis in May.

City authorities fished the Colston statue out of the harbor and say it will be placed in a museum, along with placards from the Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Bristol - 16 July, 2020

1. Wide of empty plinth man walking past, sign

2. Close up of sign reading (English) "An Injury to One is an Injury to All."

3. Close up of a box on top of the statue reading " Grenfell Tower RIP "

4. Wide of plinth with man walking past and looking

Bristol - 15 July, 2020

5. Various of the statue of Jen Reid sculptured by artist Marc Quinn called A Surge of Power, now removed

Bristol - 16 July, 2020

6. Set up of Bristol mayor Marvin Rees

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"It's provoked debate. It's a totally different context to the Colston statue, it was put up there without permission or consultation with the city.  We've put a process in place that we believe is the right process because it involves the whole city in deciding what goes on, on that plinth if anything and this came outside that process.  It's really important that we took it down, we had to take it down because it is not respecting the process we worked to create."

8. Cutaway close of eyes

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"This is a whole city. There were people in Bristol who were elated that Colston got pulled down. There were some people who were sympathetic that the Colston statue got pulled down but were dismayed by the way it happened. There were people who feel they have lost a bit of themselves in the statue being pulled down. None of those people are going anywhere.  We all still live in the city together and we have to find a way of leading Bristol that actually shows everyone that they are respected even if they don't get what they want. Managing our public spaces has to be the result of a process that's included all of those perspectives, it doesn't mean going at the pace of the slowest but it does mean taking people with you."

10. Cutaway hands

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"As a white artist in a race and class privileged elitist industry he could have even talked to black artists and said actually rather than just doing it myself I'd like to begin to redress the race and class inequalities in this sector in which I work and make my money and I want to create space for new artists to come through who have historically been excluded because of their race and class background.  But you make decisions about what you do and that decision wasn't made."

12. Cutaway

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Marvin Rees, Bristol mayor:

"If I had focused on the statue in the middle of Brexit when I came in, (Nigel) Farage is on the prowl, people are wondering who they are, as the first black mayor of a major European city it's all I would have been talking about for the past few years just like today the statue conversation is taking me away from conversations on local government finance, regeneration, child hunger, work experience, that's all I would have done."

14. Various of exteriors of the M Shed museum where both the statue of Edward Colston and Jen Reid are being kept in storage for the time being

The carnival in the Belgian city of Aalst on Sunday included stereotypical depictions of Jewish people for the second year in a row in its opening parade.

The Aalst Carnival parade has been criticised by the Belgian government which said that the anti-Semitism in the three-day festival had embarrassed the nation and endangered society.

The Carnival was removed from the United Nations' UNESCO heritage list last year after a float rife with anti-Semitic symbols raised worldwide condemnation.

Yet despite warnings, some floats in this year's carnival were once again offensive towards Jewish people.

Speaking before the carnival, Mayor of Aalst Christoph D'Haese said "Aalst is a warm, open and democratic city".

"It is not at all racist or anti-Semitic."

He added the carnival makes fun of everyone including political figures and various religions, but it is never meant to harm anyone.

Earlier this week, Israel called on Belgium to scrap the annual Aalst parade.

Philippe Markiewicz, President of the Israelite Consistory of Belgium, said his organisation was "disappointed" and "shocked" with the previous year's carnival, but said Aalst is "certainly not an anti-Semitic city" and the decision made by UNESCO was too rapid.

Markiewicz called for a dialogue which included the people of Aalst, saying it's not enough just to condemn it.

The overwhelming majority of the 75-plus official entries in the parade's 92nd edition touched on anything from town hall politics, to Brexit, and global climate change, but several contained depictions which caused complaints.

Carnival groups claims their three-day festival has a right to mock everything, even things which might be hurtful to others.

But even the minister-president of the northern Belgian province of Flanders, where the festival is held, warned against insulting or excessively mocking people.

Last year's festivities featured one float depicting Jewish people with exaggerated features and side locks standing over bags of money.

The caricatures recalled anti-Semitic tropes of the Middle Ages and Nazi Germany.

The Aalst carnival is one of Europe's most famous, and usually is a celebration of unbridled, no-holds-barred humor and satire.

Politicians, religious leaders and the rich and famous are relentlessly ridiculed during the three-day festival ahead of Roman Catholic Lent.

UNESCO, Jewish groups, and the EU all condemned last year's float as anti-Semitic, with the EU saying it conjured up visions of the 1930s.

Aalst - 23 February 2020

1. Aalst Carnival parade starting with performers of "Gilles de Binche" (typical carnival costume from the city of Binche)

2. Various of "Gilles de Binche" performers

3. Banner reading: (English) "RIP UNESCO"

4. Wide of man with the sign reading: (English) "RIP UNESCO"

5. Carnival performers dancing

6. Christoph D'Haese, Mayor of Aalst, in costume

7. D'Haese, at news conference before the carnival ++NEWS CONFERENCE TOOK PLACE BEFORE CARNIVAL++

8. Cameraman

9. SOUNDBITE (Dutch/English) Christoph D'Haese, Mayor of Aalst: ++CONSECUTIVE TRANSLATION FROM SOURCE++

"Aalst is a warm, open and democratic city. There is no racism or anti-Semitism in this city. It is a very nice and warm city where you can shop, tourists visiting and so on."

10. Media

11. SOUNDBITE (Dutch/English) Christoph D'Haese, Mayor of Aalst: ++CONSECUTIVE TRANSLATION FROM SOURCE++

"Everyone can become a 'victim' (in brackets) here, anyone can be in the centre of attention. People start laughing with anything you can imagine; with the royal family for instance, Brexit, local and national politics, with the different religions; Catholic church, Islamic church, the Jewish people. They starting laughing (making fun of) everybody and everything you can imagine, (but it is never to harm anyone.)"

12. Float depicting Western Wall with writing on it including (local Aalst dialect): "The Western Wall" - those walking with the float are wearing fur hats such as those worn by groups within ultra-Orthodox Judaism including Hasidic Jews

13. Wide of a carnival float with writing (local Aalst dialect) referring to local shoe chain Torfs

14. Close of banner reading (English): "Big UNESCO is watching you"

15. Medium of a carnival performers dancing

16. Wide of chariot moving with people in costume banging on barrels

17. Wide of a carnival performers dancing

18. Jeroen (no last name given) with other members a carnival band

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeroen (no last name given), carnival band member:

"Because, like the mayor said, we don't want to have another country or someone else who is going to say to us what we can do or what we can do not. We are still in Aalst, we still want to do our thing. And no matter what the UNESCO says or another one or another country, we still are going to do our thing."

20. Wide tilt up of a float with banner reading (English): "UNESCO FIASCO"

21. Various of floats

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Lieve (no last name given), carnival-goer:

"I have been doing this since I was kid. Ever since I was little, I came to watch the (unintelligible) every year and it is the ambiance, the different people, everyone you meet in the streets, that is what makes it so fantastic."

23. Zoom in on the parade floats

Brussels - 23 February 2020

24. SOUNDBITE (English) of Philippe Markiewicz, President of the Israelite Consistory of Belgium:

"I must tell you that we were very disappointed with the carnival of Aalst last year but after it we had a meeting with the people of Aalst and we explained them all why, the reasons why we are disappointed. It is a pity that the dialogue could not continue because of a decision of UNESCO. This year was not as bad that last year, we are shocked certainly, but it was not so bad as last year. But our prime minister (Sophie Wilmès) made a declaration and she condemned all forms of anti-Semitism and she invited everybody to have a dialogue."

25. Wide of building

26. Close of the door reading (English): "Israeli community of Brussels"

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Philippe Markiewicz, President of the Israelite Consistory of Belgium:

"I think that the decision of the UNESCO was too early, they had to wait until 2020. What happened in 2019 was shocking, certainly, but they had to wait to what would happen in 2020. They did not need to go so quickly and there was not any urgency, so I am disappointed with their decision of 2019, but the situation is so, so we have to manage it and we have to continue the dialogue with the people of Aalst. Flanders and Aalst is certainly not an anti-Semitic city or an anti-Semitic country."

28. Close of cameras of the building

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Philippe Markiewicz, President of the Israelite Consistory of Belgium:

"I condemn some of their figures, certainly, but it is not because I condemn that I cannot have a dialogue with them, to explain them what are the regulations of a democracy. We need to speak together. It is not enough to condemn, it is absolutely a priority, the discussion together and the dialogue, we have a duty to have a dialogue with everybody and certainly with the people of Aalst. And so I am trying to be positive because it is my duty as president of the "Consistoire Central of Belgium" with the official institution of Belgium Judaisme."

++EDIT ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++

LEAD IN:

German business confidence rose more than expected last month (December 2016), with sentiment improving in the key manufacturing sector and elsewhere, according to the Ifo (Information and Forschung) Institute for Economic Research.

Germany has kept its manufacturing traditions at the heart of its strong economy... and in one region it is making of instruments that have sustained economic growth.

STORY-LINE:

Skilled musicians demand the best instruments.

In recent decades mass production of orchestral instruments is dominated by factories in China.

But quality production of instruments can still be found in the region of Vogtland in Saxony, where more than 1,300 craftsmen in more than 100 workshops continue the craft of their ancestors.

Many workshops boast 4th or 5th generation artisans and the majority of the companies are family businesses.

Jurgen Voigt is one of the medium size companies in Markneukirchen employing 30 people.

The company has been in the current owner's family for 10 generations, and it produces a variety of brass instruments and spare parts.

Kerstin Voigt says one of the extra advantages of the company is that they are able to offer not only high quality instruments but also custom made instruments.

Musicians can ask for changes on the catalogued instruments or can design new ones.

Despite the company's long tradition in handcrafting instruments, they have also embraced industrial machinery, using machines alongside the craftsmen.

At the beginning of the 20th century, factories with thousands of workers were based in Vogtland.

China has become one of the biggest producers of music instruments in recent years.

But for the manufacturers of Vogtland this does not present a threat.

"The cheap products from the Asia made the beginners (pupils) music instrument market unreachable to us.", says Kerstin Voigt.

"It has broken away (from us). They (the clients) were going there (They are all buying Chinese instruments). But professionals, (music university) students and today's very dedicated amateurs demand more and more to have custom made instruments."

Neither mass production having moved to another country or the recent economic crisis has posed a substantial threat to Voigts' company.

"You could say that the crisis of the last years, either the economic crisis or Brexit and Grexit, was to our benefit. Interests in the money market are low, and so people started investing in which are durable and have great value," she says.

Musical instruments have been manufactured for more than 350 years in the southern region of Saxony, close to the Bavarian and the Czech border.

Björn Stoll's family has been in the music production industry since 1836. Stoll is now the owner of the family business working alongside his father producing cellos and double basses.

"We deliver worldwide. From the USA, to Japan, Indonesia, Austria, Spain, China. Especially in China they build a lot of cheap instruments but there are also a lot of good musicians searching for high quality instruments. They are coming to us to order customised instruments," says Stoll.

"Most of our clients want that the instrument look used even if they get it new. Because old instruments have the image that they are the best.The old Italians for example. That's because we make new instruments look like old ones. There you can see scratches and hits in the varnish. Wear marks we put on the new instruments which you would see generally not until hundreds of years. The vintage look," he adds.

A tourism industry has evolved to complement the instrument making tradition, with workshops opening their doors to visitors.

Frank Bilz is the manager of Musicon Valley association, an organisation that is promoting tourism in the area.

"Tourism generates revenues of which we had no idea until a few years ago (it was possible)," he says.

For the visitors this is an opportunity to learn something new while visiting a relatively undiscovered region.

"I wanted to see this here because I didn't know about it. I am 55 years old but I was amazed that they make everything by hand at not as you might think by machine," says visitor Ilona Rossberger.

Vogtland instruments are indeed well regarded in the music world.

Frank Meyer, is the co-owner of Ludwig Frank & Frank Meyer music instrument shop in Berlin, which specialises in woodwind instruments.

"The clients which are buying instruments from Vogtland and especially from our company are mostly professionals. They are coming from broadcast orchestras, from opera (orchestras) and from all around the world, Paris, New York, London, Milan, Tokyo and let's not forget Beijing," he says.

Balazs piri Arpad, an oboist of the Slovenian National Opera orchestra has driven from Slovenia to buy an instrument made in Vogtland.

Balazs piri Arpad has driven from Slovenia with his colleague in order to try one these instruments.

"My colleague from philharmonic, he has already got this instrument, and I tried and it is very nice, warm sound, good intonation, flexible tones, so..."

In 2014 UNESCO recognised Vogtland Musical Instrument Construction in Markneukirchen and the Surrounding Area as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Markneukirchen, Vogtland - December 7, 2016

1. Medium zoom out of man playing the trumpet

2. Various shots of employees producing brass instruments

3. Various of Kirstin Voigt walking and talking with employees

4. SOUNDBITE (Germany) Kerstin Voigt, owner of brass instruments company Jürgen Voigt :

"The cheap products from Asia made the beginners (pupils) music instrument market unreachable to us. It has broken away (from us). They (the clients) were going there (They are all buying Chinese instruments). But professionals, (music university) students and today's very dedicated amateurs demand more and more to have custom made instruments"

5. Various of electronic heavy machinery being operated by an employee

6. SOUNDBITE (Germany) Kerstin Voigt, owner of brass instruments company Jürgen Voigt :

"You could say that the crisis of the last years, either the economic crisis or Brexit and Grexit, was to our benefit. Interests in the money market are low, and so people started investing in things which are durable and have great value"

7. Close up of frame with old advertising poster

8. Various of Björn Stoll's father attaching strings to a cello

9. Various of Björn Stoll carving the wooden top of a cello

10. SOUNDBITE (German) Björn Stoll, luthier and owner of Contrabass workshop :

"We deliver worldwide. From the USA, to Japan, Indonesia, Austria, Spain, China. Especially in China they build a lot of cheap instruments but there are also a lot of good musicians searching for high quality instruments. They are coming to us to order customised instruments"

11. Various of Björn's father tuning a cello

12. SOUNDBITE (German) Björn Stoll, Luthier and owner of Contrabass workshop:

"Most of our clients want that the instrument look used even if they get it new. Because old instruments have the image that they are the best.The old Italians for example. That's because we make new instruments look like old ones. There you can see scratches and hits in the varnish. Wear marks we put on the new instruments which you would see generally not until hundreds of years. The vintage look"

13. Various of employee and father of Björn Stoll working on cellos

Markneukirchen, Vogtland - December 8, 2016

14. Wide of Markneukirchen

Markneukirchen, Vogtland - December 7, 2016

15. Wide exterior of Musicon Valley association building

16. Medium of Tourists arriving at the Musicon Valley and being greeted by Frank Bilz

17. Close up of date on building

18. Medium of Frank Bilz talking to the tourists

19. Medium of frame on the wall with old pictures of music craftsmen working

20. Close up of picture of craftsman working on a bass

21. SOUNDBITE (German) Frank Bilz, Manager of Musicon Valley:

At the end of the day they can say that the added value has arisen here. Tourism generates revenues of which we had no idea until a few years ago (it was possible)"

22. Medium of luthier giving a seminar to tourists

23. Close up of violin handles on the wall

24. SOUNDBITE (German) Ilona Rossberger, Visitor

"I wanted to see this here because I didn't know about it. I am 55 years old but I was amazed that they make everything by hand at not as you might think by machine"

Berlin - December 10, 2016

25. Various exterior of wind instruments shop

26. Various of owner Frank Meyer, co owner of Ludwig Frank music shop, entering room with instruments and arranging instruments on the display

27. SOUNDBITE (German) Frank Meyer, Ludwig Frank music shop:

"The clients which are buying instruments from Vogtland and especially from our company are mostly professionals. They are coming from broadcast orchestras, from opera (orchestras) and from all around the world, Paris, New York, London, Milan, Tokyo and let's not forget Beijing"

28. Various of Oboist Balazs piri Arpad of the Slovenian National Opera playing an oboe

29. SOUNDBITE (English) Balazs piri Arpad, oboist at Slovenian National Opera:

"My colleague from philharmonic, he has already got this instrument, and I tried and it is very nice, warm sound, good intonation, flexible tones, so..."

30. Zoom in of Balazs piri Arpad of the Slovenian National Opera playing an oboe

LEAD IN:

German business confidence rose more than expected last month (December 2016), with sentiment improving in the key manufacturing sector and elsewhere, according to the Ifo (Information and Forschung) Institute for Economic Research.

Germany has kept its manufacturing traditions at the heart of its strong economy... and in one region it is making of instruments that have sustained economic growth.

STORY-LINE:

Skilled musicians demand the best instruments.

In recent decades mass production of orchestral instruments is dominated by factories in China.

But quality production of instruments can still be found in the region of Vogtland in Saxony, where more than 1,300 craftsmen in more than 100 workshops continue the craft of their ancestors.

Many workshops boast 4th or 5th generation artisans and the majority of the companies are family businesses.

Jurgen Voigt is one of the medium size companies in Markneukirchen employing 30 people.

The company has been in the current owner's family for 10 generations, and it produces a variety of brass instruments and spare parts.

Kerstin Voigt says one of the extra advantages of the company is that they are able to offer not only high quality instruments but also custom made instruments.

Musicians can ask for changes on the catalogued instruments or can design new ones.

Despite the company's long tradition in handcrafting instruments, they have also embraced industrial machinery, using machines alongside the craftsmen.

At the beginning of the 20th century, factories with thousands of workers were based in Vogtland.

China has become one of the biggest producers of music instruments in recent years.

But for the manufacturers of Vogtland this does not present a threat.

"The cheap products from the Asia made the beginners (pupils) music instrument market unreachable to us.", says Kerstin Voigt.

"It has broken away (from us). They (the clients) were going there (They are all buying Chinese instruments). But professionals, (music university) students and today's very dedicated amateurs demand more and more to have custom made instruments."

Neither mass production having moved to another country or the recent economic crisis has posed a substantial threat to Voigts' company.

"You could say that the crisis of the last years, either the economic crisis or Brexit and Grexit, was to our benefit. Interests in the money market are low, and so people started investing in which are durable and have great value," she says.

Musical instruments have been manufactured for more than 350 years in the southern region of Saxony, close to the Bavarian and the Czech border.

Björn Stoll's family has been in the music production industry since 1836. Stoll is now the owner of the family business working alongside his father producing cellos and double basses.

"We deliver worldwide. From the USA, to Japan, Indonesia, Austria, Spain, China. Especially in China they build a lot of cheap instruments but there are also a lot of good musicians searching for high quality instruments. They are coming to us to order customised instruments," says Stoll.

"Most of our clients want that the instrument look used even if they get it new. Because old instruments have the image that they are the best.The old Italians for example. That's because we make new instruments look like old ones. There you can see scratches and hits in the varnish. Wear marks we put on the new instruments which you would see generally not until hundreds of years. The vintage look," he adds.

A tourism industry has evolved to complement the instrument making tradition, with workshops opening their doors to visitors.

Frank Bilz is the manager of Musicon Valley association, an organisation that is promoting tourism in the area.

"Tourism generates revenues of which we had no idea until a few years ago (it was possible)," he says.

For the visitors this is an opportunity to learn something new while visiting a relatively undiscovered region.

"I wanted to see this here because I didn't know about it. I am 55 years old but I was amazed that they make everything by hand at not as you might think by machine," says visitor Ilona Rossberger.

Vogtland instruments are indeed well regarded in the music world.

Frank Meyer, is the co-owner of Ludwig Frank & Frank Meyer music instrument shop in Berlin, which specialises in woodwind instruments.

"The clients which are buying instruments from Vogtland and especially from our company are mostly professionals. They are coming from broadcast orchestras, from opera (orchestras) and from all around the world, Paris, New York, London, Milan, Tokyo and let's not forget Beijing," he says.

Balazs piri Arpad, an oboist of the Slovenian National Opera orchestra has driven from Slovenia to buy an instrument made in Vogtland.

Balazs piri Arpad has driven from Slovenia with his colleague in order to try one these instruments.

"My colleague from philharmonic, he has already got this instrument, and I tried and it is very nice, warm sound, good intonation, flexible tones, so..."

In 2014 UNESCO recognised Vogtland Musical Instrument Construction in Markneukirchen and the Surrounding Area as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Markneukirchen, Vogtland - December 7, 2016

1. Medium zoom out of man playing the trumpet

2. Various shots of employees producing brass instruments

3. Various of Kirstin Voigt walking and talking with employees

4. SOUNDBITE (Germany) Kerstin Voigt, owner of brass instruments company Jürgen Voigt :

"The cheap products from Asia made the beginners (pupils) music instrument market unreachable to us. It has broken away (from us). They (the clients) were going there (They are all buying Chinese instruments). But professionals, (music university) students and today's very dedicated amateurs demand more and more to have custom made instruments"

5. Various of electronic heavy machinery being operated by an employee

6. SOUNDBITE (Germany) Kerstin Voigt, owner of brass instruments company Jürgen Voigt :

"You could say that the crisis of the last years, either the economic crisis or Brexit and Grexit, was to our benefit. Interests in the money market are low, and so people started investing in things which are durable and have great value"

7. Close up of frame with old advertising poster

8. Various of Björn Stoll's father attaching strings to a cello

9. Various of Björn Stoll carving the wooden top of a cello

10. SOUNDBITE (German) Björn Stoll, luthier and owner of Contrabass workshop :

"We deliver worldwide. From the USA, to Japan, Indonesia, Austria, Spain, China. Especially in China they build a lot of cheap instruments but there are also a lot of good musicians searching for high quality instruments. They are coming to us to order customised instruments"

11. Various of Björn's father tuning a cello

12. SOUNDBITE (German) Björn Stoll, Luthier and owner of Contrabass workshop:

"Most of our clients want that the instrument look used even if they get it new. Because old instruments have the image that they are the best.The old Italians for example. That's because we make new instruments look like old ones. There you can see scratches and hits in the varnish. Wear marks we put on the new instruments which you would see generally not until hundreds of years. The vintage look"

13. Various of employee and father of Björn Stoll working on cellos

Markneukirchen, Vogtland - December 8, 2016

14. Wide of Markneukirchen

Markneukirchen, Vogtland - December 7, 2016

15. Wide exterior of Musicon Valley association building

16. Medium of Tourists arriving at the Musicon Valley and being greeted by Frank Bilz

17. Close up of date on building

18. Medium of Frank Bilz talking to the tourists

19. Medium of frame on the wall with old pictures of music craftsmen working

20. Close up of picture of craftsman working on a bass

21. SOUNDBITE (German) Frank Bilz, Manager of Musicon Valley:

At the end of the day they can say that the added value has arisen here. Tourism generates revenues of which we had no idea until a few years ago (it was possible)"

22. Medium of luthier giving a seminar to tourists

23. Close up of violin handles on the wall

24. SOUNDBITE (German) Ilona Rossberger, Visitor

"I wanted to see this here because I didn't know about it. I am 55 years old but I was amazed that they make everything by hand at not as you might think by machine"

Berlin - December 10, 2016

25. Various exterior of wind instruments shop

26. Various of owner Frank Meyer, co owner of Ludwig Frank music shop, entering room with instruments and arranging instruments on the display

27. SOUNDBITE (German) Frank Meyer, Ludwig Frank music shop:

"The clients which are buying instruments from Vogtland and especially from our company are mostly professionals. They are coming from broadcast orchestras, from opera (orchestras) and from all around the world, Paris, New York, London, Milan, Tokyo and let's not forget Beijing"

28. Various of Oboist Balazs piri Arpad of the Slovenian National Opera playing an oboe

29. SOUNDBITE (English) Balazs piri Arpad, oboist at Slovenian National Opera:

"My colleague from philharmonic, he has already got this instrument, and I tried and it is very nice, warm sound, good intonation, flexible tones, so..."

30. Zoom in of Balazs piri Arpad of the Slovenian National Opera playing an oboe

An abortion debate that has inflamed passions in Ireland for decades will come down to a single question on Friday: yes or no?

The referendum on whether to repeal the country's strict anti-abortion law is being seen by anti-abortion activists as a last-ditch stand against what they view as a European norm of abortion-on-demand, while for pro-abortion rights advocates, it is a fundamental moment for declaring an Irish woman's right to choose.

If the "yes" side prevails and the constitutional ban on abortions is repealed, the government plans to introduce legislation that would allow abortion within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and later in specific cases when the woman is at grave risk or the fetus is likely to die in the womb or shortly after birth.

Parliament would then debate this plan.

Opinion surveys suggest a continuing change of attitudes in Ireland, a traditionally Roman Catholic country that surprised many by voting in favor of same-sex marriage in 2015.

Both sides generally agree that the frenzied campaign ahead of Friday's vote has not produced the dramatic shift in public opinion that anti-abortion campaigners were hoping for.

Activists from both sides have put up thousands of emotional signs pleading their case and there were small demonstrations in Dublin on Wednesday as the vote neared.

Friday's poll will be the fourth time in as many decades that Irish voters have been asked to decide on the issue of abortion.

But this time the debate has been roiled by two factors that voters have not faced before: The extraordinary power of social media and the increased availability through telemedicine websites of new drugs that allow women to make profound decisions over whether to end a pregnancy in the privacy of their homes.

Facebook and Google have both taken steps to restrict or remove ads relating to the referendum in a move designed to address global concerns about social media's role in influencing political campaigns, from the U.S. presidential race to Brexit.

At the heart of this vote is whether or not to reverse a far-reaching 1983 referendum that inserted an amendment into Ireland's constitution that committed authorities to equally defend the right to life of a mother and that of a fetus from the moment of conception.

The issue has been revisited repeatedly after heartrending "hard cases" that, abortion rights activists say, exposed vulnerable women to miserable choices - and even, at times, death.

Abortion is legal in Ireland only in rare cases when the woman's life is in danger, and several thousand Irish women travel each year to terminate pregnancies in neighbouring Britain.  

That number has fallen dramatically in recent years as women turned to online websites to illegally import drugs that end pregnancies.

The Irish Times said in its editorial on Thursday that the constitutional abortion ban must be repealed because it has left doctors confused as to what is legal, and led women to travel abroad "in secrecy and shame" for abortions.

It cited as the type of "grotesque spectacle" the ban has caused the case of a 14-year-old who became pregnant and suicidal after being raped.

She had to go to the Supreme Court after the government blocked her from traveling to get an abortion.

Pro-abortion rights activists have sought to focus public attention on the difficult cases, including the fate of Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old Indian dentist who had sought and been denied an abortion before she died after a miscarriage in a Galway hospital on Ireland's west coast in 2012.

The man who led the Irish health service's inquiry into her death has called for the constitutional ban on abortion to be repealed.

In an effort to neutralize the "hard cases" argument, some prominent anti-abortion campaigners have lately shifted their stance, even suggesting that new laws could be enacted to permit abortions in certain limited cases.

But that compromise was dismissed by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, a medical doctor who favours repealing the constitutional ban.

Friday's referendum has placed the abortion debate on centre stage, with many on Dublin's crowded city streets wearing buttons or T-shirts that align them with the "yes" or "no" side.

Voting has already started on remote Tory Island, off Ireland's northwestern coast.

A helicopter landed on Thursday with a ballot box that will be brought back to the mainland for counting after the roughly 70 residents have voted.

Dublin - 23 April 2018

1. Various of anti-abortion poster reading (English): "Vote no. My heart started beating at 22 days" and pro-abortion rights poster reading (English): "Yes for compassion and respect"

2. Anti-abortion volunteer handing out leaflet in foreground, pro-abortion volunteer handing out leaflets in background

Dublin - 22 April 2018

3. Close of pro-abortion leaflets

4. Woman handing out pro-abortion leaflets

Dublin - 23 April 2018

5. Set up of Tara Flynn, pro-abortion rights campaigner

6. Close of Flynn during interview

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tara Flynn, 48, pro-abortion rights campaigner who flew to the Netherlands to get an abortion when she was 37:

"When I realized, I finally realized, that I was pregnant, I felt trapped in my body, and trapped in my country. And because of the 8th amendment I didn't know where I could even turn to for help, I had to go and do the research to find it all out. I realized I knew nothing about abortion, I knew nothing about how I could get help."

8. Close of Flynn's hands

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tara Flynn, 48, pro-abortion rights campaigner who flew to the Netherlands to get an abortion when she was 37:

"A vote for Yes tomorrow isn't a vote for abortion, it is a vote for solidarity, it is a vote for compassion. It is a vote to say, I don't send you away any more."

10. Together for Yes supporters posing for picture

11. Set up of Ireland's Health Minister Simon Harris

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Harris, Ireland's Health Minister:

"Our country will need to unify behind that decision whatever that decision is on Saturday when the votes are counted. But let me be clear, we cannot change the status quo in Ireland as long as the 8th amendment remains in our constitution. And as the health minister in this country I cannot legislate to support parents who have fatal fetal abnormalities during their pregnancy, victims of rape and incest or to address the reality of the abortion pill and people traveling. So, if people of Ireland want change, we need them to vote Yes on Friday."

Dublin - 22 April 2018

13. Truck parked outside Save the Eight campaign headquarters with sign reading (English): "The baby was in the kidney dish, and he was alive and breathing"

14. Signs reading (English): "#Protect the 8th #Save the 8th" and "Vote No"

15. Mid of news conference with Sandra Caulfield, whose baby Hope Rose was diagnosed with Edwards Syndrome when she was 14 weeks pregnant, Hope Rose died at nine days old

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Sandra Caulfield, her baby Hope Rose, whose daughter Hope Rose died at nine days old after she was diagnosed with Edwards Syndrome:

"The women and unborn babies of our country deserve better than abortion. (Ireland's Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar and (Ireland's Health Minister) Simon Harris, how you can call abortion healthcare is beyond me. This is not healthcare. What I and Hope Rose received is proper healthcare."

Dublin - 23 April 2018

17. Anti-abortion posters reading (English): "Six months is horrific, vote no" and "It's too extreme. No"

18. Pro-abortion poster reading (English): "Your mother, your sister, your daugther, her choice"

19. SOUNDBITE (English) Irene Gilsenan, anti-abortion voter:

"It is taking a life, I think life starts at conception and to just discard human life really bothers me and the whole idea of saying it's one person's body, it's actually two bodies. I just feel God gives life and I am a Christian and I value and cherish God-given life."

Dublin - 22 April 2018

20. Anti-abortion and pro-abortion posters

21. Wide of pro-abortion poster reading (English): "Vote Yes"

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Ricky Tiilikainen, undecided, says he will abstain from voting:

"Beforehand I would have been pro-choice, and I would have felt that pro-choice wasn't that you were killing an unborn child. But now after just having a child I feel like it is almost like you are killing an unborn child."

23. Man wearing jumper reading (English): "Vote No", pro-abortion poster in background reading (English): "Your mother, your sister, your daughter, her choice"

24. SOUNDBITE (English) John O'Flaherty, pro-abortion voter:

"This whole referendum is the perfect example of the type, the hypocrisy and cant and humbug that this country goes on with. We have abortion on demand, it's just that we make those poor unfortunate girls head over to England to get it. I think it's about time we stop "codding" ourselves and feeling real holy about it and have faith and trust in the women and deliver the service to them here."

Dublin - 23 April 2018

25. Demonstrators dressed as "handmaids" from Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel "The Handmaid's Tale"

26. Various of demonstrators dressed as "handmaids" holding signs reading (English): "No"

27. Demonstrators dressed as "handmaids" holding signs reading (English): "Yes, choice, freedom, equality"