In Brussels, hundreds of activists have protested at a planned free trade pact between the EU and US, claiming it would only help big firms make money.

Police used water cannon as demonstrators tried to form a human chain around a business conference. Some 240 people were briefly detained.

From Germany to Greece there is growing hostility to the proposed deal - known as the 
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - which is uniting far-left and far-right parties running in European Parliament elections next week.