Professor Norman Lammert, president of the Bundestag speaks to Ross Westgate about how he sees the bloc evolving in the years to come.

Steve Sedgwick takes you through Telecom Italia, the former state monopoly with a significant debt problem.

Mike Amey, portfolio manager at Pimco, says he favors bonds from countries like Brazil and Mexico, despite market speculation of a looming emerging market debt bubble.

David Murrin, chief investment officer at Emergent Asset Management, tells CNBC why he expects "hope to decay", as the early highs of 2013 turn out to be a mirage.

Chris Wheeler, bank analyst at Mediobanca, tells CNBC why it's so difficult to divorce the European banking system from sovereign debt.

The chief executive of Qatar's largest private commercial bank, R Seetharaman tells CNBC how he plans to reclaim lost market share and go global.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC, R Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank, describes the lender's strategy to get in on billions of government dollars earmarked for infrastructure in Qatar, and makes the case for authorities to fairly allocate projects among the country's banks.

Dana Telsey, CEO & chief researcher of Telsey Advisory Group, forecasts US retail sales figure up around 3 percent, driven by promotions and clearance sales.

Rainer Skierka, head of financials research at Sarasin, tells CNBC why the volatility of investment banking is reflected in Credit Suisse's fourth quarter results.

Mykola Golovko, global consumer electronics industry analyst at Euromonitor International, expects Sony's 2013 performance grow on the image sensor technology.

Tom Vosa, head of market economics at National Australian Bank, tells CNBC that he wants to hear how incoming governor Mark Carney will go about managing the Bank of England.

Christopher Viehbacher, CEO of Sanofi, pledges a different and radical approach to innovation.

Allan Valentiner, director of Fixed Income at Johannes Führ, tells CNBC that the ECB is going to hold short-term rates where they are for quite some time.

Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, tells CNBC that complacency is still a major issue for both markets and politicians.

Steve Sedgwick takes you through the European market open, where stocks have come in flat.

Ben Verwaayen, CEO of Alcatel Lucent, tells CNBC that he is stepping down as CEO as the company has been stabilized and the next three years are all about execution.

Brady Dougan, CEO of Credit Suisse, tells CNBC that they have good returns considering they are the first Basel III compliant investment banking business.

Peter Long, CEO of TUI Travel, tells CNBC they are seeing very strong demand for winter sun holidays and ski holidays.

Bernard Charles, CEO of French technology group, Dassault Systemes, tells CNBC that it is 'prudent to be prudent' at the beginning of the year and not set up unrealistic targets.

Kona Haque commodity research analyst at MacQuarie Group, tells CNBC why she expects prices to come under pressure as 2013 sees a huge rise in commodity supply.