That is the coronavirus outbreak and relations with turkey and russia at the Atlantic Council in washington, d. C. From earlier this month, this is about 90 minutes. The director of the future initiative here at the Atlantic Council. And its really my pleasure to host today the minister of state for European Affairs of the french republic for a conversation about france, europe, and the transatlantic relation. As you know, here at the Atlantic Council, we value european allies, we value u. S. Engagement, and the future of the initiative is to precisely make the case that the European Union is a key and critical Strategic Partner of the United States. Part of our role is to discipline the developments within the European Union and to engage policy makers and create a bridge and dialogue between policy makers of the United States and europe, especially in times of great power coalition. President macron in france has laid out ambitious agenda for engagement of partners like russia, reforming the eurozone, and these are issues well discuss today with the ministers. Let me first turn to madame to start with initial remarks and well open to a conversation with all of you and thank you very much. Thank you for hosting me and thank you for taking time today to talk about whats happening in europe and to also see what the transatlantic friendship can mean to carry the voice of france in europe, but also was we see today in the u. S. Coming to the u. S. For me holds a very special meaning, because its actually in the u. S. I started thinking actively about the european identity and more openings to give the projects more life i was a student in 2013, and at the time, Many American students who tell me and to my friends, european friends, that we were lucky, because as we had left the whole ward, we could now in the u. S. Have a future with success. So we wanted to show them, also, a future back in europe. Thats why we created the European Conference at harvard and i would be the keynote to open it. So seven years later, i think this opportunity to com back from this side of the atlantic from europe and there is no better place to be in the u. S. As europeans and look back and ask what we have achieved. When i look back, i see in past years, europeans have kbn to understand that there can be a european way. That we must pave our own way to stay relevant. And the most important way is the way that europeans are changing the way they look at themselves and starting to see europe capable of being strong and sovereign. Indeed, we often dont see ourselves as being powerful. When you look at europe, you probably see facts, you see 450 million citizens. You see 27 countries united around a common political project and you see a quarter of the world gdp, the biggest training block. But when we europeans look at ourselv ourselves, we often didnt see this power. We saw doubts, divisions, disagreements, difficulty to fight consensus on important decisions and this is changing because my president is putting a lot of energy to show that we can use the capabilities that we have, the power we already have, to take initiative. One example is the european martime mission in the straight of hormuz. Its also what we do in sale. Its also what weve done, jointly, also to evacuate citizens from china. Its also what what we are trying to do now around the coronavirus. These are small examples, but examples of the many situations where europe is back and in capacity to take initiatives. But what has changed the most in my view and what i take from the 11 months i now have as minister for france is that everywhere in europe, there is an opportunity to act and make our own decisions. And this is what i take from the many meetings i have been having all around europe in the 27 Member States and i have not been to all of them, but quite to all of them. And everywhere i feel that there is a growing consensus around what we call the agenda if european sovereignty. This is what i want to tell you about in a few words and im sure we have time for questions. For me, european being sovereign means three things. The first, it means that we need to have the will to find as europeans the answers to the main challenges of our time and to propose a european way to go on Climate Change. And two days ago, the European Commission proposed its climate law, its way to implement its green deal to be Carbon Neutral by 2019. And why respecting human values, privacy also, fair taxation is of the essence. And how do we ensure to people that when they work, they can live above the poverty line and we can ensure to them social progress and social justice. It also goes to migration. Where we want to propose a solution, which is both efficient, humane, organized, which is a bundle of solidarity and responsibility. So second, how do we ensure the conditions of our autonomy . No sovereign power is independent from others. This is why weapon want to invest in the common policy. In terms of technology. In certain sectors, take for instance electric batteries. We have also in terms of strategy to defend ourselves. This is why were trying to build defense capacity. We also want to have a trade policy that is consistent with our build. Also, making climate an essential claus, as the Paris Agreement is not an anecdotal decoration setting. Its a decor of the autonomy we want to build and provide with our partners. Its also goes with the protection of democracy, notably to protect the elections, the processes that are now being sometimes interfered. And the third way to think about european sovereignty is to be able to protect our own interests. For instance, and taking responsibility for our neighborhood, and we refer to it in the questions you might have but also taking initiatives as europeans, making our voice heard on the international stage, to defend militaryism, to defend biodiversity, to defend a number of topics where we see our interests at stake, but we need also to engage our partners. , st its also a way to invent a relationship with the united kingdom. We dont want to punish the british people. We dont want to win and for them to lose. What we want is a way to protect our citizens, our farmers, our businesses who never asked to have a brexit. And we would not understand that we sign a deal where for decades after they would suffer from unfair competition. This is our agenda for sovereignty. Citizens in may 19, they went to the stations and gave a signal, which was not the one many people were expecting. People were expecting the populo populous, taenteuropeans to win. But if people gave us this trust for us to be on an agenda, we have to be achieving concrete results. Because for me, what is even more important than the initial goals that we have set for ourselves and i have discussed, it is the obligation to obtain results, because our citizens will not accept that european continues to make promise s without delivering tangible change. And for me the biggest threat to europe is not so much a discussion between big powers, its the lack of trust of its own citizens in the fact that this project is protecting them on a daily basis very clearly, very concretely. For me in my daily life, in my daily job, if i can call it so, we are trying to have a new method of work, to be able to achieve more quickly majorities. To build coalitions where we can go faster from a proposal to an agreement to implementation. It means that im trying not to believe that there is magic in brufls. Not just because heads of state and governments will come to this europa building. That during the night they will fight by chance the agreements that nobody could have built before. So gradually, we are trying to innovate dploiplomatically. So we increase the circle. At the beginning it was two countries. Then eight, nine, 20, 24, then at the end, 28. Its a method. Its a process. And this is the way we can provide more trust and more capacity to show that we can move forward for them. And not only as european, sometimes for signing treaties and doing diplomatic relations. This is not about diplomatic relations. It is a part of it, but the most part of the european project is to provide protection and outcome for the people. So when i just to finish, i also want to share a discussion that i have been having here with american officials, congressmen, business leaders. We discuss in details all the topics where europe and the United States do not see exactly eyetoeye at the moment. We discuss climate, defense, trade, meteorological institutions, issues like iran, syria and at the end, my main message to all was that we see that the increase are increase following their national interest, which is perfectly joimt. But this is the way and this is the reason why we need also as european to protect our interests. And our interests is to have a Strong Partnership and is to have a strong alliance. The alliance between europe and the america will be strong if europe is strong. If we can genuinely protect our own interests in a dialogue where we see ourselves as equals. Its a new situation. We need to learn, to decide for ourselves and to propose solutions to our partners. To not just wait, that they define the road map and we can just follow being allies doesnt mean to be followers, it means to Work Together and fulfill common goals that we have set for ourselves. It doesnt mean to cut our ties and our relationship and friendship with longstanding allies with the u. S. To conclude, as you see, this idea of sovereignty is not opposed to a transatlantic relationship. I think the president has always said that the u. S. Is and will remain a major partner, a partner which we need and with whom we share the same values. And i think we will stay transatlantic and become more european. Its not a but, its an end. It goes together. Take the example of european defense. We have to invest more to take military action together. By doing this, were not weak g weakening the transatlantic alliance. Were making it stronger. We are stronger allies, and we can continue together on the basis of genuine shared interest. We are ready to take up our own responsibility where they diverge. And i believe it will make the transatlantic relationship more balanced, more interesting, probably also more ambitious, because it will they be be following the objective we want to achieve together. With this, you know, its an introduction of the state of mind, kmiwhich is mine at the moment, but im happy to have an open, lively discussion with all of you. Im happy to see you are all very interested with europe and im ready to share with you what we tried to do back on the old continent. Thank you very much. Thank you, minister. And you really insisted both on how ambitious the european agenda it is and how central it is to macrons agenda, but innovating methods, formats, and i think its interesting, too, to have this conversation with you, because you sort of embody also a new generation of political leaders that came with president macrons election in 2017, coming with the private sector and being elected and now a minister on these issues that are so central to the chairman. Im sure were going to talk more about this with all of you. But my first action, before going into more strategic issues, obviously, europe is going through two major crisis right now, that i would like to ask you about. The first is the response to the coronavirus, which is a global crisis, not specifically a european one. But it strikes once again at the heart of the common project, she think shengyen, open borders, something that would qualify why the eu is useful. Being able to have technical changes between countries. But it seems on the contrary that its once again fueling populist anger in europe. I would love to have your thoughts and on how europe is responding and should respond to this crisis. Well, thank you very much. At the current moment where we speak, the Health Ministers of the 27 countries are meeting in brussels. Its the third meeting they have together in the last two or three weeks. They are permanently in contact. But there is no european competence. Its a scenario where the European Institution provide the setting, the place, the safe place where we can exchange as governance. But there is no infrastructure for tackling precisely a pandemic at a european escape. We have symptoms of of Civil Protection mechanisms that were used typically to repatriate european citizens from china. Just for you to know, the planes were french, but the people were all europeans, and we have a system where the european budget was funding 75 of the costs to make sure that those investoring for the infrastructure, like france, repaid in a way to provide this infrastructure for the whole benefits of the whole european citizens. So what were trying to do at the moment is to coordinate. And to provide the most coordinated frame work, so as decisions are made consistently with scientific background and without too much dispersion. Typically on borders, it was always discussed by all the countries together on how to manage the flows of people. How to organize the quaurantine, how to make something consistent. If you were in lomlombardia two weeks ago, if you are french or german or a slovak, we tried to provide a unified set of measures, so people understand that things are being done in a consistent manner. We also at the moment were working collectively at the medical equipment, on the mask, on the solutions. To control and maybe you can see that its a ban to exports in between countries. That was not the objective. The objective is first to make sure that we have in all countries, capacity to produce and to export in particular to European Countries and not elsewhere. So we are also learning by doing. Because its a scenario where there is no european competence. But its very useful to have these discussions going. What i also see is this crisis will also probably lead us to be more sovereignty and autonomy of production in some goods, because after, you know, fukushima, we also tested how integrated our value chains were, but also how far they could be, because sometimes we lack one, you know, manufacturing one country and you see consequences for everybody. I think we will probably test again the places, the segments, the value chains where we need to have european production back on the european continent, to make sure we can sustain a number of services and goods for the citizens. So i think we will learn with it. We try to have a balance between precaution, but not panic. Also to be clear that we will not close europe for six months. We need to provide to the people, you know, services. We need to economy to continue to keep functioning. So we are at the stage which is given the number of people infected, i know and understand to be the u. S. Case, but thats the way we are proceeding. The other crisis i want to ask you about, obviously, is once again, the consequences of the crisis in syria and the fighting between russian and turkish troops in idlib and a potential new migration crisis in greece and bulgaria. Weve seen, obviously, the leaders of the European Union go to greece, affirm their solidarity. I would love to hear your thoughts on, first, what do you think is the risk of a new migration crisis, how the European Union can respond to it. But also more broadly how the eu can be more assertive and play a role in syria with a conflict thats been going on for a decade with direct consequences for european security. First, in syria, we need a political transition. And this is the constant position we have been holding for many, many months, many, many years, even, to provide a political framework to the conflicts and to find a framework to exit this condition of, you know, extreme violence and dead people and humanitarian crisis. We were supporting the action of the turks in the idlib reign, because we were seeing it as a way to protect the population against the regime and action. What we see at the greek Turkish Border is we all know about it. It was an organized flow of people that were refugees in turkey for quite a while. There are 3. 6 million people, which are displaced people in turkey. Where europe, as you know, is investing money to provide to them humanitarian conditions, which we try to be as best as possible, as good as possible. Were getting scheduling, so we saw the regime, the turkish regime bringing these people to the border, to a place where we all know the border is closed. It was a form of blackmail. It was a way no put pressure on the europeans, for potentially go and talk to mr. Putin to take action in a way which we thought was not appropriate. So the message of europe so far has been we understand the game in which we are being placed. We dont want to play this game. So we are very strong in not playing the game of the blackmailing away that were put on our shoulders. We are at the moment today we have a special meeting of the Foreign Affairs ministers at the european level. You would see the communique. I cannot tell you detail what is allowed because that i saw the photographic and ill tell you the cop collusion conclusion point. But it was making sure that the humanitarian response in europe was strong. Can bring support in danger in idlib and also in turkey. Its a question of money. Its not money for the turkish regime, but for the people on the turkish soil. When it comes to the migration part, we are working for many months for this new migration pact. The proposal, the European Commissions to come in the coming weeks. Probably early may maximum and the plan we are pushing is a plan to overcome the big divide and divisions we lived in 2015. At a moment where we couldnt organize both the solidarity and what we calm the responsibility. It was signed the day the same year i was born. At that time, people had a good intuition. They said we need to provide internal Free Movement because well have external strong borders. Its not a question of being a fortress or putting people back in the country. I its a question of efficiency and who is knowing who is coming in, who is coming out. Well, if you look after 34 years, well, the leg on the internal Free Movement is very strong. The leg of the capacity to have borders which are borders is not strong. So we need to have borders where we know who is entering and who is coming out. Then we have enforce that with the entry of refugees. At the heart of european project there was a concept of bringing protection to those in danger so we will not breach our tradition of the geneva convention. But what we need to do is to be very strong against illegal immigration when traffickers organize this illegal immigration. This is where we need borders to be borders that we can understand who the people are. If they are refugees provide them shelter or in the country if the number of people is limited or if the number of people is high, to make sure that they are enough capacity in the european continent to welcome these people. If people if countries do not want to take people, they have to contribute to the solidarity with other means. Money, people, infrastructure. This is very key to us that we cannot have, you know, the quota system that was sought in 2015, can not work. But everybody must play a role. This is what were trying to build from germany and many others that are supporting the commission in the finalization of the work. The first entry country as we named them, cyprus, malta, greece, spain, italy. Are working also together to see how we can make this all functioning. And again, as said in my introductory remarks its the capacity to implement. Not such a capacity to say nice things but to show the european people we can build trust with them by doing what well say wering to. I want to followup on this. You talked about the eu asserting more responsibility on the war stage and the europeans playing power politics at. Turkey is a complicated neighbor for the European Union. Thats a big debate here in washington about the relationship with turkey. We have seen turkish interference and yet turkey is still a member for candidate sorry for secession in the European Union. How do you think the europeans should think of the relationship with turkey . What we in france are trying to do is to have the debate, to have in places public you know, the idea is not to do press conferences but to engage in work on typically nato. This is when the president whos the famous the economist tried to do. Say we need to, you know, have this regime with you, for our objectives of what works, what doesnt work. The different crisis, you know, may arise. And be in capacity to have a common reading, common diagnosis and a common change or reforms if we need to undertake the reforms and changes. Indeed on nato, on migration, on a number of questions we need to engage in the dialogue and to engage in dialogue. So this is the work we are undertaking this is what the Foreign Ministers are discussing. We do not see confrontation. We do not seek changes but first to have a common voice. This is the whole effort that bow than is undertaken. He said very clearly, we have challenges. We have areas on which clearly we need to be in the capacity to resist to a number of things. We need to engage more. So you know we need to engage with mr. Erdogan. We need to engage with mr. Putin. It doesnt mean were going back to business as usual or well accept what things are around the zones. We are engaged in a varying process. All of the processes must continue, but we need a dialogue, we need a dialogue line because isolation and indifference, were not doing any good to all of the discussions we just had. So you just mentioned the dialogue with mr. Putin. Obviously another complicated neighbor, president macron, has launched sort of a gamble by trying to establish a new form of dialogue with moscow. Its creating stirring a lot of debates both here and obviously in other european capitals. Can you explain to us what the president s strategy is and first its not a gamble. Its serious. And its the outcome of an analysis that we have that the status quo is not satisfactory. Whats happening in crimea, in many foreign conflicts around in cyberspace. Is not satisfactory. It means we need to have this movement because we know that there is a notion that the russians, the frozen conflicts. Its to free the conflict. And then make things, you know i was a few months ago. Theyre in the same situation since 1993. Is it providing any solution to the people, no its frozen. Our view was we needed to engage without naivety that things would change in the day or the night. But the idea is if we keep if we get the dotted line, if we isolate totally russia. Probably the outcomes would be those who settle the score. We are trying to engage. We are taking our time. We dont know where its going. We are very concrete and strong on the fact that we will not normalize things just for the sake of normallization. But we are step by step engaging. The ambassador you might know well, hes our special envoy. Hes both speaking with the russians and also explaining and with the Different Countries in london and germany and all of the states to create a true transparency on what has been discussed. And we we are therefore moving. Our view is as we cannot put such a big power like russia in a place of isolation. We need to have dialogue. And again, im really insists on this. Without naivety. We know the cyber differences are important. We know what is we need to be progressing but if you have a normal format meeting in paris its because we engaged very forcefully. To be very clear we are engaging not to the ukrainians. Were not organizing this without the ukrainians. We are with them. Were talking to them a lot. And we are putting our Political Capital with germany in this, you know, debate. So we can see things moving. You know, prison exchanges, all those things happened. Its not magic, its not tend of the game but we try to keep things moving. This is the objective were following and we are very honest. One day well see if things are going progressing enough or not. But we feel that we cannot just consider its satisfaction. Yeah. Im sure well have other reactions and questions in the room. We have ambassador freed here and others who im sure would love to followup on that specific question. Let me ask you a last question because its interesting for a minister of Foreign Affairs to come here. Obviously the transatlantic relationship has been strained. President macron has made it a point to keep a strong personal relationship with President Trump and at the same time making the case for european sovereignty and autonomy. Were entering fully into the Campaign Mode here in the u. S. And with different visions for the relationship with europe. What do you think europeans now expect from the United States and expect from this relationship . Well, i think we were allies and we are allies based on values. The capacity representing democracy. The capacity to protect freedoms and the belief in progress in technology. At the service of people. I work with great i read with great interest the oped where he was calling on the u. S. To invest and to recreate trust on our technology. The word europe is not in oped but theyre doubling the r d at the european level for 6g and digital and investing in technology that people can trust. These norms on 5g and others to make sure that on biotech and other issues we are trying to go in the direction that i think Many Americans would see as something theyre also expecting for their own future. So these sharing of values of willingness to protect democracy, of protecting literal societies with a number of limits also to what you know, to what progress can bring to society i think something which provides us a very strong basis under which to continue to build the transatlantic relationship which is genuine and provide progress to other countries. I think this is a very strong engine for future everybody devers. Look at the americans who are increasing massively their presence in the investment in france. This is a way that embodies and shows that this relationship can be both ways and balanced. There are challenges for sure. We just talked about number one, number of challenges. And number of situations where we need more dialogue. Where we need also to be more acting together. To share more and act more together. But sometimes we europeans we provide potentially new ways, openings that are maybe not those that the americans will first describe. Or undertake. But might be also opportunities. Again, no naivety. A strong belief in things that we know we built over the centuries and decades and the capacity to work with also bipartisanism. This is why the president took energy to create a personal relationship with the american president. Because we need to have a strong as french, and as europeans we need a strong relationship with the u. S. And also to you know, eyes open on the things where we might not have the same but to keep nurturing this relationship. So i think we can open up to all of you and take your questions. Please introduce yourself before you ask the question. Dont make a speech, ask a natural question. Do we have so lets start here and then well get to ambassador freed. We have a mic coming. Hello, im benjamin im a student from germany. You were talking about the goal of keeping safe borders in europe. I just wanted to ask about the concrete situation were at now on the turkish greek border. With rubber bullets being shot at immigrants. How do you propose dealing with this concrete situation without betraying European Values . What we will be talking seriously with the turks and putting these people under safe conditions. Safe conditions is not, you know, five meters from the greek border. These people were brought actively by the people i dont know if the regime or not, but actively these people were not coming directly from idlib. The they could go and they could go and then it was open which was not. The border was open and we need to work with the turkish authorities. We need to provide for the people beyond the geopolitics and pressure. I think this is for me the route well take and on the islands in greece and elsewhere, we have to fully respect the international law. Fully respect the humanitarian principles we have. Typically for children. Who are being denied you know, minors or i dont know how to say it in english, but yes, we have to provide the humanitarian response. We have to work with the turks so the agreements we have signed to provide humanitarian conditions for sheltering, for housing and schooling is respected and to engage in an in respecting the commitments we have both made to provide the best solution to a crisis which is demanding, which is challenging. And which we know are the roots needs to be solved by a political response in syria. Ambassador freed, distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and former secretary of state for European Affairs. And a veteran of various unsuccessful attempts at dialogue with russia. Look, i applaud your arguments for a strong europe aligned with the United States. And a strong sovereign europe. Solid arguments, well delivered. Im all for it so dont mistake me. My question about the dialogue with russia is that such dialogue start off as you laid it out. Status quo is not good, not working we have to try something. The dialogue the attempts at dialogue often end with a series of unilateral gestures on the part of the United States or the part of europe which is pocketed by the russians. Thats not always true. I mean, we manage we have managed with different russian regimes, gorbachev for one to make some progress. So im not against an attempted dialogue in particular. But the questions are, how are you going to avoid the trap of successive concessions and gestures of goodwill which may not be shared by putin . And should attempts at dialogue go in parallel with at least the preparation of the additional steps to put pressure on russia if youre wrong . So first of all, we are keeping you know the we are keeping the sanctions, we are keeping the whole response that we had after the crimea and after the other events. I think thats very important to keep in mind. Were not by engaging in dialogue weakening things that were put in place and where the conditions of going backwards are very well known. We know how and what has to be done for the sanctions to be lifted. I think, you know, its very interesting because i had the honor of also the task to be chairing the commission of the council of europe. You know, which is the institution, which is the eu, the institution where we are 47 countries. The whole continent and russia including. I was chairing the committee of ministers when russia was when the allegation was taken back in the organization. Also because we saw that we cannot promote militaries everywhere on the planet if we cannot take of our only troop the institution at the european level. Between gorbachev as you said and now, a number of things evolved. Typically the council of europe. Typically, a number of projects on the european continent that were not existing at the time. And in between i think a number of progress have been made in our capacity to engage a dialogue on a number of issues with russia. Our view is that at the moment russia tried to be an asian country. An asian power. It didnt work. Well, i think you know, its the organization that we all can have. Thats not probably the future for russia. They tried to go in places like middle east, like africa, and we see also the limitation it provides to all of us. Our sentiment is russia is by definition a power which has to have which is a european power in a way. Not the same with the eu, but its in the grand europe, and in italy or its in europe. Our view that we cannot in the long term have this power next to us without having in some way a dialogue. A lively dialogue. You know, we are putting and we have trying to find find ways to engage in concrete issues like cyber, where we feel we can make progress. I think the number of the meeting that was held a few weeks ago in paris president zelensky, president putin, president macron, were in the same room. After a number of steps on the prisoner exchange, on on a number of things is a progress. For sure its not the end of the process. For sure, you know, there are still conflicts, still, you know, elements of violence, the flow, the organization is not subsidized we know that. But our sentiment is it would be irresponsible irresponsible to think that the status quo is satisfactory. I understand what you say. It was attempted before, sometimes its failed. Sometimes its succeeded so smally that nobody understood so it was a success. In the meantime, a lot of things have happened. We have to, you know, take this into account. Typically the council of europe. You know, russia is russian citizens have access through the European Court of human rights to the recourse if they feel their rights are among the protected. Russia is then sometimes often content to protect prisoners. To protect freedom of speech, to protect people demonstrating in the streets and russia is implementing these and this was not achievement if we had not, you know, everybody gamed in the dialogue which is challenging. Where we cannot know exactly the leaders but we feel we have the responsibility to keep an open mind. I think the quotes in the last days is very important. Yes, for sure we have a difference of view and yes for sure we have confrontations on many issues with turkey, with russia. But as, you know, just neighbors, russia is a neighboring country, from finland, from poland. From all of our eastern border of many countries. We cannot just we have to engage more and this is what we are trying to do. We are trying to do it very transparently. Theres a high level of sharing of information, exchanges with our partners and also because we are, you know, at the Security Council france is the now only permanent member of the Security Council member of the eu. And we think that for many of the other things and topics we need to have this dialogue live. Without we are lucid. There was no in the process, but which think its of high value to do it. Nicolette here at the institute of economics and minister, great to see you in washington. My question is on your portfolio, minister of European Affairs. President macron made a big speech in the university shortly after being elected. He was the first president of france i think elected while waving a european flag. I was elected also waving a european flag as a member of parliament. This was quite new. Exactly. So that was quite that was something new. There is a view which is widely shared in this town i think and also in the number of quarters of europe that the speech showed nothing and that basically the macron vision is fader. How do you think about this . Okay. So its a very good way to be straight. But i thank you for the question because being straight is useful. If you look at this situation where the president came in 2017, we can more or less describe our european action in three steps. First step was to shape the ideas debate. Was to renew our ambition. To show what we could do as europeans after a period during many people thought you know this project is weakened. We have difficulties to sign agreements. There was no extensions so the sovereign speech was a way to say that place is the items there are ways where europeans can do things and we tried to open the debate. That was for the first probably 18 months of the president. Then came a moment where the question was okay, with this idea can we have a team to support these ideas and this was the elections. This was the new commission, and the truce of the commissioners, the parliaments. This new renewed group at the Central European parliaments and this was about creating a team to Carry Forward our ideas. Now we are entering phase three and phase three is indeed the moment of credibility test. Now that we have the ideas, now that we have the team to implement it, can we deliver. This is why my introductory remarks for me the main threat is not so much the crisis around the dialogue with the big partners and big powers. Its our capacity to deliver for the people, for the trust of the citizens in europe to be revived not on promises, not on words or speeches but on actually capacity to deliver. And this is the job in the sense i have today. Its to create majorities. Other parliaments with the renewed relegation with our partners but also at the council level. To with whom to we implement the road map that is now the Commission Road map . The first success if were honest is that 80, 85 of the speech is now if you do the control find in the road map of the commission is now in the road map of the commission. The commissioners if you look at what the different commissions have said to themselves as objectives and has been endorsed by the European Parliament 85 of what the president said is is in the thats first, you know, not a victory but its a realization that these speech, these ideas became ideas that now are widely shared with our german partners. With our with the european circles. I totally agree with you. The figure would come if were not able to move these road maps into outcomes. So it goes with the european budgets. We need to put the means in front of off ambitions. This is why, you know, france is a net payer to the european budget but is ready to contribute more as soon as the content of our action is at the level of ambition we need. We will not pay for, you know, a budget which is below expectations. We are ready to contribute, we want to contribute for, you know, put means in front of our ambitions. It goes also with our capacity to transform the coalition of six or seven countries we have on most of the topics to a majority. And this is why, you know, im trying to go and have new agreements with the group, with the nordic governments. We are inventing my teams are trying to find names in the formats we are meeting. We have geographic meetings, nongeographic meetings and what we have to do now is not to so much provide new ideas. But to with the teams and the people we have, with the great alignment we have with the commission, which was not the case for many, many years. For many years france was not aligned with the commission. We have a big responsibility. In 2022, we will be having the presidency of the council for six months. From the first of january 2020 to june 2022. Its an important moment because it will be a moment to have french elections so the moment where the president will have to look at what he has done for five years in france and well have at the same time the responsibility of chairing the works of the european level. I think i understand your skepticism that is shared. I think the moment of seeing if it works or not is in 2020, 2024 with the new commission, did we achieve to do what was in the road maps of the different commissioners . If with do so then i think we can go back to the sovereign speech and see what was put on the table has been made real. And let me followup on this question, on may 89, the e u will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the shuman declaration and launch a wide conference on the future of europe. Can you tell us a little bit about what you expect from this conference, from this effort . The president proposed this because the sovereign speech is made of things we can achieve in the next five years. If we are, you know, in a good functioning way. We have time and we have the capacity to put all of the speech into agreements and then implementation by 2024. The question we want to raise jointly is okay, what do we do next . What are our point i always say in french, what do we look after . What are our true long term objectives . Is it about in what i provide a number of things but the other things and we want to have this to have this with the citizens and with a common eu wide effort. Not just, you know, france, germany and the six other countries meeting you know as we are we used to meet for many, many years and did finding for the rest of the country what we want to do. In many countries, im very interested by this topic. Is education and training is a big, big expectation of the whole society. If you look, europe has competence to work on the research, the education. The only place where its really actually mobilities. Typically if we want to create a true european approach to training, retraining, education, at the moment in our treaty, you know, we can set our common objectives but we dont have the true competence to do it. On climate, were doing a lot. Now, in proposal on vision, do we need more competencies at the european level . We want to engage in this debate but we want to do it at the european wide level. We want to do it with the citizens and we want for the next five years after 2024 to have a road map which will not be a sovereign speech again. Which is something, you know, designed from the people and with this vision. In terms of method and process, we want also to be innovative in the way to conduct this conference. Typically, by potentially choosing people randomly, to come naturally about the European Conference. I try quite actively to go in places where the european money t european projects and the action is being implemented to also show what europe does. Europe is not about meetings of ministers. Its about program, investment. Capacity to put people together. When i go there i can tell you, half of the room is filled if i just im coming and im ready to discuss with you. Half is full of pro europeans. Pro that are people very federalists, europe is not doing enough and pro european in all ways and the other half of the room is made up of people that europe is the problems, from the time theyre born and that will end their lives on the surface of the planet. This is not very functional. This is not leading us anywhere. Pause you are putting in place people without the setting to think together. We are the coming together on climate, the Citizen Convention on climate. 150 citizens who were chosen randomly to be kind of the representation of french society. Young people, older people, you have farmers, you have businessmen, you have sme owner. Employees. So its a set of people working together on how can we tackle Climate Change in france. They are being surrounded by experts. They are put into confrontations that they can two into the complexity of the choices to be made. We would like to do the same for the european project. To confront people and to bring in the room people who do not come naturally. Other ones for whom will deliver. They have the basis of the legitimacy of the european project. Sometimes my embassy is embedded in the Foreign Affairs embassy. I have many located in that system at a different place. Some are linked to the prime minister. Some are linked to the heads of state. It gives a very different perception to the people of what is europe about . In france, because when we were diplomats theres a perception that europe is about making, you know, agreements with foreign countries. So its about Foreign Affairs. About diplomacy. But in fact, if you look, this is only a small part of what we do. So this is where i think this conference was also it would also be interesting. How do you today see europe, what do you expect from it . What do you want us to build on competence . It competence is not seen it will be an important moment, starting by and from the people. We had conrad. Hi, i think that, conrad dribble from the department of state. Congratulations and great that youve come to washington for this kind of conversation. I think theres not enough of that. You havent said too much about germany. The history of european integration is lot of the history of the Franco German partnership. What is germanys situation . What does germany mean to you as you work through this program and the agenda, how important is that relationship still and how is it changing . Its a lot of my time because im the secretarygeneral to the Franco German relationship. Its one different hat in the diplomatic system. We are constantly, you know, having a dialogue on many dee tails, on many strategy choices with germany. My ministry is in Constant Contact with the with the secretary general, coming to my secretary general. Every two weeks. So we are actively engageled. We are talking all the time to each other. But we realize its not because france and germany will be agreeing. That things will be okay and done. So we are on each side trying to create different alliances. This is what i told you about the new format, the new bilateral work we are underta undertaking. Because we realize that france and germany in june we were agreeing. For things to be unanimous choice. What we also realize is poland now after brexit, poland, germany and france together represent 47 of the eu population. So if you look poland will play and is playing a great role. This is why i took the decision to have a new why mar summit as soon as january. There will be a new summit of the level of the states on the 14th of july. So theyll meet at the highest level. So typically i think this is very important and also to create new trial rules now that the brits are operating in the eu solutions. But as i said, i think we are with germany, leading a different synchronization. We are in the middle of a mandate of five years. We are in the stable position. The president , you know, is in a capacity to be in a freedom area. Freedom of movement. In germany, its the end of a cycle. We see a lot of questioning, internal questioning on the priorities. The political dynamics. And this created a discrepancy. Sometimes it was in the reverse. You have moments that germany was very, you know, waiting for the french to respond, for the french to be organized, for the french to tell and to respond to initiatives. That germany was taking. The question is not so much confrontation. Its not so much opposition. Its more a question of momentum and desynchronization in terms of the political cycle. So as the president said in munich, its sometimes more impatience than confrontation. With the willingness to see things moving probably quicker but we know the and we know that the elections will come when they come and not before the end of the german presidency of the eu. Not before december. Which is still seen from the eyes of my president quite a long way to go. Al. Actually, let me followup because you mentioned the why mar triangle. It was president macrons first state visit and what is he expecting . France, germany and poland have typically a very common agenda on sme, on the whole production agenda of europe. This is very, very important on competition. When it came to it was a letter signed by poland, ireland, belgium and france. Which is kind of the innovative format again. So we are trying to work topic by topic, subject by subject, find the genuine places where we want countries to move together. And indeed, typical in brexit i can tell you, poland is very close to france when it comes to a level playing field, citizen rights. So we see a number of topics where we have genuine common interests. This is the ones we are trying for every country, i can tell you about romania, spain, portugal, we are trying to make the most of the common points we have. After that, with poland we have a very clear and very open message on the need and we are supporting the commission. We have the disability rights but we have institutions that had to be strong in dealing with the full respect of the treaty. We are fully supporting the commission, fully supporting the parliament but on the bilateral basis, which tree jointly we try jointly to push forward agendas that we are generally aligned. So to make sure that everybody has an opportunity to ask a question, well start here to the second and then the third row. Thank you. I just would like you to ask you how the issue of sovereignty and that of freedom to you perceive in your living experience at the different level on the individual, if there is some tangible example you can make . Thanks. Then just here, second row please introduce yourself. Hi, im a journal student as well. What are your comments on yesterdays ceasefire agreement between russia and turkey for idlib, syria . Then well take another round of questions. Second question, its welcome. Its needed. Its necessary. After that, again, we need syria to be put in the political process. Which we not only depend on the meetings in moscow of mr. Putin and mr. Erdogan. We need to put again a lot of Political Capital to have the political process to move on. This cannot be done if youre you know, if there are bombs and planes and you know warfare. So its welcome. Its needed. Its necessary. Its not sufficient at all to imagine a medium term process. Regarding your question, typically what we build around privacy, the way europe as defined its own data privacy agenda is a sovereignty you have india, i have seen the players here saying that its an interesting framework. This is sovereignty. The capacity to define your own rules and then make the rules interesting. Even taking them up by other places, other powers. On freedom, i think the all the work being done in europe on violence against women or freedom of the press or freedom of lgbt rights is based on the fundamental values of freedom and with a set of collective rules that we try to fully implement. Lets take a couple other questions here and then just next to you. Thank you for being here. I wanted to ask you about syria again. Apologies for that. There is this idea that we as European Countries are not hoping to receive more refugees and thats a common thinking of the populist grounds in europe. And you were just talking about how the system failed. My question is how is france preparing in the case of million more seeking refuge in europe . How is france going to take action . Is it going to be on the side of those who provide the means as you mentioned or the side of the country willing to host . Thank you. Hi, jake nelson from the department of state. My question is about china. So this is going to be a big year in eu china relations with the summit taking place this spring and then the leaders that germany has announced during the presidency which is announced in september. I would like to know what the hopes are under the new council and what role the idea of systemic role that human rights will play in that . So immigration. France is currently the first country in terms of a number of applications for asylum seeking in 2019. France was just at the same level even at a higher level than germany. We are a country receiving the highest level of secondary movements. The currency we see is not functional. Afghan families when they seek asylum in france on average they have asked twice in two other countries for asylum before. We have no capacity to under the common reading of what is asylum seeking and what the rules are for europe so it creates a lot of secondary movements. We also dont have a common approach to which country is providing social means, aid, you know, subsidies. Social subsidies to people so we need to reorganize this. So france will and we are not a country refusing people on our soil. After that agreement the question by the ministry and lots of people came to france. I just want to remind people all of you the number of people that were, you know, on boats and then, you know, welcomed in europe is less than 2,000. The images we have give you the impression we have this many multiplied by 10 or 100, its 2,000 people. So many came to france, but thats also limited numbers and i think its important to go back to the facts because of the imaginary it can be very distorted. We are a country that we are ready to welcome but we need to be organized and we need to also keep people with flexibility and for the rules to be clear. At the moment, a same person, a same family making an application for asylum in germany will have not the same answer in france or germany or italy, and this creates a lot of disorganization. Our position is not so much about the number, not a principal position. The principal position is constitutionally we receive and take application for anybody in the situation of risk and this is now in our constitution. This will not change. But we need for the european system to be more functional. When it comes to china, first we welcome this capacity for europeans to work in a united manner with china. When president macron went to shanghai it changed the tone. It was france fog as a european power. And germany as a european power. We seen reciprocity. We made Good Progress on the european no. The indication of production and so this was very important. To protect producers on both sides and now the next step is protection of investment. This is for us a priority. We then work also on the climate, the pricing and the thinking is where we think we can do progress also with china. So there was a number of places where its been discussed for quite a while and we pntion we expect things to move forward. The key word is reciprocity and again its a fact. Now we can work around this. And again, be lucid. And find areas on which we can make progress. On human rights as you know france has been always very protective of all the citizens and people and individual cases when the situation were arising. We have three questions here and in the back. Hi, i was just wondering to followup on the china question. How are you managing to i mean, how france and also germany are managing to help countries firm greece and italy who are already in the debt trap from china. Well take two others. Hello, im an Exchange Student here in d. C. Given frances position on the Eu Enlargement what should we be expecting from europe now that the commissioner for enlargement has released progress reports on reforms that they might be able to join. Two big questions. Just back to the regulations. Being here in washington, i see a lot of skepticism among americans about the global ambitions because often its pointed out this is not the first time we have tried to do this. And so the question is very simple. How do we convince our american friends that this time its different . And europeans mean business. In terms of playing the devils advocate, i believe youre making a good case but i want to hear your thoughts on this. So with this we have five minutes, perfect. Maybe seven. So first question on china and the i will rephrase it a bit about the investment gap i think we have currently a terrible situation in europe where we are one of the few or maybe the unique continent to export savings while at the same time having to import investment capacity in some countries to for the infrastructure or the projects. If i summarize, yes, in greece, in portugal, italy, also in slovenia, slovakia, if you travel around which is a part of my job, you see that many interesting projects, innovative projects, infrastructure projects, and the same for the balkans are being funded by china, by russia and by turkey. While we in europe we have plenty of savings that we then export. This is totally dysfunctional. The Banking Union dear to our friend macron is a key project. But more than the Banking Union for we me we have to create a union for savings and investment. What we lack at the moment is not money. More than 4 trillion euros on the accounts which are at zero or negative interest rates. We have 1. 7 trillion in france at below inflation rates in the thats because youre french. Youre from france. So we dont lack money. We lack the pipes between the savings we have and the productive projects. And this is at the heart for me of what we need to do for the euro zone and for the european strength in economic terms but also in the geopolitical terms. We cannot say no to the countries when they welcome chinese investments if were not able to provide european money, european investors, European Investment to you know respond to the needs in terms of Capacity Building or infrastructure or, you know,ed by growth and so on. So for me its the response you see is not so much about china, but about our internal capacity to fund with the savings, the investment we need. And this is a very, very important topic. For me, there is no industrial sme strategy that will be successful if we dont put along side this strategy the funding strategy. And as we are an aging continent, as we have a high level of saving rate, we dont lack savings but we lack capacity to put the pipes and organize our saving and investment system differently. On the Eu Enlargement when you said as we know the french position, im not so sure its known. The french position is not a position against enlargement toward the west but the position was to say we think that the european perspective of the region is valid, is historically a promise made and we have no intention to two back on the promise we made. But we were not ready and this is where the discussion ongoing with the commission for quite a long time, we were not ready to sign a mandate which would be the same as the one for serbia and montenegro where we see for the last six and eight years this process of negotiation didnt bring a lot of concrete change on the ground. Led to the european sentiments to sometimes decline. And led to many foreign powers to have even more influences than they were having before. What we said is we are okay in principal in principle to reaffirm this european perspective but we need the process of negotiation to be productive. We cannot sign for something that we know from the beginning will be very challenging and potentially a failure, not only for europe, but a failure for the country and where the capacity for them to succeed on this track is very limited. This is why we proposed just after this october meeting a new methodology and for the commission widely undertook and is more gradual if you do the reforms that bring more concrete benefits to the people on the ground that is reversible. If you stop doing the reforms, there was a price to pay. You lose access to some policies and you can go backwards. Which is more politically driven. You know, this intergovernmental conference is about there are no governments in sight. Theres the administration and theres brussels and eu representatives. We needed the countries to be more involved. So we wanted this to be more visible. And to have a process which recreates credibility on both sides. Capacity for us to explain why were doing it, why its doing and capacity for the leaders to explain to the people, you know, why we do the reforms, what benefits it brings and so on. So indeed the commissioner made an update on the reforms. So a number of progress on the electoral law that we expect for albania and in the coming days and weeks, on the vetting of judges. Many, many things that moved in the positive way. Some the process now is for the 27 countries to agree on the methodology and we hope it will be done. And then to have a consensus to say this new methodology into the actual for negotiation. If this happens then france will be able to, you know, look at the situation and be differently than it was before. What i want to highlight that in october, the positions on the table were very different. It was not france against the rest of the planet. Because some countries wanted one country but not two. Some wanted the two or nothing. Some countries were wanting conditions to be put in addition. Some countries like mine were saying, you know, the question is not so much the reforms its not so much albania, its just the negotiation that were starting and the reform that needs to be put into the implementation phase. I think we have now a clearer view, changing how the negotiation is undertaken. We need the 27 to agree. This is at the next on the 24th of march. Thats in a few days now, the things ongoing. Last few was why do we why should we believe that they are getting serious and awe on this mouse and definite and so on . Well, i cannot tell from the previous ones. I wasnt there, and i couldnt tell if it was genuine or not. I think weve made a number of progress which people were even not expecting as possible. The European Initiative intervention. Three years ago was seen as a one of these french things comes back and people would say yes, yes, we know, but we wont do much of it. I think its quite an important step. What weve done in har muse is very point. Countries going to a place where they feel they have to go. First its an acceptance by the 27 that we can do it by joining forces of those able to be present. I think we made a very Good Progress in having a common diagnosis and looking to a number of questions. The defense front, it was 13 billion, maybe 7 billion. Its not done, but the very idea can exist i think is already a progress. What weve done with china, i think is also a sign of us being able to think as a common taking the strength of the internal market and bringing it in the discussion with external powers. This is also new. Im not saying its done and success is here and we can just apply and feel proud the whole way. I think that there is a realization. We cannot outsource our capacity to be definite in terms of technology. What weve done with the 5g is a way to say we have our own way to look at this question. Our own way is to be strict on risk approach. This is also a way to affirm sovereignty. But with you, its i dont know what success is. There is not a checklist where we say thats success. I know its a process of joining will, necessity to bring outcome to the people, because at the basis of the project, there is the citizens and our capacity to feel that we have the right and that we need to speak as europeans. We have our own way, and that can be positive. Even and most important for our allies. Our allies do not trust us if we just force. They need people engaged and people with their own ideas. Thank you very much. It was antive, i think. Yes. Thank you so much giving us a competent view of the European Union. We believe in bipartisan support for the relationship with the European Union and european allies. You talked about the source of pride. I think thats a really important vision you outline and that we believe in. Were glad to be working closely also with the French Embassy and ambassador here. And im sure this is why you chose to join the atlantic instead of just its a good reason. Thank you for joining us, and viewers online, on cspan and please join me in thanking the minister. A live look at the u. S. Capitol here this afternoon. Both the house and the senate are planning to meet this week. The house will begin their legislative work at 4 p. M. Eastern today. And members will consider six bills including allowing citizens of ireland to apply for e3 temporary professional worker visas and two measures to help reunite votes postponed until 6 30 p. M. Today. Later this week the house plans on voting on limiting u. S. Mi mill see the house live on cspan. The senate is in today at 3 00 p. M. Lawmakers plan to continue working on a Bipartisan Energy and environment bill. Watch the senate live on our companion network cspan2. News from capitol hill. Nbc news reporting concerns are growing in congress about the safety of members. Multiple sources say anxiety is on the rise as more cases are reported. Paul gosar will close his office and selfquarantine in arizona for 14 days after he came into extended contact with a person who was hospitalized with the covid19 virus. They came in contact in maryland. And on your screens, ted cruz announced late sunday he will stay home in texas this week because he has a brief interaction with a person attending cpac who tested positive. Read more about the situation at nbc. Com. And we are watching the coronavirus closely. Bernie sanders will be taking part in a round table discussion with Public Health ek perts and leaders in detroit. Well have that live at 3 15 eastern on cspan3. Watch online out cspan. Org or listen with the radio app and a reminder to follow the federal response to the outbreak by going to cspan. Org coronavirus. Youll find all our coverage including hearings and briefings and you can review the latest events any time at cspan. Org coronavirus. It comes out to be a campaign in which we have one candidate who is standing up for the working class and the middle class . Were going to win that election. For those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign. The president ial primaries and caucuses continue tuesday for idaho, michigan, mississippi, missouri, north dakota, and washington. Watch our campaign 2020 coverage of the candidate speeches and results tuesday evening live on cspan, cspan. Org or listen from wherever you are on the free cspan radio app. For more on the Coronavirus Response were joined by a chief medical officer for the National Association of Community Health centers. Before we talk coronavirus,