REPLAY: Macron delivers speech on France's foreign policy priorities at the Ambassadors' Conference

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00:00 Directors, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, I am delighted to see you here as this work

00:00:10 week unfolds in Paris under the authority of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs,

00:00:16 Catherine Colonna, the Minister for Foreign Trade, Olivier Besse, and the Secretary of

00:00:21 State for Europe, Laurence Boone, the Secretary of State for Development and Partnerships,

00:00:26 Césaire Sacropoulos. Each and every one of you is serving the French people, and thank

00:00:32 you for that. Making a speech like this is difficult for two reasons, and it's getting

00:00:38 harder and harder every year, for yours truly. Speeches are always too long, and the more

00:00:46 you read your text, the more you realize that there are things that you have forgotten to

00:00:50 talk about. So you try to be as exhaustive as possible, while at the same time making

00:01:00 sure the speech is palatable for the audience. And year after year, you are faced with two

00:01:07 different risks. There's always a chance you may repeat yourself. I will try to not do

00:01:11 that today, and I apologize in advance if I do lapse. Secondly, and that's bad, you

00:01:18 don't want to contradict yourself. So I will do my best to avoid both risks, of course,

00:01:23 because circumstances change, and sometimes you may have to revisit the things that you

00:01:28 did say in the past. One thing is sure, however, and that thing is intangible. Your commitment,

00:01:38 as the diplomatic armed branch of our government, plays an important part for our country. We

00:01:48 deploy the energy, the talent, and the ambition that make it possible for this country to

00:01:55 become a land of innovation, for a fast transition towards carbon neutrality, a major play for

00:02:01 security in Europe and in the rest of the world, a key partner for development and solidarity

00:02:07 internationally. That is all the result of your work and your commitment under circumstances

00:02:12 that are becoming more and more complex. And before we get down to brass tacks, I would

00:02:17 like to start by saying a few words about the background. At the end of the day, things

00:02:25 have gotten tougher since I last addressed you. We live in a more complex world, a more

00:02:31 fragmented world. We need to discuss the wherewithal that we gave ourselves before we list our

00:02:37 top four priorities. Many of these priorities have been very much in line with our efforts

00:02:41 of the past few years. The international context is becoming more and more complicated, and

00:02:48 there's a risk that the West may become weakened, particularly the EU. Let us be lucid while

00:02:56 not falling into pessimism or excessive pessimism. Our population is becoming diluted objectively.

00:03:04 Our share of world trade is becoming diluted. This is particularly true since the latest

00:03:10 crisis, a new world power are emerging. The energy crisis is making things worse, and

00:03:21 we need to consolidate our existing strategies. Next, gradually, our international order is

00:03:30 being challenged. Its principles are being challenged. Its various forms of organization

00:03:35 as well. The West used to have pride of place. It still does, but there's a rise in the number

00:03:43 of conflicts. The war has returned to European soil. I'll get back to that in a minute.

00:03:51 De facto strategies are gaining ground throughout the world. Anti-French sentiment is rife

00:04:03 and is fueled by actually perceived anti-colonialism, and there's a double standard to that is

00:04:11 being criticized. And sometimes we were responsible for that. International law was adjusted based

00:04:22 on what we thought was the right thing to do. And there is growing criticism of the

00:04:32 UN Security Council as well as a number of international organizations, and that is a

00:04:36 message that we have to hear. The IMF, the World Bank, and beyond, a growing number of

00:04:41 countries have lost their inhibitions and believe that those world agencies have less

00:04:48 and less legitimacy in setting their rules, and they were created in a country where those

00:04:52 countries did not exist, and that is true. And they represent an outdated world order

00:04:57 and no longer reflect the geopolitical or even demographic and sometimes military situation

00:05:02 of the day. Now, let's not lose sight of reality, but this is reflected in recent symptoms with

00:05:13 attempts by BRICS countries to expand their form. We need to be lucid when it comes to

00:05:20 what that means in reality, but this also shows a determination to help emerge an alternative

00:05:26 order that would come and replace the international order that is seen as too Western and less

00:05:34 legitimate, particularly against the backdrop of growing tensions between China and the

00:05:38 US. And of course, this rocks the international order. In recent months, this has meant that

00:05:48 our international commercial order is being challenged. We have the number one and number

00:05:54 two trade powers that are now deciding not to respect WTO rules. It's a new thing, and

00:06:02 we cannot sweep it under the rug. There are new forms of protectionism on the rise, and

00:06:08 this means that there's a risk that the world may be partitioned, that the international

00:06:12 order that is based on law may be weakened, democracy is weakened, there's a rise in illiberal

00:06:19 powers, and our ideas of partnership are being weakened. At this time, we are faced with

00:06:27 growing global challenges that require more coordination, peace and stability, the climate,

00:06:35 biodiversity, fighting poverty, promoting development, but also artificial intelligence,

00:06:40 digital technologies, the fight against tax fraud, et cetera. All of these challenges

00:06:44 require more cooperation internationally. So we are faced with such paradox, and our

00:06:50 strategy should, as much as possible, to seek to provide strong answers. Against this backdrop,

00:07:00 our diplomatic efforts should keep it simple. We should protect our interests, our security,

00:07:10 our cultural, diplomatic, technology-related, our economic interests should be protected.

00:07:15 We should also stand for our principles, which stand us apart from other countries. Our values

00:07:22 are universal. They seek to be universal, protecting human dignity, human rights, partnering

00:07:27 with humanitarian players, defending the international order, and showing respect for the sovereignty

00:07:35 of peoples. We are building such diplomatic efforts on independence. Yes, we may have

00:07:41 allies. Yes, we are part of strong organizations, such as the EU. And yet, we want to talk to

00:07:49 all parties, and we want our diplomatic efforts to be based on trust, on balances, equidistance.

00:07:57 We want to build concrete solutions to the challenges that I referred to. And to that

00:08:03 end, we have in recent years, particularly in recent months, given ourselves the wherewithal

00:08:08 to make it happen. Many thanks to the administrations, as well as the lawmakers in this room, because

00:08:15 we have made strong, coherent choices against that international backdrop. A year ago, right

00:08:21 here, I did say that we are embracing our diplomatic efforts. For the past three decades,

00:08:30 our numbers have dwindled. And on 16th of March, I paid a visit to the Foreign Ministry,

00:08:38 and I did say that we need to give new resources, new ways and means to our diplomats, so they

00:08:45 can embrace new challenges, influence, communications. We need renewed working methods. We need to

00:08:52 facilitate interdisciplinarity across fertilization. You can always refer back to the speech I

00:09:01 made that day. Also, we have strengthened our inclusive investment policies. We are

00:09:07 giving more pride of place to ODA, reaching a record level of 0.05% of our 2023 budget.

00:09:17 This is in line with our 2017 commitment. And this means that France is now the fourth

00:09:24 net contributor to the global effort when it comes to inclusive investments. At the

00:09:31 same time, we have carried out the reforms of AFD. The development efforts are being

00:09:39 initiated. Inclusive investments are key. We have set up a laboratory for testing new

00:09:47 methods, new experiments, rolling them out on the field. Our geographic priorities are

00:09:55 shifting. We need more flexibility to serve our partnership and inclusive investment policies,

00:10:03 because we need to make them more concrete. We need to take real action and make real

00:10:09 investments. Meanwhile, we have set up a more credible military apparatus. Our armed forces

00:10:14 have always been strong. But via the two military spending mills, which both rely on strong

00:10:21 strategic reviews, on that basis, we will have doubled the budget for our armed forces.

00:10:29 And that is unprecedented in this day and age. We have doubled that budget while facing

00:10:37 new risks, new conflicts, cyber security, aerospace, the high seas, not forgetting the

00:10:46 new areas where conflicts may emerge, while at the same time strengthening the strong

00:10:51 suits of our armed forces. We want a complete model. Based on independence, we want to turn

00:10:57 the French armed forces into Europe's most effective armed forces. That is our goal.

00:11:02 Many thanks to our soldiers for their dedication, and many thanks to them for partnering with

00:11:08 their diplomats. This being said, as we roll out the consistency of these investments against

00:11:16 the complex backdrop that I described, at the end of the day, I would like to focus

00:11:20 my words on four main priorities. First of all, we need to have a security and stability

00:11:32 policy in the context of the war in Ukraine. Next, I would like to talk about our European

00:11:39 independence and pursuing our economic, technological and strategic interests. Then, I would like

00:11:47 to discuss the fact that France, in this context, should seek to be a trusted partner on the

00:11:56 geographical front, and also to reform international governance. And finally, I would like to talk

00:12:03 about our influence in the framework of this strategy. And all of this is perfectly aligned

00:12:11 with what I have been saying in recent years, your commitment and your own work, and of

00:12:19 course the challenges that we are faced with. I joked, and it is true that I will not talk

00:12:28 about every region of the world, but perhaps I'll mention a few. Now, to come back to these

00:12:34 four themes, I wished to thank once again all those who had to live through very difficult,

00:12:45 critical conditions. France and its diplomats were faced in certain countries with very

00:12:55 difficult conditions, be it Sudan, where France was exemplary in the evacuation of its own

00:13:01 citizens and the evacuation of a number of other citizens in Niger as well. And I would

00:13:07 like to commend your colleagues listening to us from the embassy. Being a diplomat is

00:13:15 a commitment that is often risky, and you have always demonstrated your spirit of great

00:13:23 responsibility, and we saw it recently in Afghanistan as well and elsewhere. And I think

00:13:28 it's important to emphasize that, given the current context, and it is likely to occur

00:13:35 again. Of course, I mentioned Afghanistan, but there are several other arenas such as

00:13:40 Ukraine and others. Security and stability above all, as I said. Our collective security,

00:13:46 France, its allies, its European partners, that is being challenged by the Russian aggression

00:13:54 in Ukraine. I took the floor on a number of occasions last year or more recently in Vilnius.

00:14:04 Let us not forget the unique dimension of this conflict. First of all, it is based on

00:14:11 the idea, or there is the idea, that war is back in Europe. It is very clearly back, and

00:14:23 it is violating popular sovereignty and the territorial integrity of a country. And as

00:14:32 such, it violates international law. It has been exacerbated by multiple war crimes, attacks

00:14:41 on civilians, and scenes that we have witnessed and that we are trying to resolve through

00:14:49 our judicial systems, through our law enforcement systems. Also, a permanent member of the Security

00:14:58 Council, that is also a nuclear power, is involved, which means that our diplomatic

00:15:04 response has to be effective, and that means that the nature of our response, both political

00:15:09 and military, needs to be specific. France and its allies, I think, had an adequate response.

00:15:16 First of all, it was an immediate, united and effective response. And it stems from

00:15:24 France's commitment at the time when the war began in Ukraine. France held the rotating

00:15:31 presidency of the European Council, and I think that our response generated surprise

00:15:41 because it was so swift and united and adequate. A number of sanctions against Russia were

00:15:48 adopted to weaken its ability to sustain the war effort. Support to Ukraine, humanitarian,

00:15:57 economic, military support, right up until commitments made in Vilnius by France, Europe

00:16:05 and its allies. European countries are Ukraine's number one support. The EU is its number one

00:16:17 support. And I'd like to acknowledge, of course, also the support brought by our American

00:16:24 allies, but let us not forget the strength of our own. And at the same time, we had no

00:16:32 escalation policy. Those were the limits to our support. We made sure that we were not

00:16:37 directly engaged in conflict against Russia, against its territory, against its population.

00:16:42 And that has been, of course, a challenge. We ensured in parallel to avoid a partition

00:16:51 of the world, and we remained focused on the future. And I think we were right to follow

00:16:58 that policy over close to 18 months. Avoiding a global partition means avoiding a narrative

00:17:07 that would suggest that this is a European war. Indeed, it actually should be of concern

00:17:14 to the entire world because it challenges our values, our principles and territorial

00:17:21 integrity. And that is why in all international fora, this war needs to be at the heart of

00:17:27 our concerns. It needs to be condemned by all and needs to be at the heart of diplomatic

00:17:32 action. We need to avoid division. This is work that we need to continue doing. So be

00:17:38 it at the General Assembly of the UN, where we have been able to reduce the number of

00:17:46 votes aligned with Russia or sometimes abstentions or a lack of participation. We will need to

00:17:58 continue convincing, explaining and we have upcoming meetings that will be crucial in

00:18:04 that regard. But as we did on the margins of the G7 in Hiroshima, we need to have Ukraine

00:18:13 help us convince our partners. And France's strategy has indeed done that. So that when

00:18:21 we speak of peace, as indeed peace has come up in a number of proposals, peace should

00:18:29 mean the same thing every day, everywhere that is. It cannot be simply a ceasefire,

00:18:36 recognizing the de facto situation as that would mean war or worse tomorrow. Peace means

00:18:41 long lasting peace, respecting the sovereignty of the Ukrainian people, as well as international

00:18:48 law. And that is what is being done in order to come to a viable situation. It concentrates

00:19:03 the efforts that we have already undertaken and avoids a partition of the world. France

00:19:10 has worked alongside the IEA in order to avoid the risk of proliferation in that regard.

00:19:20 In the months to come, we will continue to focus on these priorities. We will continue

00:19:29 to work relentlessly to avoid a division of the international order, to continue our support

00:19:40 and demonstrate the unwavering nature of our support to Ukraine in its war effort and prepare

00:19:49 durable peace. And we will do so through different diplomatic efforts that are essential. And

00:19:57 France will continue to work on short-term humanitarian efforts, which we have done by

00:20:05 hosting refugees. And I thank the work of the Ministry of Interior and other competent

00:20:13 ministries, as well as on the humanitarian front in Ukraine. And we wish to continue

00:20:18 working on post-war reconstruction, which is also fundamental. But that sustainable

00:20:24 peace, that stability also requires work on the European level. I wanted to dwell on that

00:20:34 for a moment. Now, I would ask you to refer to the speech I made in Bratislava during

00:20:42 the GlobSec conference on the consequences of war in Ukraine for our security architecture

00:20:50 and how we might conceive European security architecture. There is a before the war and

00:21:00 there is a post-war context. And in our work and in our diplomatic efforts, we need to

00:21:06 incorporate the consequences of the war in order to truly establish long-lasting peace.

00:21:12 First of all, we need to prepare to do so as NATO members. And that's what we've been

00:21:16 doing as allies since day one. And we were the first country to be able to deploy our

00:21:28 forces in Romania on the eastern flank of NATO. And that is the strength of our model.

00:21:35 We continued to work with the Baltic states to participate in NATO missions, as well as

00:21:43 with the air police. We strengthened our defence missions. And that is absolutely vital. We

00:21:50 need to continue that work for as long as the war lasts and should also include the

00:22:05 adaptation of the French and European military strategy and apparatus. Within NATO, we need

00:22:15 a greater European involvement. That has been the case since 2019. I've mentioned this on

00:22:22 several occasions. In my opinion, in the months and the years to come, we will need to continue

00:22:32 working on this front. The European pillar and a greater European defence within NATO,

00:22:39 that is not competition for NATO. Quite the contrary, that is what makes us a trusted

00:22:47 partner to the US. We need to take these threats to our neighbourhood seriously. And that is

00:22:56 important in the context of our relationship with the US. We need to produce, we need to

00:23:04 standardise for the defence industry in Europe. And we need to think of our defence in European

00:23:12 terms. And as such, we will no longer be a European minority within NATO. And that is

00:23:25 why after the war in Ukraine, we will need to work on new treaties on armaments and military

00:23:35 equipment in Europe. And those are treaties that we will design as well as sign. That

00:23:44 is what I recently said that Europe was a geopolitical object of sorts. But we were

00:23:58 not signatories of the relevant military treaties. And it seemed that we were that we passively

00:24:05 had to accept certain terms, instead of being its architects. So we need to be architects

00:24:12 of that new international order, which affects us through our military involvement and the

00:24:17 military spending bill has that at its heart, because France would be at the helm of such

00:24:28 coalitions. And that is what we've started doing in certain African countries. We need

00:24:38 to continue to convince our European partners that this strategy is necessary to defend

00:24:46 through defence cooperation, whether bilateral or European, through greater strategic and

00:24:57 operational cooperation, as well as cooperation in terms of capacity. And I'd like to mention

00:25:07 the future combat air system that we are building with Germany, for instance. I know that it's

00:25:13 difficult. I know that sometimes we are challenged. And we will not waver on the strategic nature

00:25:19 of these partnerships that were concluded in July 2017 with Chancellor Merkel at the

00:25:25 time. But we need to continue pursuing them for the long run and build new partnerships,

00:25:33 be it in aerospace, in on the maritime front, or cyberspace. Moreover, we need to consider

00:25:49 European stability, not only in terms of security, and not only through NATO as a vehicle. And

00:25:58 that is what we wanted to suggest with the creation of the European political community

00:26:04 in May 2022. That's actually an ancient French and Czech idea. It's what Vaclav Havel and

00:26:12 François Mitterrand suggested at the time with the European Confederation. At the time,

00:26:17 it did not see the light of day because Russia was involved. And perhaps it was too early

00:26:21 at the time, too early in history to suggest that type of alliance and open partnership.

00:26:30 But that European political community put forward in May 2022 already met twice in Prague

00:26:39 and in Kisinau. And a new meeting is to be held in Grenada in a short time. That is a

00:26:48 victory for France and for Europe as well. Europe is a vast geopolitical continent. And

00:26:54 it's not just about military alliances that stem from history. It is about thinking about

00:27:02 immigration, energy, security, innovation, connectivity, and so on. Ultimately, we need

00:27:11 to build that cooperation with greater convergences to consolidate a geopolitical Europe. We will

00:27:21 continue to move forward on that front. This forum will play a key role in order for us

00:27:27 to sustainably build the kind of Europe we want. Over and beyond this, then, we have

00:27:34 our own European Union in the next few months. But I will come back to that point specifically.

00:27:41 In the next few months, the EU will experience a two-fold movement, which is not incompatible,

00:27:51 but it will require boldness and institutional changes. We in Europe need to integrate our

00:28:00 policies more. It's important in terms of autonomy, defence, climate, technology, economic

00:28:07 matters. Our react accord needs to be more integrated in order for us to address current

00:28:13 challenges. In order for us to be more stable and stronger, we need to expand and enlarge

00:28:22 the EU toward the Western Balkans, to cope with interference, geopolitical instability,

00:28:33 which forever fuels despair and misunderstandings. Enlargement and integration should go hand

00:28:43 in hand. A 27-member state EU is difficult to shift when it really matters, and things

00:28:51 will be even tougher when there are 32 or 35 member states. So we need to be bold to

00:28:59 accept more integration for some policies, and sometimes working at different speeds.

00:29:04 I had an opportunity to discuss that five years ago, and I will get back to that point

00:29:08 in a couple of months. So clearly, the EU will be a cornerstone of the new stability

00:29:14 order. To my mind, when it comes to the European political community, or NATO, and other matters,

00:29:25 we need to structure the post-war order right here, right now. But this means not losing

00:29:32 sight of our geopolitical and military realities. We need to be willing to preserve our union

00:29:40 and conserve the impetus for deepening the EU for those members that are willing to go

00:29:46 in that direction. Not everybody is. We need to maintain our appeal. But for that, we need

00:29:55 to be bold. And of course, this means that in the next few months and years, we need

00:30:04 to stand firm when it comes to our doctrine and our strategy vis-à-vis Ukraine and Russia.

00:30:12 Russia cannot and should not win this war. This would mean, if it did win, this would

00:30:18 mean instability on European soil, and this would forever undermine the principles of

00:30:26 the international order. For us and our allies, this means making financial and diplomatic

00:30:34 investments, investing into capabilities of the next few years. This will mean, according

00:30:40 to question, some of our fundamentals. We cannot pretend such efforts are not necessary,

00:30:46 but we need to show consistency. Otherwise, everything that I just discussed would not

00:30:51 be as relevant. Our humanitarian security interests go over and beyond this. And there

00:30:56 are two and three concerns I would like to discuss here. Let's remain vigilant when it

00:31:00 comes to the security situation and political situation in the Western Balkans. On this

00:31:06 front, together with Germany, we have built a new roadmap and a new proposal regarding

00:31:13 differences between Serbia and Kosovo. And I believe this is a good roadmap. It's been

00:31:18 supported by European negotiators and our own representatives. So we expect a clear

00:31:25 re-engagement by both parties. A re-engagement when it comes to the municipal elections expected,

00:31:35 a Serbian re-engagement in related organisations, recognition of municipalities in the north

00:31:44 of Serbia on behalf of Kosovo authorities. We expect peace will be brought to this situation.

00:31:53 France and Germany have made those commitments when it comes to visa policies and other economic

00:32:00 issues that will be reviewed unless both parties behave responsibly, fail to behave responsibly.

00:32:06 We need to be extremely vigilant on that front, particularly when stability of the Western

00:32:10 Balkans is at stake. We will continue our commitment with regard to the Caucasus following

00:32:17 the 2020 conflict. We spoke against the humanitarian disaster there, which is of particular concern

00:32:28 in the High Karabakh region. This week, I will have an opportunity to discuss matters

00:32:33 with Minister Pichinian and President Elieff. We will ask that the humanitarian corridor

00:32:42 be fully respected. We will take another diplomatic initiative to that end internationally so

00:32:48 as to ramp up the pressure. But nothing can justify the current humanitarian situation

00:32:54 being experienced by the populations of the High Karabakh region. We will maintain our

00:33:00 commitment. It is that information that made it possible to set up a European mission following

00:33:05 the Prague summit of our European political community. For the first time, both parties

00:33:11 signed a common text recognizing the 1991 borders. We will maintain our commitment to

00:33:17 discussions on a peace treaty to discuss territorial or transit arrangements. But right now, the

00:33:25 humanitarian situation is dire. It must be resolved.

00:33:30 Regarding security and stability issues, let us not forget how important it is that we

00:33:37 continue our fight against terror. Yes, events on the domestic front have quietened down

00:33:45 thanks to our excellent intelligence and domestic law enforcement forces. A lot of planned terror

00:33:52 attacks have been botched. But the nature of terrorism has changed over the past few

00:33:58 years. Therefore, we need to remain extremely vigilant. There are international terrorism

00:34:03 organizations that can affect us on our soil. I am saying this forcefully and clearly. We

00:34:09 are still involved in the international coalition in the Levant. Such involvement is important.

00:34:16 I would like to commend it. I would also like to commend the memory of our two soldiers

00:34:22 who died in Iraq in recent weeks, specifically as part of our missions on Iraqi soil. Cooperation,

00:34:31 training, support missions, but also missions to fight terrorism. In the Levant, we will

00:34:37 maintain our involvement in that mission. We need to strengthen the work that we've

00:34:43 been doing in recent years to militarily and politically stabilize the region in support

00:34:49 of Iraqi sovereignty. We set up the Baghdad Conference, and the third edition of that

00:34:54 conference will be held at the end of November. I will, of course, attend. This will be an

00:35:00 opportunity to consolidate the regional agenda in support of Iraqi sovereignty. In this capacity,

00:35:06 we will also strengthen our involvement when it comes to specific topics. I'm not going

00:35:11 to be exhaustive here, but these are the two concerns. First of all, Syria. We clearly

00:35:17 say that every country in the region is resuming talks with Syria, trying to reinsert Syria

00:35:26 back into the various negotiating bodies or partnership agreements. Amongst others, there

00:35:35 will be an essential aspect that we will need to discuss, and that's the fight against

00:35:40 Hezbollah. I will return to the Baghdad Conference with the goal of focusing on our dialogue

00:35:49 with Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, as I said before, Saudi Arabia, and other

00:35:55 countries in order to become once again a member of a regional organization. Such countries

00:36:10 need to play their part in the fight against terrorism. This also means a political process

00:36:15 to allow refugees to go home. They need guarantees that they'll be protected, that they'll

00:36:23 be recognized, that their economic and political safety and security will be protected on Syrian

00:36:28 soil. The second thing I wanted to discuss is Iran. I commend the advances of the past

00:36:36 few weeks, but talking from experience, let's not sit on our laurels. We all know that all

00:36:48 agreements can be fragile. Just because you sign an agreement doesn't mean you won't

00:36:52 pull out eventually, and it doesn't mean you won't go against your word. France will

00:37:04 maintain a clear policy vis-à-vis Iran. There will be no weakness on that front. We strongly

00:37:13 demand that our six French nationals which are currently being held captive be freed.

00:37:19 Nothing can justify that Iran should hold six French nationals in Iranian prisons. Of

00:37:29 course, we need clear, transparent supervision of nuclear activities in Iran. A return to

00:37:35 the GCPOA agreement is a very good thing. As long as the international nuclear agency

00:37:44 provides the necessary supervision, we will need to continue to supervise such activities.

00:37:51 That is absolutely key to the entire region. Third aspect, let's not forget it. We need

00:37:58 to supervise what Iran has been doing in the region in terms of stability or lack thereof.

00:38:09 We need to clarify Iran's policy vis-à-vis its direct neighbours, Israel, the security

00:38:17 of Israel, Lebanon and its security. On this note, many thanks to Jean-Yves Le Drian. On

00:38:25 my behalf, he's been conducting a mission for the past few months. Yes, Mr Minister,

00:38:35 Sisyphus can be happy. Let's imagine that. And over the short term, I believe that a

00:38:43 key aspect of that political solution in Lebanon will require clarifying regional interference

00:38:53 by countries, including Iran. Lastly, stability, security, the fight against terrorism, these

00:39:01 topics mean I have to discuss Africa. In Africa, our approach is not just security-based. It's

00:39:11 not even the mainstay of our approach. But there is a strong security component because

00:39:18 of the terrorist threats which are ongoing, and also because sovereign states request

00:39:24 that we come in and help. It is against the spectrum that the Serval and Barkan operations

00:39:30 have been decided. And I'm saying this forcefully because if we forget that, and if we give

00:39:34 in to the unacceptable arguments put forward by this Baroque alliance between Pan-African

00:39:46 leaderships and neo-imperialists, then this is a madhouse. France intervened in Africa

00:39:53 as early as 2013 because African states asked us to, because they were being divided into

00:40:01 two. Without the French intervention, if our troops had not died in action in Africa, if

00:40:08 the Serval and Barkan operations had not been launched today, we wouldn't be talking about

00:40:12 Mali, Burkina Faso, or Niger. Those states would no longer exist with their existing

00:40:19 borders. And I can say that with 100% certainty. Sometimes I hear French political leaders

00:40:26 explain to us that the Barkan operation was a failure. Why are you using the enemy's

00:40:32 arguments? This doesn't help anyone. And you're not paying tribute to our own troops.

00:40:39 So we need to forcefully stand for the legitimacy of those operations. We came in to help countries

00:40:48 that are our friends and our partners. We helped them defend their own soil against

00:40:52 terrorists at home. Was that a wrong thing to do? Please, of course not. So yes, we need

00:41:01 to be demanding. We need to rethink new partnerships. We should not give in to contemporary forms

00:41:07 of paternalism, getting back to our African policy. Let's not turn the tables. If there's

00:41:15 a government that wants to defend its own territories on a legal basis and ask for our

00:41:20 help, it is illegitimate that we should provide it. Now, the framework, the ECOWAS framework

00:41:26 in particular, is being altered. Why? Well, because we should not overstay our welcome.

00:41:36 And also because the nature of terrorism is shifting, because there are ethnic factors

00:41:41 on the rise, because there are political and economic shifts taking place in the Sahel

00:41:46 region. And to some extent, this is creating a crisis over the long term. And new forms

00:41:54 of terrorism are the consequence of that crisis. So yes, our intervention was relevant, but

00:41:59 we need to change the shape of it. We need to make adjustments. And so, a couple of years

00:42:05 ago, we adjusted our apparatus. And earlier this year, we decided on a policy to shift

00:42:15 our partnerships. That's what we're doing. And we will go even further in the next few

00:42:19 months. Why? Because having a stable presence, which is based on our troops, that's an argument

00:42:26 that is used by our enemies as part of a war of information designed to weaken us. But

00:42:31 the heart of our response should be political. On behalf of African states, France cannot

00:42:37 be a substitute. A military response cannot simply replace the political response. We

00:42:43 need first and foremost a political response. A military presence must be structured on

00:42:48 the basis of partnerships, which is what African countries want, whether when it comes to training

00:42:55 or equipment. So, we're rethinking the framework for that partnership entirely, particularly

00:43:00 when it comes to the military capabilities that we are delivering. And in the framework

00:43:06 of the military spending bill, the Minister and the Army Chief of Staff have made proposals.

00:43:15 But it is essential to move forward on this front along with new partners. Benin, for

00:43:20 instance, to name but one in the Gulf of Guinea. Or Kenya, with whom we are working on new

00:43:25 regional operations. Focusing on regional forces that can help us guarantee security

00:43:35 in the region. And for Niger, that has been our approach as well. Now, that was an overview.

00:43:43 But I'd like to come back to events of this summer. This is a coup d'état against a democratically

00:43:50 elected president who is an ethnic minority, who led very brave reforms in politics, in

00:43:59 the economy, in a number of realms. A president that is committed to our values and that of

00:44:09 the UN, who was taken hostage in the presidential palace in a coup d'état close to a month

00:44:16 ago. Now, people say that France was too close to President Bassem. I read this in the media

00:44:24 and elsewhere. But what would we do if such a coup d'état took place in Bulgaria or Romania?

00:44:29 Would we have said, oh, let's not go there? Would we say, oh, let's see who the generals

00:44:39 suggest as a prime minister? Would we say something like that? Is that what the other

00:44:43 capitals want? Are we not engaged in a double standard here? We have a man who is democratically

00:44:54 elected, who is brave, who is upstanding. I say he's brave because he does not resign.

00:45:01 He has not resigned. And we're being told that the way to go is to desert him because

00:45:10 it's important to follow the local approach. That seems to be the latest trend. I read

00:45:18 the news. I saw op-eds that suggested, well, let's not do too much. It's perilous. No,

00:45:26 I disagree. We need to be clear. We need to be consistent. If not, who will listen to

00:45:31 us? In which African country will we possibly be in a position to say that we have a partnership

00:45:38 with them when we simply abandon them? And so I think that we're adopting the right approach.

00:45:45 Our ambassador on the ground is staying put in spite of everything. Our armed forces and

00:45:56 troops are remaining committed as well. And we should not espouse the narrative that France

00:46:06 is Niger's enemy. The problem is the leaders of this coup d'état, who is the people behind

00:46:14 the coup d'état, who are abandoning reform, who are abandoning the fight against terrorism

00:46:20 and in fact are abandoning the interests of its civilians. If we don't say that loud and

00:46:26 clear, who will? So let's not be overly simplistic. And our policy is simple. We do not recognize

00:46:31 the people behind the coup d'état. We support the president who has not resigned. We stand

00:46:37 firm beside him. And we support the diplomatic action and the possibly military strategy

00:46:48 of Ecovoss, neither paternalistic nor weak. Otherwise, we get nowhere. And we need to

00:46:58 continue supporting him firmly. And I call on all the states in the region to uphold

00:47:05 that policy. Because if all the presidents of Ecovoss were to abandon President Bazum,

00:47:11 well, I'm sure they all know what fate would have in store for them. And I think we saw

00:47:16 it in recent coups as well. There's a bit of a coup epidemic in the Sahel, which rests

00:47:25 on the weakness of military systems, lack of effectiveness, and the policy that we need

00:47:35 to implement and which I will describe. This is a very difficult context, in particular

00:47:42 for Nigerians and for people on the front lines. But let's avoid any double standard.

00:47:52 Let us be firm and unwavering. So that was my first point on security and stability.

00:47:59 And rest assured, it was the longest point. Next, our economic, technological, strategic

00:48:09 goals, which all aim to strengthen our independence, short term and long term. Independence does

00:48:20 not mean autarky. It means that we choose the partners we want. But we cannot be a power

00:48:32 with a strong diplomatic and military reach if we have dependencies. We went through that

00:48:42 quite recently in Europe. And that was a wake up call. It should really fuel and feed our

00:48:48 approach in all respects, and particularly diplomacy. That is the key to our security.

00:48:57 On the international level, we are reallocating resources and innovations. And what is at

00:49:03 play today will shape the world in 10 or 15 years. So first of all, resources and rare

00:49:09 materials. There's a predatory approach to this. You know, the Chinese did this first.

00:49:18 Initially, we didn't necessarily understand. But actually, we do need to position ourselves

00:49:24 on these rare minerals and resources. And next, there is green industry and artificial

00:49:30 intelligence. There is new investment and reallocation and production that needs to

00:49:41 be done to create jobs in our countries and to have a sovereign, civilian and military

00:49:47 technology in the future. This absolutely needs to underpin our diplomatic approach.

00:49:55 We need a French and European approach to strategic autonomy. Some years ago, I talked

00:50:05 about a more sovereign Europe. And it was suggested that this was a kind of a French

00:50:12 whim in the politest of terms. And I would say that in the last five years, there was

00:50:21 an awakening. Not only was this idea adopted by Europe at large. So the idea of sovereignty,

00:50:27 of strategic autonomy, whatever the terms may be, you know, I'm not familiar with the

00:50:35 50 shades of grey on the subject. But I think the meaning is the same. That is being masters

00:50:42 of our own destiny in terms of what we buy, what we produce and diversification. And so

00:50:53 in recent years, in the field of technology and energy, we really came to an awakening

00:51:01 in Europe. On defence, this work has already begun and we need to go further still during

00:51:09 the pandemic. And after that, we began production on the health front. We also worked on semiconductors

00:51:19 and green technologies through legislation on by the Commission and investments that

00:51:30 were made. And for me, it is the Versailles agenda, which we created in March 2022, that

00:51:38 consolidates this strategic autonomy in semiconductors, in green technology, in digital and so on.

00:51:45 And of course, the French German partnership is absolutely essential. In Hamburg, I discussed

00:51:53 AI with the Chancellor. And that French German team is decisive, given that we're facing

00:52:01 a shock that is disrupting Europe. And so I think it's important to have shared views

00:52:07 on the subject. But Europe at large needs to go further and faster. And I'd like to

00:52:14 mention a few aspects of this strategic autonomy. First of all, we need to have a European energy

00:52:22 policy that is clearer. Now, we have the regulatory foundations of this with the 55 and the Green

00:52:32 Deal. But now we need to define its individual instruments. And we have our work cut out

00:52:41 for us. We need to be more independent, we need greater decarbonation, and we need to

00:52:52 create jobs within the EU. So we need more renewables, more nuclear, more electric in

00:53:00 Europe. And we may not all see eye to eye on this. And that is why we will need to redouble

00:53:07 our efforts. Of course, more coal in Europe is bad for this agenda. Too much dependency

00:53:14 is bad for this agenda. Regulatory complexity on hydrogen is bad for this agenda. I am for

00:53:26 the free movement of low carbon electrons in Europe. I think that that is positive for

00:53:34 Europe's energy future. The more of that we have, the more likely we are to have an autonomous

00:53:44 low carbon Europe. And so we need to work with our German friends on this. We don't

00:53:50 agree on everything. And I think that it would be a mistake to give up on nuclear or to slow

00:53:56 down our nuclear investments and nuclear innovation in Europe. We should not fall out based on

00:54:07 these visions. Instead, we should strengthen our electrical network. Next, we need to have

00:54:18 a clear industrial policy. That is something we've started to do. We need to go further

00:54:25 and faster as well. I gave a speech in The Hague on our new European security doctrine.

00:54:33 And of course, I believe that we need a strong common market, greater integration, greater

00:54:39 integration of digital across the board, but we also need to have a clear policy for industry

00:54:46 because the Chinese and the Americans are already doing it. And if I were to sum it

00:54:52 up, I think Europe has a tendency to over-regulate and to under-invest too slowly. And so a true

00:55:02 competitive policy for industry in Europe would mean more innovation, more investment,

00:55:08 and less over-regulation. So, to implement what we've committed to do, and to have

00:55:17 stronger economic clout, to be able to implement faster, be it green technology, be it AI,

00:55:26 or other aspects, to be able to compete with the US or China. Now, at the end of last year,

00:55:37 following the Inflation Reduction Act, I made a strong statement on this, and I think we

00:55:43 need to continue to forge ahead. Third, we need to have a more realistic trade policy.

00:55:50 I've said it before, Europe cannot continue to implement the older types of trade treaties.

00:56:04 We need to include our strategic interests and climate in the new treaties that we conclude.

00:56:10 Now, China and the US can't simply say that green technologies do not require them to

00:56:20 follow the WTO's rules. I do not want a Europe in which you can only buy green technology

00:56:33 that comes from the US or China. We cannot have French vehicles taxed to 25% when they're

00:56:43 sold in China, and Chinese vehicles that are not taxed or taxed far less in France. I have

00:56:51 a lot of respect for the Chinese, but let us not be naive. Let us have a strategy that

00:56:59 aligns with our interests, and that is aligned with our climate objectives. We cannot ask

00:57:05 our farmers to adhere to certain standards when other powers may not apply them. And

00:57:16 we cannot stand for this. That is what fuels populism throughout Europe, and actually leads

00:57:26 to an increase in extremism throughout Europe. That is why we continue to put forward trade

00:57:33 agreements that would not allow the import of products which do not respect our standards

00:57:42 in terms of climate, biodiversity, and more, and that is how we can be standard-setters

00:57:48 on that front. We have put a lot of pressure on other powers because of the standards we

00:57:58 have set, particularly when it comes to fighting deforestation. So we need a more integrated

00:58:03 and united approach that is at the very heart of our agenda for strategic autonomy for the

00:58:11 EU. Let's look at the 2024 milestones that will provide structure to the European debate.

00:58:18 Everything that I'm discussing will enable a more united, more integrated, and more lucid

00:58:24 EU. This agenda has to be clarified and will require pivotal structures. Our independence

00:58:30 and the defence of our economic interests, technology and strategic interests are based

00:58:36 on that European agenda which should be driven and defended, as well as augmented in the

00:58:42 next few weeks and months. On the bilateral front, there are three main things that I

00:58:47 expect you to do over and beyond your bread and butter. We need to continue to strengthen

00:58:54 our efforts when it comes to exports. Our trade situation is not good because of our

00:59:04 energy dependency. That is also why we need a low-carbon strategy. We need to phase out

00:59:12 fossil fuels. It's a good strategy commercially speaking, but the main thrust of our strategy,

00:59:19 we continue to consolidate them. Yes, we are weakened because of excessive regulations,

00:59:24 so we need to be careful when it comes to our food situation. Our agri-food policy,

00:59:29 when it comes to exports, needs to be strengthened despite the commitment and investments made

00:59:34 by all producers. EU regulations are forming a thousand-layer structure which makes us

00:59:43 weaker relative to other powers. So we need to step up our economic diplomatic efforts

00:59:50 and support our exports. We are going to present a French export plan on that front, and many

00:59:57 thanks to the entire team for their involvement. The entire team of France Expert, Business

01:00:07 France, the BPI Investment Bank, AFD, with Proparco, and all of the embassies and economic

01:00:16 stations around the world. We need to continue to step up our support to SMEs, mid-caps,

01:00:23 and start-ups. Our economic strength should be used to support exports. Also, we need

01:00:34 to base our work on our various professions. There are major companies whose exports are

01:00:42 really good, but we need to step up that good work more and more. We need an integrated

01:00:48 offer. In a lot of countries, that is the response to challenges when it comes to hydraulics,

01:00:55 hydroelectricity, and the like. We need a profession-based, a business-based approach.

01:01:05 We also need to generate more jobs. Our diplomatic efforts should serve French re-industrialization

01:01:13 and job creation. I spent a long time helping big business, but I'm not sure they needed

01:01:22 my help as much as smaller businesses or SMEs. Maybe it's better to help those companies

01:01:28 that will generate employment and create jobs. So, we need to prioritize. Humanity is all

01:01:38 winning good. Yes, we want to work in a human and humane fashion, but our priority is to

01:01:43 create jobs and reduce unemployment at home. Let's also focus on our binationals and our

01:01:49 diasporas who are the lifeblood of our nation. We have built mechanisms that involve everybody

01:01:56 here to help African diasporas who live in France to invest and drive their entrepreneurial

01:02:03 projects on African soil so they can build more and more projects. This should be at

01:02:09 the heart of all our stations in Africa. And thanks to the Maghreb Fund, we have rolled

01:02:15 out an approach to allow all binationals to drive projects on either side of the Mediterranean.

01:02:23 This project is also at the heart of our export policy. It should be promoted. It should be

01:02:27 encouraged. These are not secondary things. Second important aspect on a bilateral front,

01:02:36 new investments and a strategy to strengthen our appeal. I'll be quick here. Several campaigns

01:02:43 have been introduced to you this morning. Choose France is an important strategy. We

01:02:50 need to strengthen our efforts to consolidate that Choose France policy. Of course, we're

01:02:57 doing a lot of work on that front at a national level, but the next edition will be held in

01:03:01 May 2024. And here again, we need to keep up the good work. We may need to focus on

01:03:07 a particular country, a particular region, a particular vertical sector. Last aspect

01:03:17 on the bilateral front, we need to secure inputs. Our economic and diplomatic roadmap

01:03:25 should include aspects such as rare earths and rare materials. We have an inter-ministerial

01:03:32 delegate, Mr. Gazot, who's in charge of that. It is important for the roadmap to be clear

01:03:38 for everyone. We need to factor that into our diversification efforts. I was the first

01:03:44 French president to travel to Mongolia. Look at how much potential there is in that country

01:03:51 when it comes to such critically important and rare earths. So we need a roadmap. And

01:03:58 via our diplomatic efforts, as our ministries travel, we need to strengthen our key relationships

01:04:05 with those countries that will help us secure access to such mineral ores or rare earths.

01:04:14 Because again, this is part and parcel of diversifying a lot of our production efforts

01:04:20 and therefore strengthen our independence. I've talked about our independence and protecting

01:04:28 our interests. This is the perfect segue into another tricky topic, immigration. It's a

01:04:36 tricky topic for me as President of the Republic because I'm playing two different tunes, depending

01:04:42 whether I'm talking to our country or the international community. So we need to be

01:04:49 better organized and more effective. That is what I asked our Home Minister and the

01:04:57 Foreign Affairs Minister to do over the past few months. And many thanks to them for their

01:05:04 work. So what do we need in terms of immigration? First of all, we need proper border control.

01:05:09 I'm referring to the Schengen borders and also our domestic borders whenever there are

01:05:15 risks that we need to prevent, risks such as terrorism. We seek to reduce unbridled

01:05:22 immigration. We want to fight illegal immigration, fight all forms of non-cooperation within

01:05:30 the EU, which is blowing up our domestic organization because the asylum law is being circumvented.

01:05:44 This means that people overstay their welcome, fall into the hands of smuggling rigs and

01:05:54 have to be deported. We need to work as part of a framework that is in line with the principles

01:06:01 and our values, the right of asylum and protection of freedom fighters. Let's remember that a

01:06:12 lot of our French citizens are merry, non-French citizens, and want them to come home. So we

01:06:21 need to work in a more effective and more resolved fashion. So we have taken action

01:06:26 at the European level. We undertook that effort under the French presidency. This has helped

01:06:31 us strengthen the mechanisms for protecting our common borders. We will continue that

01:06:35 effort. There are two aspects that I would like to emphasize. While making those efforts,

01:06:41 we of course want to maintain our appeal, allow for free movement of talents. We want

01:06:48 to attract the best students while at the same time making it possible for them to go

01:06:53 and serve their countries. That's the rationale behind our partnerships. We want to bring

01:06:59 in the best talents, the best artists, the best entrepreneurs, the best engineers, while

01:07:03 at the same time maintaining our influence. But for that, we need effective tools and

01:07:07 we need clear objectives. Firstly, we need to implement the Hermelin report regarding

01:07:13 the visa policy. This report is a postmortem of what we did wrong when we decided to toughen

01:07:21 up our visa policy vis-à-vis a number of countries that don't play fair on that front.

01:07:28 This was an inconvenience to a lot of families. And this deteriorated our reputation, our

01:07:42 image without making it possible to work more effectively. But that doesn't mean we should

01:07:48 be overly lenient. No, we need strong policies while at the same time being smart about drawing

01:07:55 the line. We need to streamline our visa policy when the situation warrants. So we're not

01:08:05 effective enough when fighting criminal rings and we create too much turbulence for those

01:08:11 who love France as part of bilateral relations. So that's something we need to change. Secondly,

01:08:16 we need a clearer European policy. And that's what we're working on when it comes to oversight

01:08:25 and making visa granting operations contingent upon standards being met. We toughened up

01:08:34 our conditions when a number of our neighbours made it easier for immigration to flow through.

01:08:42 So we need a EU-wide policy, at least as part of the Schengen area. And that's a discussion

01:08:49 we will be having over the next few months. So we're striking a tricky balance because

01:08:57 we refuse the path of least resistance. We want to remain in an attractive and open path

01:09:03 but while at the same time fighting illegal immigration and criminal smuggling rings because

01:09:11 this fuels insecurity in some neighbourhoods, in some areas of our country. So we need a

01:09:15 European-wide visa policy. Hence the bill that is upcoming under the aegis of the relevant

01:09:27 ministerial authorities. Thirdly, we need to play a part as a trusted partner. Last

01:09:37 year, I talked about effective multilateralism against the spectrum. We are a balancing power.

01:09:46 This is a challenge not for us. We live in a more fragmented world which requires more

01:09:52 international cooperation. We need to avoid a partition of the world between two main

01:09:56 powers. We don't want the world order to become fragmented. So we need to strengthen our action

01:10:03 on various fronts and partnerships that I deeply believe in. We need to protect our

01:10:10 interests, our principles, our sovereignty while at the same time talking to every party.

01:10:16 First of all, we need to renew our partnerships, particularly with Africa. I've talked about

01:10:26 the security issues with Africa since the address in Ouagadougou in November 2017 and

01:10:31 also the conference that was held on February 27th via my various addresses, particularly

01:10:39 in Montpellier. I believe this is part and parcel of our new approach. Our partnership

01:10:47 with Africa must rely on a deep change in objectives, methods and discussion partners.

01:10:55 All too often, we continue to talk to capital cities only and the people in power. Of course,

01:11:01 that's what we need to do across the world. That's the work of ambassadors. But more and

01:11:05 more we need to talk to civil society, the opposition, the lifeblood of the country at

01:11:12 large. That is absolutely key. Yes, in Africa, we failed in a lot of ways because our apparatus

01:11:22 was much too based on our personal relationship with those in power. But when civil society

01:11:35 shifts, you have to shift accordingly. And when I see the amounts of inclusive investments

01:11:41 made, the strength of our partnerships and our teams in those countries, that is simply

01:11:46 not acceptable. So let's take the less-trodden path. Let's work more closely with our partners

01:11:54 and civil society. Let's make sure our agenda is more based on agriculture, climate, sports,

01:12:00 education. These are the fundamentals for inclusive investments that we defined as part

01:12:04 of the Presidential Council meeting. Let's make sure our priorities are not just geography-based

01:12:10 because this creates resilience. People get used to it. And habituation means that people

01:12:18 don't realize all that good stuff comes from France and forget to say thank you. In France,

01:12:27 we hear this narrative of neo-imperialism in Africa. But actually, in many regions,

01:12:35 people are unaware of what France does, in fact. So we need to engage with these different

01:12:40 networks. We need to strengthen the different points that I mentioned. We need to focus

01:12:45 on training, economic development, culture, sports, and all these different drivers. I

01:12:56 want to talk about Africa season 2020, where we focused on innovation, technology, culture,

01:13:05 which represented a dialogue with the continent. Africa creation in Paris in early October.

01:13:13 And I call on all stations in Africa to be a part of this. And in the next six months,

01:13:17 I want to finalize the Center for Africa, La Maison des Mondes Africains, which is an

01:13:23 important aspect of this partnership. I encourage you to focus on greater influence, greater

01:13:33 effectiveness, stronger ties. I want to stress our agenda to support democracy in Africa.

01:13:45 Our past poses a challenge. And I said this very simply in Ouagadougou. I was born after

01:13:51 decolonization. And the African continent, well, on the African continent, 70% of the

01:14:01 population was born after decolonization. So we need to be careful when we talk about

01:14:10 post-colonialism. Let's not be overly simplistic. That era is over. And today, our policy is

01:14:24 a focus on democracy. And Achille Mbembe's initiative, the fund that we have established,

01:14:30 are an important part of this strategy. Again, we need to operate as partners. It is not

01:14:38 a French initiative, but it is open to all. And it needs to be based on the philosophy

01:14:45 that I've outlined. The second aspect was that of the Indo-Pacific. Since May 2018,

01:14:54 we developed a strategy for the Indo-Pacific because we have 1.5 million people living

01:15:03 in that area and 8,000 troops. And I'd like to redefine the terms of that policy. It is

01:15:15 a policy for engaging with China. I've spoken at length about China in other speeches. I

01:15:21 won't go into detail here. I made an important trip to China very recently. France is not

01:15:30 hostile to China. We engage with China. We want to improve the terms of that engagement

01:15:37 for France. We know that peace and climate are issues on which we need China. We are

01:15:46 clear-headed on the values we have in common and those that we do not. And so we have high

01:15:55 standards and we are open to engagement. 2024 is an important year. 60 years of Sino-French

01:16:04 diplomatic relations and a number of meetings and milestones. So I think that that is a

01:16:13 pragmatic approach. We have never been naive. We have never been passive, faced with China's

01:16:24 assertiveness. And we've focused again on our strategic autonomy, on communication technologies.

01:16:34 We were very clear this is a security issue and we did not agree to China rolling out

01:16:41 certain components. We are the European country with the fewest such components on our territory.

01:16:49 So on the Indo-Pacific, we want the Indo-Pacific to be free, open and at peace. The bottom

01:16:56 line is to preserve sovereignty without conflict, but reinvest in military presence, organise

01:17:05 joint military exercises. We did so last summer to focus on our overseas territories with

01:17:15 French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallace-Futuna, Reunion Islands, Mayotte and more. An approach

01:17:26 which focuses on those. And in Nouméa recently, I announced the military academy. We're also

01:17:37 working with French Polynesia on military or economic infrastructure. We're doing it

01:17:44 on the Reunion Island with partnerships in the Indian Ocean and an integrated diplomacy.

01:17:50 The Indo-Pacific partnership, as we saw this summer from Papua New Guinea to Vanuatu, helped

01:17:59 us re-establish this relationship because many players do not want to be locked into

01:18:09 a choice between the US on the one hand and China on the other. So an open partnership

01:18:17 without subjugation and a partnership that is not equidistant. I really want to be clear

01:18:26 because I don't want to be misquoted. Yes, you know, the US is our ally. We may have

01:18:34 a different relationship with China and so on. Now, the third way is something that in

01:18:40 general is better understood. So people in the region appreciate that France is a great

01:18:49 country, is a diplomatic, military and economic power, perhaps not a great demographic power,

01:18:57 but certainly is a leader in Europe, is a trusted partner and is offering a relationship

01:19:02 that is not conflictual with China, but which does not propose to be completely subservient

01:19:10 to China. And I think that that is based on common sense and is positive for the future.

01:19:19 So this is a diplomatic agenda, a climate agenda focused as well on the blue economy,

01:19:25 on culture, focusing on our overseas territories. And that is why we need to invest in regional

01:19:32 diplomacy on our overseas territories. I want to implement the same strategy in the Caribbean

01:19:44 and in the Amazon. I am delighted that Martinique has joined CARICOM. I hope that Guadeloupe

01:19:51 will be able to do the same. It's excellent to be able to develop regional partnerships.

01:19:58 And Latin America, now I heard a lot about the Amazon summit this summer, but we are

01:20:06 not a part of the treaty. So I was invited to the summit because France, through Guyana,

01:20:25 is an Amazon state. And so it makes sense, actually, for France, through French Guyana,

01:20:33 to be a part of this organization or any treaty. And I would like Brazil to accept our candidacy.

01:20:51 I also want to talk about our partnerships in North Africa and the Mediterranean in recent

01:20:56 years with civil society. And I mentioned it for Africa. It goes also for North Africa

01:21:03 with the two shores summit, cultural events for the years to come, a number of partnerships

01:21:09 in culture and entrepreneurship. Again, let us be clear-headed. Bilateral relationships

01:21:17 are still lacking on a number of fronts. Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, but also countries

01:21:28 in the Near and Middle East. Now, why? Well, I wouldn't say that it is for lack of engagement.

01:21:39 France has worked considerably on issues of memory and of economic crisis. But there are

01:21:47 also rivalries, regional rivalries. There are heterogeneous challenges in the region.

01:21:56 So we are going to implement a number of bilateral initiatives. I wish to reengage with these

01:22:02 countries in the months to come, consolidate what's already been done with the Baghdad

01:22:06 Conference for the Near and Middle East. And by the end of the year, under the aegis

01:22:11 of the minister, I would like to consolidate an intergovernmental initiative with the region

01:22:20 at large. And the environment, climate, co-production, these are issues that should help us set out

01:22:28 a regional agenda in new, different terms. Beyond this approach based on geography, when

01:22:36 I talk of France as a trusted partner, that also entails taking risks in matters of international

01:22:43 governance. Indeed, international governance is faced with a crisis. It is being increasingly

01:22:51 challenged. The Security Council, the UN, the IMF, the World Bank, I hear this everywhere.

01:23:04 Open the window, and that's the word on the street. And some are taking advantage of it.

01:23:12 The Gulf states look towards us today. They say, you speak of your principles, your rules,

01:23:18 your IMF criteria. Who are you? An old, declining continent in terms of demography. You face

01:23:28 energy security. You don't have – you're not advanced technologically. So we'll work

01:23:34 with India, China, and other countries better aligned with our agenda. That's what's

01:23:43 happening. And in many countries, when you can't get funds from the IMF, you turn to

01:23:48 the Gulf states or other rich countries who have deep pockets but a different agenda and

01:23:55 different values. Now, I'm not looking to downplay the BRICS+ Summit. But so there's

01:24:12 new membership there. I don't – but what about new membership to the G20? Well, there's

01:24:18 the African Union, perhaps. But our organizations that uphold international values and principles

01:24:29 that I believe in, well, the problem is that these current challenges potentially could

01:24:37 lead to a split. So I think that we need to appear as trusted partners and be able to

01:24:45 undertake a deep-seated reform of international governance. In particular, for the IMF and

01:24:53 the World Bank, it is not acceptable that these systems that essentially have been designed

01:25:03 by their first members and who essentially are the rich countries make the rules. We

01:25:12 risk creating an alternative order that pushes our own interests to the side. So we need

01:25:19 to reform the governance of these systems. Also, as Europeans, and I'm going to put

01:25:28 this forward to certain heads of state and government, we need to develop new formats

01:25:32 with India, Brazil, and South Africa. For instance, let's not limit ourselves to the

01:25:38 existing formats. I think it's important to engage with these emerging powers and create

01:25:45 new modes of engagement and look to the climate, the energy agenda, beyond relationships we

01:25:52 already have with the US, with China, and organizations that we are already a part of.

01:25:57 Let us be bold. And I'm open to all of your suggestions. In that respect, we have already

01:26:07 embarked on a journey, and I think that it will last for months and years to come. A

01:26:13 meeting was held in June and gave way to the Paris Agenda for People and Planet. The summit

01:26:25 gave way to that declaration, the four P's, which works in English and French. English

01:26:33 speakers appreciate these acronyms that slip off the tongue. The four P's. Now, we built

01:26:45 this agenda with countries of all types. And it rests on four principles. We should not

01:26:53 have to choose between the fight against poverty and the fight against climate. Countries appreciated

01:27:01 that because they thought we were preaching to them about how to achieve climate goals

01:27:05 without helping them on poverty. Second, the path is defined at the national level. It

01:27:11 is not dictated in Brussels or elsewhere. And so we build these partnerships to support

01:27:16 the national trajectory. Number three, we need more public monies. We did that for ourselves.

01:27:23 We need to push that agenda further afield. So the IMF and the World Bank have been pressured

01:27:30 to dictate new announcements and new guidelines. We need to roll this out. The agenda to fight

01:27:37 poverty and protect the climate cannot be implemented unless we put in more money. We

01:27:44 need more private sector money. That's number four. And this is true for all of our development

01:27:50 banks, our multilateral banks and our institutions. Unless we find the right driver, we will be

01:27:57 crowded out. We need to mobilize private sector money. It is absolutely key to achieving the

01:28:02 Paris Agenda for people and the planet. So the four Ps, that is what will structure our

01:28:09 action over the next few months. At the end of the day, we're building a new international

01:28:13 consensus between the public and the private sector. Poverty, climate, biodiversity, that's

01:28:19 our agenda. In New York, we will hold the Paris Peace Forum on November 10th, 11th and

01:28:35 12th. We will set up a small follow-up team. We will mobilize heads of state and government

01:28:42 from all of the countries concerned because this initiative should not be Paris-specific.

01:28:48 And during that summit, I hope that just before the Olympics and Paralympics, we get to organize

01:28:55 a summit for sustainable development in July 2024, right here in Paris. And at the heart

01:29:02 of the agenda, we will discuss the four Ps. To my mind, this is an absolute prerequisite.

01:29:11 The agenda will be structured by a number of initiatives that I would like to recall

01:29:16 here. We will continue to bring people together. Upon a request from the World Food Programme,

01:29:27 the first such a summit will be held on October 18th and 19th, 2023. We will mobilize the

01:29:34 entire planet around this very important agenda. We will also sponsor a reconstitution of the

01:29:40 International Fund for Agricultural Development on December 14th and 15th in Paris. This is

01:29:46 particularly important if we look at the current food crisis. And this will serve the farm

01:29:53 initiative that we undertook when the war in Ukraine began, the goal being to strengthen

01:29:58 the production capabilities of developing countries or intermediate-income countries.

01:30:05 So this trust-based partnership is based on the four Ps and the milestones that I just

01:30:10 referenced, which are key to my mind. Over and beyond these milestones, of course, we

01:30:17 will continue to develop our climate agenda. As always, climate and biodiversity go hand

01:30:24 in hand. But here again, there are several milestones that will provide rhythm over the

01:30:30 next few months. Of course, the COP28 talks at the end of the year. The climate crisis

01:30:40 is getting worse. It's time we achieve results. And the climate crisis is the perfect illustration

01:30:48 in everything that I've been saying. We're seeing a number of emerging countries use

01:30:52 the following political argument. The climate crisis is the responsibility of Western countries.

01:31:00 So we shouldn't be doing the hard work. So there are a number of countries whose main

01:31:09 economy is mostly based on oil and gas. And we also need to look at the stigma attached

01:31:17 to Western countries, European countries. To fight that, we need a trust-based partnership,

01:31:23 particularly when it comes to protecting the climate. A meeting will be held by Kenya in

01:31:28 a few weeks. President Houthi is committed to that effort. And I commend him for that.

01:31:34 France will stand alongside him. We will roll out the Paris Agreement for people and the

01:31:40 planet. We will set up the Nairobi Summit and the COP28 talks. We will have new financing

01:31:49 arrangements, newer, faster tools. We will mobilize the private sector as well. We also

01:31:57 need to build new ambitions when it comes to energy. France will drive a very clear

01:32:03 agenda with milestones for phasing out oil, gas, and coal. That's the reactor core of

01:32:11 our battle. We need to reduce our oil dependency across the board and our coal dependency as

01:32:19 well. AFD has great educational materials that clearly show the impact of coal. Let's

01:32:28 stop over-investing politically in small projects in small countries where there's a lot of

01:32:36 media hype. When we need to focus on the most important thing, emerging countries need to

01:32:44 phase out coal. And that's the end of it. We are basing our just transition partnerships

01:32:54 with Indonesia, Vietnam, Senegal on those things. And we will continue to roll out those

01:33:00 agreements. And now let's focus on phasing out oil, gas, and coal. Let's continue partnerships

01:33:07 with those main countries regarding green hydrogen, CCS, and the like. And the work

01:33:14 on biodiversity and forest preservations, which are treasure troves of biodiversity

01:33:20 as well as significant carbon sinks. All growth forests must be protected. That is a key aspect

01:33:28 of our strategy. Within One Forest Summit in Libreville last March, we continued the

01:33:34 work that started in Sharm el Sheikh. Forests occupy 14% of global surface, mostly in the

01:33:40 Amazon, in the Congo Basin, and Southeast Asia. So 14% of forests cover. The most precious

01:33:53 tropical forests are home to 90% of non-vertebrate ecosystems and 75% of recoverable carbon.

01:34:03 So we created a lot of mechanisms for reforestation, but we're not promoting preservation of species.

01:34:09 And every time deforestation takes place in those areas, it's a huge setback because

01:34:14 we release massive amounts of carbon that cannot be recovered. We destroy ecosystems

01:34:19 and biodiversity. And it's a huge setback. So we have built a new method. We will finalize

01:34:26 it for the COP28 talks with biodiversity credits and a better operation of the carbon market.

01:34:34 We have set up conservation partnerships that we started rolling out with Papua New Guinea,

01:34:39 with the Gilbert. Last summer, we're mobilizing both private sector and public sector financing

01:34:45 to preserve those areas, working together with First Nations. And we're doing that in

01:34:51 the Amazon as well, in our own jurisdiction, and also working with our various partners,

01:34:58 including Brazil. Lastly, on the climate front, we're working on the oceans. That is a key

01:35:04 challenge when it comes to the climate, of course, but also biodiversity and sovereignty.

01:35:10 Over the past few months, huge advances have been made. The BBNJ, or Biodiversity Beyond

01:35:19 National Jurisdictions Agreements for the high seas. Many thanks to all of our teams

01:35:25 for those efforts. Those agreements have been still made for a long time. We had difficult

01:35:31 discussions. But now, landmark advances have been made, and this paves the way for the

01:35:41 UN Conference on the Oceans to be held in Nice in June 2025. We are co-hosting this

01:35:48 event with Costa Rica. So 2024, that'll be a milestone with Costa Rica. Nice in June

01:35:54 2025. And we need to get ready right here, right now, because ocean diplomacy is something

01:35:58 we need to build, just like forest diplomacy. And these are very important drivers, first

01:36:04 of all, because people can relate. Because these are new vehicles that help credibility

01:36:11 vis-à-vis the competition. And also, it's an opportunity for us to mobilize a diplomatic

01:36:16 network in innovative ways. Lastly, I want us to get people on board when it comes to

01:36:25 our trust-based cooperation partnerships on two different fronts. First of all, the fight

01:36:31 against international inequalities. We need to achieve a fairer taxation system. The work

01:36:39 that has been done in recent months needs to be seen through when it comes to digital

01:36:44 taxes that are still made, that have to be overcome. And lastly, technology, particularly

01:36:51 artificial intelligence. In recent years, we have worked at the heart of true diplomatic

01:36:58 innovations, the Tech for Good Summit, for example. This is a new form of partnership

01:37:07 bringing together NGOs, governments, big business, all of the stakeholders behind technology.

01:37:15 The starting point was the Christchurch Call to Action right here in May 2019. Many thanks

01:37:23 to our New Zealand partners for that partnership. We will continue that partnership. This means

01:37:31 that terrorist content can be taken down online in just one hour. And what we need to achieve

01:37:40 is a digital order to protect children online. That is absolutely key. The second milestone

01:37:53 of those efforts will take place in Paris during the Peace Forum. And it is the exact

01:37:58 same method that we're using, a multi-stakeholder process that we're using for artificial intelligence.

01:38:06 We have a common approach with Germany. Europe has started to regulate. So what is the challenge

01:38:14 we need to address? We need to invest more in Europe so we can improve EU competitiveness

01:38:20 compared to the competition. We need an investment agenda that will improve our competitiveness.

01:38:28 But regulation should be factored in from the drawing board at the right level. Regulation

01:38:33 of artificial intelligence can only take place effectively at the international level. We

01:38:38 cannot regionalize such regulation efforts. It would be a mistake if Europe goes too far

01:38:44 and too quickly regulation-wise right here, right now. Even though we're not yet a driving

01:38:50 force behind innovation efforts, we're taking a chance. Also because everybody, there's

01:38:56 growing awareness of the need for regulation. This means that that's something that we need

01:39:01 to engage with. We need to take the initiative. The British set up a first summit that was

01:39:07 important during the Paris Peace Forum. We will also hold an important summit on regulation

01:39:13 because the G7 has decided that regulatory agencies would be Paris-based. The World Partnership

01:39:19 for Artificial Intelligence, which was created under the Canadian G7 presidency, has been

01:39:27 consolidated by France when our turn came. And that is backed by OECD. The Global Partnership

01:39:36 for Artificial Intelligence, UNESCO, which has ethical and cultural components, it's

01:39:41 all based in Paris. So of course, the onus is on us to devise new ways of thinking about

01:39:49 artificial intelligence. But we need to work very closely with all of our partners as part

01:39:54 of a multi-stakeholder process. Regulation must be factored in by design. As soon as

01:40:02 the tools are designed in an approach that is as broad and as inclusive as possible,

01:40:07 the OECD way. And also we need to look at aspects such as manipulation of information,

01:40:14 fake news, etc., etc. This is an important agenda. As you can see, all of these partnerships

01:40:23 are key to us. And I'm not giving you an exhaustive list of all the methods that we

01:40:27 use. One last thing we will do during the Paris Peace Forum is our agenda for the Earth's

01:40:32 Poles. We will hold a diplomatic and scientific meeting to try and further consolidate our

01:40:39 international strategy for the North Pole and the South Pole. Lastly, and that will

01:40:45 be my conclusion, this comes together with an agenda to maximize our influence and our

01:40:52 outreach. This is part and parcel of what we've been doing, what you've been doing

01:40:57 for years now, decades even. This is part and parcel of your commitment. But in my conclusion,

01:41:02 let me say a few words about that. In these times, more now than ever, we need to strengthen

01:41:09 our collective commitment to protecting the French language and culture. That is how we

01:41:16 serve our country's geopolitical, strategic, political and economic interests. The more

01:41:21 people speak French, the more people understand who we are and our culture. I also believe

01:41:27 that that agenda is useful to the regions where we implement it. We need to continue

01:41:32 to develop the AEFE reform that we initiated so we can maximize quantitative and qualitatively

01:41:43 schooling arrangements for children across the world. We are strengthening France's

01:41:46 role as an educational power. Last July, I had an opportunity to bring together representatives

01:41:51 of all Alliance Francaise. They are doing such great work. Many thanks also to the Institut

01:41:59 Français across the world and also our museums and our cultural institutions. Congratulations

01:42:05 to them for their diplomatic strategies, whether at home or abroad. We need to redouble our

01:42:13 efforts, put forward more proposals with as much enthusiasm as we had initially.

Category

Transcript

Recommended