 President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Brain drain. The brain drain is affecting many countries, regions, and local communities in the European Union. If it's not properly treated, the brain drain may affect the sustainability of the European project and may destroy the quality of life in both sending and receiving countries. Left unaddressed, it will have long-term and permanent effects on the future of the European Union and is likely to become a strategic threat. The issue of brain drain in the European Union is complex, calling for a pragmatic policy response from the European Union, Member States, local, and regional authorities. Local and regional authorities play a crucial role in addressing this issue, since local communities are the ones they are directly affected by the consequences of brain drain. Let's talk a little bit about the history of brain drain. This is not a new issue. It's a very old issue. Migration of educated people is more than 2,000 years old. For example, 2,000 years ago, there was a brain drain from Athens to Alexandria in the context of policies promoted by Ptolemy the first sauteer. Later, the history of the first European universities is related to brain drain circulation and measures try to stop the brain drain using even the death penalty. But no chance. The University of Arezzo, the University of Pisa, 1343, or Florence, 1349, were founded after migration from the University of Bologna. Also in the 1970s, the Bagwati tax proposed a tax on the income earned by the skilled migrants in the destination country to the benefit of the source country. But of course, this measure also didn't work, even is still present in the political discourse. So today, what is the solution? There is no universal solution. But we can discuss now about brain drain in the context of brain gain and brain circulation. And Commissioner Switzer already mentioned. And we have another advantage in this very moment. Yes, the freedom of movement, it's a fundamental value of the EU. It's a religion. We cannot debate about the vulnerability of the freedom of movement, but always about. What is the main point? We have to respect the freedom of movement, but everyone is free to move voluntarily inside the European Union. But no one should be forced to leave the country to the poverty and other economic reasons. I think this is the key. How can we respect the freedom of movement, but no one should be forced due to the economical conditions to leave his own country or village, or so on? So if we do not properly trigger the brain drain, we have a potential threat to the future of the European project. You know that the countries below the EU 28 average GDP per capita are mostly sending countries of skilled workers, like Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, or Poland. On the other side, the countries above the EU 28 average GDP per capita are the main destination countries of skilled EU movers, like Germany, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, and so on. So in that very context, we do have to take in consideration the positive and the negative impacts of the brain drain. Solutions. How can we tackle the brain drain? And I'll be very limited due to the time which I have it. First, multi-level governments and multi-level approach. European and state level, local and regional level. Second, political commitment for cohesion policy. It's a must to keep at least the same amount of money for political cohesion policy because this cohesion policy should remain a long-term investment for all regions and is the main instrument to keep Europe together and to deal with brain drain. Third, education, education, education. That's the main source, the main advantage to keep people home. And you have a lot of examples of good results. Best practice is a local, regional level from this point of view. In the end, we have to deal with brain drain. Having in mind, we have to fight against a continuous, excessive brain drain. This is posing a great danger to our countries, to our region. Excessive, continuous brain drain. And you have to know the people who are living in the country, their ultimate dream is to come back. And they have to take an account of this. And we need to work together to deal with brain drain. In the end, I'd like to give special thanks to my expert professor, Hinta, from Babish Bay University.