 Minister Lind has served as Swedish Minister for European Union Affairs and Trade since May 2016. She's a member of the governing Social Democratic Party in Sweden and from 2014 to 2016 she held the position of State Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs. Before her role in the current Swedish government she was the head of the International Unit of the Party of European Socialists in Brussels. So please give one welcome to Minister Anne Lind. Thank you very much and thank you very much for inviting me here. I truly enjoy being in Dublin even if it's a very short visit this time. In my different position I has been in Dublin for decades already since the 80s when I worked together with the youth organizations and we organized many meetings and then as International Secretary of the Social Democratic Party for many years and so on and so forth. So I really enjoy having so close cooperation with Irish friends. The time of this discussion is very timely and very topical because Europe is as its crossroads. We have to choose between an open or closed approach between nationalism and international cooperation as in the EU. For me it's an easy choice international cooperation. Through international cooperation the EU has managed to bring peace prosperity and development for citizens in Europe. Even if we have worked together for a long time the citizens has shown disappointment with EU in different ways. The latest years has also showed us that some even questioning the common values of our European Union. We have member states that straightforwardly reduce our values and question the rule of law. Keeping citizens confidence and trust for the Union is central and protecting the rule of law and our common value is a cornerstone for trust. This might sound quite obvious but it's not. We used to believe that the path towards stronger human rights was impossible to stop in the European Union but the latest years development has taught us the opposite. That is why we need to deliver on our citizens expectations. That is why we never can look the other way when member states seem to ignore the EU Commission's recommendations. But let me focus on the areas where the EU can work together to reach common important goals and create added value for the citizens. Let me give you a few examples. We need to develop the internal market and strengthen workers rights. Social and economic progress must go hand in hand to deliver their full potential. Equal pay for equal work in the principle that should apply. Social justice must be made a priority and translated into action. Social responsibility and good working conditions for all are not at odds with growth and competitiveness. At the same time we need to develop the internal market and boost the competitiveness gains from integration. This requires reforms on digitalization and service sector. We need to implement the Paris Agreement to tackle climate challenges. The EU needs to fulfill its commitment and implement the Paris Agreement. It is also important to keep the level of ambition on the energy union both for the competitiveness of European industry and for climate reasons. Environmental protection is one of the areas where the EU has shown its added value. We need to continue to work towards a toxin free and resource efficient society. We need to come together and handle the migration issue and share their responsibility. The EU should provide safety for its citizens and take a shared responsibility for refugees. A new common asylum system has to be achieved in order to share responsibility more equal. Even if the EU is tackling challenges vast opportunities lie ahead if we can steer the ship through these troubled waters. This is after all one of the wealthiest and socially most equal parts of the world. The European Union is the world's largest economy and has seven percent of the world's population but accounts for one-fifth of the global GDP. The single market has been the key driver of EU competitiveness since 1992 and the results are clear. Robust growth, more jobs and higher welfare. Most of our citizens feel that they have gained prosperity and opportunities from the EU but not all citizens many rightfully feel left behind forgotten or ignored. I have to say that the most important question for the EU in the future year is to create a situation where the benefits from growth and globalization reach all citizens. Nobody should be afraid of social dumping. Everybody should gain from growing economy. We all share responsibility and an interest in working for a more inclusive and future-proof Europe where the benefits from growth and globalization reach all citizens. There is a momentum for this question to be discussed and for making the social dimension the EU part of our discussion on the future of EU. The next step is the social summit for fair jobs and growth in Gothenburg that will take place in November. This social summit has been one of my prime minister, Stefan Löfven, highest priorities. Since taking office our government have actively worked to advance these issues both nationally and in the EU agenda and I hope that the T-Shop will actually come. We have sent an invitation. We know that the Member States often share the same challenges and we can learn a lot from each other's solution. Sweden has a lot to offer in these efforts through a long experience of an efficient dialogue between the social partners, transition and combining growth with social security. In a time when EU cooperation is challenged by tension the cooperation must continue to be developed and improved. Not through major new projects that require treaty change but by focusing on areas where there is added value in cooperating at the European level. And that will lead me to the theme of my visit here in Dublin today. How we can reassure that the digital revolution or the new digital wave will give our European citizens and enterprises added value. The internet and digital technologies transform the world that we live in. On EU level we have worked intensively to make people's everyday life easier by improving the digital market. For example by facilitating cross-border e-commerce. Right now during my visit here in Dublin I can enjoy one of the first concrete results of the digital single market strategy. I can roam like I'm at home with my smartphone. Many more reforms are underway and legislative negotiations are still ongoing on a number of key proposals for example in tackling unjustified geoblocking, copyright reform, telecom reform and an update on the audiovisual media framework. The European Council has repeatedly committed to implement the digital single market by December 2018. This will require the pace of the negotiation to be increased. Because it's a virus the digitization will increase in speed and we have to do our very best to make sure that the pace of the European digitization and the digital equality of European policy making lives up to the expectations of our citizens and business. But that has not been the case. That is why I about a year ago took the initiative to invite eight other member states, Ireland, UK, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, to cooperate and act as a group, the digital nine group. The nine of us has everything to gain from a truly digital single market and from further European cooperation and discussion on the best way of forming our digital future. As the front runners of Europe we should make sure to contribute to the digital agenda of the EU, building on our expertise and experience to ensure that growth and new jobs will be created with the objective to stay in Europe. I would like to underline that the D9 cooperation is not the question of enhanced cooperation within the meaning of the treaty, but rather a capital based informal cooperation, a circle of friends and a platform to push the digital agenda of Europe even further. To accomplish a truly digital single market through the commission strategy it is about most important as will our heads of state underline at the digital summit in Tallinn. Estonia is a very important D9 member in two days time. But our work does not stop there. The pace of digital change is astonishing, e-commerce is changing the economic landscape, how we trade and live and it's expected to grow with nearly 30% until 2020. And the global data flows have grown 45 times since 2005 and are expected to grow another nine times the coming years. As data becomes a central blood system in our modern economy I'm happy to see the commission's proposal on free flow of data. For both startups and existing industry data is a new fact of production and the ability to use data will be a major determinant of success. The value of the data economy is estimated to 739 billion euros by 2020 which is 4% of the GDP of EU. The digital economy is global. Free flow of data is important on the EU single market as it is in relation to third countries where it should be ensured through EU free trade agreements. I would like to thank Ireland and the other D9 countries for our cooperation during last year in underlining the importance of this proposal. But as I was about to say our work does not stop there. We need to keep looking even further ahead and have continuous dialogue with industry and other actors on the next important step in European digital policy making. This is what the digital line is for. We need to ask ourselves which steps do we need to take today in order to reap the most digital benefits in the future. As the digital front runners of Europe we must do our very best in contribution and to discuss this. One concrete example of the D9 step in the data direction is that we will hold a series of round tables gathering industry in our respective capitals to discuss platforms and the platform economy together. And I have invited my D9 colleagues for a meeting in Stockholm later in October to discuss this and other digital issues further. And I'm very happy that Minister Brie has accepted this invitation. Ladies and gentlemen just like Ireland Sweden has done quite a remarkable journey the last 100 to 150 years. Looking back at the time when my grandparents were young the signs that Sweden today together with Ireland would become a digital front runner in Europe were perhaps not so clear. Sweden has also relied on trade and it was export that helped us from being a poor country to build a welfare state of Sweden of today. Several global companies that today form the backbone of Swedish industry such as ABB, SKF, Volvo, Electrolux started out as high tech startup companies. And from this experience we have learned important lessons, the ability to innovate, to try new things, to adapt, to be open to the rest of the world. All of those things has taken us to the position that we have today. As the Swedish Minister for EU and trade I am proud to be part of the D9 and I'm focused on hard work to improve the conditions for digitization of the single market. It is an honor to be here in Dublin to have part in creating a better and more digital European future and to do so in close cooperation with Ireland. I am very happy that the Minister Macinty and I have so close relation just having known each other for a social time. It looks good for the future. Thank you very much.