 Welcome from my side, my name is Philipp, I'm with the World Economic Forum and I have now the honor and pleasure to moderate our today's session about the future of Europe. And now we first introduce our two high-level guests and panelists. Certainly, you all know her. Margarini, she's a high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security. Margarini, you are welcome. Thank you. We have also here on the side Maurice Levy. Maurice Levy is the CEO of the publicist group and French. So he has a good knowledge of France as well as economic and political development, certainly in respect of the recent elections. So, our representative, allow me to ask you the first question. So we had in Davos a remarkable, if not a historic speech by the Chinese president. And many commentators say, look, this is a proof that we are truly living in a multi-polar world. And my question is now to you as a high representative of the European Commission. Does that mean that Europe and European Union is willing to take over more responsibility in the global discussions? I understand even maybe your participation here at our Middle East-North Africa Summit, that does that mean some engagement and strong engagement here in the region? Well, that goes without even the question, because the European Union is already, not only here in the region but in all different corners of the world, from East Asia to Latin America, the first trading partner, the first source of economic investments, the first humanitarian donor, the first provider of development assistance, and I could continue like this. In some areas of the world, also a security provider. And we have just a couple of days ago in Brussels decided important steps on strengthening the European defence. So it is quite clear for us what the role of the European Union is in the world. Let me tell you that in our partners from China to India to Brazil to Canada to the United States, we see that our partners now look at the European Union looking for predictability and somehow seeing in us a reliable partner, an indispensable partner. The United Nations Secretary General was delivering this message just a couple of days ago in the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The question maybe is, are the Europeans aware of the responsibility we have on the global scene? The European leadership for sure has this sense of responsibility. I guess that after the Dutch elections, French elections, this responsibility will be even more central to our work. But I have to say that less than one year ago, the end of June, everybody was saying that the UK referendum was going to be the beginning of the end. And today we are definitely in a different place. We see a reaction from the 27, unity, determination to go on, take on our shoulders responsibilities that others might maybe start to put aside and relaunch the project of the European integration at 27. And that was done in Rome, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. And I believe the French people clearly indicated the need to reinvest and relaunch in the European integration process. So not only 60 years of peace and rights and economic prosperity, because seen from the other parts of the world, Europe is definitely an island of peace and stability, even if we have a lot of problems. But also inside I think that now we start to see the need to reinvest in our union and also to change it. Thank you, Federica Monerigini. I think that was the right password to talk about the French people, for example, that takes place directly to Maurice Levis. So you're very close, allow me to mention this, to the new president in France. So can you explain to the people what can we expect for France, but particularly for Europe and its integration? I'm not the spokesperson of Emmanuel Macron. And I'm not in charge of making his communication. So therefore I will say the thing from my point of view and not engaging his responsibility. The first thing that I would like to say is that Europe is today the land of hope. And that we in most of the European countries, we have defeated the populism. And that is probably the best news. And unfortunately, populism has been winning in the Anglo-Saxon countries, UK and US. So this is probably the best news that we could have expected to see. And Europe will certainly, tomorrow, be the land of prosperity, because when you see what happened in Spain, when Rajoy has won against the populists, when you see that in Italy, Renzi is coming back. You see in the Netherlands that the populist has been defeated in Austria. And finally in France, and in France, Emmanuel Macron has made a campaign since the very beginning, championing Europe. It's not something that came a little bit aside. It has been at the core of his campaign. And he explained to the people that Europe is something which is very good for the people. He has not hidden the difficulties behind Europe. He has defended Europe, promoted Europe. And clearly, my view is that he will work very closely with Chancellor Merkel and rebuild what has been built in with Giscard d'Estaing-Schmidt, with Mitterrand-Coll, with later on Chihac and Schroeder. So I believe that this team will really, they will work hand in hand and they will promote Europe, which has been damaged by a few issues, reputation, etc. And the one who will be the loser is clearly the UK. So that's my views. And I think also that what we will be doing is addressing the key issues, obviously economical issues which we need to address with very serious and deep reforms. And I am pretty sure that this is something that he is taking very seriously. And I believe also that he will play a more, a bigger international role. First trip was to see Angela Merkel. Second trip is to go to Mali. I think you don't need to be a great specialist of foreign affairs to understand the position of Emmanuel Macron. It's clear that he will play a global role on the global scene. Thank you very much. And without any question, I think it was a great political gesture to have these outlined trips. My question is, so there have been in the past some discussions between France and Germany in terms of the economic policies. And what can we expect in you and businessman and business leader from the economic policy, from President Macron, given that it's still on the discussion between France and Germany, so I think it was always good for you when France and Germany have been very close together. So this will be the future as well. Even there are some different opinions in terms of the economic development. There will be always different opinions. So you cannot expect to have two different countries to be fully aligned on everything. And it's good. It's good because they are different. But they are aligned on the most important aspect. The first thing is that Macron during his campaign has said that he is not going to raise the dividend. Oh my God. Business CEO. Yeah, I'm a CEO. Business man. I'm a CEO too. He is not going to raise the deficit and he will stick to the current budget. That is something that he has stated several times during the campaign and everything that he has planned to do goes in that direction. The second is that he has made very clear that one of the first topics that he has in his agenda is the labor reform. The labor code reform which is very complex in France and it's something for which he will act immediately. And which is, by the way, something we all know is a difficult hurdle for a lot of employers because they believe that if they hire it will be extremely difficult to fire if they are facing difficult times. And he wants to solve that problem and it's the very first aspect. The third is the tax agenda where he would like to reduce the tax for the individuals and also for the corporation and making sure that this can generate more revenue for the people and therefore nurture the growth of the country. So when you look at his reform agenda it's not a revolution and it's not as harsh as what François Fillon was planning to do but it is something which should certainly put back France in the right tracks. So I believe that he is very serious. He has a very good government who is a consensual and I believe he will take head on all the issues immediately in order to solve the problem, to make the decision during the summer in order that as soon as we are back to school we are back to normal in terms of the key reforms. Thank you. And both of you have already mentioned the Brexit and the decision by the people in the UK to leave the European Union. Frederika Mogherini may I ask you so what will be the positioning despite the noise we have now due to the elections in the UK, in Germany and recently in France what will be the positioning by the European Commission in terms of the negotiations and I think the business community is interested in if there is an idea to keep the UK as close as possible to the EU and the single market. Well first of all I fully share what Maurice was saying. I think that down the road we will all see that the big losers of the game that currently is being played will be the UK and probably this was not part of the considerations back one year ago and many things were not part of the considerations one year ago if you look at the political positioning inside the UK politics. The position on the European Union side on the 27th side is very clear. We've given a mandate with a three minutes decision in the European Council to the negotiator Michel Barnier to solve first the issues that are vital for the citizens of the 27 that will stay, the rights of the citizens, how the UK will honour its commitments budget wise and the issue of Ireland that is a key issue for I believe all of us and not only on our continent but also globally. And then only after these issues will be tackled and solved we will move to negotiating the future relationship with the UK including what comes to my file which is our future well actually at that moment the old file will come to my desk because it will start to become a third country so it will become part of the external relations of the European Union so at that time will become my responsibility once it will be out but at that stage we will start tackling with the future partnership we will have on security, on foreign policy, on defence the UK is currently already signalling their willingness to stay engaged on our foreign policy, on our security policy which is something good but these negotiations will start only after the first phase will be concluded. I would like to come back if I can on one thing that Maurice mentioned the quality and the messages that Manuel is sending on the cabinet, on the government. If you look at my files I have Jean-Yves Le Drian a clear committed European being a minister for Europe and for an affairs in this order with the clears and he called me, we know each other since years but he called me in a few hours after his appointment as a clear sign of France willing to play the major role that France always plays as a permanent member of the Security Council as a major power in the world but through the European angle investing in the strong European Union global role and Minister of Defence Sylvie Goulart that is very well known for being a strong European and I also talked to her in the first hours after she took office and I'm sure that with this team in place at least on my side of the competences we will have a major, major push to the global role of the European Union both on the traditional foreign policy files, diplomacy but also what I was saying before all the leverages we have from the economic to the development ones on the climate change agreement for instance all the different aspects that sometimes we underestimate we have instruments to work globally but also a big push to the defence European agenda that is the one that we're currently building in a very consistent manner so I'm sure that France will contribute enormously to relaunch the European Union integration process for sure on the foreign and security policy side but also I agree with you also on the economic files because I'm convinced that this will be also one of the key elements of the future of the Union and by the way one thing I was thinking of because I think the title of our thing is the future of the Union one thing we always give for granted is that the future of the European Union will be at 27 actually we're negotiating accession with several countries so when we talk about the future of the European Union this is not a very popular issue in France but we have to take into consideration the fact that countries especially in the western Balkans will eventually become members of the European Union so we will be more than 27 if things go in the right direction so the power of attraction of the European Union is still extremely strong and if you look at the level of trust confidence of the public opinions in the western Balkans for instance it's in many countries around 70-75% so we still have a power even if sometimes we don't recognize it and it's a waste because if we don't recognize it then we tend not to use it but I think I share the optimism I think the European Union will be the land of hope in the incoming years that sounds very promising even I would love to ask if we open the floor and we come back to reality no, you mentioned that today it's all soon 27 and maybe once 28-29 I think Turkey is not the top candidate yet for the 28s soon but in another debate exactly, but I really like what you mentioned at the beginning so to say look thinking one year before June 2060 no one would put any bet on the European Union to be honest after the decision in the UK and now the election in the Netherlands but particularly to be honest in France is really a game changer so would you agree and then we can open it to make the reality check if we are now at the eve let me say this words of a European decade yes, it's like how do you say it in English in Italian it's Arab furniture that you re-bur from your ashes European Union like Phoenix the Arab Phoenix the European Union has always moved forward when it faced the most serious crisis and Europe in its history has been like this sometimes and it's a very Mediterranean approach sometimes we really have to be pushed hard and face the edge to realize what it is to lose and fix it and I think this is what we have lived this year we have faced the risk of losing something that our fathers and mothers in some cases grandfathers and grandmothers have built bringing 60 years of rights, peace and economic development when if you look at history especially from this region the Europeans have for centuries exported war and we've been the ones fighting for religion for thousands of years and at a certain moment, 60 years ago wise people and courageous people simply had the intuition that making business together was more convenient by the way I think it's a good idea also for this region but that's another debate as well so I think that this last year Europeans realized and the French people realized for sure that we had a lot that we were risking to lose and there was a sort of reaction to that saying okay we might not like it but we can save it and change it rather than throwing it away and I think this is the message from the French elections it's not that the European Union is perfect on the contrary but you don't like French policies it's maybe good to change the government but you don't say you're anti-French you don't like European policies well they're not coming from the moon they're coming from political leaders that are elected and that take decisions so you can change the course of the decisions the content saving the box and the instruments you have because seen from the outside the European Union is the most amazing regional integration process that history has ever seen so before throwing away something like this you better fix the policies and we adjust the course of some decisions that were made personally I think that in the years of the economic crisis many things could have been done differently and better from the European Union decision making side but again it's not people coming from Mars taking these decisions it's elected, heads of state and government ministers taking decisions so it's the people that at the end of the day have the power to determine the European policies but again this sense of responsibility Europe is what I make of it that is back I think in the European scene so I think that yes this year we realized we got scared and we reacted and I believe in the next 10 years can be yes the European decade also because I don't see many others in the world that are going to have their own decades starting from now so we will need to show leadership also worldwide Maurice and then I will open for two or three questions Maurice Yes, I said that Europe is a land of hope and I believe very sincerely that it's a land of hope but we should not believe that because Emmanuel Macron has been elected that the problem of Europe are solved and I'd like to build just a minute on what you have just said I think that it is very important that we solve our problem that Europe is less cobersome and that the European feel that they are European and they feel that they are belonging to a Europe that they like a Europe that is taking care of them and I think that there is something that we should be much more active on which is communicating with the European people making them part of the game and today they are left alone the only thing they are hearing with the exception of some moment in the election is that Europe is complicated Europe is the mother of all our problems et cetera et cetera and this has to be solved otherwise we will have a European which is a European body which is detached from the people which can happen and the only advice I may give as a citizen of Europe is that we better solve our issues and strengthen our position before letting anyone else joining the table we have so we have a clean table we have good dishes so when they are joining they are enjoying the dinner but before we do everything that we need to do which I believe are a lot of things if we want to have a great Europe for the future so thank you very much unfortunately we have not that much time but I would like to ask two or three of you for the reality check what I mentioned I would like to start with Amor Musa our good friend and long standing General Secretary of the Arab League Amor Thank you for the two distinguished members of this panel I want to raise the issue of the Mediterranean the policy, the foreign policy of the European Union you talked about the global dimensions of that policy I want you to give some thought to the Mediterranean since there is the Barcelona Convention and all the Mediterranean countries including Europe have signed that Convention then it was shelved I believe and many like me do believe that the time has come for the European Union to give special attention to that area which is of course adjacent to the Middle East with all the chaos over there but I believe that if we get back to this Barcelona process with whatever updating that we might need the political and security basket, the economic and social basket, the cultural basket, we will have a new vistas of opportunity for cooperation and for stabilization of the rest I just want to tell Monsieur Levy that this Mediterranean initiative was established back very early on in the 90s with the initiative from France that was Juppe Egypt that was myself and Spain and Italy so four of us started to launch this that was 1993 which was crowned in 1995 by the Barcelona process and was adversely affected by what President Sarkozy has done the European Union the Mediterranean Union and things went in a wrong direction we have a chance now if you wish just give it a chance just give it some thought and for the new president to think again of reviving this process so given the time shortage let's do the following we will add some colleagues and then we make it in general so that we can you have been then I would like to go then the woman in the second row and then we have to finish unfortunately maybe you can do some question offline but unfortunately that's Swiss institution thank you very much first of all I am Richard Sandergie I am in charge of the Société Générale Group in the Middle East I am pro-Europe I am French I voted for Macron but like a lot of us we feel that Europe or the Union has stopped in the middle of the road and that it cannot move forward anymore and there is a big governance issue and the more members and the heavier that governance becomes your job Mrs. Mogherini is the only one I know and the first one that has created some kind of a political union which is very much what's lacking today to represent that force of the polar world now time is very short so do you really see that happening soon because we have seen how difficult it has been and according to you how can that happen is it just a question of the Germans and the French imposing a new governance or will it take another few years to have everyone around the table if he enters front and then the woman and then we are done thank you for this European dream I go straight to my heart but I guess my question is what are the realest reactions you would suggest to do in Europe to reverse the back trend and seen from this region Europe has lost a lot of position in the last 20 years China is rising as a more important trading partners and political partners are we going to reverse that and make Europe again a prime force and a positive force in the middle of it on that note the woman and then we have to unfortunately finish the session but again thank you very much Zürich a template editor of international and political policy journal in Berlin Europe has reached already a very deep level of integration however in the field of security and foreign policy we basically reached a core of sovereignty a really deep sovereignty issue in every regard could you be I know time constraints but could you be a bit more specific where we could deepen integration and security and foreign policy level taking into consideration that even without the Brits we won't have a European army very soon thank you I start try to be short on the Mediterranean you preach to the converted and I believe that really the key here is also in the hands of business not only of the politics because you know that well the Mediterranean region is the less integrated region in the world is the region that has less economic exchanges south south and it's the most conflictual region of the world and I believe the three things are connected so it's an interest we share to increase the level of exchanges not only north south but also south south political, security, economic, trade, everything on the governance problem look I I am the only one in the world that sees the different EU institutions from different sites some were saying that Lisbon Treaty was creating a monster and that my job is basically impossible I think it's perfect because I can mobilize the money on the commission site and I have the executive when it comes to trade, humanitarian development but also science and technology or education or energy and you can use all of that in foreign policy and I have the 28 foreign ministers defense ministers, development ministers trade ministers and by the way I have a third hat which is the head of the European defense agency which I'm using very much in this month so I see the different sites I see the intergovernmental and I see the communitarian and having been a minister myself I can tell you the European Union doesn't have a governance problem the European Union has the problem that Maurice was saying before a lack of ownership because I've been a minister I know how the trick goes you go to Brussels you take decisions in the council because decisions are not taken by someone in Brussels are taken by ministers or prime ministers that gather in Brussels the only ones that cannot do this trick are the Belgians blame on Brussels all the rest most of the times decisions are taken by unanimity but then you go down to the ground floor to meet the press or back home and you say Brussels has decided this is the problem we're facing the lack of ownership and responsibility and this is the big revolution I think this is a revolution Emmanuel is going to bring this sense of ownership the European Union is me it's us it's not something else we have responsibility if it works if it doesn't work and by the way now it's something that is not wise to say on the record but the Brexit process is putting I think a lot of clarity on the responsibility side you cannot do anymore the trick I stay in but I don't like it you like it you stay in you make it work you don't like it you leave it's not an encouragement for others to leave but if you stay in because you recognize the value of being together you make it work it's yours it's yours so I don't think it's a governance issue we are too many we are too no it's a matter of political responsibility you realize it's your tool to actually be in the globalized multipolar world because none of us is strong and big enough to negotiate with China or with the United States even France or Germany small countries compared to the rest of the world so you have a magnificent tool you can make it work obviously you can also play the blame game to win the election but Emmanuel showed us that you can also win the election without playing the blame game on the contrary using the big instrument you have on the European integration I know I have to finish how to reverse this matching this national and European discourse not duplicating or distancing the national identity and the European identity I'm from Rome, I'm Italian, I'm European I don't see the contradiction between being from Rome and being Italian in some cases on football but that's another story why should we have a contradiction between French and European identity and that's why the powerful message of putting the two items together was revolutionary so the only way to reverse this trend I think is this realignment of identity, we feel Europeans we are Europeans and what we make of the European Union is in our hands thank you, Maurice very short, I believe that Europe has lost a lot of possibilities in the past opportunities you mentioned Mediterranean you mentioned the problem of government you mentioned the position we lost and this is very true and we should not say that the reality is different, we have to be realistic yes, we lost position the good news is that we have today a more united Europe and the fact that we have that more united Europe will help us to have better policies and to put in place better strategies and I think that from the industrial point of view from the economic point of view including from the political point of view we will be more united not only because there is Emmanuel Macron but also simply because everyone has felt the heat and the risk and now they see what they may lose and they understand that they have to work together in order to build the Europe that we all dream about and this yet to come so thank you very much and certainly I'm not a bit allowed to judge anything but allow me to mention I've been fascinated in 30 minutes to see politicians business leaders so emotional pro-European here in the Middle East North Africa so really thank you very much to this session