>> now, the president of the european union with his annual state of the european union speech in strasburg, france, to lawmakers in the european parliament. he underscored the importance of a strong and united europe in the wake of brexit tensions and migration. >> mr. president. honorable members. good morning. sometimes, history moves discreetly. when we are talking about the work of a commission, which only has a five-year time to make

some change, over such a short time, you can't bring about a big change in the state of affairs. the current commission, like its predecessors, is an episode of a brief moment in time in the long history of the european union. our plan has not yet come. yetcommissions are not going to take stock before you of everything we have done over the past four years. on the contrary, i will tell you that work will continue over the coming months. to ensure that our imperfect european union becomes even more -- becomes a little more perfect every day. we still have things to do. which is what i wish to discuss with you this morning.

no satisfaction modesty taints my results. that is the approach as we look at the agenda over the coming months. sometimes, history, in the true sense of the word, thrusts itself into imaginations without any prior warning. that is what happened at the in 1914.orld war i it can't -- it caught the continent off guard. it was a sunny, calm, optimistic here in 1913. europeans were expecting to live in everlasting peace. yet, the fratricidal war descended on europe the next year.

notreferring to that period because i'm suggesting we are on the verge of a similar catastrophe. the european union is a guarantee of peace. let us be happy that we live on a continent of peace, a continent which enjoys peace thanks to the european union. [applause] so, let us show more respect to the european union. let us not sully its image. let us defend our way of life, our way of being. let's embrace a type of patriotism that is not directed against others. nee-jerkus decry k nationalism, which scapegoats others.

[applause] founding principle of the union, no more war, never again. this importance of allies and those all around us. what is the state of the union today in 2018? europe has very much gotten past the economic crisis which hit us coming from elsewhere. it had very little impact on us. europe has -- we have had 12 million jobs created since 2014. the economy is going. that's more than the number of

people living in belgium. never have we had so many people , 213 million men and women at work in europe. youth unemployment stands at 14.8%. high,igure is still too but it is the lowest level since 2000. investment has come back to europe, thanks in particular to the european front for strategic investment, which fewer and fewer are calling the juncker plan. that has generated public investment. in greece, after years which must be said were painful years, following unprecedented social problems, greece has made a success of its programs.

homage once again to the herculean efforts of the people. [applause] >> i have always, as you know defended greece. dignity, its role in europe , and in particular, it's -- particular its continued zone.ership in the euro i'm still proud of that. europe has also reasserted its trade position. it is a global trade power. this is proof, if ever there was, of the need to hold sovereignty. the european union has trade agreements with 70 countries. taken together, we account for

40% of the world gdp. the trade agreements i'm talking about are very often called into question, wrongly. they enable us to export high european food safety standards around the world. as well as workers rights, environmental standards, and consumer law standards. last july, during a dangerous period of international tension, i visited both beijing and tokyo , as well as washington in one week. i was able to speak in my as president of the commission on behalf of the largest single market in the world, on behalf of the union, which accounts for 1/5 of the total world economy. a union which is prepared to defend its interests. i represented europe as an open

continent but not one that we will hand over. i was able to set out our and achieven detail results for our citizens. when we are united, we european union, have become a force to be reckoned that you cannot do without. some in europe are unhappy with the agreement i reached with president trump. some were surprised by it. it shouldn't have been a surprise. whenever europe speaks as one, we can impose our position on

others. where necessary, europe must act as one. we demonstrated this with our ceaseless efforts to defend the paris climate agreement. we, as europeans, want to leave a cleaner planet to coming generations. by agreeing with our energy commission's analysis of the co2 , they areuts for 2030 scientifically right at politically necessary. the terrible events of this summer have brought home, not just to farmers, the importance of our efforts to safeguard the future for coming generations.

of course, you may choose to ignore climate change and look the other way. we in the commission and you in parliament must look towards the future. ladies and gentlemen, the clock is still ticking. volatile,is a more the charges before our continent are growing day after day. we cannot ease up. for as we seek to build one second, a united and stronger europe. ,urope can export its stability as we did with our successes. as far as i'm concerned, those enlargements remain success

stories because we have managed to bring together european geography and history. but efforts still remain to be made. we need a forthright definition of our attitude towards the accession of western balkan countries. otherwise, others will take it upon themselves to shape our immediate neighborhood. let's look around us and see what is happening at this time. , the cause of events should be a source of great, immediate concern to us all.

we cannot remain silent. in the face of an impending humanitarian disaster, which is a disaster foretold. the syrian conflict shows us how the international order, which europeans have taken advantage of since world war ii, has increasingly been called into question. furthermore, in today's world, europe can no longer rest assured that the commitments entered into the past will be respected in the future. alliances may not be tomorrow's alliances. worldas saying, today's needs a strong, united europe. peace,e working for trade agreements, stable monetary arrangements, even if others elsewhere are all too to resort to commercial

or monetary warfare. -- with no regard for others' interests. convinced multinational list. if europe realizes its political power, its economic power, and sometimes the military power of its component nations, we will no longer have to be the global player alone. willing tore still able pay, but we have to be global players, too. that's why, despite strong resistance at the time, as of

2014, i relaunched the european defense league. that is why in the coming months the commission will continue its , work on the european defense fund, starting cooperation and defense to make them fully operational. i should add a point which i think is important, and its context. we will not be militarizing the european union. what we are seeking is great responsibility and independence. because only a strong, united europe will be in a position to defend our citizens from internal and external threats. be it terrorism are climate change. only a strong, united europe can

save jobs in an open and connected world. only a strong, united europe will make it possible for us to rise to the challenge of global digitalization. we europeans, because we are not we are the largest market in the world, will be able to set standards. citizens'olding conditions of life, provided we are united. a strong, united europe will reachits member states to for the stars. europe is still in the space race. no single member state would have been able to launch satellites that 400 million users around the world are already benefiting from.

galileo is a success story. not only, a european success story. without europe, there would be no galileo. without -- be proud of that. present geopolitics tells us -- europe has to embrace its destiny. europe has a capacity to influence world affairs. europe must increasingly be a sovereign player in international relations. the european sovereignty derives

from the national sovereignty of our member states. it does not replace what properly lies within national purview. by -- we strengthen all of our component nations' regions. that's part and parcel of belonging to the european union. european sovereignty will never be directed against others. europe must remain tolerant, open. they will remain so. europe will never become a fortress, turning its back on the world. in particular, the suffering part of the world. europe must and will remain a multilateral continent because the world belongs to everyone, not just a few. [applause]

that's what's at stake in the european elections in may 2019. in the 250 days between now and then, we must get across to our citizens the evidence that when we act together, the european union can achieve results. and it respects the commitments we entered into at the beginning of our office. between now and the european elections, we must show that europe is able to overcome differences between the north and the south, the east and the west. the european union, europe is too small to split itself into two today and four tomorrow. we have to show clearly that

andther, east, west, south, north, we are able to plant the seeds of a more sovereign europe. mayinguished members, in 2019, there will be elections. the citizens of europe will be -- will not be interested in what the commission is proposing, but it will interest them. pay their taxes where they make their profits. [applause] voters want a lot from you. not all of you. i know that the voters want to know that the commission proposal will rapidly become a reality. those who want that are right.

it's europeans in 2019, if they -- if they are interested in what the commission does on plastics, if we want to convince them, we need a european law which cements the ban on plastics. , in fineclare speeches, that we want to be more ambitious in big issues and less ambitious in smaller things. in may 2019, the europeans won't applaud, if, twice per year, we have to continue to change the clocks twice per year. we need to change this business of changing the clocks.

the member states should decide whether their citizens should live in summer or winter time. we expect, and council and parliament will say this the same way, to make sure that regional, single market conformed solutions will be found. time is pressing. the months ahead, we should work closer together so that what we promised in 2014 can be delivered in good time before the european elections. when we started, we all promised to deliver a digital, single market. a banking union, single market,

energy policy, comprehensive , and a union of safety and security. at least most of us undertook that. the social dimension in europe in secondldn't be place. it should be treated more seriously. all the initiatives that we inounced in the commission 2014 were put on the table. half of them were already adopted by counsel of parliaments. are stuck in some difficult negotiations. expect that the commission is responsible for the false of itself. there have been shortcomings.

are well-known, in particular when it comes to refugees and migration. they should be adopted and implemented. i want to allow in the future -- and i know this will happen, that the commission is made the sole scapegoat. scapegoats exist in all institutions. least of them in the commission and parliament. leadership on a broad front is needed. this goes to changing our security union. the europeans expect, quite rightly, that the european union protects them. the commission is proposing new terroristy to counter propaganda and take it down from the internet within one hour. one hour is the decisive time

window when the greatest damage can take place. we are also proposing that the tariffs of the new european public prosecutor will be extended when it comes to fighting terrorist acts. we must be able to prosecute terrorists across borders. terrorists don't know borders. by not cooperating, we should not make ourselves their accomplices. new measuresposing to effectively act on money laundering in a cross-border matter. we must be equally decisive to make sure that a free and fair elections in europe. the commission is proposing new electionprotect

processes against manipulation by other countries and huge private interests. leadership, seeking compromises, urgently needed in migration more thany progress claimed. five out of the seven commission proposals to reshape our adopted, system work our efforts have been successful. there are 97% less migrants in the east mediterranean and 80% less in the central mediterranean since 2015. over 690,000 people have been saved. member states have not yet the

betweenoportion responsibility for their own sovereignty and the necessary solidarity amongst themselves must be provided by the member states if they want to retain this area without internal borders. against internal borders. were they now exist, they must be removed. because if they remain, there would be an unacceptable backwards step in europe. the commission and many council presidents have made numerous .roposals on migration

i call on the austrian council presidency, and they will do this to make decisive steps so that we have proper solutions for a balanced reform of migration. ship,'t, when every new we can't be talking every time about ad hoc solutions for people on board. ad hoc solutions are not adequate. we need a lot more. we need more solidarity, and solidarity must be lasting and organized. we also need more solidarity because we need more efficiency. this also applies when it comes to disaster protection. if there are fires somewhere in

europe, there are fires everywhere in europe. this summer, we didn't just have the fires, pictures we saw, but the polish firefighters who .elped out in sweden back to migration. we are putting forward a proposal to strengthen the european border and coasts. all borders must be protected more efficiently. we're proposing that the number of border agencies, by 2020, 10,000.about we are making a proposal to extend the european refugee agency. they need support when it comes

androcessing asylum applications in line with the geneva convention, when making a proposal for the return of illegal migrants. i repeat my wish and parliament, to open legall routes for migration into europe . we need qualified migrants. -- has been on the table for quite some time, so at least implement them. president, ladies and gentlemen, i'd like to talk about the future as well and therefore must speak of africa, europe's twin continent.

by 2050, africa's population will number 2.5 billion. one in four people on earth will be african. we need to invest more in our relationship with the nations of this great and noble continent. we have to stop seeing the africa-eu relationship through the sole prism of development aid. such an approach is inadequate, and is humiliating for africa. africa does not need charity. it needs a true and balanced partnership. and europe needs this partnership just as much. in preparing my speech today, i spoke with my african friends, notably the chairman of the

african union. we agreed that donor-recipient relations are a thing of the past. and we agreed that reciprocal commitments are the way forward. we want to build a new partnership with africa. [applause] today, we are proposing a new alliance between europe and africa. an alliance for investment and sustainable jobs. this alliance, as we see it, would help to create up to 10 million jobs in africa over the next five years. we want to create a framework that brings more investment to africa. we are not starting from scratch. our external investments plan, which was launched two years ago, will mobilize in the public

and private sectors. -- will mobilize more than 44 billion euro in the public and private sectors. the projects, which are in the pipeline, will be to the tune of 24 billion euro. we want to focus our investments where our actions make a real difference. by 2020, the eu will have supported 35,000 african students and researchers through the erasmus program. by 2027, this figure should reach 105,000. trade between africa and europe is important. it is significant. -- percent of africa's trade is with the european union. but trade between us is not enough.

i'm convinced that we also have to make progress on other agreements and have a continent to continent economic partnership between equal partners. and move towards a free trade agreement. another issue where i see strong need for the union deposit leadership is brexit. i will not get into the details of the negotiations, which are being masterfully handled. he works on the basis of the unanimous position confirmed time and again by the 27 member states. however allow me to recall three , principles that should guide our work on brexit in the months to come. respect, of, we

course, the british decision to leave our union. but we regret it deeply. but we also ask the british government to understand that someone who leaves the union cannot be in the same previous position as a member state. if you leave the union, you are , of course, no longer part of our single market. certainly not only in parts of it. [applause] secondly, european commission , this parliament, and all other member states will always feel loyalty and solidarity with ireland when it comes to the the irish border. this is why we want to find a that preventsion

--in northern ireland. and we will defend all the elements of the good friday agreement. it is brexit that is making the border more visible in northern ireland. it is not the european union. oftainly, after the 29th march, 2019, the united the united kingdom will always be a very close neighbor and partner in political, economic, and security terms. in the past months, when we needed unity in europe, britain was on our side, living by the same values and principles of all other europeans.

this is why i welcome prime minister's proposal to develop a new partnership for the future. we agree with the statement made in checkoff that the staffing point for such a partnership should be a free trade area between the united kingdom and the european union. on the basis of these principles, the commissions negotiators stand ready to work day and night to reach a deal. we owe it to our citizens and our businesses to ensure the united kingdom's withdrawal is orderly. it will not be the commission that will stand in the way of this. >> ladies and gentlemen, between now and the european elections, in between now and the summit that will take place in may of next year, lots of work remains to be done.

we will have to convince our citizens that we share the same purpose in the european union. we need to make sure that we get things right. people want certainty. they expect a clear message and don't want half measures to be taken. let's not give them those. this is all part of the european agenda en route to the summit. we will have to ratify the partner agreement between the eu and japan.

we will have to enter into that agreement for economic and geopolitical reasons. between now and then, we will have to organize an agreement for the post 2020 eu projects. we need to give young europeans an opportunity to make the most of what the erasmus program has to offer you need to make sure that enough money is available for it. we will have to decide on that matter and others. if we want to give our researchers and startups more opportunities, and prevent

funding gaps costing jobs, we will have to decide on the budget before the elections without militarizing the european union, if we want to increase defense spending by a factor of 20, we will have to decide on this before the elections. if we want to increase our investment in africa by 2030 -- 23%, we must decide quickly. heads of state, ministers, national members of parliament. we always hear that we can't decide on these matters before the elections because that would lead to democratic crisis. i say, no. it is normal in a democracy to have elections. it's normal to take certain decisions before those elections. by next year, we will also have to develop the international row of the euro. that has now existed for 20 years. this in spite of the criticism. the euro has been successful.

it is the second global currency after the dollar. 60 countries in one way or another have affected their currency to the euro. we need to do more to make sure that our single currency can play its full role on the international scene. recent developments have highlighted the need to deepen our monetary union and the commission has a lot of proposals. it wants to adopt. we must and will go further. it's an aberration to have 3 billion dollars worth of energy imports a year, that is 80%. when only a small part of that

comes from the united states. it is an aberration to see european companies are buying european planes not in europe. that is something we have to change. this is why the commission for the end of the year will present initiatives to strengthen the international role of the euro. the euro must become the active instrument of a new and more sovereign europe. we must first put our own house in order. we must strengthen our economic and monetary union. that is what we have already started to do. without a strengthened economic

and monetary union, we won't be able to achieve this. we have to complete our economic union so that the euro can become stronger. still on the road, i would like to make tangible progress when it comes to strengthening our foreign policy. we need to improve our ability to speak with one voice when it comes to foreign policy. it is not right that our union silenced itself at the united nation's human rights council when it came to condemning human rights abuses by china. and this because one member

state opposed it. that is just one among many examples i can give you. [applause] and that is the reason why the commission, again, would propose to you that the majority voting is used on matters of foreign policy. [applause] i would repeat the message that i set out in detail last year. and we will be putting forward a number of proposals so that in certain areas, not in all areas of foreign policy, we can have qualified majority voting. the treaty as it stands is to take decisions on this basis. i think the time has now come to use this treasure of the lisbon treaty and we should be able to decide on certain matters by qualified majority. and also think, that in relation to certain tax matters, we should be able to decide by qualified majority. [applause] mr. president, we have disagreements between governments and between institutions increasingly there are disagreements.

heated exchanges amongst governments and institutions. but the tone is not only

worrying when it comes to political discourse, but it is also some seek to shut down debate altogether by targeting media and journalists. there must always be a place where freedom of press is possible and is not called into question. too many of our reporters are murdered. we cannot have democracy without free press. [applause] thank you.

in general, ladies and gentlemen, we must revive the lost art of compromise. compromise does not mean a weakness or a sacrifice of our convictions. the commission will resist any attack on the rule of law and we continue to be very concerned by the developments in some of our member states. it must be applied whatever the rule of law is threatened. [applause]

first vice president is doing a remarkable job of defending the rule of law but all too often he stands alone in defending the rule of law. the whole commission and i personally support him fully. [applause] there is one point on which we have to be very clear. that is the judgments from the court of justice which must be respected and implemented. the european union is a community of law and respecting the rule of law and dividing by court decisions are not an option but an obligation. the european union is a community of law and respecting the rule of law and dividing by

mr. president, members of the european parliament, friends, i started this speech, it is my last state of the union address by talking about the history, which in a small way covers our mandate, and in a wider sense, covers our time here. where all responsible for the europe of today. we must all take responsibility for the europe of tomorrow. such is history. parliaments and commissions come and go. europe is here to stay.

but for europe to become what it must, there are several lessons to be learned. europe can no longer be a spectator or a commentator of international events. europe must be an active player and must become an architect of tomorrow's world. there is a strong demand for europe throughout the world. and to meet such high demand europe will have to speak with one voice on the world stage. the most nations, europe's voice must be heard clearly. federica has made europe's diplomacy more coherent.

it is more coherent than it has ever been. let us not slide back into the incoherence of competing and -- diplomacies. from now on in, i would like us to make more efforts to bring together the east and west of europe. it is time we put an end to the spectacle of a divided europe. our continent and those who brought an end to the cold war deserve better. i would like the european union to take better care of its social dimension too.

those who ignore the legitimate concerns of workers and small businesses are putting our society at risk. and it is time that we proclaim the social summits into law. i would like for next year's elections to be a landmark for european democracy. i would like to see the candidate in process repeated. this process will be made more credible once we have transnational lists. i hope that that will be in place for the elections in 2024. but above all, i would like us to say no to unhealthy nationalism and to say yes to enlightened countrytism.

we should never forget that the countrytism of the 21st century is twofold. they are not mutually exclusive. the french philosopher pascal said i like things that go together. in order to stand on its own two feet, europe and its nations must move forward as one. to love europe is to love its nations. to love your nation is to love your patriotism. it is a virtue. unchecked nationalism is riddled with poison and defeat. [applause]

in short, we must remain true to ourselves. trees we plant today must provide shade for our great-grandchildren whether they come from the east or the west, south or the north. to give them all they need to grow and breathe easily. a few years ago standing in this very same spot, i told you that europe was the love of my life. i still do and shall do forever. thank you for your attention. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018]

>> 2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the financial crisis which saw the collapse of the u.s. housing market and brought the country close to a second great depression. tonight at 9:00 eastern, we will show you what government officials were saying during the month of september and october a recentollowed by event featuring some of the fit same officials. they include henry paulson, who is the treasury secretary under president bush. here is a preview. a recent event featuring some of the fit same officials. >> morgan stanley's liquidity had been bleeding away. john mack was on the phone with .e sunday night i was in my hotel room, got on the plane and flew back to washington and john was saying, i do not know how long will

live. , you know, ik found myself standing up in the white house press -- pressroom. and i said, there is not a single power these united states of america has that will save the disintegrating investment bank. we did not have the authority to do it. i think morgan stanley would go immediately. i was my judgment. i tried to put as good a face on could. possibly good afternoon. hope you all had an enjoyable weekend. [laughter] well, as you know, we're working through a difficult time in our financial markets right now as we work off some of the past excesses.

but the american people can remain confident in the resilience of our financial system. i commend the fcc and the fed for their work over the weekend with leaders of financial institutions around the world to meet current challenges and put measures in place to reduce market pressures. marking theortion 10th anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis. you can see it tonight starting at 9:00 eastern here on c-span. the senate judiciary committee has postponed its scheduled judge kavanaugh's nomination to the supreme court and the chair, chuck grassley, called for a hearing to give judge kavanaugh along with christine ford, a chance to testify. it is unclear if dr. ford will attend. her attorney is asking for an fbi investigation before she

appears. live coverage on c-span starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern also available at c-span.org and you can listen with the free c-span radio app. sunday night on q&a, cbs news chief white house correspondent -- >> is not just about partisanship. he is bigger than partisanship. emotional dynamo that he spins within people. sometimes he does not even know happensing it but it and it is influencing every aspect of american life. culture and economics, politics, and, in ways you detected, the ways journalists interact with the ongoing story. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a.

>> what does it mean to be american? that is the studentcam competition question. we asking middle school and high school students to answer it by producing a short documentary about constitutional right, national characteristic, or historic event, and explain how it is -- it defines the american experience. we are awarding $100,000 in total cash prizes including a grand prize of $5,000. this year's's deadline is genuine 20th, 2019. for more information, go try website, studentcam.org. we return to the nafta renegotiation and we are joined by experts from the wilson center, duncan wood is the director of the wilson center's mexico institute and laura dawson serves in the same role as the wilson center's canada institute.