- 7/8/2025
French President Emmanuel Macron has delivered a speech to UK Parliament as a part of his state visit. In his speech the French President praised the alliance between the UK and the French and pointed to their shared history. He also called for a "full ceasefire in Gaza" with "no conditions." Upon landing, Macron expressed appreciation for Sir Keir Starmer's approach to European relations, praising the Prime Minister's "willingness" to improve ties with the EU.Sir Keir Starmer is seeking to utilise the French President's visit to secure agreement on a proposed migrant deal aimed at deterring small boat crossings in the Channel. The Prime Minister hopes to establish what officials describe as a "one in, one out deal" with France.WATCH THE CLIP ABOVE FOR MORE
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00:00Mr. Prime Minister, Madame, Honourable Ministers, Mr. Speaker, Lord Speaker,
00:11Honourable Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
00:18I would like to thank you, Speaker, for your kind words and greatly appreciate everyone's
00:26warm welcome. On behalf of my wife, Brigitte, and myself and my whole delegation, thank
00:32you very much for that. And it is a very great honour to speak before the two houses of the
00:38British Parliament. A place composed of both a high chamber and a low chamber, a place of
00:46history bygone and a history in the making. A place where modern democracy emerged and
00:54the principles of democratic representation and consent were born. In making its own
01:00rules, your great people has inspired, among the rest of the world, and in particular, my
01:07compatriots, who regard you with respect, with more than a bit of admiration. In France, Montesquieu
01:17and Rousseau drew from the works of Locke to such an extent that the lettres philosophiques
01:22by Rousseau are often referred to as letters on the English in my country.
01:29But please, do not misunderstand me. I am not going so far as to say that England gave birth
01:39to the French Revolution. However, I have to confess that we love monarchy, but especially
01:45when it is not at home. But I really believe that from the Magna Carta to America's Declaration
01:55of Independence in 1976 and France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens in 1789, a
02:04same pathway emerged towards democratic order and the rule of law. And so many times, this
02:12shared path was forged in the brotherhood of arms. So many times, it followed the small
02:19trails of the Ardennes and the Vosges mountains under the hail of German bullets from 1914 to
02:271918. So many times, it almost veered off course, taken up by our common ancestors, reconquering the
02:35Normandy coast, inch by inch under the glaring sun of June 1944. And I would like to thank Prime Minister
02:44Starmer, dear Kier, for attending the ceremonies of the 11th of November last year, honoring our fallen soldiers,
02:54the British red poppy alongside the Bleuets de France, becoming the first British head of government to spend
03:02armistice day in Paris in 80 years. Thank you.
03:19The French people shall never forget the sacrifices the British people made to protect Europe and the
03:24world during the two World Wars and to uphold with fierce determination the promise of our
03:32Entente Cordiale. We shall never forget the support of the asylum your forefathers gave to the free French
03:39forces in the fight against the barbarism of the Nazis. Sir Winston Churchill was one of the visionaries who
03:49had the foresight to help forge a strong transatlantic alliance and to come up with a peaceful European
03:56order in which he deeply believed. He passed this same vision on to us of a world order based on law, justice and
04:07respect for territorial integrity. An order that is today being attacked on a daily basis as we witness
04:16direct attacks on our democracies, the return of war to our continent, the resurgence of imperial impulses and
04:25the floating of international rules by destabilizing powers while attempting to divide up the world to their advantage.
04:34Speaker, you and your predecessors have become famous, I have to say, even in France, for your way of restoring
04:44order in the courts with your imperial and imperious exclamations, order, order. And today, we wish to join you in
04:54shooting out all the order with you to calm the unrest in the world. As permanent members of the United Nations
05:03Security Council, deeply committed to multilateralism, the United Kingdom and France must once again show the world
05:13that our alliance can make all the difference. Clearly, we have to work together in order to defend an efficient
05:25multilateralism and to protect the international order as we fought it after the Second World War.
05:34And first, in supporting Ukraine, which has been illegally attacked by both running the support of Europeans and
05:55co-ordinating with the Americans to create the necessary conditions for a robust and solid, lasting peace.
06:04I want to commend your country. Since the first day, and even before the first day, you were part of the closest ally of Ukraine,
06:14training the army, being here the first day to protect President Zelensky, his government, and allowing the forces just to resist,
06:27as you did decades ago with my country. And together, we worked very hard during the past few years in order to stand
06:36with the Ukrainian people, just helping them to resist. We were right and we are right. And because every time
06:45Vladimir Putin's Russia advances in Ukraine, the threat moves closer to us all. We will never accept the theory that might
06:52is right. And I want to be clear. This is why, together with you, Mr. Prime Minister, we decided to launch last February this
07:01coalition of the willing you mentioned. And this coalition was just a signal that Europeans will never abandon Ukraine. Never.
07:31And whatever the decisions could be elsewhere, we will fight till the very last minute in order to get this
07:41ceasefire, in order to start the negotiations to build this robust and sustainable peace. Because this is our security and our
07:52principles together, which are at stake in Ukraine. This is a possibility of a European peace. Our generation did enjoy during the
08:03past decade, which is at stake in Ukraine, nothing less. And together, we will follow up these efforts. We have also stood
08:13together in calling for the cessation of hostilities and path to peace in the Middle East. Since the spiral of violence began after the
08:21terrorist attacks by Hamas on the 7th of October 2023. Together, we call for the release of all hostages. Together,
08:34we've called for a ceasefire in Gaza. It is a matter of absolute urgency to end the suffering of the hostages and of the
08:44Gazans. A war without end and without a strategic objective poses a huge threat to the region and our collective
08:54security. Today, a dehumanization is occurring there that can never be justified. Together, we are aware that a political
09:06way out is crucial. And I believe in the future of the two-state solution as a basis for a regional security
09:14architecture, which will enable Israel to live in peace and security alongside its neighbors. But I want to be clear.
09:21Calling today for a ceasefire in Gaza without any condition is just telling to the rest of the world that for us,
09:35as Europeans, there is no double standard. And as we are attached to human lives, as we are attached to
09:42territorial integrity, we want the ceasefire. No discussion. And today, working together in order to
09:51recognize the state of Palestine and to initiate this political momentum is the only path to peace.
09:57Because since Oslo in 1993, with Gaza in Rome and West Bank being on a daily basis attacked, the
10:24perspective of a Palestinian state has never been put at risk as it is. And the objective of a
10:31recognition is not just making our duty, but this is as well reopening a political perspective and
10:42refusing just an answer based on security. And this is why the solution of the two states and the
10:50recognition of the state of Palestine is as well, according to me, the only way to build peace and
10:59stability for all in the whole region. This approach is in line with our common refusal to tolerate the
11:07threat posed by an Iran that possess nuclear weapons. There again, we know all too well the limitations of
11:15solutions based on force and the temptation to bring about regime change. France, the United Kingdom and
11:23Germany, in coordination with all stakeholders, have the duty to bring about a stringent
11:29negotiation which ensures international monitoring of Iran's nuclear program over the long term, thereby
11:37preserving the international non-proliferation framework as a foundation for collective security.
11:43It is with the same coherence and firmness that we must act to defend the world order. In Africa, our
11:53two countries have had a witty past, which is why we can legitimately send a message of
11:59conciliation and refusal of spheres of influence, of respect for economic and territorial sovereignty. In the
12:07Indo-Pacific, our history has made us watchdog of the freedom of navigation and compliance with
12:14international law, which we defend. Amid these upheavals, the alliance between France and the United Kingdom
12:23has not faltered. It has even become stronger. Yes, during the past few years, this alliance became stronger. On defense and the
12:35security, the Lancaster House treaties showed that we were willing to cooperate on the most sensitive subjects
12:42regarding our sovereignty and our deterrence. When our two countries signed them, some clever people found a way to
12:49derive savings of resources from them, and others even dubbed them the Entente Regale. Yet, they have successfully provided
12:58structure for defense cooperation between our two countries for the past 15 years.
13:05At this bilateral summit, we will enter a new stage that will scale up this cooperation. And our two countries,
13:13the only European nuclear weapon states, the leading armed forces of the continent, together accounting for 40% of
13:19the European military budgets, vote who fully shoulders the responsibility when it comes to European security.
13:28And we are faced with new threats, with aggressive nuclear powers, with sometimes hesitating alliances, and the return of
13:36major conflict on our continent. This is why in today's our summit is so important, and the announcement we prepared
13:44is so historical. The capabilities identified 15 years ago at Lancaster House must be increased dramatically in
13:53proportion to the threat. Our industrial cooperation must also move to the next level, and our relation to
14:00Europe must change, even in the core of sovereignty. There is an expectation in Europe that faced with revisionist
14:08neighbors, our two countries, have a special responsibility for the security of the continent. And it is time to
14:17articulate it. And to paraphrase Pete's famous phrase, to make sure that not only our two countries will save
14:25themselves by their own exertions, but also that we will save Europe by our example and our solidarity. But we will return to
14:35this in more detail at the summit on Thursday, but very clearly. Taking the commitment to go to the 3.5%
14:42on defense in the years to come, it's not just piling money, but increasing our cooperation altogether, reducing
14:52our dependencies, and building a strong European pillar in NATO. We have to work together to cooperate, as we did a few
15:02years ago in Sahel in Sahel, shoulder to shoulder. We have to cooperate in order to build new
15:09common programs, to increase the cooperation of our industries, and to make a more independent and stronger
15:18Europe of defense. Second, on climate and biodiversity. Together we commit to the planet in the face of the new
15:26league of international reactionaries. We deny science and facts. We also defend with one voice the
15:33implementation of our climate ambitions towards carbon neutrality, faving out fossil fuels, and
15:38protecting forests, which will be core issues of the upcoming COP30 in Berlin. We are also acting together to
15:46achieve the ratification of the BB&G Treaty on the Protection of Oceans, mobilizing the private sector, reforming the
15:53official development assistance system in line with the Paris Pact for Peoples and Planets, where we
16:00work together. And we worked very actively and still work together on biodiversity and biodiversity credits.
16:08The report we commissioned together as Franco-British during King Charles' state visit to France is not just
16:16excellent, but we endorse it and we will implement it. We will now continue to work together and implement this work.
16:27Third, on migration. And I have the feeling to be weighted on this issue as well in your country. Indeed, in this
16:35unstable world, hope for a better life elsewhere is legitimate. But we cannot allow our country's rules for taking in people to be
16:45flattered and criminal networks to cynically exploit the hopes of so many individuals with so little respect for
16:52human life. France and the United Kingdom have a shared responsibility to address a regular migration with
17:00humanity, solidarity and firmness. The decisions that we will take at our bilateral summit will respond to our aims for
17:08cooperation and tangible results on these major issues.
17:15Very clearly, we ask our Minister of Domestic Affairs to work very closely together. And I want to tell you the very close
17:24coordination and cooperation. But our objective, very clearly, is to have the best ever cooperation between our two countries in order to fix today what is a
17:35burden for our two countries. But let me remind as well, as we are making these bilateral efforts, as we are stepping up the
17:48level of our cooperation, a third of the people entering illegally into the Schengen area attempt to cross the channel. And we will only arrive at the
17:58lasting and effective solution with, as well, the action at the European level and the cooperation, especially of the countries of
18:07the first century on the European soil, by continuing to work with the countries of departure and transit, of global migration routes, and as well by
18:17addressing poor factors. But let's be clear, we will deliver together, because this issue is a clear issue for our two
18:26countries. Fourth, on economy. Our trade has been revived and has even surpassed the pre-Brexit levels. The 3,500 French
18:40companies working in the UK remains the second leading foreign employers in your country, and vice versa. And we want to do
18:49more, and at the occasion of the summit as well. We will deliver additional results, additional investment, and very
18:56strategic investment in the energy and space fields where we have long-standing cooperation, but where we want to build a new
19:07step forward and open a new era. Since the last time a French president spoke before you in 2008, Europe has changed.
19:19First of all, of course, because the sovereign British people choose to leave the European Union in 2016, a decision that we
19:28respect, even if we found it deeply regrettable. I am aware that I am the first European head of state to make a
19:36state visit since the United Kingdom left the European Union, and I take full account of the importance of this
19:43moment. It took us a few years, but we have agreed on the foundations for our new relationship, after the
19:53withdrawal agreement and the trade and cooperation agreement, reinforced by the Winslow framework. And some of us worked very hard on all this text. I have great memories.
20:04I support Prime Minister Starmer's efforts as well to restore trust, ensure compliance with the agreement concluded, and
20:15strengthen this framework through targeted cooperation in our common interests. I welcome the fact that on the 19th of May, we were
20:24able to define a pragmatic roadmap between the European Union and the United Kingdom on defence, energy, climate, and other issues. But just as
20:35leaving the European Union did not mean the United Kingdom left Europe, efforts to address the challenges facing all of Europe cannot be limited to the European Union alone.
20:47What is at stake today in Europe is our ability to shoulder the responsibility to ensure our continent's security ourselves to a greater extent.
20:59What is at stake today in Europe is our ability to invest in key technologies of the future – AI, quantum technologies, space, biotech, decarbonised energy sources, and defence industry, as I mentioned.
21:15In order to avoid strategic dependencies and disengagement that would put us at risk, and especially the risk of a slow death, to mention Mario Draghi.
21:28Indeed.
21:29Indeed.
21:30Indeed.
21:31We have to de-risk our economies and our societies first from the risk of the lack of innovation.
21:40And this is what we experienced during the past decade if we compare our countries with the United States.
21:45But we will – we will have as well to de-risk our two countries for the excessive dependencies on both the U.S. and China.
21:58We have to sign equal between China and the U.S.
22:00We have a strong ally on one side.
22:02And a challenger, sometimes a partner when we speak about climate change with China.
22:07But let's be realistic.
22:10If the Europeans, if the United Kingdom and France do not work together in order to build solid value chain, in order to reduce our dependencies on this critical area as I mentioned, if we still depend on both China and the U.S., I think we have a clear view of our future and the future of our children.
22:35On one side, other capacities and other subsidies are clear threats of a fair trade.
22:43And they are destabilizing a lot of value chain and creating new dependencies.
22:47On the other side, the trade war is clearly an explicit decision not to be compliant anymore with WTO.
23:00On the other side, the commerce we loved till now.
23:05We have no other choice if we want to be lucid, if we want to build a sustainable future for all children, to de-risk our economies and our societies from these dual dependencies.
23:18We want an open world, we want to cooperate, but not to depend.
23:22And each time we depend, each time we are not able to stand up and decide and agree to disagree.
23:29This is the beginning of our problem.
23:31We are in this situation.
23:33This is why we have to work very hard together on this technological and economic field in order to strengthen our value chains together and reduce these dependencies.
23:48But what is at stake as well today in Europe is the defense of democratic models amid foreign interference, information manipulation, domination of minds by negative emotions and addictions to social media.
24:01This is the big other risks.
24:04It is the same challenge we are facing when it comes to digital age, restriction online and protecting our children from social media and screens, an issue brutally brought to the light three months ago by the British series Adolescence.
24:18And let's be clear, this is the same type of risk being vulnerable to algorithm design in the US, being vulnerable to algorithm design in China with social networks.
24:37No, not even a lower to the Chinese teenagers that the Chinese teenagers.
24:41This is being vulnerable to the interferences and misinformation coming from Russia and other places.
24:50The strength of our democracies depend on our capacity to create new regulations in order to better protect our children and our democracies and our democratic debate, the relationship with science and truth.
25:06Otherwise, our future will be decided by those who will decide for this algorithm.
25:31Our two countries are among the oldest sovereign nations in Europe.
25:36And sovereignty means a lot to both of us.
25:41And everything I refer to was about sovereignty.
25:45Deciding for ourselves, choosing our technologies, our economy, deciding our diplomacy and deciding the content we want to share and the ideas we want to share and the controversies we want to share.
26:00Even though it is not part of the European Union, the United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines because defence and security, competitiveness, democracy, the very core of our identity are connected across Europe as a continent.
26:17And you understand me.
26:18And you understand me.
26:19The point is not to diverge.
26:24And to move forward side by side on these strategic choices we are facing to avert the risk of effacement, division, weakness.
26:36A certain idea of Europe, so dear to George Steiner, must continue to connect us today.
26:43And it is also the meaning behind the European political community which has shown its ability to bring together the European family across the continent of Europe to address the issues of stability, security and cooperation between states in concrete terms.
27:02And the United Kingdom is playing a full role as demonstrated a year ago at Blenheim summit.
27:11I believe that our two countries will continue to be drivers of change, drivers of this wider Europe and this meaningful convergence.
27:21We must be able to count on our economic, academic research and cultural relations to together tackle these sovereign related challenges.
27:33And I welcome the number of partnerships agreements that our universities, museums, research institutions will sign in the margins of this visit.
27:43They will participate in our respective agenda to reindustrialization and strategic independence in key sectors from artificial intelligence to culture.
27:56Our two countries are leaders in Europe when we refer to artificial intelligence.
28:01But the competition of the US and China is fierce.
28:04And Europe, on this point as well, needs to step up its investments.
28:09This is why we have to work as well together.
28:14As the Channel Tunnel is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, let's make a wish here today.
28:22Let's not allow the channel to grow wider.
28:26Although there are 300,000 French people living in the United Kingdom and 150,000 British people living in France,
28:36there has been a decrease in movement in recent years when it comes to school, university, professional and research exchanges.
28:44And today there is a risk that our societies are growing apart, that our young people do not know each other as well and may end up strangers,
28:54at a time when international current events remind us on a daily basis of our common future.
29:01Let's fix it. Let's fix it. Let's work together in order to facilitate the exchange of students, researchers, intellectuals, artists.
29:12This is so important. Let's allow our children to have the same opportunities as the one we had.
29:25Number seven, members of Parliament, my Lords.
29:29Tomorrow at the British Museum,
29:34Members of Parliament, my Lord, tomorrow, at the British Museum, we will officially
29:49announce an historical exchange.
29:54In the run-up to the 1000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror, France
30:01will loan the United Kingdom the bio-tapestry.
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