00:00Of course, yours.
00:15President Brande, dear Borger, thank you very much for the warm welcome.
00:20Your Majesties, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
00:24indeed, it is now 56 years since the first meeting here in Davos,
00:31and the idea of the founder, Klaus Schwab, was to create a platform
00:37to discuss the issues and the ideas of the day.
00:42Of course, the world has transformed completely since 1971.
00:49But the original idea of Davos has remained, as we just have heard,
00:54in the speeches.
00:55So I was delighted that you have gone back to your roots
01:00with this year's theme,
01:02a spirit of dialogue.
01:04Because this spirit is all the more important
01:07in a world that is more fractured and more fractious than ever.
01:141971
01:15was the year of the so-called Nixon shock.
01:19And the decision to delink the U.S. dollar from gold.
01:25In an instant, the foundations of the Bretton Woods system
01:30and the entire global economic order set up after the war
01:35effectively collapsed.
01:38But it also had two major effects.
01:43It inadvertently created the conditions for what would become a truly global order.
01:51And it provided a sharp lesson for Europe and on the need
01:55to strengthen its economic and political power.
01:59It was a warning to reduce our dependencies,
02:03in this case,
02:05on a foreign currency.
02:08The world may be very different today,
02:11without any question.
02:12But I believe
02:13the lesson
02:14is very much the same.
02:17That geopolitical shocks
02:19can and must
02:21serve as an opportunity
02:23for Europe.
02:24And in my view,
02:26the seismic change
02:27we are going through today
02:29is an opportunity,
02:32in fact,
02:33a necessity
02:33to build a new form
02:36of European independence.
02:39And this need is neither new
02:41nor a reaction to recent events.
02:45It has been a structural imperative
02:48for far longer.
02:49So when I used this term
02:53European independence
02:56around a year ago,
02:58I was surprised
02:59at the skeptical reactions.
03:01But less than one year on,
03:05there is now
03:05a real consensus around this.
03:09The sheer speed
03:10and almost unthinkable scale
03:12of the change
03:13have driven this,
03:15but the underlying imperative
03:17is still the same.
03:19The good news is
03:22we acted immediately.
03:25Whether on energy
03:26or raw materials,
03:29defense
03:30or digital,
03:32we're moving fast.
03:34But the truth is also
03:36that we will only be able
03:38to capitalize on this opportunity
03:40if we recognize
03:43that this change
03:45is permanent.
03:46of course,
03:48nostalgia is part
03:49of our human story,
03:50but nostalgia
03:51will not bring back
03:52the old order.
03:55And playing for time
03:56and hoping for things
03:58to revert soon
03:59will not fix
04:01the structural dependencies
04:03we have.
04:03So my point is
04:06if this change
04:08is permanent,
04:10then Europe
04:11must change
04:12permanently too.
04:14It is time
04:16to seize this opportunity
04:17and build
04:18a new
04:19independent Europe.
04:21And ladies and gentlemen,
04:25this new Europe
04:27is already emerging.
04:29On Saturday,
04:31I was in Asunción,
04:32in Paraguay,
04:34to sign the EU-Marcosur
04:36trade agreement.
04:38It was a breakthrough
04:40after 25 years
04:43of negotiations.
04:45And with it,
04:47the European Union
04:48and Latin America
04:49have created
04:50the largest
04:51free trade zone
04:52in the world,
04:54a market worth
04:55over 20%
04:57of global GDP,
05:0031 countries
05:01with over
05:03700 million consumers
05:05aligned
05:07with the Paris Agreement.
05:08So this agreement
05:11sends a powerful
05:12message to the world
05:13that we are choosing
05:16fair trade
05:17over tariffs,
05:19partnership
05:20over isolation,
05:24sustainability
05:24over exploitation,
05:28and that we are
05:29serious about
05:31de-risking our economies
05:33and diversifying
05:34our supply chains.
05:36And that will not
05:37stop in
05:38Latin America.
05:40Last year,
05:41we reached new
05:42agreements with
05:43Mexico,
05:44Indonesia,
05:45and Switzerland,
05:46our host country.
05:48We're working
05:49on a new
05:49free trade agreement
05:51with Australia.
05:53We are also
05:54advancing with
05:55the Philippines,
05:56Thailand,
05:57Malaysia,
05:57the United Arab
05:58Emirates,
05:59and more.
06:02And right after
06:03Davos,
06:04the next weekend,
06:06I will travel
06:07to India.
06:09There's still
06:10work to do,
06:11but we are
06:12on the cusp
06:13of a historic
06:14trade agreement.
06:16Indeed,
06:17some call it
06:17the mother
06:18of all deals.
06:20One that would
06:21create a market
06:22of two billion
06:25people,
06:26accounting for
06:27almost a quarter
06:28of global GDP.
06:30And crucially,
06:32that would provide
06:33a first-mover
06:34advantage for Europe,
06:35with one of
06:37the world's
06:37fastest-growing
06:39and most
06:39dynamic continents.
06:42Europe wants
06:44to do business
06:45with the gross
06:45centers of today
06:47and the economic
06:48powerhouses of
06:49this century.
06:50From Latin America
06:51to the Indo-Pacific
06:53and far beyond,
06:55Europe will
06:55always choose
06:57the world
06:58and the world
06:59is ready
07:00to choose
07:01Europe.
07:09And ladies
07:10and gentlemen,
07:11this reality
07:12also reflects
07:13the fact
07:13that Europe
07:15has all
07:16the assets
07:17its needs
07:17to attract
07:18investment.
07:20The savings,
07:22the skills,
07:24the innovation
07:25with our
07:26AI factories
07:27and gigafactories
07:28and the
07:29applications
07:30that are necessary
07:31AI first.
07:34What we need
07:35now is
07:36to mobilize
07:36collectively
07:37these assets
07:38to their full
07:39potential
07:39and to focus
07:42on the essential.
07:43So focal point
07:45number one
07:46is to create
07:47a conducive
07:48and predictable
07:50regulatory
07:52environment.
07:54We live in an age
07:55where capital
07:56and data
07:56can cross
07:57Europe in a second
07:58and business
08:00must be able
08:01to move
08:01just as freely.
08:04But as things
08:05stand,
08:06too many companies
08:07have to look
08:08abroad
08:08to grow
08:09and scale up,
08:11partly because
08:12they face
08:13the new set
08:13of rules
08:14every time
08:15they expand
08:16into a new
08:18member state.
08:19So while on paper
08:21the market
08:22is of 450 million
08:25Europeans
08:26open to them,
08:28it is far more
08:29complicated
08:29in reality.
08:31And that acts
08:33as a handbrake
08:34on the growth
08:34and profit
08:35potential
08:35of companies.
08:36So this
08:38is why
08:39we need
08:39a new
08:39approach.
08:41We will soon
08:42put forward
08:43our 28th
08:44regime.
08:45The ultimate
08:46aim is
08:47to create
08:48a new
08:48truly
08:49European
08:50company
08:51structure.
08:52We call it
08:53EU
08:54Inc.
08:55with a single
08:57and simple
08:57set of rules
08:59that will
09:00apply
09:00C
09:01and
09:02to
09:04the
09:04end
09:05of the
09:06year.
09:07So
09:08you
09:08can't
09:09see you
09:09as
09:10as
09:12as
09:12you
09:12as
09:14You
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