00:00I intend to spend a few minutes with you giving sort of an overview of what is the landscape, at least the way I perceive it today in Europe.
00:13From its inception, the architecture of the European Union embodied the belief that international rule of law, upheld by credible institutions, fosters peace and prosperity.
00:33But the collapse of this order is not itself the threat. A world with less trade and weaker rules would be painful, but Europe would adapt.
00:47The threat is what may replace it.
00:52We face a United States that, at least in its current posture, emphasizes the costs it has borne while ignoring the benefits it has reaped.
01:05It is imposing tariffs on Europe, threatening our territorial interests, and making clear for the first time that it sees European political fragmentation as serving its interests.
01:22We face a China that controls critical nodes in global supply chains and is willing to exploit that leverage, flooding markets, withholding critical inputs, forcing others to bear the cost of its own imbalances.
01:42This is a future in which Europe risks becoming subordinated, divided and de-industrialized at once.
01:54And a Europe that cannot defend its interests will not preserve its values for longer.
02:01is integration without subordination, vastly, vastly preferable, but vastly more difficult.
02:13This demands a different approach. I've called it a pragmatic federalism.
02:20Pragmatic because we must take the steps that are currently possible,
02:27with the partners who are actually willing in the domains where progress can currently be made.
02:34But federalism, because the destination matters,
02:40common action and the mutual trust it creates,
02:44must eventually become the foundation for institutions with real decision-making power,
02:52institutions able to act decisively in all circumstances.
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