00:00I don't know whether you worry more about the economics, actually, of Europe, or the politics of Europe.
00:05I know they both go hand in hand, but Europe is going through a little bit of a difficult moment.
00:09I think we are all facing a very difficult moment, but we must be aware that without a strong economy,
00:16you cannot be a political continent and you cannot be a political force.
00:22So to me, the starting point for resuming the European construction is to build a stronger economy.
00:30Based on more productivity, more competitiveness, because now the choice is quite clear.
00:36Either a total reset of the European construction for the sake of having more productivity, more competitiveness, more innovation,
00:45or what Mario Draghi called a slow agony of Europe.
00:49I strongly believe in the future of Europe, so I'm advocating for a total reset of the European construction.
00:56What does that look like? Because, again, it's energy policy. It's security.
00:59It's trying to be a little bit, maybe more involved in the negotiations also between the U.S. and Iran.
01:04First of all, it is a decision-making process that must be reinvented.
01:12I think that we should put together the six biggest European countries, I mean, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, the
01:20Netherlands, all together.
01:22Then defining a set of public policies on which we want to get results as soon as possible.
01:30It might be semiconductors, for instance, innovation, universities, defense, of course,
01:36with the view of having very quick and very strong results.
01:41And I'm deeply convinced that if we are able to move along those lines with six countries,
01:47then we will have the 21 other member states joining the movement and understanding that we need to decide more
01:55rapidly and in a more unified manner.
02:00Monsieur Le Maire, I mean, it feels like politics is splintering, right?
02:03And you can see it here in the U.K.
02:04We'll hear from Keir Starmer.
02:06Everywhere in Europe.
02:07In France also, with the rise of the rights.
02:10I mean, how would you explain the alternative, actually, to people who say,
02:13yeah, this is the time for the right because it's working in the U.S. and I want to vote
02:17for them?
02:17I think it is the time for a greater and stronger European integration.
02:24I think that the right response to the rise of extremist parties everywhere in Europe is not less Europe,
02:34but more Europe and a stronger Europe and a more efficient Europe.
02:40This is, to me, the right response to the rise of extremist people and extremist parties everywhere in Europe,
02:45especially in France, where these extremist parties are clearly a threat to the French democracy.
02:53When you are looking at La France Insoumise, for instance, they are using violence, even if it is verbal violence.
03:00They are using violence.
03:01They are threatening their opponents of being beheaded if they come to power.
03:07And I'm deeply convinced that when you have a movement which is using verbal violence,
03:15what is at stake is not only the question of power, but the future of democracy.
03:20Monsieur Le Maire, the left wing in France is also calling for companies like TotalEnergie, for example,
03:25to redistribute some of the profit driven by higher oil prices.
03:29Is this the right solution?
03:31No, I think we should be proud of having strong companies.
03:35Having strong private companies is a key asset for France.
03:39So we should never take decisions that might jeopardize those companies.
03:43And by the way, Total took the decision of capping the oil price at the gasoline station.
03:50So I think it is a move in the right direction.
03:52But we should forget about new taxations.
03:56You know, when I was Minister of Finance, I always refused any kind of rise in taxation
04:03because we already have a very high level, one of the most important level of taxation in France.
04:09So forget about new taxations.
04:12So what's the right way?
04:14I mean, is it redistribution?
04:15You have an economy that's stagnant unexpectedly in the first quarter.
04:19How do you kickstart that but also make people feel better about their future?
04:24I think that the long-term way is innovation, innovation, innovation.
04:33If you stick to that policy, more innovation, more skills,
04:37then you will have a better productivity and a stronger competitiveness.
04:40And you can face the competition with the U.S. and with China.
04:44This would be my first response.
04:46The second one is, of course, the question of wages, because we have a level of wages, which is for
04:53many people quite a difficulty.
04:56So we should think about the best possibility of increasing wages in France.
05:02And the very last point, coming back to Europe, is to think about protection.
05:07We must be aware that due to Chinese industrial overcapacities, there is a threat on all the industrial sectors in
05:17Europe.
05:18So either we go the way of more protection, maybe tariffs, European content, and using that tool that we have
05:25in our hands,
05:26and then we can resist the industrial overcapacities coming from China, or that, to me, this is the end of
05:34the European industry in the very next future.
05:37Monsieur Le Maire, so last week also, President Macron nominated Emmanuel Moulin, who you know very well, his chief of
05:43staff.
05:43Very well.
05:43You're a former head of cabinet.
05:45He's a good guy, by the way.
05:46But there are people that are saying, look, he's not independent enough.
05:49Do you think he should be central bank governor?
05:51Of course.
05:52I think he's a very, he was a very good chief of staff.
05:56He used to work in a bank.
05:58So he was also to, he's very much aware of all the international challenges.
06:06He was part of the G7, the G20.
06:09So I think he's the right man on the right position.
06:12Do you worry about central bank independence, given all of the noise that we hear from other parts of the
06:18world?
06:19No, because central bank independence is deeply rotten in the European culture and in the French culture.
06:26But of course, looking at the U.S. situation, I'm deeply concerned by the way the Fed was under attack
06:33by the Trump's administration.
06:35And I really want to praise my friend Jay Powell.
06:39I think he was a great president of the Fed.
06:42And he was quite good in resisting to the attacks from the U.S. administration.
06:49I mean, given we've talked about, you know, the far right and the far left, we have presidential elections in
06:54France next year.
06:55Who do you think is the right candidate to counter both extremes?
07:00You know, there is a famous sentence by Shakespeare.
07:03I think it is in Macbeth.
07:05It is one of the people in Macbeth telling to the witches, if you can look into the seeds of
07:13time and say which grain will grow and which will not speak then to me.
07:18So if you are able to tell me which candidate will grow and which will not speak then to me.
07:24Well, I was going to ask you, but thank you so much for joining us.
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