00:10¡Gracias!
00:32Can the EU really do anything to free up trade, reroute products, energy commodities, for example, while Iran and the
00:43US continue in this standoff?
00:45We can't remain without doing nothing about this situation, and I just want to mention the fact that this situation
00:53is added to previous difficulties in the international trade, which are, for example, the tariffs of Mr. Trump, which are
01:01the China overcapacities rerouted towards the European market, for example, which are the consequences of the war of Russia in
01:13Ukraine.
01:14I mean, the situation is very complicated, and of course, we share discussions.
01:19The first, I mean, the priority being to have more secured free trade agreements, more secured procurements and procurements chain.
01:32These are the questions we have discussed, especially in the implementation of the free trade agreements that the Commission has
01:40very much accelerated these last months, and is going on with Philippines, for example, Thailand or the United Emirates.
01:47OK. I need to ask you, of course, about the EU-US trade deal. There was an agreement on its
01:51implementation.
01:53Are you satisfied, Minister, that there are strong enough safeguards in this deal now to protect the EU from any
02:00future potential tariff threats from Mr. Trump?
02:03Well, I mean, the Americans, they were waiting that we implement the Thunbridge Agreement.
02:11They were telling us, and Jameson Greer, for example, told me very often these last weeks, they were telling us,
02:18well, we don't understand why Europe is so long.
02:21When will you have you implemented this and agreed on this agreement? It's done. OK. And it will be operational,
02:32if I well understood, next July.
02:34So this means that the Americans, they have their answer. And the Thunbridge Agreement has to be implemented as it
02:42was discussed and negotiated.
02:44And this means also that we will be very vigilant, of course, on the way the Commission will implement it,
02:51put it in an operational situation.
02:53But it's the same. We will be very vigilant on the Americans' implementation.
02:59For example, it was specified that we would have some more exemptions.
03:03We are waiting in France for the wine and spirits exemption. This was more or less a promise. We are
03:10waiting for that.
03:11But you mentioned the exemption on wines and spirits, which is, of course, crucial for France.
03:15There's also things like steel and aluminium, which still stand at 50 percent, but there was a promise in that
03:20deal to cut them.
03:21Are you confident there is a deal coming from the US on this?
03:24When we implement, when we get operational, what we discussed about, there are no reason not to be confident.
03:33We just have to discuss more. I mean, the discussion with the Americans has to be forwarded.
03:40This is what gives me the feeling that we can be optimistic, even if it takes time.
03:48You said that the Americans have been waiting, that Europe was perhaps slow.
03:52Do you not understand the delay when there have been threats to the territorial sovereignty of Europe when it comes
03:58to Greenland?
03:59When there have been these rulings from the Supreme Court that have thrown into doubt all of this?
04:04Do you understand the way the European Parliament, especially, has been biding its time to make sure that the US
04:12can be trusted?
04:13Do you understand that delay?
04:14I perfectly understand myself.
04:16The Americans, they have difficulties to understand.
04:19But we, and the French I am, French, I perfectly understand.
04:23On the other hand, we could say that, on the contrary, the Americans, sometimes they are quite a little bit
04:29quick in their decisions and tariffs implementation.
04:32I see.
04:33I want to pivot to China because there is a feeling here in Brussels that there is a shift coming
04:40in the policy towards China.
04:42I think your government published a report in February talking about the Chinese steamroller.
04:47We know about the issues with the chokehold on raw materials.
04:50We know about the overcapacities that are really cannibalizing European industry.
04:55Is it now time, Minister, for the EU to really be more assertive in its approach to China?
05:01We have to go on in discussing with China.
05:05But the Chinese have to understand that they won't win anything if they destroy the European industry and then the
05:13European market.
05:14So this means that Europe has to be clear on its analysis and on the use of means that are
05:21prepared and settled for a commercial defense to protect our industry and so on.
05:27We have not to be naive and this change of mind, this reinforcement of our protections of strategic industries, of
05:37the minimum level of input produced in Europe and so on and so on.
05:43This is going on.
05:44This is changing.
05:45It's not a matter of China or not.
05:47It's not only China.
05:48It's all the countries.
05:49And we have to have with China a discussion, which is a frank one.
05:53But what about these specific ideas?
05:55For example, the idea that European companies should now have a policy where they cannot be sourcing 100 percent of
06:02components from a single supplier.
06:04Is this something you support?
06:07Yes, we have to.
06:08You know, France has a very strict position on this.
06:10We have to protect, as all over the world, all other countries do.
06:17All other zones do that.
06:19The European countries are the only one not to do that enough.
06:24So we have to strengthen this policy of protection of our strategic interests and sectors in the industry, in the
06:32new technologies, in certain number of procurement chains.
06:37And this means that the IAA will have to be implemented very rapidly and negotiated very rapidly because we are
06:47now discussing on the scope of which countries would be or not included with exemption in the European circle, if
06:58I may say so.
06:59And which would not be what will be the level of European input, which is an obligation when you have
07:07some public money or when, for example, cars are subsidized and so on and so on.
07:12This is the question.
07:14And this is the discussion we are having for the moment.
07:17France has a strict position, which is far more strict than the Commission's position, as it was given, saying that
07:26you have 73 countries with which we have agreements and we should discuss with them.
07:34And so we think it has to be very, very restrictive if we want it to be efficient to protect
07:42our industry.
07:42What does that mean for countries like the UK, Canada, who really seem to want to be part of this?
07:48I think that the countries which are very close in terms of industrial integration, we could speak, for example, also
07:54of Morocco.
07:55We have to look what is efficient, what is normal and what is interesting to support our own industry.
08:04I think, you know, car industry in Morocco is very much integrated to European industry, especially France.
08:12So we have to take this into account.
08:14So you could envisage countries like Morocco within the Made in Europe scheme?
08:18Yes, but with a certain number of criterias that they would have to respect.
08:25One of the issues with China, of course, is the issues of critical raw materials.
08:28I want to briefly ask you about your trip to Greenland.
08:31I know it came around the same time as the US Special Envoy Jeff Laundrie's visit as well.
08:36Does it make sense for France to be striking these kind of bilateral memorandums of understanding while the EU is
08:42also trying to do the same thing?
08:44Is this counterproductive?
08:45We are working hand in hand with the institutions of Europe.
08:48I met the Commissioner for Development when I was there.
08:53I spoke also in the name of Europe, as a member of Europe.
08:59I mean, we have a special relations as French.
09:02And nobody can say that President Macron, Jean-Noël Barron, and then me, we've been there.
09:08No other country has done that.
09:10So we are very close to the Greenlanders since one year, and the verbal aggression of the America on the
09:18idea that they could buy or they could take the Greenlanders.
09:23So we have always been in support.
09:25We are doing what we said.
09:27We are going there.
09:28We are building some win-win partnerships in all the fields, and especially mining, energy, telecommunications, and so on.
09:36But we are also doing this with Europe, and especially it's a message I gave that we wanted that Europe
09:44to be more recognized and more involved in the future of Greenland.
09:52So there's no problem on that.
09:54Okay.
09:54Final question, Minister.
09:56On a slightly different subject, I know that your government, along with the Swedish government,
10:01has asked for a proposal now on restricting trade with the territories that Israel occupies in the West Bank, in
10:10East Jerusalem.
10:11I do understand that the Dutch government has actually just moved on this and restricted trade with higher tariffs on
10:18these products coming from settlements.
10:20Are you confident now there's going to be a proposal coming from Brussels on this?
10:25This is what we are asking.
10:26With our Swedish friend, we wrote the commission, we asked this, and we insisted on the necessity to have a
10:36European, common European position on this question rapidly.
10:41So to say, we cannot accept any imports of products that are illegally, in fact, produced in illegally occupied territories,
10:55in regard of the international law and so on.
10:57It's not an aggressive position.
10:59It's just a position which is in terms of law and the right of the people.
11:09It's normal that we say that.
11:10We have to be coherent.
11:12Effectively, the Netherlands minister made a statement on that, plus the French and the Swedish.
11:19And other countries also said that it was necessary to have this answer of the commission, try to have a
11:25position which is balanced.
11:27Is it a restriction?
11:28Is it the fact that we are more offensive and more strict on this question with the Israeli government?
11:37Anyway, we have to have a position of Europe and the proposal of the European Commission.
11:43Has the commission been taking too long to come forward with this?
11:47They were very attentive to what we said.
11:50Okay, so you're confident there's something coming?
11:51Yes.
11:52Okay, good.
11:53Minister Farisier, thank you so much for your time.
11:55Thank you.
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