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[00:00:00] examine the evidence and get to the the facts. Watch our BBC Verify reports
[00:00:03] reports on the BBC News channel or
[00:00:04] or go online to find out more. These
[00:00:14] These are the latest headlines from from BBC News. The King issues an
[00:00:18] an unusually pointed response after
[00:00:20] after Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's Diana's brother, makes fresh claims
[00:00:23] claims about him in his new book.
[00:00:25] book. Fiji declares a national emergency
[00:00:28] emergency following an alarming surge
[00:00:30] surge in HIV cases. 1 in 60 adults
[00:00:33] adults in the Pacific island nation nation now lives with the virus that
[00:00:37] that causes Aids. The Bank of England England is expected to hold interest
[00:00:40] interest rates in the face of rising
[00:00:43] rising prices, as the US hikes, borrowing
[00:00:45] borrowing costs. Microsoft's head
[00:00:47] head of AI tells the BBC his competitors competitors approach to training
[00:00:51] training their models could have
[00:00:53] have a disastrous impact on the wellbeing
[00:00:55] wellbeing of humanity. European Commission Commission President Ursula von der
[00:00:58] der Leyen moves ahead with plans plans to ban social media for under
[00:01:02] under 13, saying these apps are depriving
[00:01:06] depriving children of their childhood. childhood. The boss of social media
[00:01:08] media company Snapchat says the firm firm would be willing to implement
[00:01:12] implement time limits for teenagers
[00:01:13] teenagers as an important step forward
[00:01:16] forward for the industry. Hello,
[00:01:23] Hello, I'm Karin Giannone. King Charles Charles has called on AI giants to
[00:01:26] to keep tech in service of humanity
[00:01:30] humanity ahead of him chairing a
[00:01:31] a summit with industry leaders. Concerns
[00:01:34] Concerns about the existential threat threat of artificial intelligence intelligence have intensified in
[00:01:38] in recent weeks, with several instances
[00:01:40] instances of bad actors using AI AI models for weapons development
[00:01:43] development and fraud. Yang Li co-founder
[00:01:46] co-founder and chief operating officer
[00:01:48] officer of AI lab cosine, who are are developing what they describe
[00:01:51] describe as the first fully British British AI model to rival the likes
[00:01:54] likes of Anthropic and OpenAI, has
[00:01:57] has told us why sovereignty is so so important. I think a sovereign
[00:02:01] sovereign model is beyond just a a Union Jack sticker. I think as
[00:02:04] as we are depending on building on on top of AI, the UK needs to know
[00:02:08] know what is exactly inside the AI, AI, what data is inside it, does
[00:02:11] does it have a kill switch that is is beholden to another foreign government,
[00:02:15] government, and will we lose access access to it when we need it the the most? When our country is in
[00:02:19] in danger? You mentioned you used
[00:02:21] used the word sovereign AI. I mean, mean, what is the difference that
[00:02:24] that you mean by using that word
[00:02:27] word specifically? I think a lot lot of the most popular AI solutions
[00:02:30] solutions on the market at the moment moment are mostly American or Chinese.
[00:02:34] Chinese. So the American models they they put into the data sets to build
[00:02:38] build the AI that we have no idea idea what goes inside of it. They
[00:02:41] They can turn off access whenever whenever they want to, whether it's
[00:02:43] it's by policy or on a hardware level. level. As we have seen with Donald
[00:02:46] Donald Trump's export ban or Anthropic Anthropic models or it's on built
[00:02:50] built by Chinese side, in which case case we still don't know what data data sets are going inside of it.
[00:02:54] it. And so building a sovereign model model means we have control over
[00:02:57] over every layer from the ground ground up. So in your sense, you
[00:03:00] you mean there can be complete trust trust in that model. And that is
[00:03:04] is important for the UK's security? security? Yeah, absolutely. We are
[00:03:08] are completely open. So here at cosine cosine we've built in partnership
[00:03:11] partnership our model, you know with with some of the largest UK publicly
[00:03:14] publicly traded companies. And so so everyone has access to know what
[00:03:17] what exactly goes inside our models, models, how it works, what is the
[00:03:21] the architecture and the conditions conditions and the assurance we give give in terms of deployment? What
[00:03:25] What do you think of what's happening happening today? King Charles of
[00:03:27] of all people bringing AI leaders leaders together at the summit in
[00:03:31] in Scotland in a few hours' time. time. I think it's really timely.
[00:03:34] timely. I think that's the even a
[00:03:36] a few months ago, AI was seen as
[00:03:40] as novelty, as potentially impactful. impactful. I think now towards the
[00:03:43] the end of the year, we are seeing seeing that it's making huge improvements improvements in productivity, but
[00:03:47] but also that brings with it also also a huge amount of risk. And actually
[00:03:49] actually I think it's a great time time to basically talk about how
[00:03:53] how do we build on it securely, but but also give us the resilience that
[00:03:56] that we need and demand here in the the UK. I'm very interested to get
[00:04:00] get your thoughts on that word, that that risk because over the last week
[00:04:03] week or so, that is all we have been been hearing day after day about
[00:04:07] about the potential threats to the the very existence of humanity. Where
[00:04:11] Where are you on that? I think where
[00:04:13] where I get to is we should be concerned, concerned, but we shouldn't be frightened.
[00:04:17] frightened. You know, I think that that it's all still very nascent
[00:04:20] nascent in terms of what is the capability capability of AI. Obviously, there's
[00:04:23] there's a huge amount of potential. potential. We've seen the speed of of innovation in AI, but actually
[00:04:27] actually I think that we have yet yet to see the true impact and a
[00:04:30] a grand scale yet. So I think, as as I said, this is a great time to
[00:04:33] to begin to talk about the nascent nascent era of AI and think about
[00:04:36] about the risks and how do we protect
[00:04:39] protect ourselves in case something, something, you know, happens as unexpected.
[00:04:42] unexpected. And so right now I'm I'm not frightened. I'm just concerned. concerned. And what would you at
[00:04:46] at cosine be doing differently to to avoid those risks becoming reality
[00:04:50] reality differently to your rivals? rivals? Yeah. So you know, we work
[00:04:53] work very closely with government government organisations like ASIS
[00:04:57] ASIS or the AI Safety Institute, Institute, and we're collaborating
[00:04:59] collaborating with them to test and and probe. And we give them we're
[00:05:03] we're completely transparent with with them to understand, you know, know, where the risk vectors might
[00:05:06] might be with AI that we're building. building. But also we have a partnership partnership that we've just announced
[00:05:10] announced this week with Abi, a leading leading cybersecurity firm that focuses
[00:05:14] focuses on AI to again, give us an
[00:05:17] an independent sort of test and verification verification that our AI is safe.
[00:05:20] safe. And, you know, not all AI companies companies in the world is now collaborating
[00:05:24] collaborating with the AI Safety Safety Institute, which in my opinion
[00:05:26] opinion is a world leading and a a truly the UK is pioneering and
[00:05:29] and pushing the boundaries of AI AI safety. And it's a shame that that some American models are no
[00:05:33] no longer working with them. We really really believe that having a third
[00:05:36] third party, you know, a verification verification and an auditor is really really important when it comes to
[00:05:40] to AI. How do you get around that?
[00:05:42] that? I mean, if, say, 80% of AI
[00:05:44] AI models comply with regulations regulations or agreements, the outliers
[00:05:48] outliers who decide they're not going going to be held back. Yeah. And
[00:05:51] And I think this is a there's quite quite a lot of tension here. And
[00:05:54] And again, this has only happened happened very recently. You know, know, I think in the world of AI,
[00:05:57] AI, we operate in weeks and often often government operates in years.
[00:06:00] years. In terms of timeline, I think. think. So this is still developing.
[00:06:03] developing. I think for us, our view
[00:06:05] view is that we have to be as cautious cautious and have as many guardrails
[00:06:09] guardrails as possible, but we can't
[00:06:11] can't stop innovating, right, because
[00:06:13] because other countries and maybe maybe even our adversaries will continue
[00:06:16] continue to innovate and push without without any rules and regulation.
[00:06:19] regulation. We have to innovate but but also have a minimum amount of
[00:06:22] of regulation. And, you know, to to understand what the risks are. are. So understanding the risks is
[00:06:26] is probably the first step before before controlling the risk. And And just on something that's been
[00:06:29] been talked about a lot in the last last few hours, the head of Microsoft
[00:06:32] Microsoft AI saying unless adequate adequate restrictions, excuse me,
[00:06:35] me, are implemented, it could lead lead to the emergence of a new silicon
[00:06:39] silicon species. What do you feel feel about describing AI as a species
[00:06:43] species in its own right? I think
[00:06:45] think for us, I think it's a little little bit too premature. I think
[00:06:49] think that we're seeing AI is still still a tool in the same way that
[00:06:52] that the internet was seen as quite quite scary in the beginning and
[00:06:54] and actually had a lot of potential. potential. I think it's probably
[00:06:58] probably too far too early to describe describe it as a completely new species.
[00:07:01] species. I think that we will obviously
[00:07:04] obviously augment how we work in in society. We will work faster.
[00:07:07] faster. We need to spend a lot of of time in terms of retraining existing
[00:07:11] existing staff members, you know, know, and we are collaborating with with a lot of our coalition partners,
[00:07:15] partners, whether it's by Babcock, Babcock, GSK or Telefonica or any
[00:07:19] any of the sides that we're working working with. We're working, thinking
[00:07:21] thinking hard about how do we bring
[00:07:23] bring existing workers into the AI AI world rather than thinking that
[00:07:26] that we're replacing humans altogether? altogether? That is Yang Li, who
[00:07:30] who is co-founder and chief operating
[00:07:32] operating officer of AI lab cosine.
[00:07:35] cosine. Now, the EU has set out plans plans to ban social media for children
[00:07:38] children under the age of 13. Older
[00:07:40] Older children aged between 13 and and 15 will be allowed limited use
[00:07:44] use of the technology, but only with with supervision. Many governments
[00:07:47] governments are following the example example of Australia and planning
[00:07:51] planning tighter restrictions because
[00:07:53] because of concerns over the harmful
[00:07:56] harmful effects on children's mental
[00:07:58] mental health. In the last hour or
[00:08:00] or so, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen Leyen has set out her proposals to
[00:08:05] to the European Parliament. No social
[00:08:07] social media under the age of 13.
[00:08:11] 13. No personal account under the
[00:08:13] the age of 15. That means from 13
[00:08:17] 13 until a child turns 15, only mini
[00:08:21] mini accounts that are set up and and supervised by
[00:08:28] Set up and supervised by parents or guardians with limited limited features and time restriction
[00:08:30] restriction to one hour a day maximum.
[00:08:33] maximum. And then between 15 and
[00:08:34] and 18. Safe design will be an obligation
[00:08:39] obligation for the platforms. To
[00:08:42] To be very clear, an age limit does
[00:08:45] does not mean letting tech companies
[00:08:47] companies off the hook for the content
[00:08:50] content of the platform. Platforms Platforms have been playing fast
[00:08:54] fast and loose with our children's
[00:08:56] children's mental health. Now we
[00:08:58] we are reversing the burden of proof.
[00:09:01] proof. Now they have to prove to
[00:09:03] to us that they are safe. Well, that
[00:09:05] that was a short while ago in the the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
[00:09:09] Strasbourg. Let's go back there live live now and show you what's going
[00:09:11] going on. Because the Canadian Prime
[00:09:13] Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is going
[00:09:15] going to be addressing the Parliament Parliament live and we will cover
[00:09:19] cover that speech as soon as he gets
[00:09:22] gets going. And he was just in the
[00:09:25] the UK yesterday evening watching watching a football match with the
[00:09:28] the British Prime Minister, Andy Andy Burnham. He's back in Strasbourg.
[00:09:31] Strasbourg. And this comes a day
[00:09:33] day after Canada and the EU announced announced they're going to explore
[00:09:36] explore closer links. We saw Ursula We saw Ursula von der Leyen on
[00:09:39] her feet, giving the state of the the Union address to the European
[00:09:43] European Parliament yesterday, in in which she announced that the EU
[00:09:46] EU that they were going to start
[00:09:49] start exploring the idea of Canada
[00:09:52] Canada becoming an associate member
[00:09:54] member of the European Union. Mark
[00:09:56] Mark Carney has said he is seeking
[00:09:59] seeking a unique alliance with the
[00:10:01] the European Union. Donald Trump
[00:10:04] Trump has reacted. He says that it
[00:10:07] it is laughable. He says that the the suggestion that Canada could
[00:10:10] could become an associate member member of the European Union is laughable
[00:10:14] laughable and he threatened tariffs tariffs on Europe, calling it a hostile
[00:10:17] hostile act. He says I will put very very serious tariffs or stop trading
[00:10:21] trading with Europe on many things. things. So Mark Carney, just coming
[00:10:24] coming into the European Parliament Parliament in Strasbourg there. There's
[00:10:27] There's a lot of handshaking going going on, a lot of selfies being
[00:10:29] being taken. We'll go back to that that as soon as Mark Carney, the
[00:10:33] the Canadian Prime Minister, gets
[00:10:34] gets to his feet. Now Fiji has declared
[00:10:38] declared a national emergency following following an alarming surge in HIV
[00:10:41] HIV cases. The Pacific island nation, nation, with fewer than a million
[00:10:44] million people, recorded more than
[00:10:46] than 2000 new HIV cases in 2025.
[00:10:50] 2025. That's a 16 fold increase from
[00:10:52] from 2019. 1 in 60 adults in Fiji
[00:10:55] Fiji is now living with the virus
[00:10:57] virus that causes Aids. Dr Dashika Dashika Balak is care and support
[00:11:01] support lead for HIV treatment at
[00:11:03] at the Fiji Ministry of Health. She She explained to my colleague Steve
[00:11:07] Steve Lai how the number of infected
[00:11:09] infected people had grown so quickly. quickly. I think over the years the
[00:11:13] the number of cases have increased increased and we've been trying to
[00:11:16] to catch up on these numbers. We We have expanded our testing in the
[00:11:20] the countries. And so therefore, therefore, you know, we are testing
[00:11:23] testing more infections that were were already existing in the communities.
[00:11:26] communities. But now we are playing playing catch up with these cases
[00:11:29] cases as we know that. I mean, the
[00:11:31] the new cases are across all the the divisions in our countries, our
[00:11:35] our towns and cities, even rural rural and maritime communities are
[00:11:39] are now having to see new cases. cases. And this is what has led to
[00:11:42] to the government declaring a national national emergency because we need
[00:11:46] need our whole of national response, response, which is led by the cabinet
[00:11:50] cabinet and supported across all all party lines. Because this epidemic
[00:11:53] epidemic has become so widespread widespread that it needs every sector
[00:11:57] sector working together, not just just health alone. Yes. And what
[00:12:01] what should we understand then about about how it has spread so quickly
[00:12:04] quickly through injectable transmission?
[00:12:06] transmission? Yes. So methamphetamine methamphetamine use has rapidly grown
[00:12:10] grown in that country and with injecting
[00:12:12] injecting and sharing of needles
[00:12:14] needles and syringes where we know
[00:12:17] know of the people who have acquired acquired HIV, around half of these
[00:12:21] these new cases were linked to injecting injecting drug use. So, you know,
[00:12:25] know, HIV then moves to their partners partners and to their families. So
[00:12:29] So we are treating drug use as a a health issue, which includes harm
[00:12:32] harm reduction testing and treatment treatment taken to where people are
[00:12:35] are and working with community organisations
[00:12:38] organisations who people trust. So So again, tackling the drug problem
[00:12:41] problem also needs health law enforcement, enforcement, social services, education
[00:12:45] education and so forth. And this this is exactly what this emergency
[00:12:49] emergency needs are. Cabinet led led response. Yeah. And just tell
[00:12:52] tell us as well I mean the numbers numbers I mean, 1 in 60 adults this
[00:12:56] this cuts across men and women. I
[00:12:58] I presume. Yes. So basically what
[00:13:01] what we have seen over the last five
[00:13:04] five years or so, we have seen that that most of the cases are concentrated
[00:13:07] concentrated among males. So about
[00:13:09] about 70% of the cases were among
[00:13:11] among males and the rest females females are Martin Yip population
[00:13:15] population among the transgender transgender population. However, However, we are seeing that this
[00:13:18] this gap is closing now, so we are are picking up more women living
[00:13:21] living with HIV. Over the past couple
[00:13:23] couple of years as compared to males males as well. All right. We're going
[00:13:27] going to take you back to the European
[00:13:30] European Parliament in Strasbourg Strasbourg because we are expecting
[00:13:33] expecting imminently to hear from from the Canadian Prime Minister, Minister, Mark Carney, who's just
[00:13:37] just being introduced. And we're we're expecting him to get to his
[00:13:40] his feet very shortly. And this comes
[00:13:42] comes a day after European Commission Commission President Ursula von der
[00:13:45] der Leyen suggested she wanted to
[00:13:48] to open the door to Canada, becoming
[00:13:50] becoming the EU's first associate
[00:13:52] associate member. And Mark Carney
[00:13:55] Carney says he is seeking a unique unique alliance with the European
[00:13:58] European Union. We've had reaction,
[00:14:01] reaction, as you might expect, Donald
[00:14:03] Donald Trump, he says that the concept
[00:14:05] concept is laughable. He calls it
[00:14:08] it a hostile act and said I will
[00:14:10] will put very serious tariffs or or stop trading with Europe on many
[00:14:14] many things. And then he said, if
[00:14:16] if it's a good intention, that's
[00:14:18] that's fine, but rather a negative negative response from Donald Trump
[00:14:22] Trump viewing the closeness of ties
[00:14:25] ties between Canada and the European European Union. The US, of course,
[00:14:29] course, recently increasing tariffs tariffs on Canadian goods, Canadian
[00:14:32] Canadian Canada responding with tariffs
[00:14:33] tariffs of its own, a very low point
[00:14:36] point in relations between those
[00:14:38] those nations. But we are waiting
[00:14:41] waiting for Mark Carney to start
[00:14:43] start speaking. Let's listen in.
[00:14:54] in. And it is with that spirit and
[00:14:57] and with the weight of that history history that we now look to the future
[00:15:01] future together. Yesterday's announcement
[00:15:04] announcement opening the door to
[00:15:06] to deepening our alliance is a huge
[00:15:09] huge positive step forward with potential
[00:15:11] potential for closer co-operation co-operation on the issues that matter
[00:15:14] matter to people, to families and
[00:15:17] and to industry on both sides of
[00:15:19] of the Atlantic. The potential exists exists for better co-operation on
[00:15:22] on so many different levels, from
[00:15:25] from defence and trade to energy,
[00:15:28] energy, education and research. So
[00:15:30] So together we can break new and and exciting ground and ultimately
[00:15:34] ultimately improve lives. Today is
[00:15:36] is another milestone in that shared shared journey and your presence
[00:15:40] presence here. Dear Mark could not
[00:15:43] not be more significant, so I know know we are all looking forward to
[00:15:45] to hearing you speak. Thank you for for being here. Without further ado,
[00:15:48] ado, the floor is yours. Prime Minister.
[00:16:07] You raise a. Madam. Madam
[00:16:17] president Metsola. Sir Robert. Madam
[00:16:28] Parliament. European
[00:16:29] colleagues. Distinguished. Je vous.
[00:16:33] vous. Merci de monsieur...
[00:16:37] Mark Carney, just beginning his
[00:16:39] address to the European Parliament
[00:16:42] Parliament in French. And while he he talks in French, we will just
[00:16:46] just talk a bit more about the background background to this. He's going to
[00:16:49] to be holding a press conference
[00:16:52] conference after this speech alongside alongside the European Parliament Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.
[00:16:56] Metsola. He's talking English or or we have a translation. So let's
[00:16:59] let's go back. I mention. But first
[00:17:02] first of all, I should like to refer
[00:17:04] refer to something older something
[00:17:09] something which considerably predates
[00:17:11] predates EU Canada relations because
[00:17:14] because the depth of our bonds, those
[00:17:17] those which unite us, cannot be measured
[00:17:20] measured by trade or what is written
[00:17:24] written in treaties alone. Our bonds
[00:17:27] bonds are deeply rooted in our lands.
[00:17:32] lands. In the heart of Germany above
[00:17:35] above Weimar there is a wooded ridge
[00:17:38] ridge called Ittersbach and for decades
[00:17:40] decades go to walk thought and wrote.
[00:17:43] wrote. There. An oak on that ridge
[00:17:45] ridge came to bear his name. A living
[00:17:48] living monument to the highest ideals
[00:17:50] ideals of European culture. As the
[00:17:54] the 20th century turned dark, that that same oak became trapped behind
[00:17:57] behind the barbed wire of Buchenwald.
[00:18:00] Buchenwald. A silent witness to humanity's
[00:18:02] humanity's deepest moral failure.
[00:18:06] failure. Good to understood that
[00:18:08] that ideals must be fought for, that
[00:18:11] that values do not defend themselves.
[00:18:15] themselves. Indeed, at the end of
[00:18:16] of Faust, the old man's last vision
[00:18:20] vision is is of a free people on
[00:18:24] on free ground. Nordic virgin Sieg
[00:18:28] Sieg Freiheit...
[00:18:47] Every day. Every day. Not once.
[00:18:53] In 1945 or 19 56 or 1989. Every day,
[00:18:59] day, including this one. The Liberty
[00:19:03] Liberty conquest, terrorism. Thanks
[00:19:06] Thanks to the heroism of the European
[00:19:09] European wartime resistance. It was
[00:19:14] was nurtured by the founders of the the European Coal and Steel Community
[00:19:17] Community in the aftermath of war.
[00:19:21] war. It was fostered by the creation
[00:19:24] creation of the European Community.
[00:19:28] Community. It was preserved by the the establishment of the European
[00:19:32] European Union, and it was developed
[00:19:36] developed thanks to the European European Union's enlargement after after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
[00:19:40] Wall. The values embodied by that
[00:19:43] that Goethe Oak have also endured
[00:19:45] endured in part because the ideals
[00:19:48] ideals that flourished beneath its
[00:19:50] its branches also crossed the Atlantic
[00:19:56] Atlantic in 1917, amidst the devastation devastation of the Battle of Vimy
[00:19:59] Vimy Ridge, a young Canadian lieutenant
[00:20:01] lieutenant named Leslie Miller gathered gathered a handful of acorns from
[00:20:05] from the shattered European landscape.
[00:20:07] landscape. He carried them home and
[00:20:10] and planted them in Canadian soil soil near Milton, Ontario, where
[00:20:14] where they grew into a majestic forest.
[00:20:16] forest. A century later, a profound
[00:20:20] profound circle of renewal was completed
[00:20:23] completed because grafts from Leslie
[00:20:25] Leslie Miller's Canadian oaks were
[00:20:28] were repatriated to France and replanted replanted on the same Vimy Ridge
[00:20:31] Ridge where they had been born. This
[00:20:35] This is the essence of the Canada
[00:20:38] Canada European Union Partnership.
[00:20:42] Partnership. Seeds, values, ideas,
[00:20:43] ideas, trade, people and progress
[00:20:47] progress carried back and forth across
[00:20:49] across the Atlantic for centuries.
[00:21:03] We are not fair weather allies.
[00:21:07] We do not pursue zero sum deals.
[00:21:11] deals. Our commitment to the rule
[00:21:13] rule of law and our unyielding defence
[00:21:16] defence of human dignity, individual individual freedom and democracy
[00:21:20] democracy share the same deep roots,
[00:21:22] roots, the same unwavering dedication
[00:21:27] dedication we hold common values
[00:21:29] values for which we have always fought.
[00:21:31] fought. And in whose defence we must
[00:21:34] must always remain vigilant. We believe
[00:21:38] believe that a strong economy is
[00:21:40] is not an end in itself, but a means
[00:21:44] means to a just society. We are committed.
[00:21:56] committed. We are committed stewards
[00:21:59] stewards of our natural heritage. heritage. We believe that our prosperity
[00:22:03] prosperity grows when it's shared
[00:22:06] shared these values. This is a sharing
[00:22:10] sharing of choice, not coincidence.
[00:22:15] coincidence. In his writings, Goethe Goethe borrowed a word from the chemists
[00:22:18] chemists of his day Carl von Shafton
[00:22:23] Shafton or the elective affinity affinity of different elements that
[00:22:27] that combine because of their inherent
[00:22:30] inherent attraction Canada and Europe
[00:22:32] Europe are not bound by geography,
[00:22:36] geography, even though our Danish
[00:22:38] Danish friends know that we share
[00:22:40] share a 3000 kilometre border in
[00:22:43] in the Arctic. We are bound by an
[00:22:48] an affinity elective chosen renewed
[00:22:52] renewed and stronger for being so.
[00:22:56] so. Aujourd'hui, nos societes...
[00:23:01] Being battered by new storms.
[00:23:06] The disruption caused by climate
[00:23:10] climate change the erosion of democratic
[00:23:13] democratic norms, the weaponization weaponization of trade the multilateral
[00:23:17] multilateral organisations we use
[00:23:18] use to count on have been weakened.
[00:23:25] weakened. Today it is hard to reconcile
[00:23:28] reconcile sovereignty and openness.
[00:23:31] openness. Economic integration is is now being weaponised. Tariffs
[00:23:35] Tariffs being used to exert pressure.
[00:23:40] pressure. Financial mechanisms have
[00:23:43] have been used for coercion. Supply
[00:23:48] Supply chains constitute weak points
[00:23:51] points to be exploited. Technology Technology is transforming the nature
[00:23:55] nature of warfare. The structure structure of our economies and states
[00:23:59] states ability to govern. Tech platforms
[00:24:04] platforms aspire to sovereignty.
[00:24:07] sovereignty. They want to set access access rules. They want to dictate
[00:24:11] dictate the rules for regulation
[00:24:13] regulation and even circumvent them.
[00:24:18] them. They want to control our data
[00:24:23] data spread disinformation and steal
[00:24:25] steal our children's childhoods.
[00:24:29] childhoods. This combination is a
[00:24:32] a ferocious storm. A single tree
[00:24:34] tree will come down in it. A forest
[00:24:40] forest will not.
[00:24:50] And that's because beneath the forest floor, the roots of an oak
[00:24:54] oak intertwine with those of its its neighbours, exchanging nutrients,
[00:24:57] nutrients, adding strength to strength,
[00:25:00] strength, creating a resilient, self-sustaining
[00:25:04] self-sustaining ecosystem. Together, Together, Canada and the European
[00:25:08] European Union can anchor our ground
[00:25:09] ground to hold our values while forming
[00:25:13] forming a protective canopy under
[00:25:15] under which our citizens can thrive.
[00:25:19] thrive. This is about sovereignty
[00:25:23] sovereignty our ability to live as
[00:25:25] as we wish. It's about the freedoms
[00:25:28] freedoms we must fight for every
[00:25:32] every day because sovereignty requires requires resilience, the ability
[00:25:36] ability to withstand shocks. Sovereignty
[00:25:39] Sovereignty today goes beyond being being able to feed, fuel and defend
[00:25:42] defend ourselves. It now requires
[00:25:45] requires secure access to AI, semiconductors, semiconductors, critical minerals,
[00:25:49] minerals, payment systems, clean
[00:25:50] clean energy technologies, vaccines,
[00:25:53] vaccines, space based communications
[00:25:55] communications and we all have important important gaps in these strategic
[00:25:59] strategic capabilities. And we each
[00:26:00] each must rely on individual nations
[00:26:03] nations or individual companies to
[00:26:05] to fill them. And that creates vulnerabilities
[00:26:10] vulnerabilities particularly when when supposedly global companies
[00:26:13] companies prove national in the breach.
[00:26:17] breach. Closing these gaps is not
[00:26:19] not possible alone, but it's very
[00:26:23] very achievable collectively Canada
[00:26:25] Canada and Europe are each strong.
[00:26:29] strong. Europe and Canada are stronger
[00:26:33] stronger together.
[00:26:49] The institutions we've
[00:26:50] inherited are organised by geography.
[00:26:54] geography. The strategic capabilities capabilities that we need are organised
[00:26:57] organised by function. Excuse me.
[00:27:01] me. We can ally by function if we
[00:27:04] we are bold and deliberate and we
[00:27:07] we shouldn't be cowed by the perceived
[00:27:09] perceived scale of the task. Just
[00:27:13] Just as dominance is the arrogance arrogance of the hegemon, perfection
[00:27:16] perfection is the enemy of the good.
[00:27:19] good. The economics of this are clear
[00:27:21] clear the leverage of the powerful
[00:27:23] powerful and an exploitive relationship
[00:27:26] relationship collapses well before
[00:27:27] before complete independence is achieved
[00:27:30] achieved because diversity confers
[00:27:32] confers advantage. The objective
[00:27:35] objective is not self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency, it's collective
[00:27:38] collective resilience. And it's this
[00:27:49] this mutual advantage that's at the
[00:27:51] the core of the case for a deeper deeper partnership between Canada
[00:27:55] Canada and Europe. Europe brings
[00:27:58] brings so many things market power,
[00:28:00] power, research depth, advanced manufacturing, manufacturing, the ability and the
[00:28:04] the will to set standards that the
[00:28:08] the world frequently adopts a defence
[00:28:10] defence industrial base that's being
[00:28:12] being rebuilt at speed. Canada brings
[00:28:16] brings energy at huge scale and in
[00:28:17] in every form that the transition
[00:28:20] transition requires. We have one one of the world's largest endowments
[00:28:23] endowments of critical minerals, minerals, deep capabilities in space,
[00:28:26] space, AI and quantum amongst the the strongest banking systems and
[00:28:29] and the most expert pension capital.
[00:28:32] capital. We have unique Arctic geography geography and privileged access to
[00:28:36] to both Atlantic and Pacific networks
[00:28:39] networks and where our strengths strengths differ, they complement
[00:28:43] complement where they overlap, they they create scale. We should build
[00:28:47] build on each other's strengths deliberately,
[00:28:51] deliberately, systematically and and rapidly. We've already begun,
[00:28:54] begun, and I thank this Parliament
[00:28:56] Parliament we've already begun with
[00:28:58] with CETA, one of the world's most
[00:29:01] most successful trade agreements.
[00:29:03] agreements. Thank you.
[00:29:15] And I thank president von der
[00:29:17] Leyen, President Costa, for our strategic strategic partnership agreement struck
[00:29:21] struck last June. We're developing developing that and deepening it.
[00:29:24] it. We've also begun to take advantage
[00:29:27] advantage of Canada's role as the
[00:29:28] the first non-European member of
[00:29:31] of Saif. But we should recognise recognise that the ecosystem we've
[00:29:35] we've built is not yet equal to the
[00:29:38] the ferocity of the changing climate, climate, and nor is it moving fast
[00:29:41] fast enough to match the speed of
[00:29:43] of the upheaval. Yesterday, president
[00:29:47] president von der Leyen spoke of
[00:29:49] of moving beyond CETA to an alliance
[00:29:51] alliance for the future. Opening
[00:29:53] Opening the door to Canada to become
[00:29:57] become the European Union's first
[00:30:00] first associate member. We.
[00:30:12] We. Canada. Canada welcomes
[00:30:18] this ambition and I will tell you.
[00:30:19] you. Polling shows that an overwhelming overwhelming majority of Canadians
[00:30:23] Canadians support much closer ties
[00:30:26] ties with Europe. An Alliance for
[00:30:38] for the future is a unique, positive
[00:30:41] positive approach that we will define
[00:30:44] define together. Building on our our common strengths and based on
[00:30:47] on our shared values. But let me
[00:30:49] me take this opportunity to say plainly
[00:30:52] plainly what Canada proposes. Canada
[00:30:56] Canada and Europe should secure our our strategic autonomy