Original Broadcaster Captioning (Enhanced). Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00examine the evidence and get to the the facts. Watch our BBC Verify reports
00:00:03reports on the BBC News channel or
00:00:04or go online to find out more. These
00:00:14These are the latest headlines from from BBC News. The King issues an
00:00:18an unusually pointed response after
00:00:20after Earl Spencer, Princess Diana's Diana's brother, makes fresh claims
00:00:23claims about him in his new book.
00:00:25book. Fiji declares a national emergency
00:00:28emergency following an alarming surge
00:00:30surge in HIV cases. 1 in 60 adults
00:00:33adults in the Pacific island nation nation now lives with the virus that
00:00:37that causes Aids. The Bank of England England is expected to hold interest
00:00:40interest rates in the face of rising
00:00:43rising prices, as the US hikes, borrowing
00:00:45borrowing costs. Microsoft's head
00:00:47head of AI tells the BBC his competitors competitors approach to training
00:00:51training their models could have
00:00:53have a disastrous impact on the wellbeing
00:00:55wellbeing of humanity. European Commission Commission President Ursula von der
00:00:58der Leyen moves ahead with plans plans to ban social media for under
00:01:02under 13, saying these apps are depriving
00:01:06depriving children of their childhood. childhood. The boss of social media
00:01:08media company Snapchat says the firm firm would be willing to implement
00:01:12implement time limits for teenagers
00:01:13teenagers as an important step forward
00:01:16forward for the industry. Hello,
00:01:23Hello, I'm Karin Giannone. King Charles Charles has called on AI giants to
00:01:26to keep tech in service of humanity
00:01:30humanity ahead of him chairing a
00:01:31a summit with industry leaders. Concerns
00:01:34Concerns about the existential threat threat of artificial intelligence intelligence have intensified in
00:01:38in recent weeks, with several instances
00:01:40instances of bad actors using AI AI models for weapons development
00:01:43development and fraud. Yang Li co-founder
00:01:46co-founder and chief operating officer
00:01:48officer of AI lab cosine, who are are developing what they describe
00:01:51describe as the first fully British British AI model to rival the likes
00:01:54likes of Anthropic and OpenAI, has
00:01:57has told us why sovereignty is so so important. I think a sovereign
00:02:01sovereign model is beyond just a a Union Jack sticker. I think as
00:02:04as we are depending on building on on top of AI, the UK needs to know
00:02:08know what is exactly inside the AI, AI, what data is inside it, does
00:02:11does it have a kill switch that is is beholden to another foreign government,
00:02:15government, and will we lose access access to it when we need it the the most? When our country is in
00:02:19in danger? You mentioned you used
00:02:21used the word sovereign AI. I mean, mean, what is the difference that
00:02:24that you mean by using that word
00:02:27word specifically? I think a lot lot of the most popular AI solutions
00:02:30solutions on the market at the moment moment are mostly American or Chinese.
00:02:34Chinese. So the American models they they put into the data sets to build
00:02:38build the AI that we have no idea idea what goes inside of it. They
00:02:41They can turn off access whenever whenever they want to, whether it's
00:02:43it's by policy or on a hardware level. level. As we have seen with Donald
00:02:46Donald Trump's export ban or Anthropic Anthropic models or it's on built
00:02:50built by Chinese side, in which case case we still don't know what data data sets are going inside of it.
00:02:54it. And so building a sovereign model model means we have control over
00:02:57over every layer from the ground ground up. So in your sense, you
00:03:00you mean there can be complete trust trust in that model. And that is
00:03:04is important for the UK's security? security? Yeah, absolutely. We are
00:03:08are completely open. So here at cosine cosine we've built in partnership
00:03:11partnership our model, you know with with some of the largest UK publicly
00:03:14publicly traded companies. And so so everyone has access to know what
00:03:17what exactly goes inside our models, models, how it works, what is the
00:03:21the architecture and the conditions conditions and the assurance we give give in terms of deployment? What
00:03:25What do you think of what's happening happening today? King Charles of
00:03:27of all people bringing AI leaders leaders together at the summit in
00:03:31in Scotland in a few hours' time. time. I think it's really timely.
00:03:34timely. I think that's the even a
00:03:36a few months ago, AI was seen as
00:03:40as novelty, as potentially impactful. impactful. I think now towards the
00:03:43the end of the year, we are seeing seeing that it's making huge improvements improvements in productivity, but
00:03:47but also that brings with it also also a huge amount of risk. And actually
00:03:49actually I think it's a great time time to basically talk about how
00:03:53how do we build on it securely, but but also give us the resilience that
00:03:56that we need and demand here in the the UK. I'm very interested to get
00:04:00get your thoughts on that word, that that risk because over the last week
00:04:03week or so, that is all we have been been hearing day after day about
00:04:07about the potential threats to the the very existence of humanity. Where
00:04:11Where are you on that? I think where
00:04:13where I get to is we should be concerned, concerned, but we shouldn't be frightened.
00:04:17frightened. You know, I think that that it's all still very nascent
00:04:20nascent in terms of what is the capability capability of AI. Obviously, there's
00:04:23there's a huge amount of potential. potential. We've seen the speed of of innovation in AI, but actually
00:04:27actually I think that we have yet yet to see the true impact and a
00:04:30a grand scale yet. So I think, as as I said, this is a great time to
00:04:33to begin to talk about the nascent nascent era of AI and think about
00:04:36about the risks and how do we protect
00:04:39protect ourselves in case something, something, you know, happens as unexpected.
00:04:42unexpected. And so right now I'm I'm not frightened. I'm just concerned. concerned. And what would you at
00:04:46at cosine be doing differently to to avoid those risks becoming reality
00:04:50reality differently to your rivals? rivals? Yeah. So you know, we work
00:04:53work very closely with government government organisations like ASIS
00:04:57ASIS or the AI Safety Institute, Institute, and we're collaborating
00:04:59collaborating with them to test and and probe. And we give them we're
00:05:03we're completely transparent with with them to understand, you know, know, where the risk vectors might
00:05:06might be with AI that we're building. building. But also we have a partnership partnership that we've just announced
00:05:10announced this week with Abi, a leading leading cybersecurity firm that focuses
00:05:14focuses on AI to again, give us an
00:05:17an independent sort of test and verification verification that our AI is safe.
00:05:20safe. And, you know, not all AI companies companies in the world is now collaborating
00:05:24collaborating with the AI Safety Safety Institute, which in my opinion
00:05:26opinion is a world leading and a a truly the UK is pioneering and
00:05:29and pushing the boundaries of AI AI safety. And it's a shame that that some American models are no
00:05:33no longer working with them. We really really believe that having a third
00:05:36third party, you know, a verification verification and an auditor is really really important when it comes to
00:05:40to AI. How do you get around that?
00:05:42that? I mean, if, say, 80% of AI
00:05:44AI models comply with regulations regulations or agreements, the outliers
00:05:48outliers who decide they're not going going to be held back. Yeah. And
00:05:51And I think this is a there's quite quite a lot of tension here. And
00:05:54And again, this has only happened happened very recently. You know, know, I think in the world of AI,
00:05:57AI, we operate in weeks and often often government operates in years.
00:06:00years. In terms of timeline, I think. think. So this is still developing.
00:06:03developing. I think for us, our view
00:06:05view is that we have to be as cautious cautious and have as many guardrails
00:06:09guardrails as possible, but we can't
00:06:11can't stop innovating, right, because
00:06:13because other countries and maybe maybe even our adversaries will continue
00:06:16continue to innovate and push without without any rules and regulation.
00:06:19regulation. We have to innovate but but also have a minimum amount of
00:06:22of regulation. And, you know, to to understand what the risks are. are. So understanding the risks is
00:06:26is probably the first step before before controlling the risk. And And just on something that's been
00:06:29been talked about a lot in the last last few hours, the head of Microsoft
00:06:32Microsoft AI saying unless adequate adequate restrictions, excuse me,
00:06:35me, are implemented, it could lead lead to the emergence of a new silicon
00:06:39silicon species. What do you feel feel about describing AI as a species
00:06:43species in its own right? I think
00:06:45think for us, I think it's a little little bit too premature. I think
00:06:49think that we're seeing AI is still still a tool in the same way that
00:06:52that the internet was seen as quite quite scary in the beginning and
00:06:54and actually had a lot of potential. potential. I think it's probably
00:06:58probably too far too early to describe describe it as a completely new species.
00:07:01species. I think that we will obviously
00:07:04obviously augment how we work in in society. We will work faster.
00:07:07faster. We need to spend a lot of of time in terms of retraining existing
00:07:11existing staff members, you know, know, and we are collaborating with with a lot of our coalition partners,
00:07:15partners, whether it's by Babcock, Babcock, GSK or Telefonica or any
00:07:19any of the sides that we're working working with. We're working, thinking
00:07:21thinking hard about how do we bring
00:07:23bring existing workers into the AI AI world rather than thinking that
00:07:26that we're replacing humans altogether? altogether? That is Yang Li, who
00:07:30who is co-founder and chief operating
00:07:32operating officer of AI lab cosine.
00:07:35cosine. Now, the EU has set out plans plans to ban social media for children
00:07:38children under the age of 13. Older
00:07:40Older children aged between 13 and and 15 will be allowed limited use
00:07:44use of the technology, but only with with supervision. Many governments
00:07:47governments are following the example example of Australia and planning
00:07:51planning tighter restrictions because
00:07:53because of concerns over the harmful
00:07:56harmful effects on children's mental
00:07:58mental health. In the last hour or
00:08:00or so, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen Leyen has set out her proposals to
00:08:05to the European Parliament. No social
00:08:07social media under the age of 13.
00:08:1113. No personal account under the
00:08:13the age of 15. That means from 13
00:08:1713 until a child turns 15, only mini
00:08:21mini accounts that are set up and and supervised by
00:08:28Set up and supervised by parents or guardians with limited limited features and time restriction
00:08:30restriction to one hour a day maximum.
00:08:33maximum. And then between 15 and
00:08:34and 18. Safe design will be an obligation
00:08:39obligation for the platforms. To
00:08:42To be very clear, an age limit does
00:08:45does not mean letting tech companies
00:08:47companies off the hook for the content
00:08:50content of the platform. Platforms Platforms have been playing fast
00:08:54fast and loose with our children's
00:08:56children's mental health. Now we
00:08:58we are reversing the burden of proof.
00:09:01proof. Now they have to prove to
00:09:03to us that they are safe. Well, that
00:09:05that was a short while ago in the the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
00:09:09Strasbourg. Let's go back there live live now and show you what's going
00:09:11going on. Because the Canadian Prime
00:09:13Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is going
00:09:15going to be addressing the Parliament Parliament live and we will cover
00:09:19cover that speech as soon as he gets
00:09:22gets going. And he was just in the
00:09:25the UK yesterday evening watching watching a football match with the
00:09:28the British Prime Minister, Andy Andy Burnham. He's back in Strasbourg.
00:09:31Strasbourg. And this comes a day
00:09:33day after Canada and the EU announced announced they're going to explore
00:09:36explore closer links. We saw Ursula We saw Ursula von der Leyen on
00:09:39her feet, giving the state of the the Union address to the European
00:09:43European Parliament yesterday, in in which she announced that the EU
00:09:46EU that they were going to start
00:09:49start exploring the idea of Canada
00:09:52Canada becoming an associate member
00:09:54member of the European Union. Mark
00:09:56Mark Carney has said he is seeking
00:09:59seeking a unique alliance with the
00:10:01the European Union. Donald Trump
00:10:04Trump has reacted. He says that it
00:10:07it is laughable. He says that the the suggestion that Canada could
00:10:10could become an associate member member of the European Union is laughable
00:10:14laughable and he threatened tariffs tariffs on Europe, calling it a hostile
00:10:17hostile act. He says I will put very very serious tariffs or stop trading
00:10:21trading with Europe on many things. things. So Mark Carney, just coming
00:10:24coming into the European Parliament Parliament in Strasbourg there. There's
00:10:27There's a lot of handshaking going going on, a lot of selfies being
00:10:29being taken. We'll go back to that that as soon as Mark Carney, the
00:10:33the Canadian Prime Minister, gets
00:10:34gets to his feet. Now Fiji has declared
00:10:38declared a national emergency following following an alarming surge in HIV
00:10:41HIV cases. The Pacific island nation, nation, with fewer than a million
00:10:44million people, recorded more than
00:10:46than 2000 new HIV cases in 2025.
00:10:502025. That's a 16 fold increase from
00:10:52from 2019. 1 in 60 adults in Fiji
00:10:55Fiji is now living with the virus
00:10:57virus that causes Aids. Dr Dashika Dashika Balak is care and support
00:11:01support lead for HIV treatment at
00:11:03at the Fiji Ministry of Health. She She explained to my colleague Steve
00:11:07Steve Lai how the number of infected
00:11:09infected people had grown so quickly. quickly. I think over the years the
00:11:13the number of cases have increased increased and we've been trying to
00:11:16to catch up on these numbers. We We have expanded our testing in the
00:11:20the countries. And so therefore, therefore, you know, we are testing
00:11:23testing more infections that were were already existing in the communities.
00:11:26communities. But now we are playing playing catch up with these cases
00:11:29cases as we know that. I mean, the
00:11:31the new cases are across all the the divisions in our countries, our
00:11:35our towns and cities, even rural rural and maritime communities are
00:11:39are now having to see new cases. cases. And this is what has led to
00:11:42to the government declaring a national national emergency because we need
00:11:46need our whole of national response, response, which is led by the cabinet
00:11:50cabinet and supported across all all party lines. Because this epidemic
00:11:53epidemic has become so widespread widespread that it needs every sector
00:11:57sector working together, not just just health alone. Yes. And what
00:12:01what should we understand then about about how it has spread so quickly
00:12:04quickly through injectable transmission?
00:12:06transmission? Yes. So methamphetamine methamphetamine use has rapidly grown
00:12:10grown in that country and with injecting
00:12:12injecting and sharing of needles
00:12:14needles and syringes where we know
00:12:17know of the people who have acquired acquired HIV, around half of these
00:12:21these new cases were linked to injecting injecting drug use. So, you know,
00:12:25know, HIV then moves to their partners partners and to their families. So
00:12:29So we are treating drug use as a a health issue, which includes harm
00:12:32harm reduction testing and treatment treatment taken to where people are
00:12:35are and working with community organisations
00:12:38organisations who people trust. So So again, tackling the drug problem
00:12:41problem also needs health law enforcement, enforcement, social services, education
00:12:45education and so forth. And this this is exactly what this emergency
00:12:49emergency needs are. Cabinet led led response. Yeah. And just tell
00:12:52tell us as well I mean the numbers numbers I mean, 1 in 60 adults this
00:12:56this cuts across men and women. I
00:12:58I presume. Yes. So basically what
00:13:01what we have seen over the last five
00:13:04five years or so, we have seen that that most of the cases are concentrated
00:13:07concentrated among males. So about
00:13:09about 70% of the cases were among
00:13:11among males and the rest females females are Martin Yip population
00:13:15population among the transgender transgender population. However, However, we are seeing that this
00:13:18this gap is closing now, so we are are picking up more women living
00:13:21living with HIV. Over the past couple
00:13:23couple of years as compared to males males as well. All right. We're going
00:13:27going to take you back to the European
00:13:30European Parliament in Strasbourg Strasbourg because we are expecting
00:13:33expecting imminently to hear from from the Canadian Prime Minister, Minister, Mark Carney, who's just
00:13:37just being introduced. And we're we're expecting him to get to his
00:13:40his feet very shortly. And this comes
00:13:42comes a day after European Commission Commission President Ursula von der
00:13:45der Leyen suggested she wanted to
00:13:48to open the door to Canada, becoming
00:13:50becoming the EU's first associate
00:13:52associate member. And Mark Carney
00:13:55Carney says he is seeking a unique unique alliance with the European
00:13:58European Union. We've had reaction,
00:14:01reaction, as you might expect, Donald
00:14:03Donald Trump, he says that the concept
00:14:05concept is laughable. He calls it
00:14:08it a hostile act and said I will
00:14:10will put very serious tariffs or or stop trading with Europe on many
00:14:14many things. And then he said, if
00:14:16if it's a good intention, that's
00:14:18that's fine, but rather a negative negative response from Donald Trump
00:14:22Trump viewing the closeness of ties
00:14:25ties between Canada and the European European Union. The US, of course,
00:14:29course, recently increasing tariffs tariffs on Canadian goods, Canadian
00:14:32Canadian Canada responding with tariffs
00:14:33tariffs of its own, a very low point
00:14:36point in relations between those
00:14:38those nations. But we are waiting
00:14:41waiting for Mark Carney to start
00:14:43start speaking. Let's listen in.
00:14:54in. And it is with that spirit and
00:14:57and with the weight of that history history that we now look to the future
00:15:01future together. Yesterday's announcement
00:15:04announcement opening the door to
00:15:06to deepening our alliance is a huge
00:15:09huge positive step forward with potential
00:15:11potential for closer co-operation co-operation on the issues that matter
00:15:14matter to people, to families and
00:15:17and to industry on both sides of
00:15:19of the Atlantic. The potential exists exists for better co-operation on
00:15:22on so many different levels, from
00:15:25from defence and trade to energy,
00:15:28energy, education and research. So
00:15:30So together we can break new and and exciting ground and ultimately
00:15:34ultimately improve lives. Today is
00:15:36is another milestone in that shared shared journey and your presence
00:15:40presence here. Dear Mark could not
00:15:43not be more significant, so I know know we are all looking forward to
00:15:45to hearing you speak. Thank you for for being here. Without further ado,
00:15:48ado, the floor is yours. Prime Minister.
00:16:07You raise a. Madam. Madam
00:16:17president Metsola. Sir Robert. Madam
00:16:28Parliament. European
00:16:29colleagues. Distinguished. Je vous.
00:16:33vous. Merci de monsieur...
00:16:37Mark Carney, just beginning his
00:16:39address to the European Parliament
00:16:42Parliament in French. And while he he talks in French, we will just
00:16:46just talk a bit more about the background background to this. He's going to
00:16:49to be holding a press conference
00:16:52conference after this speech alongside alongside the European Parliament Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.
00:16:56Metsola. He's talking English or or we have a translation. So let's
00:16:59let's go back. I mention. But first
00:17:02first of all, I should like to refer
00:17:04refer to something older something
00:17:09something which considerably predates
00:17:11predates EU Canada relations because
00:17:14because the depth of our bonds, those
00:17:17those which unite us, cannot be measured
00:17:20measured by trade or what is written
00:17:24written in treaties alone. Our bonds
00:17:27bonds are deeply rooted in our lands.
00:17:32lands. In the heart of Germany above
00:17:35above Weimar there is a wooded ridge
00:17:38ridge called Ittersbach and for decades
00:17:40decades go to walk thought and wrote.
00:17:43wrote. There. An oak on that ridge
00:17:45ridge came to bear his name. A living
00:17:48living monument to the highest ideals
00:17:50ideals of European culture. As the
00:17:54the 20th century turned dark, that that same oak became trapped behind
00:17:57behind the barbed wire of Buchenwald.
00:18:00Buchenwald. A silent witness to humanity's
00:18:02humanity's deepest moral failure.
00:18:06failure. Good to understood that
00:18:08that ideals must be fought for, that
00:18:11that values do not defend themselves.
00:18:15themselves. Indeed, at the end of
00:18:16of Faust, the old man's last vision
00:18:20vision is is of a free people on
00:18:24on free ground. Nordic virgin Sieg
00:18:28Sieg Freiheit...
00:18:47Every day. Every day. Not once.
00:18:53In 1945 or 19 56 or 1989. Every day,
00:18:59day, including this one. The Liberty
00:19:03Liberty conquest, terrorism. Thanks
00:19:06Thanks to the heroism of the European
00:19:09European wartime resistance. It was
00:19:14was nurtured by the founders of the the European Coal and Steel Community
00:19:17Community in the aftermath of war.
00:19:21war. It was fostered by the creation
00:19:24creation of the European Community.
00:19:28Community. It was preserved by the the establishment of the European
00:19:32European Union, and it was developed
00:19:36developed thanks to the European European Union's enlargement after after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
00:19:40Wall. The values embodied by that
00:19:43that Goethe Oak have also endured
00:19:45endured in part because the ideals
00:19:48ideals that flourished beneath its
00:19:50its branches also crossed the Atlantic
00:19:56Atlantic in 1917, amidst the devastation devastation of the Battle of Vimy
00:19:59Vimy Ridge, a young Canadian lieutenant
00:20:01lieutenant named Leslie Miller gathered gathered a handful of acorns from
00:20:05from the shattered European landscape.
00:20:07landscape. He carried them home and
00:20:10and planted them in Canadian soil soil near Milton, Ontario, where
00:20:14where they grew into a majestic forest.
00:20:16forest. A century later, a profound
00:20:20profound circle of renewal was completed
00:20:23completed because grafts from Leslie
00:20:25Leslie Miller's Canadian oaks were
00:20:28were repatriated to France and replanted replanted on the same Vimy Ridge
00:20:31Ridge where they had been born. This
00:20:35This is the essence of the Canada
00:20:38Canada European Union Partnership.
00:20:42Partnership. Seeds, values, ideas,
00:20:43ideas, trade, people and progress
00:20:47progress carried back and forth across
00:20:49across the Atlantic for centuries.
00:21:03We are not fair weather allies.
00:21:07We do not pursue zero sum deals.
00:21:11deals. Our commitment to the rule
00:21:13rule of law and our unyielding defence
00:21:16defence of human dignity, individual individual freedom and democracy
00:21:20democracy share the same deep roots,
00:21:22roots, the same unwavering dedication
00:21:27dedication we hold common values
00:21:29values for which we have always fought.
00:21:31fought. And in whose defence we must
00:21:34must always remain vigilant. We believe
00:21:38believe that a strong economy is
00:21:40is not an end in itself, but a means
00:21:44means to a just society. We are committed.
00:21:56committed. We are committed stewards
00:21:59stewards of our natural heritage. heritage. We believe that our prosperity
00:22:03prosperity grows when it's shared
00:22:06shared these values. This is a sharing
00:22:10sharing of choice, not coincidence.
00:22:15coincidence. In his writings, Goethe Goethe borrowed a word from the chemists
00:22:18chemists of his day Carl von Shafton
00:22:23Shafton or the elective affinity affinity of different elements that
00:22:27that combine because of their inherent
00:22:30inherent attraction Canada and Europe
00:22:32Europe are not bound by geography,
00:22:36geography, even though our Danish
00:22:38Danish friends know that we share
00:22:40share a 3000 kilometre border in
00:22:43in the Arctic. We are bound by an
00:22:48an affinity elective chosen renewed
00:22:52renewed and stronger for being so.
00:22:56so. Aujourd'hui, nos societes...
00:23:01Being battered by new storms.
00:23:06The disruption caused by climate
00:23:10climate change the erosion of democratic
00:23:13democratic norms, the weaponization weaponization of trade the multilateral
00:23:17multilateral organisations we use
00:23:18use to count on have been weakened.
00:23:25weakened. Today it is hard to reconcile
00:23:28reconcile sovereignty and openness.
00:23:31openness. Economic integration is is now being weaponised. Tariffs
00:23:35Tariffs being used to exert pressure.
00:23:40pressure. Financial mechanisms have
00:23:43have been used for coercion. Supply
00:23:48Supply chains constitute weak points
00:23:51points to be exploited. Technology Technology is transforming the nature
00:23:55nature of warfare. The structure structure of our economies and states
00:23:59states ability to govern. Tech platforms
00:24:04platforms aspire to sovereignty.
00:24:07sovereignty. They want to set access access rules. They want to dictate
00:24:11dictate the rules for regulation
00:24:13regulation and even circumvent them.
00:24:18them. They want to control our data
00:24:23data spread disinformation and steal
00:24:25steal our children's childhoods.
00:24:29childhoods. This combination is a
00:24:32a ferocious storm. A single tree
00:24:34tree will come down in it. A forest
00:24:40forest will not.
00:24:50And that's because beneath the forest floor, the roots of an oak
00:24:54oak intertwine with those of its its neighbours, exchanging nutrients,
00:24:57nutrients, adding strength to strength,
00:25:00strength, creating a resilient, self-sustaining
00:25:04self-sustaining ecosystem. Together, Together, Canada and the European
00:25:08European Union can anchor our ground
00:25:09ground to hold our values while forming
00:25:13forming a protective canopy under
00:25:15under which our citizens can thrive.
00:25:19thrive. This is about sovereignty
00:25:23sovereignty our ability to live as
00:25:25as we wish. It's about the freedoms
00:25:28freedoms we must fight for every
00:25:32every day because sovereignty requires requires resilience, the ability
00:25:36ability to withstand shocks. Sovereignty
00:25:39Sovereignty today goes beyond being being able to feed, fuel and defend
00:25:42defend ourselves. It now requires
00:25:45requires secure access to AI, semiconductors, semiconductors, critical minerals,
00:25:49minerals, payment systems, clean
00:25:50clean energy technologies, vaccines,
00:25:53vaccines, space based communications
00:25:55communications and we all have important important gaps in these strategic
00:25:59strategic capabilities. And we each
00:26:00each must rely on individual nations
00:26:03nations or individual companies to
00:26:05to fill them. And that creates vulnerabilities
00:26:10vulnerabilities particularly when when supposedly global companies
00:26:13companies prove national in the breach.
00:26:17breach. Closing these gaps is not
00:26:19not possible alone, but it's very
00:26:23very achievable collectively Canada
00:26:25Canada and Europe are each strong.
00:26:29strong. Europe and Canada are stronger
00:26:33stronger together.
00:26:49The institutions we've
00:26:50inherited are organised by geography.
00:26:54geography. The strategic capabilities capabilities that we need are organised
00:26:57organised by function. Excuse me.
00:27:01me. We can ally by function if we
00:27:04we are bold and deliberate and we
00:27:07we shouldn't be cowed by the perceived
00:27:09perceived scale of the task. Just
00:27:13Just as dominance is the arrogance arrogance of the hegemon, perfection
00:27:16perfection is the enemy of the good.
00:27:19good. The economics of this are clear
00:27:21clear the leverage of the powerful
00:27:23powerful and an exploitive relationship
00:27:26relationship collapses well before
00:27:27before complete independence is achieved
00:27:30achieved because diversity confers
00:27:32confers advantage. The objective
00:27:35objective is not self-sufficiency, self-sufficiency, it's collective
00:27:38collective resilience. And it's this
00:27:49this mutual advantage that's at the
00:27:51the core of the case for a deeper deeper partnership between Canada
00:27:55Canada and Europe. Europe brings
00:27:58brings so many things market power,
00:28:00power, research depth, advanced manufacturing, manufacturing, the ability and the
00:28:04the will to set standards that the
00:28:08the world frequently adopts a defence
00:28:10defence industrial base that's being
00:28:12being rebuilt at speed. Canada brings
00:28:16brings energy at huge scale and in
00:28:17in every form that the transition
00:28:20transition requires. We have one one of the world's largest endowments
00:28:23endowments of critical minerals, minerals, deep capabilities in space,
00:28:26space, AI and quantum amongst the the strongest banking systems and
00:28:29and the most expert pension capital.
00:28:32capital. We have unique Arctic geography geography and privileged access to
00:28:36to both Atlantic and Pacific networks
00:28:39networks and where our strengths strengths differ, they complement
00:28:43complement where they overlap, they they create scale. We should build
00:28:47build on each other's strengths deliberately,
00:28:51deliberately, systematically and and rapidly. We've already begun,
00:28:54begun, and I thank this Parliament
00:28:56Parliament we've already begun with
00:28:58with CETA, one of the world's most
00:29:01most successful trade agreements.
00:29:03agreements. Thank you.
00:29:15And I thank president von der
00:29:17Leyen, President Costa, for our strategic strategic partnership agreement struck
00:29:21struck last June. We're developing developing that and deepening it.
00:29:24it. We've also begun to take advantage
00:29:27advantage of Canada's role as the
00:29:28the first non-European member of
00:29:31of Saif. But we should recognise recognise that the ecosystem we've
00:29:35we've built is not yet equal to the
00:29:38the ferocity of the changing climate, climate, and nor is it moving fast
00:29:41fast enough to match the speed of
00:29:43of the upheaval. Yesterday, president
00:29:47president von der Leyen spoke of
00:29:49of moving beyond CETA to an alliance
00:29:51alliance for the future. Opening
00:29:53Opening the door to Canada to become
00:29:57become the European Union's first
00:30:00first associate member. We.
00:30:12We. Canada. Canada welcomes
00:30:18this ambition and I will tell you.
00:30:19you. Polling shows that an overwhelming overwhelming majority of Canadians
00:30:23Canadians support much closer ties
00:30:26ties with Europe. An Alliance for
00:30:38for the future is a unique, positive
00:30:41positive approach that we will define
00:30:44define together. Building on our our common strengths and based on
00:30:47on our shared values. But let me
00:30:49me take this opportunity to say plainly
00:30:52plainly what Canada proposes. Canada
00:30:56Canada and Europe should secure our our strategic autonomy