business interest, venture capital, to just mention one example our proposal of -- has been on the table of legislators for almost one year now. it has the potential to bring up to 100 billion euros of additional financing for european businesses so let us speed up its adoption. our investment plan is better than anyone expected inside europe. and now we are willing to take it to your. today we are launching an ambitious investment plan for africa which has the perp possibility to raise investments. it can go up to 88 billion. this will complement our

development and look at the root causes of immigration. the new plant will offer lifelines for those who would otherwise be pushed to take dangerous journeys in such for a better life. it has to be done. [applause]. as much as we invest in improving conditions we also need to invest in responding to humanitarian crisis. more than anything, we need to invest in our young people. i cannot. [inaudible] to youth unemployment.

[applause]. i will not accept that the generation y might be the first generation that could be poor than their parents. of course this is attack -- the european union can support this effort. in their efforts. we are doing this with the european youth council that was launched three years ago. the commission in the house, the effectiveness on step up the guarantee. more than 9 million young people got a job because of the european union. we will continue -- improving

the skill set of europeans in reaching out to the regions and people most in need. the european union can also contribute to help create opportunities for young people. there are many young people in europe willing to make a meaningful contribution to society. the solidarity appears 16 times in the treaties. our european budget is a living proof that finances. and our development policy, and strong external sign of solidarity. so when it comes to managing the refugee crisis we have started to see progress. i am convinced convinced much more solidarity

is needed. i also know that solidarity must be voluntary. it must come from the hearts. it cannot be forced. it cannot be imposed. i am urging the slovak presidency to which the divergences and differences between those are reluctant to allow refugees in their societies and those are convinced as i am that the fair share and relocation and resettlement is the essence. [applause]. i am asking a strong and immediate action both from greece and the european union to protect what we call in french, [speaking in native language]. with our protection of these

children the european union is creating historic -- [applause]. in the same spirit the commission is proposing today to step up european solidarity cause. young people across across the european union will be able to volunteer where help is needed most. to respond to crisis situations like the refugee crisis by the recent earthquakes in italy. i want this up and running as soon as possible. and by 2020 to see to see the first 100,000 young europeans taken part. by volunteering in the solidarity cause these young people will be able to develop skills and get work and also have invaluable human experience. [applause].

will issue the president. >> ladies and gentlemen, president counsel to europe that protects is in europe that defends itself both inside and outside its borders. we need, and this is a priority to do this, to counterterrorism as it of 2004 europe has suffered more than 30 terrorist attacks of 14 have happened over the past year. we have all maintained solidarity throughout our suffering a morning. we must must take a collective approach to this. we must be truthful and faithful to ourselves, to our values, to our multicultural open society. we need to to show terrace that they have no chance when they

try to attack these values. this tolerance which is ours cannot find the faith of our safety and security and that is why the commission at the outset has given out priority to security. we have setup as a special system for the return of fighters and we are combating the financing of the terrorism. we are using the internet to combat terrorist propaganda and we are combating radicalization in prisons and elsewhere elsewhere. we still have a lot of work to do and we must know which individuals are crossing our

borders. it is for this reason that we defend our borders with new special agency. their agents increase at the border with turkey, and we have more than 100 agents in bulgaria. the member states and the institutions must work closely in order to make sure that we can set up this new agency. i would would like to see the deployment as of october with a 200 border guards and more with the border in bulgaria. we will also defend our borders in terms of those who cross our borders. we'll will be very strict as to who can cross the border for something that we are looking to implement by the end

of the year. anyone coming into the european union will be registered. we'll have the date, the place and the reason as to why the person is leaving borders. by november we will be proposing a new information system. a travel system. a travel information system which would be automated. we'll be able to determine who has the right to travel into europe and so in this way we will see who will be traveling into europe. but before that person arrives on our territory, the security of our borders also means that we have to give up priority to the exchange of information and intelligence and so we are strengthening europe to this end. because we are giving europe greater access to databases and giving them the necessary means

to carry out their work. and this will have to be in line with our ambitions. europe that protects also should protect outside its borders the world is getting bigger every day and europe is getting smaller every day demographically and economically if we wish to maintain our influence in the world it is obvious that we had to work together and it is together that we will be able to face challenges. if europe is proud of being a soft power we have to admit that this is not sufficient in a world that is evermore dangerous. let's look at the conflict in syria as an example. the consequences for europe of this conflict are immediate. where are the member states in the negotiation that tried to

solve this conflict. >> frederick -- are represented by the commission is doing a remarkable job and that is not just my opinion. but what we need is a european minister of foreign affairs. this is something that should be similar. [applause]. >> it's something that should, that will bring together the national diplomatic forces in order to weigh in an

international negotiations. this is why why i am asking for us to draw up a european strategy for syria to have a seat at the negotiating table on the future of syria. europe, ladies and gentlemen should be stronger. should take a stronger .. of view in terms of our defense. we can no longer depend on the singular power of individual member states. together we have to make sure that we protect our interest. over the past ten years we have participated in more than 30 military and civil missions carried out by the european union. but we do do not have a permanent structure. without that we are not able to work efficiently. we must have a european headquarters.

and so we should work toward a common military force and this should be an complement with nato. more european defense doesn't mean less transatlantic solitary from an economic point of view bringing together military resources could be clearly justified we could use cooperation which is useful because the lack of cooperation is something that is costing the european union 20 - 100000000000 per year. in order to call guarantee the european union should -- we are

proposing by the end of the year the european defense fund to actively stimulate research and innovation in this area. the wilson treaty announced member states wish to do so to make their capacity available to a permanent structure. i think it is high time to avail ourselves of this ability. [applause]. the president and the final point which i wish to touch upon has to do with our collective responsibility. i'm calling calling on all of the european union institutions and each of the member states to assume more responsibility. we need to do away with old spats which could lead to

failure. we cannot survive without working together. europe needs to be better explained. i have asked asked of the commissioners over the coming weeks to visit national parliaments in order to discuss the european union. the commissioners have gone to national parliaments more than 350 times and i would like for them to do that more now. europe can only be built if it is understood. it has to be better explained. it can only be built with the member states not against the member states. so the commission is to be a political commission which gives rise to lots of strange ideas. but the commission needs to be

there for the citizens. we need to to listen to the citizens, we need to listen to the european parliament and the member states. we do listen to our citizens and we would like to do that more intensely. sometimes i read that the people locked themselves up in their ivory towers and don't want to listen to others. some people think that i'm not listening to others but to those who think that are highly mistaken. every single day i talked to the european citizens because this is my duty, this is everyone's duty. [applause]. as i said earlier, the commission has withdrawn.

we have reduced the number of initiatives by 80% and we are reviewing all of the legislation and effects because we need to focus on the areas in which europe can give us a true added value and this is the only way in which we can make europe a space of solidarity. any policy of the commission would mean that we would have to correct any technocratic errors that may have arisen. the commission has done away with roaming charges for cell phones and that is why we have done away with roaming charges

into something that happened this summer. so those are very good intentions behind doing away with the roaming charges. it was very good in terms of the technicalities and as of next week you'll see a new draft which is improved when you travel in europe with your mobile phone you will be able to feel at home anywhere in europe. and that is thanks to these new roaming roles. been responsible means that we have to take responsibility for our actions throw citizens and that is why i would like to change the sub serve ruled that we have whereby commissioners who stand for election have to give up their post. the commissioners should not

have to do this because this is not a rule that applies elsewhere. we must encourage the commissioners to live up to democracy and our voting rights in europe. and as long as the european project which is celebrating 60 years next year in march, maybe a little bit older, so i have experienced all of this. i have lived it through this project. i have dedicated my entire life to this. i have done this with personal conviction and i have not hesitated. i believe in europe and the stability in the continents and work an official progress. my father believed in this as well

and he knew how precious europe was and how fragile it was. he had to live for the war. he had to fight in the war against his own will and against the will of his country. my father instilled in me these values. what are we instilling in terms of values to our children? what is the heritage, are is this a union that has forgotten its path? that has no vision for the future ladies and gentlemen, our children deserves a better, they, they deserve a europe which preserves their way of life that champions their way of life and protects it. it's high time for us as institutions of the government to all take the responsibility to build that europe and to build it together.

yes, i know there are certain debates in their some pollyanna optimists and then there are pessimist to counter everything. i think europe has a mission at home and in the world. you have the pessimism which only looks at the faults and then the rosy view. between that you have the resolve, the resolve resolve of those who will not give up, those who will work in the spirit of creating something for future generations. that is the resolve of those who came before us. i'm calling on us to have resolve so that we can get over our differences. history will not remember our names, will be remembered by the force of our resolving

convictions. this needs to be integrated, history will not remember us. history will remember our mistakes. and be responsible with what we do in this generation, thank you. [applause]. [inaudible] [inaudible]

. . .

suddenly we have a big score. we then went into the county elections of that year and i remember i was where all the broadcasters are, i was there in about 4:00 o'clock to do interviews about uk overnight getting 23% of the national vote and as i got a 100 yards away from the strans i saw a big group of camera men and i thought, something really big must have happened.

[laughter] >> we won the european elections in 2014. [cheers and applause] >> first party, without us there would be no referendum. [cheers and applause] >> without you, without you and the people's army there would have been no ground campaign and together we have changed because of british history. [cheers and applause] >> and we've brought down a prime minister.

[applause] >> and we've got rid of the chancellor. i forget who i call him now. [laughter] >> and we've got rid of a european commissioner. [applause] >> i said four years ago, i predicted that uk would call an earthquake in british politics, well, we have. we have. [applause] >> so the question is, what now? we have a new prime minister who has said that brexit means brexit. a new prime minister when she started looked to be short footed on this issue. but i have a feeling that things are beginning to change. when i saw her at the g-20

making a speech afterwards, she said, that the british people voted in the referendum for some control of immigration from the european union. no prime minister, no, we vote today take back control of our borders, simple as. [applause] and we have cabinet ministers like the home secretary still fighting the referendum suggesting last weekend that it might cost us 50 to get a visa, to go on a cruise to cali. half of this cabinet not only failed to support the winning side of the referendum, but seems to me they want to do their upmost to keep us part of the single market. there is going to be a great political battle ahead.

my concern would be this, with labour in the mess that it's in and boy it is in a mess, isn't it? a leadership election going on and yet there's no conversation with the labour voters or more that voted for brexit but with labour in trouble and conservatives perhaps heading to 2020 in a very comfortable and easy position with temptation on the prime minister will be to go for a soft brexit as opposed to a hard brexit. we can be very proud of the fact that we won the war but we now must win the peace and the only mechanism to put pressure on the government and keep the debate live and make sure the 17.4 million people get what they voted for is for uk to be healthy to be healthia and

strong. [cheers and applause] >> i'm guessing it's going to be a her. i wish them the very best of luck. my job is not to meddle, my job is not to try to influence but my job is if that leader wants any help and advice, than make no mistake about it, i'm still behind parties and its aims. [cheers and applause] >> steve stood beside me as chairman of the party and if you think being leader is difficult you want to try being chairman and i have to say that if at

some point in time you do get recognized for the contribution to british political and bearing in mind that the liberal democrats have over 100 in the house of laws, if anything like that was to come our way then i think steve you ought to be part of our list for everything that you have done for this party. [applause] >> he talked about reform and change, didn't have any well well-known national figures, it didn't have elected representative, we were a grassroots party and we chose to manage ourselves of willing volunteers. and that was fine then.

but we have moved on, haven't we? we are now the third biggest political party in this country. we have to change our management structures and we have to guard because one of the problems of success is that it brings people into the party who perhaps don't do it for gains for the country and people, but perhaps motivated by their own careers in poll -- politics. [cheers and applause] >> so there are things that need to change, but in essence, in i sense, i know from that referendum campaign and i know this party is united, i know that this party is strong and

there are millions of people who identify as voters, they believe in us and the fact that we have changed politics, many things we have campaigned on, whether it's grammar school, foreign aid or whatever it may be, the fact that is the others are talking about it, doesn't mean they're going to deliver it and it's us that has to pushing all of those agendas. not only are there millions of people that feel loyal to us, but i don't think that the harvest of votes that we could potentially get from the labour party has really even started yet. [cheers and applause] >> jeremy corbin is a decent man.

he doesn't believe in britain. he doesn't want to sing the national anthem. he flunked it when it came to the referendum and i think we got fantastic potential in whales, elsewhere in picking up labour votes, and believe me, if brexit doesn't mean brexit, then i think they'll be a very large number of conservatives who will say there's only one party that we can support and brexit means brexit. for me three very simple measures. would we have territorial fishing waters around coast of the united king doll. would we be -- will we be outside the single market so

that 90% of the businesses that don't trade with europe don't get regular regulated by europe and above all, the only time we would really know, you might have seen this before, actually, the only time we will know that brexit means brexit when that has been put in the bin and we get back a british consul. >> i have a feeling they're not going to deliver all of that and i'm certain you fight in every single contingency in this country. we have won the war, we must now win the peace. for my part, today on what is

being a pretty extraordinary few years. i honesty looking back could never really have dreamt that we would achieve what we have. i have put absolutely all of me into all of this. [cheers and applause] i couldn't have worked any harder or determined in a sense it's been my life's work in trying to help get this party to this point. i frankly don't think i could do anymore. i think folks, i've done my bit.

[cheers and applause] >> i'm not giving up on politics . [cheers and applause] >> sitting next -- [cheers and applause] >> i intend to travel around some other european capitals to try and help independents and democracy movements in those countries too. [cheers and applause] and i who knows i may go back to

the united states of america at some point. i'm going to be engaged in political light without leading a political party and it's going to leave me freer and less constrained. [laughter] >> from now on, i'm really going to speak my mind. [cheers and applause] i said as i toured the country and met thousands of you out there, i said i want my country back and now, folks, i want my life back. i cannot thank everybody. the massive contribution with so many thousands of you have made to helping me do this job to helping us change the course of british history.

thank you. [applause]

[applause] [music] [applause]

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, a cheer for nigel farage. [cheers and applause] >> hip, hip. >> hooray. >> hip, hip. >> hooray. [applause] [shouting] >> ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much, thank you very much, we will now break for lunch. please be back. at 1:30 this afternoon at which point we will announce the new leader of our party. thank you very much.

>> so as you heard they'll be a lunch break for now. it'll last about an hour and 15 minutes. the party's new leader will be announced and speak when the conference resumes. expected to elect first female leader after brexit vote and departure of nigel farage. diane is the strong favorite. the party is likely to see reduced number of conferences as it was losing support to the conservatives. in the side of the party's problems the ukip director said he was joining because the party is over, mission accomplished. you can read the rest of that article in the guardian. so again a break for about an hour and 15 minutes, during this break european commission president john claude uger.

>> please take your seats. ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. today's sit asking herb -- hereby open.

>> the point on the agenda today is the statement, petition on the state of the union and i'm once again very happy to be able to once again welcome mr. yorker to the house today for the speech on the state of the union. this is the moment which becomes a reference point in the european union policy on politics and opportunity for us to think about the work on the past and also an opportunity to think about the fliens and fundamental directions for the forthcoming year and to talk together in order. this is an essential part of the democratic union and once again second time be presenting. you have last year said that it's the product of a democratic

process. parliament process and i think that both need to walk hand in hand on this road. we have to take -- because of the interest we have to take the speech of the state of the union by the present commission is a very important moment in the work of the european parliament, a very important moment before summit. we have the opportunity in the european parliament together

with the european commission to put forth some signs on our decisiveness which is something the european union needs. i know you and your work hard have worked hard and we are very happy to hear your words and i give the floor to the commission on the state of the union. [applause] >> president, ladies and gentlemen and members of the european parliament, council, colleagues, one year ago in september 2015 in my speech on the state of the european union i stated that the state of the union left much to be desired. it didn't only apply to europe,

but in our union there wasn't enough union. and despite of the progress which has been made, it's still a prize, the european union still does not have enough union. some things have improved but others haven't and this has something to do with the crisis in the european union. there are too many areas in which we spontaneously can't meet the scope in which we cooperate together is too small. far too often, national interest brought to the floor, we shouldn't misunderstand that. european integration cannot be

left at all to the interest of the individual member states. europe cannot become a melting pot, a colorless melting pot. europe lives and the commission does not intend to get rid of the nation states. we don't destroy, we don't want to undermine. we want to construct. we want a better europe, europe is not going down the path of nationalization. it can never become that type of nationalized area but there are

splits out there and often frag mentation economist -- exists so and that leaves popu populism creates problems and we have to be aware of that and be against it. [applause] >> it's really high time more than ever that we take a look at the situation, unemployment continues to be far too high in europe although in 2013 and today 8 million new jobs were created. and employment is rising but social injustice continues and that's why very quickly we have

to get to work on the basis of social equity. we have to work on the energy side as well. europe is not social enough. we have to make that clear. debt in europe also continues to be a high level. despite the fact that we have seen deficits down down from 6.2, so we don't want to see a flexibility. i think we need to show intelligent flexibility so that

we don't break or hinder growth. i think we also need to look into the eyes of those who are observing those from afar, our friends and partners worldwide who all deeply regret brexit and they are wondering whether brexit is the beginning of the breakdown and disintegration process for the european union. allow me to state here and today that we respect and at the same time regret the uk decision but the european union as such is not at risk. [applause] and we would be happy if the request for brexit could happen

as quickly as possible so we can take specific steps that need to be taken. and so relations with the uk which wasn't on a daily basis, can take a new shape and that means that only those can have unlimited access to the internal markets could accept that there will be free access for goods. there can be no access to the single market. >> our parliament constantly raise the question as to whether the eu is still in a position to enter into trade agreements with the rest of the world, we have trade agreements with 140

countries worldwide. i'm not a blind fanatic on this but i do believe that we cannot leave aside the impact of all of this on trade and trade means more work, trade means more jobs, 30 million jobs in europe are dependent. one in every seven jobs in europe depends on exports to ore parts of the world. one billion more in -- in export volume creates an additional 40,000 jobs in europe, and therefore, i am very much behind the trade agreement with canada. it's the most progressive, the best trade agreement we have ever entered into. [applause]

>> the guaranties that we need can be specified in procedures and we can rule out the concern which exists but we cannot backtrack on this with canada. our partners around the world particularly in the usa and china right now but in the future also in india and japan. raising questions of climate change of us, the pa race climate change agreement is a global and legally binding agreement and it wouldn't have come into being in the absence of the european union. we were the pioneers, we drove this forward and sometimes we also urged others quite forcibly to act.

the really cold on steps to be taken because member states have done this and yet we are calling on eu member states to ratify the paris agreement. [applause] ..

.. >> translator: than they are a finished europe required courage. -- requires courage. but we need to speak in committed terms about europe in our national parliament as well, not only here in the european parliament. [applause] >> translator: in brussels if we pretend that we weren't in there when joint decisions were taken,

i think we'll be running counter to all logic. the citizens of europe cannot be fooled any longer. we have to look them straight in the eyes. people in europe don't want this petty envy between the various different institutions. the people expect of europe that they see clear results, results which should be implemented in due time. >> dear colleagues, i'm therefore -- [speaking in native tongue]

>> that we can be fast on things that really matter -- [speaking in native tongue] [speaking native language] >> what it means to be part of

this european union, of this union of europeans. to remember why european nations chose to work together. to remember why -- [inaudible] solidarity in the streets of -- [inaudible] on the 1st of may, 2004, the date of -- [inaudible] of this great polish nation, because poland is a great nation. [applause] to remember why do you -- [inaudible] welcoming the young democracies of spain and portugal in our sphere of solidarity and freedom. to remember that europe is a driving force that can help bring about unification -- [inaudible] something i am supporting the

two leaders of cyprus in. it has to be done, and it has to be done now. police[applause] [inaudible] means peace. it is no coincidence that the longest periods of peace in written history in europe started with the formation of european communities. seventy years of lasting peace in europe in a world with 40 active armed conflicts which claimed the lives of -- [inaudible] of course, we still have our differences. sometimes we fight, but we fight with words, and we settle our conflicts around the table, not in trenches. an integral part of our european way of life is our values, the

values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law. we europeans can never accept, never, polish workers being harassed, beating up or -- beaten up or even murdered in the streets of athens. we europeans stand firmly against the death penalty, and we europeans also believe in independent, effective justice systems. effective justice systems support economic growth and defend fundamental be rights. that is why europe promotes and defends the rule of law everywhere in europe. [applause]

being european means the right to have your personal data protected by strong european laws. because europeans do not like drones overhead recording their every move or companies stockpiling their every mouse click, this is why parliament -- [inaudible] agreed in may this year on common european data protection. in europe privacy matters. [applause] being european also means a fair playing field. this means that workers should get the same pay for the same work in the same place. [applause] and this is why the commission stands behind our proposal of the posting workers directive. the internal market is not the

place where workers can be exploited or subjected to lower social standards than others. europe is not the wild west, but a social market economy without social -- [inaudible] [applause] a fair playing field also means that in europeerers are protected disturb europe, consumers are protected against buttes by powerful companies -- abuses by powerful companies and that every company no matter how big or small has to pay its taxes where it makes its profits. [applause] i was promising you that my commission would fight against tax evasion, and many of you didn't believe me. but that's what, that's what we are doing. we are delivering. this commission is delivering on

the fight against tax evasion. [applause] being european also means standing up for our steel industry. we have already have 37 anti-dumping -- [inaudible] in place to protect our steel industry from unfair competition. but we need to -- [inaudible] as overproduction in some parts of the world is putting european produce beers out of business -- producers out of business, and the noble european steelworkers out of work. this is why i was in china twice this year, to address the issue of overcapacity. this is also why the commission has proposed to change the -- [inaudible] we call on all member states and on this parliament to support the commission in strengthening our defense instruments.

this would not be naive -- [inaudible] but able to respond as forcefully to dumping as the united states of america are doing. a strong part of the european way of life i want to preserve is our agricultural sector. the commission will always stand by our farmers, particularly when they go through difficult moments as this dictates today. last year the -- [inaudible] was hit by russia. this is why the commission mobilized one billion euro in support of milk farmers, to help them back on their feet. because i will not accept that milk is cheaper than water. [applause] the european -- being european

for most of us also means -- [inaudible] the euro stayed strong and protected us from even worse instability. the euro is a leading world currency, and it brings huge, often invisible economic benefits. [inaudible] saved 50 billion euros this year in interest payments thanks to the european central bank's monetary policy. 50 billionbe -- billion extra that government can invest into the economy, 50 billion that can be used for debt reduction. and, by the way, the five presidents report on the deepening of -- [inaudible] an am big the commission is still -- an ambition the commission is still sticking to. [applause] i wish all this was --

[inaudible] everywhere in europe where elected politicians take the floor. european union should not only preserve our european way of life, but empower those living it. we need to work for a europe that empowers our citizens and be our economy. and today both have gone digital digital communications are going into every aspect of life. all they require is access to high-speed internet. we need to be connected. our economy needs it. people need it. and we have to invest in that connectivity now. that is why today the commission is proposing a reform for our european telecommunication markets. we want to create the new legal framework that enables

investments in connectivity. businesses should be able to plan their investments in europe for the next 20 years because if europeans invest in new networks and services, that is at least 1.3 million new -- [inaudible] over the next decade. and connectivity should benefit everyone. that is why the commission is proposing a fully-deployed 5g across european union by 2025. this has the potential to create a further two million jobs in the european union. even benefiting from connectivity means that it would not matter where you live and holdup you earn. and how much you earn. so we propose today to equip every european city with rewired internet access around the main

centers of public life by 2020. as the work of digital, we have also to empower our artists and creators and protect their works. artists and creators are our crown jewels. the creation of content is not a hobby, it is a profession. i want journalists, publishers, authors to be paid fairly for their work. whether it is made in studios or living rooms, whether it is disseminated offline or online, whether it is published by a copy machine or hyperlinked on the web. overall, a few of the rules we are proposing today, that's exactly that. [applause] empowering our european economy

means investing not just in connectivity, but in job creation. the 350 billion investment plan for europe, which we agreed here, has already raised 160 billion in investment in the first year of operation. over 200,000 firms and start-ups across europe got loans thanks to the european fund for strategic investment. and now we'll take -- [inaudible] today we propose to double the duration of the fund and to double its financial capacity. with your support, we'll make sure that our european investment fund will provide total of at least 500 billion, half a trillion of investment by 2020. and we will work beyond that to reach 630 billion by 2022. of course, with member states

contributing, we can get there even faster. along these efforts to attract private investment, we also need to create -- [inaudible] to invest in -- [inaudible] as we saw during the financial crisis. that's why it is now urgent we accelerate our work on the capital markets union. the commission is putting a concrete road map for this on your table today.

capital markets union will make our financial system by far more resilient. it will give companies easier and more diversified access to finance. imagine you run a start-up and your bank refuses you a loan. right now the options are very limited. the capital markets union will offer alternative. vital sources of funding to help start-ups get done. business ventures, capital, market financing. to just mention one example be, our proposal on securitization has been on the table of -- [inaudible] for almost one year now. it has the potential to bring up to 10 to 0 billion euros -- 100 billion euros of additional finance for european businesses so let us, please, speed up its adoption. our investment plan worked

better than anyone expected inside europe. and now we are going to take it global. today we are launching an ambitious investment plan for africa and the neighborhood which has the potential to raise 44 billion in investments. it can go up to 88 billion if member states pitch in. this will complement our development and help one of the root causes of migration. with economic growth in developing countries at it lowest level since 2003, this is crucial. the new plan will offer lifelines for those who would otherwise be pushed to take dangerous journeys in search of a better life. it has to be done. [applause] as much as we invest in

improving conditions abroad, we also need to invest in responding to humanitarian crisis back home. and more than anything, we need to invest in our young people. i cannot and will not accept that europe is and remains the continent of youth unemployment. i cannot and will not accept that -- [applause] i will not accept that the generation y might be the first generation in 70 years to be poorer than their parents. of course, this is mainly a task of national governance. you are not a part of, i know. but european union can support

this earth -- this effort and their efforts. we are doing this with the european youth guarantee that was launched three years ago. the commission enhanced the effectiveness and sped up deliverly on the youth -- delivery on the youth guarantee. more than nine million young people who got a job -- [inaudible] because of the european union. and we will continue to roll out the youth guarantee across europe, mainly as far as advertisers are concerned, improving the skill set of europeans and reaching out to the regions and young people most in need. european union can also contribute to helping create opportunities for young people. for many young, socially-minded young people in europe willing to make a meaningful contribution to society and help -- [inaudible]

the word solidarity appears 6 times in the treaties -- 16 times in the treaties. our european budget is living proof of -- [inaudible] euro is an expression of solidarity. and when it comes to managing the refugee crisis, we have started to see -- [inaudible] i'm convinced much more solidarity is needed, but i also know that solidarity must be voluntary. it must come from the heart. it cannot be forced. it cannot be imposed. i'm urging the slovac presidency -- [inaudible] and differences between those who are reluctant to introduce refugees into their society and those who are convinced, as i am, that the -- [inaudible]

and resettlement is of the's access sense. [applause] is of the essence. [applause] i am asking a strong and immediate action both from greece and the european union to protect what we call in french -- [speaking french] we want protection of these children. european union is betraying its historic values. [applause] in the same spirit, the commission is proposing today to set up a european solidarity -- [inaudible] young people across the european union will be able to volunteer their help where it is needed most to to to respond to crisis situations like the refugee crisis or the recent earthquakes in italy.

i want this up and running as soon as possible, and by 2020 to see the first 100,000 young europeans taking part. by -- [inaudible] european solidarity corps, these young people will be able to develop their skills and get not only work, but also an invaluable human experience. [applause] [speaking french] >> translator: president, ladies and gentlemen, president of council, a group that protects is a europe which defends itself both inside and outside its borders. we need -- and this is a priority -- to do this to counter terrorism. as of 2004, europe has suffered more than 30 terrorist attacks.

fourteen have happened over the past year. we've all maintained solidarity throughout our suffering and mourning. we must take a collective approach to this. we must be truthful and faithful to ourselves, to our values, to our multicultural, open society. we need to show terrorists that they have no chance when they try to attack these values. [applause] this tolerance -- [speaking french] >> translator: -- which is ours, cannot fly in the face of our safety and security, and that's why the commission at the outset has given a priority to security. we have set up special systems to, for the return of fighters,

and we are combating the financing of terrorism. we are using the internet to combat terrorist propaganda, and we are combating radicalization in prisons and elsewhere. but we still have a lot of work to do, and we must know which individuals are crossing our borders. and it is for this reason that we defend our borders with a new, special -- [inaudible] agency. there are agents in greece at the border with turkey, and we have more than 100 agents in bulgaria. the member states and the institutions must work closely in order to make sure that we can set up this new agency. i would like to see the deployment as of october of 200

border guards and 50 additional vehicles at the border with bulgaria. we will also defend our borders in terms of those who cross our borders. we will be very strict as to who can cross the borders, and this is something that we are looking to implement by the end of the year. anyone coming into the european union or leaving the european union will be registered. we'll have the date, the place and the reason as to why the person is moving across borders. by november we will be proposing new information system, a travel information system which will be automated. we will be able to determine who is, who has the right to travel into europe. and so in this way we'll see who will be traveling into europe before that person even arrives

on our territory. the security of our borders also means that we have to give a priority to the exchange of information and intelligence, and so we are strengthening europol to this end because we are giving europol greater access to data bases and giving them the necessary means to carry out their work. and this is, has to be in line with our ambitions. a europe that pretends -- protects also should protect outside its borders. the world is getting bigger every day, and the -- and europe is getting smaller every day demographically and economically. if we wish to maintain our influence in the world, it is obvious that we have to work together, and the it is together that -- and it is together that

we will be able to face challenges. if europe is proud of being a soft power, we have to admit that this is not sufficient in a world that is ever more dangerous. let's look at the conflict in syria as an example. the consequences for europe of this conflict are immediate, but where is the union? where are the member tates in the negotiations -- member states in the negotiations to try to solve this conflict? [applause] >> translator: fred rio motion runny, our high representative, vice president of the commission, is doing a remarkable job. and that's not just my opinion, but what we need is a european minister of foreign affairs. this is something that should -- [applause] be similar --

[applause] [speaking french] >> translator: this is something that should, will bring together the national diplomatic forces in order to weigh in in international negotiations. and this is why i'm asking for us to draw up a european strategy for syria. federica should have a seat at the negotiating table on the future of syria. europe, ladies and gentlemen, should be stronger, should take a stronger point of view in terms of our defense. we can no longer depend on the singular power of individual member states. together we have to make sure that we protect our interests. for the last ten years, we have

participated in more than 30 military and civil missions carried out by the european union, but we don't have a permanent structure, and without that we're not able to work efficiently. we must have a european headquarters. [applause] [speaking french] >> translator: and so we should work work towards a common military force.