good morning, everyone. i'm the chief operating officer here at the carnegie endowment for international peace and we are delighted this morning to welcome michelle barnier, the eu's negotiator for brexit. when we planned this event we didn't know it would be quite so

timely, but we were lucky in that regard. i think you are all very familiar with mr. barnier's i will career as a european statesman, first as a politician and cabinet member in france and then with the european union starting in the -- with president borosso when he was in -- when he was president, he was given this very easy task of negotiating the brexit withdrawal in december of 2016 and has been working very hard at that since then. so we're delighted to welcome mr. barnier this morning. he will speak for a few minutes and then we will have a brief conversation between us and then we will take questions from the audience. you all have a copy on your chairs of his powerpoint

presentation and for those of you watching via the live stream, if you look on the side of the screen you will see a place to access the pdf file so you can follow along. so without further adieu, let's welcome mr. michelle barnier. [ applause ] >> i'm going to go down here. okay. >> so good morning to all of you in this room and perhaps in the other room and the people watching online. thank you very much to you and your team carnegie for inviting me this morning. i'm not sure this is an easy task. it is a challenging task i can tell you. to chair this negotiation in the name of the eu, the member states and with the european

parliament to reach a deal. in fact, we can begin by just a personal remark. i regret this vote of the uk two years ago profoundly. but i respect it and now we will implement it. so today i'm finishing my visit in the united states where i wanted to make the european voice heard on brexit and just like in europe, ladies and gentlemen, no one i met in the united states during this week could find any added value to the brexit. let me briefly tell you where we are in these negotiations and i'm ready in a few minutes to answer to any question on the

slides you find on your chair. in the process of the negotiation, the different elements we are at stakes. the uk we leave the european union the end of march 2019, next year, in a very few months. our goal is to ensure an orderly withdraw withdrawal. here is the draft treaty on which we are working with the british delegations. i have published with my team in the name of the 27 member states this draft treaty under legal form and we are working with the british negotiators to put in green all the parts of this

draft treaty where we agreed, both sides. more or less today 80% of the content. so we have made good progress. we have agreed on key issues, to protect the citizen rights on both sides, 4.4 million people leaving -- in the uk are living in the member states to keep their current rights for employment, social rights, residents rights. we agree on a financial settlement between the uk and u eu, what has been decided in the beginning of the period will be paid at 28 and we agreed also on the transition period of 21 months until the end of '20,

during which we will preserve the economic and social status quo between us. 21 months after the leave. if we agree and if we agree on the final withdrawal and the orderly withdrawal and this treaty. that means that to get to legal certainty on everything we need to have this treaty and for this treaty to be ratified. and this will give businesses more time to adapt and public authorities also more time to prepare for the new status. there are to be frank a number of important issues remain open. the most difficult -- the most difficult is ireland where we have to find a solution to avoid

the return of our border in the middle of ireland. i discussed this issue yesterday with the friends of ireland caucus on capitol hill, we shared the concern on preserving the good friday agreement. we must accelerate now our work and our future relationship with the uk. the european leaders have assured the uk a broad future partnership based on four pillars. you can see in one of my slides. one, a free trade agreement with no tariff, two, a specific corporation in some sector of common interest such as aviation, three, police and judicial cooperation and, four,

foreign policy security and defense. all these issues, once again, we want to build a close partnership with the uk in the future and for the long-term. we are now analyzing the white paper published yesterday by the uk government and we will do it in the light of the european leaders guidelines mandate and we will assess whether uk positions are workable and realistic. a key element of this future relationship will for sure be about foreign policy, security and defense. let me focus this short remarks on this key issue, if i may. the uk is and will remain an important player in european security. the uk amounts for 20% of

european defense spending. it is a nuclear power. it has a permanent seat in the u.n. security council and has a large diplomatic outreach. yet, uk leaving the eu does not put european security at risk. bilateral relations between uk and eu countries will continue. the partnership between the eu and nato will further expand. nato battalions deployed in poland, lithuania, latvia are not affected by brexit, and brexit does not put that relationship into question. still, the nature of the eu/uk relationship in defense is bound to change. what does that mean? as a member state you can shape the european union's action in

diplomacy, development or defense. the uk will no longer be able to do that because it has decided that it wants to leave the eu and to leave the council of minister, the european council. this is simply the consequences of the uk's decision to leave the european union. but, ladies and gentlemen, we share similar values with the uk. we both promote a rules-based international order and we will continue to face the same global challenges: terrorism, cyber attacks, disinformation campaign and broadly the establishment of our continent. not a single european country can solve these challenges alone. this is also true for other kind of challenges such as climate change, poverty, migration or financial crisis.

building on all this our partnership in defense and security should be big in scope, we should incorporate where we share the same political objectives. for example, we will continue defending together the iran nuclear deal while supporting the peace process in the middle east. it is already clear that we are largely converging on three issues with uk, foreign policy, sanctions policy and military operations. obviously cooperation after brexit will have to be defined exactly what is at stake for the weeks in my negotiations. it indicates the more the uk will engage alongside eu to deeper our partnership is likely to be. our close cooperation with the

uk will not injure the network of relationships we have with other partners. ladies and gentlemen, the eu investing in defense and security as a matter of priority and the 27 leaders and president on the commissions. it is our responsibility what we do not do for ourselves no one will do for us. this is even more true than ever. though we are now running 16 missions, six of them are military operations to stabilize our neighborhood, fight against piracy, smugglers profiting in the mediterranean, stabilization of the balkans, contribution of the fight against terrorism. we are reviewing our common structures to be more responsive and more efficient and we are

setting up a european defense fund to stop the duplication of weapon systems across europe, which cannot operate together. it is the first time, the very first time, that the eu budget will invest in military capabilities. ultimately my conviction for a long time is that for a strong european defense means a stronger nato. just two examples, first, with the european defense fund i just mentioned the member states have good reason to invest more and better and together in defense. the debate on the european side is not only on how much we spend, but also how efficiently we spend the money. the european defense fund should boost cooperation between member states. another example of close cooperation with nato is the

mobility -- military mobility. the eu proposes to invest 6.5 billion euros to facilitate the cross-border movement of military assets. to transfer assets and troops across europe will ultimately benefit the eu and nato. so the eu and nato have a strategic partnership as confirmed yesterday in brussels, in particular in the field of cyber fight against terrorism or cyber threats. so just to conclude, ladies and gentlemen, the uk and the eu will not slow down these dynamics. it is certainly -- certainly in the interest of the eu, the uk, nato and the u.s. that we are strong partners for the long-term in security.

thank you very much and now i am ready to answer any questions. thank you very much. [ applause ] [ muted ]. >> -- criticizing the uk's approach to brexit and saying that this approach would probably kill a u.s./uk trade agreement. as we speak here i think president trump and prime minister may are doing their press conference after their

meeting today, but does this change the eu's calculus at all or how does this impact how the eu is looking at this next stage of negotiations? sn>> the negotiations for the brexit and uk and i am in charge of the negotiations with the uk. eu/uk. uk/eu. >> i got that. >> so it's not my role to comment on going declarations just for right now, there is a press conference between president trump and theresa may. i don't want to comment. this ongoing declaration. as a matter of fact, factually i can just say that the rule is

clear and well known by everybody, including the uk because we have elaborated this rule with the uk for 44 years. we are working on the basis of as i just said in my speech an ambitious free trade agreement with the uk, particularly goods as we did with canada in the last few months and as far as the trade policy is concerned, it's also possible for the uk to ask to be part of a custom union with us on goods, that means in that case that the uk will be included in our trade policy for goods. so it could be free to have any kind of free trade agreement and services with any said country. so those are the facts and the

rules are well known by everybody. >> the white paper was released yesterday and i know you haven't had a chance to study it in depth, but i'm sure you've read it. >> yes, i spent part of my night. >> i'm sure you did. were there any surprises in there or anything that gave you perhaps some new openings, some new ways to move forward? >> my team in brussels is working clearly under each details of this proposal. first of all, the fact that the uk discussed about the future is welcome, it's a good thing. on my side i have to work on the basis of i want a proposal to the uk a few months ago in march, a very precise proposal, very ambitious proposal, it's clearly described in one of these slides, if you look at this slide you can see what

could be the architecture of the future relationship. i can tell you never in the past we have proposed such a partnership with a said country. never. never. this would be the first time. based on four pillars of cooperation, economic and trade, specific cooperation where we need to have an agreement with uk, internal security and external security and defense was the key point of my short speech at the beginning. the second pillar just for you to understand, the uk leaving the eu in a few months mechanically automatically to leave at the same time the day after 750 international agreements we have signed in the name of the eu. 750. including what we call the

single sky. just an example to show you what means this second pillar. the single sky is a common organization for the european countries to organize the use of the sky, for a plane to land, a plane to take off, the conditions for the pilots, the certification and so on. so we manage all the sky together. uk is leaving, it is their decision, so we have practically -- we must have an agreement with uk just for the british airlines planes to be authorized to land and to take off and on their side they will have to negotiate with each and every said country including the united states such an agreement for their own, but we have to have it between uk and the eu and the single sky we must have

such an agreement. so that is our proposals. many toolbox that we have including new negotiations. >> in looking at the white paper it does seem that the uk has moved forward in its proposals and as we all know prime minister may has gotten a lot of criticism and heat at home for what is being determined a soft brex brexit. you know, accepting harmonization of eu rules and trade. you yourself have said that up until now about 80% of what needs to be agreed has been agreed, leaving the 20%, which is probably the hardest 20%, but in any negotiation it takes two

to move. do you see any flexibility on the eu's part? >> just to avoid any misunderstanding and confusion, in this long and extraordinary negotiations, they are unique and i will do everything for this brexit to be unique. there are steps. we have to put the steps in the right order. the first step is about the divorce, the separation the uk asked for. we are organizing this orderly withdrawal much better than a disorderly withdrawal through this treaty. this is a pre condition. what i said about the 80% agreed is about this treaty. the white paper published by the uk yesterday and the guidelines published by the eu leaders in

march are about the future. what is at stake is clearly the finalization of this treaty from now until october, a few months, or november, and when this treaty has been ratified x months after we have to publish a political declaration -- political declaration about the future operations. that is why this white paper is useful and why we have to check it to assess it in line of my guidelines. so two different exercises, the agreement through a treaty is this paper and then a political declaration on the side. and obviously we will have to negotiate, but i have to negotiate on my side on the base of the guidelines, very clear

guidelines of the european council. the european council is a council where the 27 leaders, head of states and government, meet every three months and they gave me a very clear mandate to negotiate with the uk and to protect the interest of the 27. that means that we have to protect what is the mainstream of the european union, the single market. and to be clear, the uk knows perfectly what this means because we have built the single markets with the uk for 44 years and i can tell you because i have been the commissioner for the single market for five years. '20 until '2024 just after the crisis. rebuilding with the uk our architecture regulation at the same time that the u.s. built

your own response to crisis through the dodd/frank act. so the uk has always had a very huge and real degree of interference on the single market. the rules are clear and the foundations are clear. we are linked to what we call the four freedoms, freedom of movement for people first, goods, services and capital. so we have to work in the framework of these four freedoms to find the best solution as possible for the duration of the uk. >> you mentioned march -- >> to be clear, i can just repeat that it could be a strange and -- there is no reason -- no justification for us to unravel what we are because the uk is leaving. so we have to work -- the uk is leaving so we have to protect

what we are, to be open, but not at a detriment of the principals and the foundation of the single market. >> but is this a time -- a point in time -- i mean, yes, you're right, the uk is leaving and the rest of you are staying, but does that mean that -- i mean, there are other places in europe where you're hearing concerns, complaints, about the rules and regulations of the eu. is this a point perhaps when the eu could take a look at taking more flexible approach to its relations with countries that are not full members? >> be precise. i'm meeting once per week in the capital, the prime minister, the

national parliaments, the stakeholders, business community and trade unions. i listen. and i'm a politician so i think we have to deal with the consequences of brexit but also to draw the lessons of the brexit and to listen to the people. not to confuse what is called populism with popular sentiment. we have to listen to people and to change what needs to be changed. but i do not listen to any critic on the way the single market is working today. the single market is the foundation, it is our common and strongest asset. why the u.s. business could come into one country, be open at the

same time as the 27 member states, same rules, same certification, same standards and supervision. that is a single market. so there is no critic in the contest about what we are as a single market. it is the base for all the european business and for all the european cities and consumers to be protected the same way and to be supervised and to be certified in the same way. on top of this is common jurisdiction. when you are leaving this ecosystem of rules, standards and norms you become a separate country, to the point, to the legal point. but to be more precise i think that we need flexibility for some of our policies and we are already have the right tools for the flexibility. for instance, some countries are

a member of the eurozone, some countries are not a member of the zone. some countries are not a member of the structured cooperation defense. so i think that being 27, no longer 28, we need flexibility. i agree with you. but the mainstream, the foundation of the eu which is single market from the very beginning, never forget what happened at the very beginning after the second world war, statemen decided to meet themselves and just to avoid to begin again the war between us they decided to consolidate the political will through the economy. it was the first community for steel in the 50. after the common market through

the treaty of rome. after the single market. so this is the foundation of the eu. it's difficult to compromise on this foundation. >> no, and it's -- >> but i need for many policies because 27, 28, we need some flexibility. just to be more precise, in our treaty we have a tool for the flexibility, it's called the cooperations. that means some countries can go on their way, take initiative and the others are not obliged to follow. >> you mentioned -- >> sometimes it's strange. in washington and the u.s. to explain what we are. i'm sorry, but the functioning of the eu is complex because we are not a federal state. we don't want to be a federalist

state. we are 28 nations, 28 people, 24 national languages, 28 national identities, different culture, different tradition and each and every of the european countries want to keep this difference. no? it's legitimate that french people want to keep that difference, the germans, too. the point is for 60 years we succeed to pool this national policy, part of our sovereignty, without merging everything. united doesn't mean uniform. united doesn't mean uniform. that is why it's so complex to make the eu working. just to give you an example, it could be strange in the u.s. because you speak the lang

language, when i am in the european council meeting or the european parliament meeting to speak about brexit, all around the room, large room, we have 24 cabins -- cabins with interpreters. >> with interpreters, yeah. >> in each cabin explaining legitimately what i say in french and 23 other languages. this is complex. this is costly. so it could be less complex, much more -- much less complex, much less costly, we can get rid of all of the cabin and speak the same language, english. >> i don't want to monopolize the time but i want to ask one more question. >> this kind of uniform europe, it is why it's complex.

>> i'm not sure the british people got that message, maybe if they had before we wouldn't be -- you wouldn't have a job. >> i work lots with the british people for a long time, i have been two times commissioner, i was clearly in a very positive way with them, for example, with the financial regulation which is a very sensitive issue for them. i rebuilt the architecture of the financial regulation in europe after the crisis. 41 regulations for banks and markets, products and we succeed for 39 of the 41 regulations to get uk on board, the city on board with this organization. it was not by chance, it was my strategy to put in place this regulation not against the city but with the city. and the uk -- one of the countries, france, wants to keep its difference, not to be

merged. it is legitimate. >> all right. last question for me and then we are going to go to the audience. you said that march 29th, 2019, is the deadline. what if there aren't -- >> chosen by the brits. >> chosen by the brits. >> there was a letter march 17, they choose the date and she knows at that time that two years after the legal base of the treaty, the date of the withdrawal and the brexit. the date of the brexit has been chosen -- >> by the brits. >> -- by the uk government. two years. two years of negotiation and if everything goes well, i'm working in that sense, starting from this date of march beginning the transition period where we maintain the status quo for the economy, senior market

and the policies for the uk for 21 months. >> but what if everything doesn't go well and what kind of contingency plans are you making? i mean, it's an ambitious negotiating schedule as you rightly point out. it was determined by the brits, you know, when they triggered article 50, but what if it doesn't -- what if you can't reach agreement? >> on both sides we have to be prepared, if you look at the white paper and the communication of mrs. may at the end of this, she spoke about the contingency planning and the preparedness at the risk of no deal. this risk exists. my option is not no deal, my option is to reach a deal for the common interest and stability of this continent. i'm working with my team to reach a deal, respecting the rules and principles of the eu

and respecting the red line of the uk, but we have to be prepared for any options. in any case we have to be prepared, the companies, the businesses have to be prepared in any case for the brexit because to be frank i have to tell the truth, brexit means that it cannot be business as usual. it cannot be. if you look at my favorite slide, no copyright, you can see on one side the different model of cooperation with said countries we have already for a long time from the most integrated being a member of the eu and the best cooperation with the eu with women to be members of the eu, the best relation of the eu will remain to be member of the eu. the second best will be to be a

member of the eaa, european space and economy, like no way -- no ways out of the eu, but is part of the single market and respecting the rules. and the last one is what we called and we are ready to work with the uk about free trade agreement with canada, cokorea japan. all of these steps are available with the uk, including being part of the single market plus the custom union. it is their choice. i put on the other side of the paper the red line to the uk, the current red lines. you don't want to respect the court of justice, you don't want to pay, you don't want to respect the freedom of movement of people, which is a key point for us in the single market, you don't want to be part of our trade policy, they want to be

independent. so we respect these red lines, but respecting these red lines they close the doors to themselves. >> they go down the stairs. >> it's simple, no? >> all right. let's open it up to the audience. please wait for the microphone, identify yourselves and make it a question not a statement. let's start right here. >> hello, mr. barnier. i'm juliet bremler. mr. trump i know you said you don't want to talk about him, but his advice is that we should walk away and we should leave the eu. there is a growing number of people -- >> who is we? >> the uk, i'm british media. sorry. mr. trump's advice is that the uk should walk away and there are a growing number of people in the country who appear to think that might be the best option. surely that must worry you as someone who is supposed to be

negotiating a deal and one you say you want. >> i already say, madam, that i don't want to comment on the ongoing declaration of mr. trump. i have not changed my position from the last ten minutes. but the uk is leaving. the uk is leaving. this is the choice of the majority of the uk citizens. we respect this vote and i'm working for last year hard, hard work, to deliver this decision. the point is to know if we want an orderly withdrawal which is a common interest between us honored. i'm working for an orderly withdrawal but i'm working for withdrawal because it's the choice of the uk government. >> good morning. my name is sanjin choy. thank you for remarking.

you mentioned a u.s. uk trade you said you can envision custom union. my question is with the service sector i guess you have commissioner -- services for five years, my question is with regard to the service industry. it appeared to me the white paper chose a good industry as soft brexit in contrast which comprised 80% of the uk economy chose hard brexit. my question is very specific. with regard to the continued contract in the industry at the moment there is a group between bank of england and ecb. would a new white paper propose i would be very interested in your view, you are exceptionally well qualified as five years in the financial services commissioner. thank you very much. >> i don't want publicly to go into details, but you are

speaking about a part of the preparedness of the planning we need in case of orderly withdrawal. in any case we need to check very carefully what would happen in the financial markets. so the reason why we have created between the bank of england, the ecb a working group and we are working clearly to either define the risk, to mitigate, to put the private sector in front of its own responsibility and i think the private sector asked, first of all, to be prepared and to -- and to look carefully at their exposure to the uk market. i don't want to comment on the daily work of this group, but we are carefully preparing this issue. >> mark tocala. >> yes, thank you.

i'm tocala from the korea economic institute. for the purpose of future cooperation with the uk in the areas of social or judicial affairs especially, is it important to the eu that the uk remain a signatore to the european convention on human rights? >> yes. >> that was an easy one. in the back. >> this point is key. in the key principle we have to take care and take into accounting during the negotiations the four freedoms, which are the foundation of the single market, autonomy of the decision of the 27, respecting the sovereignty of the uk, they have to respect our autonomy of decision, the integrity of single market and just the point you mentioned, the security and the protection of the fundamental rights of the cities. to be part of this convention is one part of the response.

>> hello. hi. suzanne lynch from the irish times. i just wanted to get some more of your views on the issue of the irish backstop. you mentioned in your presentation that 80% of the withdrawal agreement had more or less been agreed. you didn't say ireland is a problem. is, have not been resolved. where do you things stand now. and is it imperative that something is done on this in order for a deal to be done by october? >> following my mandate, even by the 27 united states which are on the side of 26 are on the side of the government of dublin. and i am the negotiator. as well as the 26 others. we must have an agreement a backstop for ireland in this treaty, no? but if we want a treaty under on

the withdrawal we must have an operational backstop for ireland. just to be, if i can use your question to give some monitors. ireland is very clear, areas. i don't want to come back on the monday history between the two countries. but on the same island you have two countries. and no border. thanks to the what we call the good friday agreement. 20 years ago. which established the peace desirable to communities in northern ireland. there is no border. and more than that, there is no border and people in the communities south and north, 140, 42 different types of cooperations, in very human, social, environmental, health, education, economic issues.

this is the good friday agreement. and i'm very engaged and involved in this. because i have been the commissioner for 15 years ago of in charge of the peace program in ireland. so we have to be very careful. why? both sides, uk and us committed to protect this negotiation, the good friday agreement in all its dimensions. that means no borders. but the point is that this part of the island, which is a part of the uk, leave the single market. so to protect the consumers and the businesses and single market everywhere. we employ the external border of the eu. all these controls. you can spend part of your weekend to read it, huh?

these are all the controls implemented at each and every external border of the eu everywhere. greece, bulgaria, finland, uk, france, for the gal, everywhere. implement all of these controls, the goods come inside the single market. we respect the norm, the food safety and security and so on. to be clear. >> for the goods come in from the rest of the uk to northern ireland. veterinary controls, sanitary controls, animal controls are implemented already in bell fast for the goods coming in for the rest of the uk to northern ireland. just for us, protect the integrity of the single market.

to implement somewhere these controls, i'm not speaking of border, i'm speaking of controls. i will try the next few months to dedramatize these controls. there are technical controls, safety controls, custom checks. we see where and when we can implement the controls on on a technical base to insure the single market. it's not a question to be clear. never, not a question of the border in the middle of ireland or the uk. i want to respect, we want to respect the uk unity. we want to respect the constitutional order in the uk. we have-team plemt somewhere the control if there is no border. so that is the point. in any case, recognized the uk vote, to protect the good friday agreement. and so she agreed in an official letter in march.

that there will be a backstop in the agreement. and until and unless we find together the best solution after. so in any case we will have a backstop. we have proposed a backstrop that could be amended, challenged, improved, but we need a backstop to assure no border and controls. >> and to be just, because i'm very concerned by this situation and i was several times in ireland and northern ireland a few weeks ago. the situation in ireland is not first about goods, control checks, it's about people, huh? the peace. peace. >> my name is andrew hide, i'm curious about your time in washington. >> who are you? >> andrew hyde. >> i'm interested about your

time in washington, what's you're seeking from the united states, maybe leaving the senate view aside what are the other elements that you're here in washington, what do you see the u.s. role being, positively or negatively in terms of brexit. what does the eu need from the united states to make brexit a success from your standpoint. brexit is first, the question between the uk and u.n. obviously because our trans-atlantic relationship and solidarity, it's, it seems to me that it is useful to give, the european vision, the european feeling about the negotiation, for the european voice to be heard. it is clearly the goal. this week in the eu, spend two days in new york. meeting the open ambassadors in

the united nations. stakeholders and three days in washington, for trade and minister for finance. the chairman of the federal reserve and many other people. and yesterday in the capital. congressmen, friends of ireland. so just to explain what did i think, what is the agenda of this negotiation. why we want to reach an agreement with the uk. the chance, the limits of this negotiation. one point i mentioned in my speech a few minutes ago is that none of my meetings, during these five days recently somebody telling me there's no value to the brexit.

none of them. the same in europe, huh? even mr. faraj. i met personally to a very stimulative meeting. he was not able to give me the proof. mr. faraj when i met him, the last question after the end of the meeting was the explanation. because troy to explain, to me why is brexit. to understand and i ask him, can you tell me mr. faraj, how do you see after brexit. how do you see the situation between eu and the uk. and the answer was, the eu was

no longer exist. we no longer exist. we no longer exist. i'm not ready to give this point to mr. faraj. >> i think we have time for one more question. >> two. >> it depends on my answer. >> this is true. >> all right. you in the middle, yes? >> mr. barnier, good morning. you mentioned earlier, deeper cooperation with nato. i was wondering, there are a couple of countries in the eu that are of course not members of the nato. >> correct. >> countries where right-wing populist parties use the maintenance of their neutrality to great effect. thinking particularly here of the freedom party in austria. how do you square the two

between deeper nato cooperation and also presenting kind of parties or movements from using this to become kind of an anti-eu bludgeon? >> it's correct to say that several eu countries, ireland, finland, sweden. we have to respect this position. neutrality, if i may say. but it seems interesting to me, there's a reason why i think that what we are doing for the stronger european difference policies, global context. the trans-atlantic corporation, ireland. these countries are part of our european policy. the dull point to be. sovereign decision to be part of

nato. but they are part, sometimes often very active part, partner of our new new initiative in defense and security matters for defense. for instance, european funds for defense, the structure cooperation i mentioned. >> this is why i think that what i say, i think for a long time, what we are doing for to strengthen european policy. the european defense capability, pulling our initiative, pulling our research, pulling our capability investments. >> last question, all right. on the atlantic council, i

particularly appreciated your comments on mr. taraj. which leads me to ask about david davis. it's been reported in the media that you only had three meetings of a total of four hours during the first half of this year. >> very intensive meetings. >> it would be interesting to hear your closer comments on what you would like to say and on these meetings. >> i don't want to comment, the content of the meetings. these meetings were for negotiations. but to be clear, for a long time, cordial relationship with david davis. i know him for quite a long time because we were together in 1959, 19 -- until '7, european minister in the uk and france, so i know him quite well. and i don't want to comment.

but i've always been, i always had cordial relationship with david davis. but i don't want to comment how the british delegation is organized, huh. it is the responsibility of mrs. may to appoint the british negotiator, huh. i tell you that the british negotiator competent and very very very competent. last question. salud, mr. barnier, i'm sonia swede from the goalpost. do you think the eu would consider partnering with the u.s. on the european defense fund. >> certain kuns, including the

u.s., could have, the decision it is ongoing discussion. delivered, could have i think yes, my answer is yes. but respecting the autonomy of the decision of the 27, huh. we are prepared to have relation with certain countries for many of the new initiative, including the cooperation i think there is a place for balanced solution with the uk. in any case, we will respect the decision of the 27, no? please join me in thanking mr. barnier for session. it's been very interesting and i think you have a lot of work ahead of you. i hope you're going to have a little time on sunday to --

>> once again -- >> to savor an eu victory. thank you very much. >> thank you.