thought sites on bus routes, southern russia go so that you got mentioned as our historic lands. i got one mentioned don, bus 5. ukraine didn't mention it all by the way. and this concentration on don bass . what do you think of the practical reasons behind this? is the one upper racial theatre where russia has a reasonable chance of some kind of local success. now they are achieving some slow successes down there. there's no doubt in that, but progress is very slow. and one, many on the security, the expect stop progress to start slowing down and stopping in the next few weeks is the campaign culminates in the works is they run out of steam. so it's the one. it's the one area where they can achieve something. thank you for that military intelligence and mr. frank lead, which i think the w is leih from, but let me take it to the european parliament friendship headquarters now in

strasburg, where you commission to present a fund the line is to, to take to the stage in a few minutes. we'll bring that to you. live a 1st we'll hear from the w, corresponds to barbara vassal, who is that? welcome at barbara. so what are we expecting to hear from a fund the line, just hours after the russian president has spoken issue expected to respond she will probably not respond directly because that she would rather leave to the french president who is going to speak a little while after her, but she is going to respond in the european way because in a way full, this is the counter event to the one that we have seen this morning in moscow, on military might weapons and breasts full of military la matter. and a big is speeches bristling with aggression. so this is the total opposite of that . this is europe talking about peace. this is europe talking about, of course,

supporting ukraine. and this is europe talking about it's future because they are worrying about their future. the war and ukraine has really threatened all the old assumptions or what the future of this continent would look like. and in one of the early speeches here, then we already heard the sentence, that is the, the future of the world is being dominated, will be dominated by empires. and europe doesn't stand a chance if it doesn't, more or less become an empire. that means if it doesn't really become united and speak with 11 voice, if it won't be able to defend itself, if, if a won't be able to def, define its own policies. so this is really what is at stake here. and this is what ursula fund line will be speaking about because this is her task. she will have to lead europe at this point into this very uncertain and rather threatened future.

and so just so we're clear this conference on the future of europe is vis a response to the war in ukraine or does bid this precede that. now it did, of course, naturally precede that. that was the brainchild of monro mac from rez for many years now. since he 1st came into office 5 years ago, it started thinking and talking about the future of europe. how can you make europe more future proof? how can you sort of involve citizens more with europe? make them more contented with what happens here on the european stage, because many citizens in europe do feel a sort of disconnect quality only let me a barbara. as a ursula fountain i was touching base to lactose so much to listen to what reason? no, don paul, see a plan. you see, we need to know up to me to think about and plan for a united europe, lee,

me as if it were possible to create her life immediately every day. you know what, we need to reject the ideas of those who put everything off until tomorrow and more perceived if things are genuinely how healthy we can start to implement that and to dia, your best stuff? is it on my car? shelly, my, when prime minister costa god undone, young did it. but ask a sweet said the again phil hofstadter shall minister came on board. net except honest, honorable members, but most and foremost, my dear and fellow europeans on this very special day of europe. i could not think of any more fitting way to stop and by using these words of also lashlin. for those who do not know her story. also in a hellish man was an architect and builder of 2 days free and united europe.

she resisted the rise of naziism in berlin, in the early 1930 shape the future of europe on the island on vent athena. in the 1940 s, she pioneered women's rights all across europe. the courage of her actions and of her convictions helped to make europe what it is to day. and i start with this picture. because for europe, the memory of our past has always framed our future. and that is all the more important at a time when the unsinkable has returned to our continent. russia's flagrant attempts to redraw maps and to rewrite, even the most tragic parts of our history,

have reminded us of the dangers of losing our grip on both. i'll pass and our future on living in a perpetual presence and thinking that things can never be different. but there cannot be better ways of doing things. and even worse, that things will always stay the same if only we do not change. that's so wrong. standing still is falling back, but this conference, this conference has shown us that europeans, i determined not to make this mistake. you, you will have told us that you want to build a better future by living up to the most enduring promises of the past. promises of peace and prosperity,

fairness and progress of a europe that is social and sustainable. that is chairing and daring, just like also that hirschman and all of those who went before us ladies and gentlemen, this conference has spoken clearly, and i'm delighted to see so many of you here to day through your $49.00 proposals and more than $300.00 measures you have weaved and craft a division of the year up that the liver, some metal, and what matters most. that helps to make every day life better. that is not confined to one place, but it, as it is at your site when you need it. on every 3 day priorities, such as the air we breathe of the food we eat,

the educational that we give to our children. and the houses that would bring them up in it is a vision of a europe that pulls it strings and capacities and diversity to tackle the biggest challenge us from climate change, our nature loss to pandemic, or security in our region. a europe that has a strong, a capacity to activate and uphold its values. and the rule of law, a europe that is able to provide for itself in vital areas, from energy to food, from material to medicine, from digital ships, to green technologies. a europe that delivers unique social protections and benefits all the way through these major transitions. ladies and

gentlemen, i want to address every single one of you who took part in this conference. your message has been well received and now it's time to deliver. that is what i promised when i stood for election in this very house 2 and a half years ago. and together, we have proven that we can do just that with the powers that already exist. even amidst the pandemic or war weather, procuring 1000000000 self vaccines for citizens across europe, and our neighborhood of cheek starting the economy. after the pandemic for next generation you whether setting an ambitious and legally binding path to climate, to try lety or setting rules of the game in the digital world,

or supporting small businesses to retain that staff during the pandemic. none of none would have been explicitly foreseen in the treaties, but it was possible and we did it together because europeans expected the union to step up. so next month already we will set out what is needed to bring your proposals to life and respond the best we can in some areas, your proposals give us a push to speed up, work already ongoing. for example, on the european green deal. or on may kings society fairway. so that means accelerating negotiations on the fitful $55.00 package so that we can

boost renewable energy that we can save energy. and finally, we know ourselves out of fossil fuels. it has to be and it means ensuring that our proposal on minimum wages becomes law. so that work pays for all in other ear. yes, we have already started the work you have asked for the house working group, for example, proposed creating a european health status face, which what facilitate the exchange of health data across the board. us. well, my commission delivered last week with a proposal. and in the next weeks and months, we will bring out proposals you have been asking for, for example, restoring. now nature of cutting down waste from package

abandoned products made by force labor from entering our european market on all of these upcoming ideas. we will look closely at your proposals, so that we can best kato for what you will have been asking for. the point is there is already a lot we can do without delay. and that also goes for those recommendations, which we will, which will need us to take new actions. so to make sure that we follow up swiftly, i will announce the 1st new proposals responding to your reports in my state of the union address in september already.

but my federal europeans, even beyond this there is a need to go further. for example, i have always argued that unanimity voting in some key areas simply no longer makes sense. if we want to be able to move past well that you should play a greater role, for example, in health or defense after the experience of the last 2 years. and we need to improve the way our democracy works on a permanent basis. i want to be clear that i will always be on the side of those who want to refund the european union to make it work

better. the point is, you have told us where you want this europe to go. and it's now up to us to take the most direct way there, either by using the full limits of what we can do with in the treaties or yes, by changing the treaties. if need be ladies and gentlemen, dear fellow european democracy has not gone out of fashion, but it must update itself in order to keep improving people's lives. those are the words of david saudi. a great european who stood here

a year ago together with you. dear antonio costa, to launch this conference we all miss him dearly, and i have a very special place for him in my heart today. and i feel pride that citizens from every corner of europe have brought life to his vision of a vibrant mob and modern european democracy. we sought in the national citizens panels such as those held right across france. and we saw it in the european citizens panels from dublin to natalie, naturally from florida to mass 3. it's connected to men and women who have never engaged with europe before. different stories, different languages, different identities, but one shared future to build on. you have proven that

this form of democracy works and i believe we should give it more room. it should become part of the way we make policy. and this is why i will propose that in future we give citizens panels the time and the resources to make recommendations before we present key legislative proposals. because democracy because i'm convinced that democracy does not end with elections, conferences or conventions. it needs to be worked on nurtured and improved every day. we saw it in the grass route, events held right across europe. whether debated, debating, biodiversity environment, gender, race violence, and list spun,

or democracy and subsidiary, teen budapest. and we saw it indeed in the image of linda, the young mother we saw earlier this day speaking about the future in this very heavy cycle with holding her baby born half way through the conference. ladies and gentlemen, this is the image i want us to celebrate on the 9th of may an image far more powerful than any military or deep parade and debate going up and down the streets of moscow as we speak. and i want and i want this image to remind us to never, ever take for granted what europe is and what it means. europe is a dream,

a dream that always was a dream born from tragedy. but to day that dream shines the brightest, not only sheer in this historic place, it shines bright in the hearts and minds of the people of kiff and captive of our data and matter your poem. it shines brightest in the courage of those families and young people, vanka, down and separates and basements. it shines the greatest of those morning, the senseless, mindless atrocities of boucher and in european and in every ukrainian village and town struck by war. and it shines brightest in the eyes of all those young ukrainians who have found refuge in europe. a home away from home. those people, my fellow europeans, young and old, are willing to fight and to die for their future. and fall bad to dream of you.

that dream, that always was that dream that must always be. so i want to finish with a message this morning. i had a video conference with president zalinski and he wanted to virtually hand me over his answers to the questionnaire of their commission for the accession process. he has applied to it is more than 5000 pages. he hand it over to me and therefore i want to give a very special message to ours, ukrainian friends and families. the future europe is also your future. the future of our democracy is also the future of your democracy. 77 years ago, war in europe was replaced with something different, something new. first the community today

a union. it was the day when the future began. it is a future that we have been writing together ever since, as architects and builders of here. and the next page, dear ukrainian friends, is now being written by you by us, by all of us together, slam ukrainian long lives in the present. speaking of the european parliament in strasburg, at the conference on the future of the europe. i'm talking about the results of her citizens panels that have been meeting for about 2 years, which will now go into the legislative process that the commission will take on and

presumably then come back to them in the form of legislation of did up the correspond. barbara vessel or is that the european parliament there in strasburg? i'll get you general impressions in a minute. barbara book, i'd like to start if i may write at the end. did i hear her? she lafond a lion saying that a present the landscape ukraine has now formerly applied to join the european union . yes, she did say as far as i understood that she has filled out forms 5000 pages of forms for the accession process in order to get it going. and she of course welcomed this. and then we heard this very emotional and very strong message towards the end of her speech was where she said that your future is our future and your democracy is our democracy. and the 2 are really entwined. and so she very

strongly of was pleading to include in ukraine in what ever men or even maybe in a provisionary manner into the european union into, into the communion of countries. as we know, that member states have some member states have rather different ideas and think it shouldn't be done too quickly and is too dangerous. because as long as there's a war waging, we don't know raging, we don't know what will happen and so on. but she obviously was very strong in her message saying that we are united and, and we will include you in our family. something that she had said early in the year when savanski had 1st demanded and asked to be included it within the european union. and to start the session process, right, there was a lot of war words i almost did, drifted off to, to, to sleep. so it was, everything's going to be lovely. but then towards in the last 3rd of her speech,

i heard what i thought was some quite significant remarks talking about the removal of the unanimity of voting and possible changes to your treatise. barbara. absolutely, that is of course the bag bearer of the european union has been for quite a while and has proven since the war in ukraine started to be the in one impossible burden on foreign and security policy. that is this unanimity as we see this right now, because in brussels, why we're here in strasburg, in brussels. the ambassador is for the 5th day in a row, are sitting down, trying to figure out a solution was mostly hungary, some other member states too, but mostly hungry to is sort of guarantee and, and put in place. the sick sanctions package of the european union, which includes the oil embargo. so that really shows what this means. they can only

get out of those rooms on this lovely sunny days once they found a solution and hungary is holding it up constantly. maybe for political reasons. they say they don't have enough. i'll everybody says okay, but we'll help you. but they still say, we don't have enough all, we need to keep it. so this has to go there. can no decisions be made in the european union? if this won't go and there are many member states who think, yes, it is possible without even opening the treaties to find a solution to decide with the qualified majority within the you, they will have to go this way very quickly. otherwise they will just be stuck in those rooms for ever. there is a certain irony, of course about said that the idea of improving democracy by removing the rights of some states by removing the need for a, for a complete unity on a particular issue. let us go back to strasbourg and hear from emanuel macro in the next 2 or 3 minutes. but before that, a barbara,

let's talk about some of the other things that but jumped out at you from ocean on the line speech. basically what the message she was giving apart from all the praise, of course, for the citizens panels and the the work they have done. she has to do this. of course, she has to sort of give them the feeling that they are included in future decision processes. she wants to make this a moralist, permanent em fixture that citizens will come together before new and big like legislation is put into place, will come together and voice their opinion, which may be a smart idea. it's not going to be easy. take some work, it costs some money, but it may really improve this says that democracy like that everyone is complaining so much about the european union and does so that would, that is one of the points. and of course in now the point is that what she basically said was, the european union will have to change if the ones to revive we really have to and

now we think him on the, on the chromos began. indeed, all right, let's hear from the french president. really, i am going to give a speech. but i have good news for you. is your visit? i'll try to repeat, not what has already been well sailed before it, the floor. madam president of the libyan haldeman. de roberto, madam president of the european commission day as she landed prime minister johnson of portugal should be. dear antonio dean, co presidents, ladies and gentlemen, minister, members of parliament were yeah, my dear fellow citizens of europe let be more genuine. so that, that wild piece or can only be a safeguarded element through creative fs or that reflects the threat or this woman that threaten if i please with the words are so like why, but schumann, on the night so may 1950 on the contribution that vibrated. europe can provide to

civilization are more relevant than ever at least creative effort correspond to the times we live in and to day offering. this is, there are more necessary than they want it all in the past will have it. as you quite rightly said, war has come back to our continent, inter, timely people in europe, the ukrainian people are fighting for their freedom. hello, william is william bell now the time where you minis, european citizens, members of parliament, commissioners, williams, besedia to european, visited her citizenship and exhaust you have had shielded his dwaa, an unparalleled exercise in democracy. unparalleled in our history and in the world is this vibrant creative in europe based on action on your that europe's

representatives and it's artifact instead of hearing stroudsburg in this european capital. so close to our ha wanted the choice serve. the french people of means that i can stand before you today to say that france will not step away from the tassel in front of us. speakers, france has resolutely shows out of europe by voting as it has to give me a new mandate to build up a stronger, more robust, more for when you said to robinson boldly, europe that we're celebrating today, which is one that we decided a year ago. collectively, to move into a new stage for the north of exist, would you as president david vasily who were all thinking off to day, you were quite right. all of you in what you said

is a discipline dinsmore, and it was under the portuguese presidency. they're probably an antonio and i would like to also on it. well kirby, the portuguese prime minister who's attending yesterday, sharing continuity and the importance of this whole exercise. last, see ya known as i can pick up would launch a year ago in a different context as broad as it could be done in strasburg, in the capital of european fraternity in the parliament wish pays homage to our might pressure value, which is democracy in the market a new stage, an unprecedented democratic exercise in the union where we're not, we're yeah. is that gonna bringing europeans together or sat in asperity confrontation middle? is that a try and find simplistic options, but to think together about what the future of europe could be,

which is what you've had it on in moore's and it's unprecedented. or mom you've been fully involved at a time of historically charlotte did or create shay's office for the day at the intelligent debate looking for solution and she did do some people want their solution awfully applied immediately. others feel this will take time to do that, but all of them will feed into the europe we're building today and for the future is one the nights of may freedom and hope in the future have the face of the european so notice that even though it's on behalf of this freedom on behalf for good we support and will continue to support ukraine, don't it's president let a member of the landscape and all of the people of you.