:00:14. > :00:28.Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.
:00:29. > :01:03.TRANSLATION: Dear colleagues, it is a great pleasure for me to welcome
:01:04. > :01:10.the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres. Your
:01:11. > :01:18.appointment is a historic one, you are the first citizen of the EU to
:01:19. > :01:25.have occupied a variety of posts and to occupy this post. And our
:01:26. > :01:31.organisations hasn't based on the same values and the same objectives,
:01:32. > :01:35.which is to promote peace and prosperity, thanks to multilateral
:01:36. > :01:41.co-operation. And today, more than ever, we must work together so as to
:01:42. > :01:52.meet the expectations of our citizens and deliver tangible
:01:53. > :01:58.results. We must meet the global challenges, conflicts, terrorism,
:01:59. > :02:06.radicalisation, the management of migratory flows, but also climate
:02:07. > :02:11.change, poverty, unemployment. Our citizens expect Europe to be more
:02:12. > :02:23.present and effective on the global scene. We cannot continue to witness
:02:24. > :02:28.the bombings in Syria, famine in Africa and the thousands of people
:02:29. > :02:31.who die in the desert in the Mediterranean, the trafficking of
:02:32. > :02:35.women and children, we cannot in differently look on and see that
:02:36. > :02:41.human rights are being increasingly flouted. Democracy is receiving in
:02:42. > :02:51.certain countries, such as Venezuela and Turkey. And minorities are being
:02:52. > :02:58.persecuted, religious minorities. -- democracies are receding. Yesterday
:02:59. > :03:02.we were discussing Africa, with the presence of a representative of the
:03:03. > :03:06.African Union. I would like to reiterate the fact that Africa is a
:03:07. > :03:11.priority for the European Union. This is why we must bolster
:03:12. > :03:20.trilateral co-operation between the UN, the EU and the African Union,
:03:21. > :03:24.particularly with regard to prevention and a rapid reaction to
:03:25. > :03:28.crises and conflicts. We must find political solutions together for the
:03:29. > :03:41.conflicts in the Syria, Libya and Yemen. And we must also come
:03:42. > :03:45.together to challenge Daesh. We must defend the dignity of all human
:03:46. > :03:50.beings and give confidence to future generations and implementing the
:03:51. > :03:57.2030 agenda, so to be able to meet these sustainable develop and goals.
:03:58. > :04:03.In view of all these challenges, Secretary-General, you can be
:04:04. > :04:04.reassured, your agenda is ours, and you have the floor,
:04:05. > :04:24.Secretary-General. Mr President, thank you very much
:04:25. > :04:28.for your invitation and this opportunity to address the European
:04:29. > :04:35.Parliament. I have been a parliamentarian in my own country
:04:36. > :04:37.for 23 years, and during three, I was with your neighbours, the
:04:38. > :04:43.Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. So, allow me to
:04:44. > :04:48.say, dear colleagues! The United Nations was created after the Second
:04:49. > :04:54.World War, exactly because the world wanted to avoid another tragedy of
:04:55. > :04:57.the same dimension. I believe this was exactly the main motivations for
:04:58. > :05:02.the creation of the European Community is, with one very
:05:03. > :05:14.important fronts, that the European communities, the European Union, are
:05:15. > :05:20.clearly the most successful project of this sustainability in the world
:05:21. > :05:24.since the beginning of history. And that is why I want to express here
:05:25. > :05:29.are my very deep gratitude and appreciation for the strong
:05:30. > :05:34.commitment of the European Union, with all its bodies, to
:05:35. > :05:39.multilateralism, and for the very generous and extreme heat important
:05:40. > :05:44.contribution you give in development co-operation, in humanitarian aid
:05:45. > :05:46.and also in the key central aspects of peace and security which are at
:05:47. > :06:05.the core of United Nations action. You see the European Union involved
:06:06. > :06:11.around the Libya, in Somalia, in both financial support and training
:06:12. > :06:17.in the Central African Republic of Mali, and the initiative of the
:06:18. > :06:23.neighbours of Mali as well. European contribution is today an absolutely
:06:24. > :06:28.essential part of what is necessary to make the UN effective. And I want
:06:29. > :06:35.to express my deep gratitude for that. Dear colleagues, it would be
:06:36. > :06:41.possible to come here and make the case that the world has never been
:06:42. > :06:45.better. It is obvious that globalisation and technological
:06:46. > :06:49.progress in the last decades have created the conditions for an
:06:50. > :06:52.enormous increase in global health, in global wealth, for a meaningful
:06:53. > :06:58.improvement in the living conditions of the majority of the population
:06:59. > :07:00.and a strong reduction in the number of absolute poor, the Chinese
:07:01. > :07:05.contribution being essential to that. And some might even say,
:07:06. > :07:09.looking for instance that the number of soldiers on the battlefield, that
:07:10. > :07:14.this is the most easeful period in human history. Now, these indicators
:07:15. > :07:21.might be true, but they are far from the whole truth. And I think it is
:07:22. > :07:26.important for us to recognise that we are facing a number of
:07:27. > :07:30.unprecedented challenges which require Europe and the UN to work
:07:31. > :07:37.together. Allow me to mention briefly four of them. First,
:07:38. > :07:41.conflicts. We are seeing a multiplication of new conflicts in
:07:42. > :07:46.the last few years, in Afghanistan, Somalia, the democratic Republic of
:07:47. > :07:50.Congo. But the truth is that not only do we have a multiplication of
:07:51. > :07:54.conflicts, but they have changed in nature. We no longer have wars
:07:55. > :07:59.between countries, even if there are some threats, but most of the
:08:00. > :08:11.conflicts are internal, many of them linked to fragility is --
:08:12. > :08:14.fragilities in the countries, but sometimes they also have a global
:08:15. > :08:19.and regional dimension. Sometimes they can be asymmetric, more and
:08:20. > :08:23.more conflicts, more and more interlinked and more linked with the
:08:24. > :08:33.new threat of global terrorism in the world. If one looks at the
:08:34. > :08:38.situation from Nigeria to Mali to Libya to Somalia to Syria, Iraq,
:08:39. > :08:42.Yemen, Afghanistan, all these conflicts are becoming more and more
:08:43. > :08:46.intellect, with fighters going from one to another and then some going
:08:47. > :08:49.back to their country of origin and potentially taking some of those
:08:50. > :08:56.elements to their own country of origin. -- and we see these
:08:57. > :09:00.conflicts becoming more and more interlinked and they are indeed
:09:01. > :09:06.today a very relevant threat to our global security, wherever we live.
:09:07. > :09:13.At the same time it is clear power relations in the world became less
:09:14. > :09:19.obvious, and with that is seems there is no respect and impunity and
:09:20. > :09:26.unpredictability became the name of the game. In this context, when one
:09:27. > :09:32.looks at the present trends of conflict, it is absolutely essential
:09:33. > :09:41.to create the conditions to revert these trends. And so it is clear we
:09:42. > :09:46.need to strengthen multilateral capacity to address conflicts, to
:09:47. > :09:52.sort conflicts and to prevent and sustain this. This is an area where
:09:53. > :09:56.the European cooperation with the United Nations is absolutely
:09:57. > :10:06.crucial. We need to strengthen our own capacity to solve many of the
:10:07. > :10:11.conflicts around the world, but that forces us to look into their nature,
:10:12. > :10:16.like with Syria. They are, nobody is winning. Everybody is losing, and
:10:17. > :10:19.not only is everybody losing from the point of view of the citizens of
:10:20. > :10:24.the country, with the enormous suffering of the Syrian people, but
:10:25. > :10:31.we see the impact on the destabilisation of the region and we
:10:32. > :10:34.see Syria clearly as one of the feeding factors of global terrorism.
:10:35. > :10:41.The point is that we need to create the conditions to make those that
:10:42. > :10:45.are party to the conflict but especially those that have an
:10:46. > :10:48.influence on the parties of the conflict to see that indeed these
:10:49. > :10:53.are conflict in which nobody is winning, everybody is losing, and in
:10:54. > :10:56.which the contradictions of interests are much smaller than the
:10:57. > :11:02.absolute need to put an end to this nonsense and eliminate this terrible
:11:03. > :11:12.threat for our own global security. APPLAUSE
:11:13. > :11:17.And they are, as I said, we need to strengthen the capacity of the
:11:18. > :11:22.United Nations. And those in conflict, resolution. Peace is our
:11:23. > :11:25.important priority but we will not be able to do that without the
:11:26. > :11:31.strong support and commitment of the European Union. A strong and united
:11:32. > :11:34.Europe is an absolutely fundamental pillar of a strong and effective
:11:35. > :11:36.United Nations, and this is a very clear message I would like to
:11:37. > :11:46.address to you all. APPLAUSE
:11:47. > :11:49.But in these conflicts we also see horrible violations of international
:11:50. > :11:54.law and human rights law, and that is why I would like to mention the
:11:55. > :11:59.second challenge. It relates to the fact that we see the human rights
:12:00. > :12:04.agenda losing ground to the national sovereignty agenda. That should not
:12:05. > :12:08.make sense. National sovereignty is a central pillar of the United
:12:09. > :12:12.Nations Charter and indeed it is reinforced when countries are able
:12:13. > :12:16.and governments are able to protect their citizens and preserve human
:12:17. > :12:22.rights in their territories. But unfortunately we have seen national
:12:23. > :12:25.sovereignty many times being invoked to justify the lack of capacity of
:12:26. > :12:30.the international community to address the terrible human rights
:12:31. > :12:35.violations and challenges we see in several parts of the world. It is my
:12:36. > :12:40.belief we need to mobilise a broader coalition for human rights. And a
:12:41. > :12:46.broader coalition that is able to understand that we only strengthen
:12:47. > :12:50.national sovereignty by strongly promoting and protecting human
:12:51. > :12:54.rights all over the world. But for that coalition to be effective I
:12:55. > :12:58.think we need to match conditions. Firstly, we need to have a
:12:59. > :13:04.comprehensive view of human rights. Civil and political rights, but also
:13:05. > :13:08.economic, social and cultural rights, and secondly, it is
:13:09. > :13:12.important not to be biased, not to have double standards or hidden
:13:13. > :13:15.agendas. I think it is absolutely crucial to understand human rights
:13:16. > :13:19.are evaluating themselves and should not be used at the service of other
:13:20. > :13:26.political projects. APPLAUSE
:13:27. > :13:31.-- human rights are a value in themselves. To be very frank, if we
:13:32. > :13:37.want to champion human rights we need to have more authority. And the
:13:38. > :13:42.recent migration and refugee crisis in the world has undermined to a
:13:43. > :13:45.certain extent the moral authority of several countries around the
:13:46. > :13:54.world to champion human rights in an effective way. This is why I want to
:13:55. > :13:57.see how important it is from my perspective for the strong
:13:58. > :14:02.commitment of the European Union, together with us, in making sure we
:14:03. > :14:05.are able to establish the international protection regime for
:14:06. > :14:11.refugees in international law, and to have Europe strongly engaged in a
:14:12. > :14:22.positive and constructive dialogue in the preparation of the global
:14:23. > :14:26.rules on safe and orderly migration which I hope will be approved by the
:14:27. > :14:30.UN General Assembly in 2018. In addition to this I would like to
:14:31. > :14:35.make a few comments. Firstly, it is essential that development
:14:36. > :14:40.cooperation policies are linked to all concerned with human mobility.
:14:41. > :14:44.It is essential these policies are built in a way that allowed people
:14:45. > :14:46.to have the choice to remain in their countries, to have
:14:47. > :14:51.opportunities to be able to build their lives with dignity in their
:14:52. > :14:53.own countries. For migration to be out of choice, not necessity.
:14:54. > :15:02.APPLAUSE Secondly, I think it is essential to
:15:03. > :15:06.have a much stronger international coordination in cracking down on
:15:07. > :15:13.traffics and smugglers which are in my opinion the worst criminals into
:15:14. > :15:17.de's world. -- traffickers. I think it is also important to create more
:15:18. > :15:21.opportunities for illegal migration, between countries of origin, transit
:15:22. > :15:27.and destination. I think the European Union must be at the centre
:15:28. > :15:34.of this dialogue and can be extreme positive to find the necessary
:15:35. > :15:42.common ground to make this a success. Now, this massive
:15:43. > :15:45.displacement we are witnessing into de's world brings me to the third
:15:46. > :15:49.challenge I wanted to mention. That has to do with the fact that if you
:15:50. > :16:01.look at the global megatrends we face... -- this massive displacement
:16:02. > :16:05.we are witnessing in today's world. Food insecurity, which is
:16:06. > :16:07.unfortunately now translated into famine in some critical areas where
:16:08. > :16:13.conflict and climate change have been aligning themselves to create
:16:14. > :16:17.terrible human tragedies. Water scarcity. All of these major trends
:16:18. > :16:21.are interacting with each other in a stronger way in a world that is
:16:22. > :16:25.getting smaller, and they are having a dramatic impacts in the increasing
:16:26. > :16:29.fragility of states, increasing displacement of people and the
:16:30. > :16:32.increasing human suffering in the world, and creating in several
:16:33. > :16:39.circumstances the potential for conflict over scarce resources. Now,
:16:40. > :16:43.in this context it is important to recognise if climate change is the
:16:44. > :16:46.main accelerator of these factors, and it being the main accelerator of
:16:47. > :16:55.these factors it is absolutely essential that the world implement
:16:56. > :17:03.the Paris Agreement and implements leader implement it with increased
:17:04. > :17:06.ambition -- and implement it with increased ambition. And if any
:17:07. > :17:10.government doubts this objective, the reason for all others to come
:17:11. > :17:13.together and make sure we stay the course in relation to the
:17:14. > :17:17.implementation of the Paris Agreement, and that we build a
:17:18. > :17:20.broader coalition with civil society, with the business
:17:21. > :17:25.community, with the cities, the regions, in order to be able to make
:17:26. > :17:33.sure that our emissions are met and we are able to deal with climate
:17:34. > :17:37.change to the benefit of our present situation but also to the benefit of
:17:38. > :17:40.our children and grandchildren. And in relation to this it is also
:17:41. > :17:45.important to understand it is not only the right thing to do but the
:17:46. > :17:48.smart thing to do, as Green businesses are becoming more and
:17:49. > :17:53.more recognised as good business, and those countries not in the green
:17:54. > :17:58.economy will inevitably lag behind in development in the years to come.
:17:59. > :18:02.So it is the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do and we
:18:03. > :18:10.count on Europe to read this effort at a global level. -- to lead this
:18:11. > :18:18.effort. APPLAUSE
:18:19. > :18:22.But indeed one of the key impacts climate change is the acceleration
:18:23. > :18:25.of displacement, very much linked to the problems of migration and
:18:26. > :18:32.refugees that I mentioned. This brings me to a forced challenge.
:18:33. > :18:36.Globalisation has had an enormous positive impact, as I mentioned,
:18:37. > :18:39.together with technological development, in relation to wealth,
:18:40. > :18:45.living conditions, reduction of poverty, as I said in the beginning
:18:46. > :18:58.of my intervention. But globalisation left a lot of people
:18:59. > :19:02.behind. And we see that in the rust belts of this world, in youth
:19:03. > :19:06.unemployment in parts of the world, but very clearly in North Africa and
:19:07. > :19:11.the Middle East, which represent a tragedy for young people, a very
:19:12. > :19:15.strong limitation for the development of the countries but
:19:16. > :19:21.more and more meaningful threat for our global security, as youth
:19:22. > :19:24.without employment, without jobs and opportunities, is becoming in some
:19:25. > :19:30.areas of the world one of the key areas of recruitment for terrorist
:19:31. > :19:38.groups, and one of the factors that facilitates the propaganda of
:19:39. > :19:44.extremist organisations. Edessa -- now, we need to recognise
:19:45. > :19:51.technological progress also has dramatically increased inequalities,
:19:52. > :19:55.at global and country level. Eight people in the world today have as
:19:56. > :20:00.much wealth as half of the world's population. All of these factors
:20:01. > :20:06.have contributed to undermine the trust, between people and the
:20:07. > :20:11.political establishments at national level, but also the trust between
:20:12. > :20:16.people and international organisations like the UN and the
:20:17. > :20:20.trust in global solutions for our global problems. That is the reason
:20:21. > :20:24.why I am strongly engaged in the reform of the UN to be able to make
:20:25. > :20:28.it more effective, more cost-effective, but also more than
:20:29. > :20:33.anything else to make the UN closer to the aspirations, the needs and
:20:34. > :20:39.the perspectives, of the people we are supposed to serve. That means
:20:40. > :20:44.for us the reform of the UN development system, to make it much
:20:45. > :20:49.more effective in supporting member states in the implementation of the
:20:50. > :20:52.agenda, which we hope that an agenda for sustainable development, can
:20:53. > :20:55.bring a very important contribution to re-establish that trust between
:20:56. > :21:00.people and the international systems, based on bringing and
:21:01. > :21:06.making sure no one is left behind, making sure we have a fair
:21:07. > :21:14.globalisation and at the same time the reform of our peace strategy,
:21:15. > :21:22.operational setups and architecture, in order to make us more able to
:21:23. > :21:26.face the challenges mainly of today, peacekeeping. We have more cases
:21:27. > :21:29.where peace is elusive and peacekeepers see themselves in the
:21:30. > :21:32.middle of the conflict with extreme difficulty is to protect the people
:21:33. > :21:40.they are supposed to protect. This requires a strategic analysis, and
:21:41. > :21:43.new partnerships, namely with the African Union, several African
:21:44. > :21:47.regional organisations, but very central cooperation with the EU in
:21:48. > :21:52.this regard. And reform of our own internal management system. Some of
:21:53. > :21:58.the rules and regulations that were accumulated in the UN seem to be
:21:59. > :22:01.created to make sure we are not able to act effectively, and we need to
:22:02. > :22:09.make sure we create the trust between member states, namely
:22:10. > :22:13.Western countries and the G77, to make sure there is a win-win
:22:14. > :22:18.solution to make it more flexible, but at the same time with
:22:19. > :22:20.decentralisation, the procedures, freedom of movement of the
:22:21. > :22:24.Secretariat, but at the same thing with more transparency and
:22:25. > :22:27.accountability to make sure there is the responsibility for anything we
:22:28. > :22:33.do. reform is essential at the level of the un, as it is at the level of
:22:34. > :22:37.all international organisations, but also the understanding that we need
:22:38. > :22:46.to rebuild that trust, both of country and global level. All of our
:22:47. > :22:50.societies are becoming multiethnic, multicultural and multireligious. In
:22:51. > :22:54.my opinion this is a good thing, and I believe diversity is a richness,
:22:55. > :23:03.not a threat. But it would be naive to think...
:23:04. > :23:12.APPLAUSE It would be naive to think diversity
:23:13. > :23:17.will be an automatic success, for diversity to be a success we need a
:23:18. > :23:21.massive investment. A political, social, cultural investment. By
:23:22. > :23:27.governments, local authorities, civil societies, in the social
:23:28. > :23:28.cohesion and inclusivity of our societies. To make sure that
:23:29. > :23:38.people... APPLAUSE
:23:39. > :23:41.To make sure that people understand that their identities are respected
:23:42. > :23:46.but at the same time that they belong to the community as a whole
:23:47. > :23:52.with all its rights and obligations. And at the same time we need, at
:23:53. > :23:58.global level, to understand that diversity will not be automatically
:23:59. > :24:03.a source of peace and understanding. That we also need a massive
:24:04. > :24:07.investment in international cooperation to bring people
:24:08. > :24:12.together, to make people know and respect each other, cooperate with
:24:13. > :24:15.each other, and to do it in a way which means it is possible to have
:24:16. > :24:19.everybody working together to face the global challenges that are in
:24:20. > :24:28.front of us and that no country can solve in isolation.
:24:29. > :24:38.Allow me to say a few words as a European. It is in this context that
:24:39. > :24:40.I believe the values of the Enlightenment are the most important
:24:41. > :24:48.contribution that Europe has given to world civilisation. And that
:24:49. > :24:55.those values must a very solid cornerstone of our capacity to build
:24:56. > :24:59.a more tolerant, more fair, more just, more peaceful and more
:25:00. > :25:23.prosperous world. Thank you very much.
:25:24. > :26:15.TRANSLATION: Ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy that I can welcome
:26:16. > :26:18.here the French president, who has been inaugurated yesterday, I am
:26:19. > :26:19.very happy