0:00:00 > 0:00:01harrassment were endemic in the industry.
0:00:01 > 0:00:12Now on BBC News, it's time for Hardtalk.
0:00:12 > 0:00:18Welcome to HARDtalk. I'm Stephen Sackur. Germany is your's Rhian and
0:00:18 > 0:00:26power, but how will early in use that power over the next few years?
0:00:26 > 0:00:30-- Europe's. The make-up of the next governing coalition has yet to be
0:00:30 > 0:00:34decided and there are strategic uncertainties as well. How far does
0:00:34 > 0:00:38Berlin will to push EU integration, and how wide could transatlantic
0:00:38 > 0:00:42differences become? My guest is David McAllister, a political ally
0:00:42 > 0:00:46of Ms Merkel, and chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign
0:00:46 > 0:00:54Affairs Committee. How bold is Berlin prepared to be?
0:01:16 > 0:01:22David McAllister at the European Parliament in Brussels, welcome to
0:01:22 > 0:01:29HARDtalk.Thank you.Let's begin with the notion that the European
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Union has been wrestling with some of an existential crisis for the few
0:01:33 > 0:01:38years. Do you think the European Union has now emerged from that
0:01:38 > 0:01:45crisis, or is it still in the middle of it?Well, the last years were not
0:01:45 > 0:01:50easy for the European Union. That is obvious. But I think Brexit and
0:01:50 > 0:01:54other incidents were a wake-up call for the 27 member states, and I
0:01:54 > 0:01:59believe the European Union is now facing towards a better future, and
0:01:59 > 0:02:02you can also see in the recent polling that the approval rates for
0:02:02 > 0:02:07the European Union membership is going up in the 27 member states.A
0:02:07 > 0:02:11strong Europe needs a strong Germany, and right now, of course it
0:02:11 > 0:02:15is short-term, but right now there isn't even a real German government,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19and no clarity about what is that governing coalition is going to look
0:02:19 > 0:02:24like. That is a problem, isn't it? Yes, but this happens after
0:02:24 > 0:02:29elections. The German voters decided about the composition of a new
0:02:29 > 0:02:33German Parliament in September. Now we are busy forming a new
0:02:33 > 0:02:39government. It will probably be a four party government, with the CDU,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43the CSU, the Liberals and the Greens. Hopefully the coalition
0:02:43 > 0:02:46negotiations will be concluded before Christmas. I hope we will
0:02:46 > 0:02:50then have a strong and stable government in Berlin.Well, it will
0:02:50 > 0:02:54not be as strong and stable as people anticipated. That is clearly
0:02:54 > 0:02:58the result of an election where the CDU, your party, suffered a real
0:02:58 > 0:03:07reversal. The results took the CDU/CSU vote down from eight points
0:03:07 > 0:03:11to 33%, from over 40% before. Your number of seats is down. And
0:03:11 > 0:03:16breathing down the necks of the mainstream parties is a far right
0:03:16 > 0:03:21group, the AFD, who got 12% of the vote. Suddenly Angela Merkel's
0:03:21 > 0:03:24leadership in Germany, her dominance of Germany, doesn't look like it
0:03:24 > 0:03:32looked a few months ago.Well, of course my political parties, the CDU
0:03:32 > 0:03:37and the CSU were hoping for a better result in September, but the German
0:03:37 > 0:03:42electorate decided to give us a little more than 32%. But we have
0:03:42 > 0:03:45shown responsibility since then. We are ready to form a government
0:03:45 > 0:03:52again. Our coalition partner dropped out of the coalition 80 minutes
0:03:52 > 0:03:56after polling stations had closed. I do not think that was a wise move.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01The only option now is to try this so-called Jamaica coalition, with
0:04:01 > 0:04:05the Liberals and the Greens, which will be challenging. For Russ in the
0:04:05 > 0:04:11CDU, one thing is clear. We will not co-operate in the -- co-operate with
0:04:11 > 0:04:16the far left or the far right in the German Bundestag. So this is the
0:04:16 > 0:04:20only option we have. I was sad to see the alternative to Dorsch lined
0:04:20 > 0:04:28become the third strongest party in the Bundestag. -- Alternative for
0:04:28 > 0:04:33Deutschland. We must be very sure that the Bundestag does not become a
0:04:33 > 0:04:37platform for racism and extreme nationalism.Would you accept the
0:04:37 > 0:04:43point made by Pascal Lamy 80 weeks ago that what we have now is an
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Angela Merkel who has emerged from the entire electoral process
0:04:46 > 0:04:49politically weakened, and the anti-European forces in Germany have
0:04:49 > 0:04:52gained ground. But that together, and your opening remarks about your
0:04:52 > 0:04:56belief that Europe can now move forward, that of the Nissan is going
0:04:56 > 0:05:03to be hamstrung by a much weaker sense of Angela Merkel's leadership
0:05:03 > 0:05:11and Germany's leadership? -- that assertion is going to be. Well, I do
0:05:11 > 0:05:18not agree with Pascal Lamy.Angela Merkel has been elected for a fifth
0:05:18 > 0:05:21time as the head of a national government. You will not find many
0:05:21 > 0:05:25similar cases in the Western world. We knew this would be a challenging
0:05:25 > 0:05:28election. I am sure we will have a stable government before Christmas.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32I would also like to point out that despite the 13% that the AFD got at
0:05:32 > 0:05:40the election, this means 85% and more Germans in -- Germans voted in
0:05:40 > 0:05:43favour of pro-European parties. There is a strong pro-EU consensus
0:05:43 > 0:05:49within the German political system. Beyond the coalition of the CSU,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52CDU, the Greens and the Liberals, also the Social Democrats, they are
0:05:52 > 0:05:56interested in bringing a European Union forward and Germany will
0:05:56 > 0:06:00continue to play an active role with the European Union as we have done
0:06:00 > 0:06:03over the past decades.That sort of boilerplate rhetoric, let's get down
0:06:03 > 0:06:08to specifics. You have a French president, Emmanuel Macron, who has
0:06:08 > 0:06:11laid out a vision of what he calls the historic reconstruction of
0:06:11 > 0:06:15Europe and the eurozone. He is talking about very ambitious things.
0:06:15 > 0:06:22A Finance Ministry, the ability to impose EU wide taxes. Get sharing
0:06:22 > 0:06:25within the European Union. These are all things which are highly
0:06:25 > 0:06:28controversial within Germany, but which more particularly are rejected
0:06:28 > 0:06:32by the Free Democrats, who will now be an instrumental part of the
0:06:32 > 0:06:35governing coalition, as you have just laid out. So I return to this
0:06:35 > 0:06:39point. Germany cannot show the leadership alongside Emmanuel Macron
0:06:39 > 0:06:47that many pro- Europeans were hoping for.We have heard two very
0:06:47 > 0:06:51important speeches on the future of Europe in the last few weeks. One is
0:06:51 > 0:06:55the speech of President Micron. The other was John Claude Junker's state
0:06:55 > 0:07:01of the union speech. I have looked closely at both speeches and I would
0:07:01 > 0:07:05say that 80%, perhaps later %, we have common ground. If you look at
0:07:05 > 0:07:10the German- French cooperation, that has always been the driving force in
0:07:10 > 0:07:13the European Union, and I am confident there are a lot of
0:07:13 > 0:07:17elliptical issues on which Paris and Berlin can closely co-operate and it
0:07:17 > 0:07:22comes to the future of Europe. -- political issues. Cooperation in
0:07:22 > 0:07:25defence and security, strengthening the EU's external borders,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29strengthening the coastguard, this cooperation on the fight against
0:07:29 > 0:07:33terrorism, and also, we agree that if we want to keep our joint
0:07:33 > 0:07:38currency, the euro, sustainable, we will have to strengthen the economic
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and monetary union, and we are ready to discuss many of the French
0:07:41 > 0:07:46proposals, and I would also say that we have a lot of things in common.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Where I am of a different opinion and Emmanuel Macron, I do not think
0:07:49 > 0:07:54it is wise to create new institutions, that means a eurozone
0:07:54 > 0:07:57government and in Parliament. We should use the existing institutions
0:07:57 > 0:08:06we have.Hang on... Hang on a minute. If you are not prepared to
0:08:06 > 0:08:13buy Macron's point about I think what the experts call variable
0:08:13 > 0:08:17geometry, and that is the deeper integration in the eurozone, then as
0:08:17 > 0:08:21usual, the EU can only travel at the pace of its lowest members. And if
0:08:21 > 0:08:25we see all of the scepticism now from eastern Europe, from Poland,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Hungary, the Czech Republic, essentially, if you are not prepared
0:08:29 > 0:08:33to expect the multitier, multispeed Europe of Emmanuel Macron, you are
0:08:33 > 0:08:39not going to get anything changed at all.I don't like using the term
0:08:39 > 0:08:42multispeed Europe, but I would prefer to talk about different
0:08:42 > 0:08:46levels of integration, and the heads of government of the EU 27 made this
0:08:46 > 0:08:51clear at their meeting in Rome, at the 60th anniversary of the Rome
0:08:51 > 0:08:56Treaty, that this is the way to go. Certain member states want to deepen
0:08:56 > 0:08:59the European integration and we should be able to do so when it
0:08:59 > 0:09:02comes to defence and security, when it comes to cooperation within the
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Schengen area, but also within the eurozone area. What I was trying to
0:09:06 > 0:09:12point out is that John Claude Junker was right in his state of the year
0:09:12 > 0:09:16it -- state of the union speech, the euro is not just the currency of the
0:09:16 > 0:09:20eurozone, it is the currency of the whole European Union, apart from the
0:09:20 > 0:09:25UK, which is leaving, and Denmark. So I would prefer to use existing
0:09:25 > 0:09:28European institutions instead of creating new ones like Euros in
0:09:28 > 0:09:34Parliament. And as a German I also see the necessity that we have to
0:09:34 > 0:09:38develop the rescue mechanism for the euro into the European monetary
0:09:38 > 0:09:43fund. One thing is very clear. It is not only a point from the German
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Liberals but also from my party. We will not accept demutualisation of
0:09:46 > 0:09:54debts. ICA of common ground with French President Micron and I am
0:09:54 > 0:09:58sure that fringe of this and can be combined with German pragmatism to
0:09:58 > 0:10:01keep the European engine going. Briefly, on that one point, you have
0:10:01 > 0:10:06just said clearly that you will not accept the mutualisation of debt.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10That is a red line, is it? That means there will be a severe brake
0:10:10 > 0:10:20on the deep economic, monastery in fiscal integration that Juncker and
0:10:20 > 0:10:24indeed Macron envisaged. The Germans by going to break on that, is that
0:10:24 > 0:10:28clear?This was a clear vision in the election manifesto for the CDU
0:10:28 > 0:10:33and CSU. It was also similar position coming from the Liberal
0:10:33 > 0:10:39Party. So I don't know about red lines, but I think this is a clear
0:10:39 > 0:10:42German position which our partners in the eurozone will have to accept.
0:10:42 > 0:10:46Let's talk about other issues. I want to get onto Brexit in a moment,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50but before we get to Brexit, do you think we are not sufficiently aware
0:10:50 > 0:10:54of the degree to which there is a new set of fragmentation is inside
0:10:54 > 0:10:58the European Union, which are dividing the old Western European
0:10:58 > 0:11:02members from the newer members in the east of the union? I am thinking
0:11:02 > 0:11:08of the so-called Visagrad countries, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic,
0:11:08 > 0:11:13you could add a few more. They are very unhappy with much of what they
0:11:13 > 0:11:15hear coming from the centralised institutions in Brussels. I think
0:11:15 > 0:11:19they are beginning to feel that they are being frozen out of the
0:11:19 > 0:11:26decision-making process.Well, a European Union with 28 member
0:11:26 > 0:11:30states, or in future with 37 member states without the United Kingdom,
0:11:30 > 0:11:36is a complicated organisation. -- 27. Undoubtedly. But if you look at
0:11:36 > 0:11:41the history of the EU, six member states, nine, 12, 15, it has always
0:11:41 > 0:11:47been challenging. Europe always lives on from the willingness of the
0:11:47 > 0:11:51member states to find compromises. Yes, there are different views on
0:11:51 > 0:11:57migration between the west and the east.Hang on. It is easy to say it
0:11:57 > 0:12:01is just about migration. It is also about you, well, not you personally,
0:12:01 > 0:12:07but the Brussels is telling the Poles that in terms of their
0:12:07 > 0:12:09treatment of their judicial re-entering constitution, they are
0:12:09 > 0:12:13behaving outside the parameters of European values. -- judiciary and
0:12:13 > 0:12:19their constitution.The EU is more than a single market. It is a
0:12:19 > 0:12:22community of values. Our joint values our democracy, the rule of
0:12:22 > 0:12:27law and other important values. And if one country is in danger of
0:12:27 > 0:12:31violating these fundamental principles, it is not only fairer,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34it is also an obligation of the commission to investigate this
0:12:34 > 0:12:39thoroughly. This is exactly what the commission is doing according to our
0:12:39 > 0:12:44joint treaties.How would you characterise the state of Brexit
0:12:44 > 0:12:51negotiations?Well, I still believe that Brexit is a historic mistake,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54but I have to accept the decision of the British people and the UK
0:12:54 > 0:12:59government. We are in the middle of these negotiations. We all knew this
0:12:59 > 0:13:03would not the easy. We have all entered unchartered territory. The
0:13:03 > 0:13:09clock is ticking. We will have to concludes the negotiations on a
0:13:09 > 0:13:14technical level at the end of October 2018, so this gives us now
0:13:14 > 0:13:1911 months to not only settled the British withdrawal but also the
0:13:19 > 0:13:24cornerstones of the future relationship. Hopefully at the
0:13:24 > 0:13:27European Council in December, the heads of government will agree that
0:13:27 > 0:13:32sufficient progress has been made so we can start the second phase of the
0:13:32 > 0:13:37negotiations.You say hopefully. Do you think that will come to pass? Do
0:13:37 > 0:13:44you think the UK government has a coherent strategy, for a start?
0:13:44 > 0:13:47At the last European Council the heads of government stated
0:13:47 > 0:13:51sufficient progress had not been made, but they also showed readiness
0:13:51 > 0:13:55to prepare for a decision to be taken in December. But it now
0:13:55 > 0:13:59depends what the UK government will deliver. I think a speech of the
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Prime Minister in Florence was important in setting the tone. The
0:14:03 > 0:14:08Prime Minister made clear that the UK will honour all its financial
0:14:08 > 0:14:12obligations. What we now need is to translate this promise into a
0:14:12 > 0:14:18concrete and firm commitment to actually settle all the financial
0:14:18 > 0:14:23obligations. And if we can do this within the next weeks, and David
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Davis and Michel Barnier are working on this, then I am positive we can
0:14:27 > 0:14:30see this sufficient progress achieved.Yes, but they are miles
0:14:30 > 0:14:36apart. In the Florence speech Theresa May claimed she was making a
0:14:36 > 0:14:41major effort at reaching out by saying, you know, we will pay our
0:14:41 > 0:14:47budget obligations through to 2021, which amounts to 20 billion euros.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52The UK government is "Giving" to Brussels as financial settlement but
0:14:52 > 0:14:57the message from Brussels is it has to be 60 billion. So you tell me how
0:14:57 > 0:15:03you bridge the gap.I don't think it is helpful discussing concrete sums
0:15:03 > 0:15:10at this point. What we accept from the UK...Time is running out, Mr
0:15:10 > 0:15:15McAllister. When will it be helpful to get specific?What we expect from
0:15:15 > 0:15:19the UK is to settle all its financial obligations with regard to
0:15:19 > 0:15:27the EU budget to other European bodies and funds and also to other
0:15:27 > 0:15:34EU related facilities and investment programmes. And once we have seen a
0:15:34 > 0:15:39firm commitment of the UK government to settle these obligations then it
0:15:39 > 0:15:43makes sense to actually calculate the concrete and mount what the
0:15:43 > 0:15:48British withdrawal will cost. That's the way we should go ahead, instead
0:15:48 > 0:15:52of discussing facts and figures which at the moment nobody can
0:15:52 > 0:15:57really acknowledge.Well, I suppose in the end it comes down to trust
0:15:57 > 0:16:03and clarity on both sides. Here is something that a colleague of yours,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Manfred Vaber, senior Conservative German MEP, he said there is a big
0:16:07 > 0:16:12question about who the EU should call in London on Brexit. He said,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16who speaks for the British government, Theresa May, Boris
0:16:16 > 0:16:21Johnson, David Davis, he went on about Boris Johnson, saying reading
0:16:21 > 0:16:26his attacks against his own Prime Minister's position, he talked of
0:16:26 > 0:16:30quarrels, political contradictions and he ended up saying, please, sack
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Johnson, because then we might get clear answers as to who is
0:16:34 > 0:16:39responsible for the British position. Do you share those views?
0:16:39 > 0:16:43You know, I would prefer not to comment on domestic British
0:16:43 > 0:16:48politics. We will accept the UK government as it is composed.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53Theresa May is the Prime Minister. She is in charge of the UK
0:16:53 > 0:16:58government.Yes, but the point Manfred Weber is getting too is,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01honestly, you are a significant figure at the European Parliament,
0:17:01 > 0:17:04watching this closely, do you honestly believe Theresa May is
0:17:04 > 0:17:09truly in charge right now?She is the Prime Minister and as long as
0:17:09 > 0:17:13she is the Prime Minister she will be treated as a Prime Minister. And
0:17:13 > 0:17:17I haven't read any news that she won't be the Prime Minister. So I
0:17:17 > 0:17:20will accept the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and also David
0:17:20 > 0:17:25Davis, who is doing, from the British point of view, a good job
0:17:25 > 0:17:29negotiating this British withdrawal with Michel Barnier. Let me once
0:17:29 > 0:17:33again underline, we in Europe didn't ask for this divorce. It is a
0:17:33 > 0:17:42British decision to leave the European Union. We want to make the
0:17:42 > 0:17:45best out of this situation. Brexit will never be a win-win situation.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49It won't be a win lose or lose win situation. It will be a lose lose
0:17:49 > 0:17:53situation for both sides. Let's try to make the best out of this divorce
0:17:53 > 0:17:57which we didn't ask for.OK, some quickfire points before we finish, a
0:17:57 > 0:18:00lot to get through. Catalonia, you as chair of the European Parliament
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Foreign Affairs Committee have been watching a very closely. Simple
0:18:03 > 0:18:06question for you, if the Catalans in their regional election slated for
0:18:06 > 0:18:12December 21, of course, caused by the Madrid government, if they
0:18:12 > 0:18:16clearly vote by majority for pro- Independence parties, will you and
0:18:16 > 0:18:20other senior figures at the EU at that point recognise their right to
0:18:20 > 0:18:29self-determination?This is an internal Spanish conflict. We have
0:18:29 > 0:18:35the rule of law in Spain, we have a strong constitution. And what the
0:18:35 > 0:18:39separatists in Barcelona are doing is unconstitutional. It is not
0:18:39 > 0:18:42possible under the Spanish Constitution to leave the state of
0:18:42 > 0:18:48Spain.But you are not a tone deaf politician, Mr McAllister. You have
0:18:48 > 0:18:52actually won elections in Germany. You know how politics works. How do
0:18:52 > 0:18:58you think it is going to look if the people of Catalonia go to the polls
0:18:58 > 0:19:01frankly forced there by an Madrid government decision to call these
0:19:01 > 0:19:05elections, and if they vote clearly for pro- independence parties, you
0:19:05 > 0:19:08are saying that vote will have no legitimacy and the EU won't even
0:19:08 > 0:19:16bother acknowledging it?This is an internal Spanish conflict and it
0:19:16 > 0:19:21will have to be solved within the Spanish framework. That's why I
0:19:21 > 0:19:26don't understand there are calls for a negotiation... Negotiation role of
0:19:26 > 0:19:30the European Union, because neither the separatist government in
0:19:30 > 0:19:35Barcelona, nor the central government in Madrid, have asked for
0:19:35 > 0:19:39the EU to negotiate a dialogue. This will have to be sorted out. And I am
0:19:39 > 0:19:43pretty sure that if you have real elections in Catalonia the silent
0:19:43 > 0:19:48majority or of those Catalans who are fed up with the separatist
0:19:48 > 0:19:53movement will have the possibility to actually declare their will.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57Because the referendum, which took place was illegal.That is an
0:19:57 > 0:20:01entirely different case. I grant you we will find out on December 21 what
0:20:01 > 0:20:06they vote for. My question is posited on the notion that they
0:20:06 > 0:20:10might, who knows, they might vote by a clear majority for pro-
0:20:10 > 0:20:14independence parties, and I want to know what the EU will do then. And
0:20:14 > 0:20:20you seem to me to be saying we will hold our hands to our years, deaf to
0:20:20 > 0:20:24the rights of the Catalans to self-determination, and we will
0:20:24 > 0:20:27support a government which last time there was a vote sent in the
0:20:27 > 0:20:31military police to track people from the polling booths -- our ears. How
0:20:31 > 0:20:35do you think that looks?-- drag people. The referendum was
0:20:35 > 0:20:40unconstitutional and illegal. First point. The second point, I know what
0:20:40 > 0:20:47you're trying to get out. Why should I answer a hypothetical question?
0:20:47 > 0:20:50The third point is all member states of the European Union including the
0:20:50 > 0:20:54European Commission have been very clear that they did not accept the
0:20:54 > 0:20:59declared independence of the separatist government in Barcelona.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03Before we finish, I would like to talk to you about transatlantic ties
0:21:03 > 0:21:07as well. Donald Trump clearly doesn't think much of the European
0:21:07 > 0:21:10Union. And in particular he doesn't think much of Angela Merkel and
0:21:10 > 0:21:16Germany. He has described the trade policy of Germany as bad, very bad.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22He says he is considering putting new tariffs and controls on German
0:21:22 > 0:21:27exports of motor cars into the United States. How would you
0:21:27 > 0:21:36describe the German feeling about Donald Trump?The United States and
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Canada are our most important partners outside Europe. We are
0:21:39 > 0:21:47democracies, we are market economies, we are strong trade
0:21:47 > 0:21:50partners and we closely co-operate on security and and that's why I
0:21:50 > 0:21:55strongly believe as a huge majority of Germans, including the federal
0:21:55 > 0:21:58government, that strong transatlantic relations are key.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03Yes, there are some new challenges for our transatlantic relations, for
0:22:03 > 0:22:07German - American relations since President Trump was elected, but I
0:22:07 > 0:22:13must say in the last months, even though President Trump does seem
0:22:13 > 0:22:19quite critical in my home country, the German government, and the EU
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Commission, is working with the US government on a number of issues.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Hang on, I can't let you get away with that. You seem to be ignoring
0:22:26 > 0:22:29reality. The German government, along with other EU governments,
0:22:29 > 0:22:35pleaded with the Americans not to abandon the Paris climate change
0:22:35 > 0:22:38accord, Donald Trump didn't listen. In recent weeks and months you have
0:22:38 > 0:22:42pleaded with him not to end the certification of the Iran nuclear
0:22:42 > 0:22:46deal. He didn't listen to you on that item either. How can you
0:22:46 > 0:22:50convince me that Europe has any leverage with the Trump
0:22:50 > 0:22:56administration today?Well, just before you interrupted me, I was
0:22:56 > 0:23:04about to say that, apart from a lot of common issues we have, we do have
0:23:04 > 0:23:09Some different views.Not only Germany has criticised the Trump
0:23:09 > 0:23:12administration for abandoning the climate agreement in Paris. We also
0:23:12 > 0:23:22see very critical American moves to end the nuclear deal with Iran. We
0:23:22 > 0:23:26negotiated for years to get this deal done, it was hard work. And I
0:23:26 > 0:23:29was in Washington last year with other members from the Foreign
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Affairs Committee and the European Parliament telling our US
0:23:32 > 0:23:35counterparts that the Americans should always take into account the
0:23:35 > 0:23:43possible consequences if this deal no longer exist.I guess, if I may,
0:23:43 > 0:23:50we are almost out of time, the fact is Donald Trump doesn't appear to
0:23:50 > 0:23:56believe that Europe counts for much, yes?I strongly believe that the
0:23:56 > 0:23:59European Union will survive, and it will be even stronger. Because I
0:23:59 > 0:24:03strongly believe that in the 21st century in a globalised world all
0:24:03 > 0:24:07European countries are stronger and better off together, and only
0:24:07 > 0:24:12together we will get the eye level with the United States, with China,
0:24:12 > 0:24:17with India and with Russia.We have to and there. But David McAllister,
0:24:17 > 0:24:21I thank you very much for joining me on HARDtalk.Thank you so much, it
0:24:21 > 0:24:25was a pleasure.