1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,640 Hello Margot, well we're very happy to have you with us today. You've been in charge of 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:13,720 communication since November 2004 now, and so my question is what do you think are your 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:19,240 main achievements? I've started to change the organisation, we have to change the way 4 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:25,240 we work in the commission, I've made sure that we have more money, that we have a budget 5 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:32,200 for what we want to do, and more people to do it. And I think I have managed to establish 6 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:40,920 the whole idea of the commission, listening better, explaining better, and going local. 7 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,280 And also what are the main challenges ahead of you? Well of course the main challenge 8 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:52,500 is now to implement what we have also put in our plan D, which stands for debate and 9 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:58,300 dialogue and democracy, and also a white paper which we have presented on a new communication 10 00:00:58,300 --> 00:01:05,580 policy, but it will take a long time because it's a huge change necessary. You mentioned 11 00:01:05,580 --> 00:01:13,180 plan D, what do you expect of other commissioners, of member states, and of national politicians? 12 00:01:13,180 --> 00:01:19,900 Well it's clear that the commission cannot do the job alone, but we really have to trust 13 00:01:19,900 --> 00:01:26,220 that also member states and members of the European Parliament and ministers play their 14 00:01:26,220 --> 00:01:32,460 role, and I hope that at all levels we can engage in a discussion about the political 15 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:38,780 issues that matter to citizens. And we have in the commission thought that this is the 16 00:01:38,780 --> 00:01:45,860 way to one day be able to come back to the constitutional or institutional solutions 17 00:01:45,860 --> 00:01:53,980 that are necessary, but we really think that everybody has to provide a face to this debate, 18 00:01:53,980 --> 00:02:00,180 and of course we have a special responsibility, those of us who are commissioners or ministers 19 00:02:00,180 --> 00:02:07,500 or members of Parliament. Has it been working so far? I think it's a very uneven result. 20 00:02:07,500 --> 00:02:14,180 Some member states have engaged a lot in this, and of course especially in countries like 21 00:02:14,180 --> 00:02:20,380 France, where they have learnt a very painful lesson from the no in the referendum, and 22 00:02:20,380 --> 00:02:26,300 they know they have to be out there, listen to people and engage in a discussion with 23 00:02:26,300 --> 00:02:32,860 people, listen especially to young people and engage with young people, but in other 24 00:02:32,860 --> 00:02:38,380 member states the interests have not been overwhelming. 25 00:02:38,380 --> 00:02:43,860 So some time ago you published a book called Why is it so hard to love the European Union? 26 00:02:43,860 --> 00:02:47,380 Referring to the title, and we would find it very interesting if you could explain to 27 00:02:47,380 --> 00:02:50,420 us why the EU is so hard to love? 28 00:02:50,420 --> 00:02:59,060 Well, I actually don't expect Europeans to love the European Union or the institutions. 29 00:02:59,060 --> 00:03:06,940 I hope that they will be able to respect it as the political platform that it is, with 30 00:03:06,940 --> 00:03:14,660 all its complex structure and decision making, with all its different political interests 31 00:03:14,660 --> 00:03:24,660 and different ideologies behind, with all the diversity that it represents, and also 32 00:03:24,660 --> 00:03:30,820 with all its successes of course, but it is very rarely we can see this full picture of 33 00:03:30,820 --> 00:03:37,820 what the EU is, or understand exactly what it is, and especially difficult to understand 34 00:03:37,820 --> 00:03:45,540 how can we have a say, how can we play a role in defining what the EU should be doing, and 35 00:03:45,540 --> 00:03:51,580 I think this is the challenge to all of us, to make sure that people can be part of writing 36 00:03:51,580 --> 00:03:59,340 the script for the EU, because I also have a lot of hopes for the EU in the future. 37 00:03:59,340 --> 00:04:03,060 Immigration is another one of those big issues at the moment, and everybody is talking about 38 00:04:03,060 --> 00:04:05,860 the role of the EU in the globalised world. 39 00:04:05,860 --> 00:04:10,460 Now my question is, do you think social protection and economic growth are reconcilable? 40 00:04:10,460 --> 00:04:12,740 Do you think it's possible to combine both? 41 00:04:12,740 --> 00:04:22,340 I think this is the amazing challenge for Europe, to demonstrate that a sustainable 42 00:04:22,340 --> 00:04:28,980 development is possible, that we want to combine, and that the European way is to combine economic 43 00:04:29,500 --> 00:04:35,060 growth with environmental protection and social protection and social security. 44 00:04:35,060 --> 00:04:42,740 We cannot compete by lowering the salaries, we will not compete by exploiting more of 45 00:04:42,740 --> 00:04:48,260 the natural resources, or over-exploiting the natural resources any longer, or polluting 46 00:04:48,260 --> 00:04:55,260 the environment, but we will do it using people as a resource, and investing in life-long 47 00:04:55,260 --> 00:05:02,540 learning etc., to make sure that we adapt to a new globalised and open world. 48 00:05:02,540 --> 00:05:08,820 We can be the first ones to have sustainable production of chemicals, and those that are 49 00:05:08,820 --> 00:05:14,140 environmentally friendly, and we can prove that they are not harmful. 50 00:05:14,140 --> 00:05:20,740 We can do more using environmental technology, and become extremely competitive on the world 51 00:05:20,740 --> 00:05:24,700 market and sell that to countries like China. 52 00:05:25,180 --> 00:05:32,660 I think we can harness globalisation, and I think citizens expect us to do that. 53 00:05:32,660 --> 00:05:33,980 You mentioned China. 54 00:05:33,980 --> 00:05:37,780 What do you think about the big economic boom of the country, and what do you think should 55 00:05:37,780 --> 00:05:38,780 be the EU response? 56 00:05:38,780 --> 00:05:44,660 When I visited China, as a commissioner, I remember that the Vice Prime Minister, whom 57 00:05:44,660 --> 00:05:51,260 I had the privilege of meeting, he said that their target is to quadruple their GDP until 58 00:05:51,260 --> 00:05:54,740 2020, and you can only imagine that. 59 00:05:54,740 --> 00:06:02,180 And of course, it is an amazing achievement that China is doing, but we should also be 60 00:06:02,180 --> 00:06:10,620 aware that we now have a window of opportunity for Europe to affect the way they do policies, 61 00:06:10,620 --> 00:06:16,820 and I think we can use also our rules for public procurement, for example, to make sure 62 00:06:16,820 --> 00:06:24,420 that we also put pressure on China to improve conditions for workers, that we do not accept 63 00:06:24,420 --> 00:06:33,300 that so many thousand mining workers die every year because of the sort of safety conditions 64 00:06:33,300 --> 00:06:40,620 in the mines in China, that we want them to take responsibility also for climate issues 65 00:06:40,620 --> 00:06:43,180 or for the environment. 66 00:06:43,180 --> 00:06:50,260 So I think that if we have a more coordinated policy on countries like China and our relations 67 00:06:50,260 --> 00:06:55,540 with China, we can also influence which direction they will go in. 68 00:06:55,540 --> 00:07:01,020 Okay, thank you. 69 00:07:01,020 --> 00:07:04,940 Europe was constructed after the Second World War in order to bring peace to the continent. 70 00:07:04,940 --> 00:07:08,340 Half a century later, peace is taken for granted. 71 00:07:08,340 --> 00:07:13,860 Many citizens, especially young people, do not believe in the EU anymore, or do not see 72 00:07:13,860 --> 00:07:15,540 the interest of the EU anymore. 73 00:07:15,540 --> 00:07:19,140 What would you tell to those young people? 74 00:07:19,140 --> 00:07:27,780 I think this is true, and maybe this is also quite an achievement for the European Union 75 00:07:27,780 --> 00:07:34,580 that young people today take peace for granted, that to them it is not even thinkable that 76 00:07:34,580 --> 00:07:43,820 we would have a new European big war, hopefully, but I think also that they respect the fact 77 00:07:43,820 --> 00:07:49,620 that the European Union is how we maintain peace, because this is also something you 78 00:07:49,620 --> 00:07:53,780 have to be aware of, that how do you keep peace? 79 00:07:53,780 --> 00:07:59,660 That is by sitting down at the same table trying to solve problems that we have and 80 00:07:59,660 --> 00:08:03,540 discuss the challenges we have in common, that's how you maintain it. 81 00:08:03,540 --> 00:08:10,180 But we are very much in search of the modern story of the European Union, because there 82 00:08:10,180 --> 00:08:16,940 has to be something in addition to that historical achievement, and I would say there are these 83 00:08:16,940 --> 00:08:27,100 three reasons that have to do with prosperity, creating jobs and opportunities for people. 84 00:08:27,100 --> 00:08:29,260 It's a matter of solidarity. 85 00:08:29,260 --> 00:08:34,020 Not about solidarity with future generations, with the rest of the world, our role in the 86 00:08:34,020 --> 00:08:37,700 world, and it's a matter of security. 87 00:08:37,700 --> 00:08:45,620 Also security towards environmental pollution or violence and crime or terrorist threats. 88 00:08:45,620 --> 00:08:48,100 We need to cooperate. 89 00:08:48,100 --> 00:08:53,700 All of these issues are too big for one nation state to deal with. 90 00:08:53,700 --> 00:08:59,500 For a subject that may interest you, recent events show that the EU is very much dependent 91 00:08:59,500 --> 00:09:05,780 on external sources of energy, such as the case of Russia and Ukraine in January, for 92 00:09:05,780 --> 00:09:06,780 example. 93 00:09:06,780 --> 00:09:12,220 Is the EU talking about a new energy policy for Europe? 94 00:09:12,220 --> 00:09:18,060 Well I think maybe the starting point has to be to imagine what will happen in the future, 95 00:09:18,060 --> 00:09:23,900 to have a long-term perspective on the energy issues, and of course we know since a long 96 00:09:23,900 --> 00:09:28,660 time that we will run out of oil, at least cheap oil. 97 00:09:28,660 --> 00:09:36,300 We might find new oil wells, but it will be much more expensive to exploit them and to 98 00:09:36,300 --> 00:09:37,300 use them. 99 00:09:37,300 --> 00:09:44,860 So we have to invest already now in alternative energy sources, and we also have to think 100 00:09:44,860 --> 00:09:47,220 about sort of sustainability. 101 00:09:47,220 --> 00:09:51,580 How do we make sure that it doesn't cause new environmental problems, and what about 102 00:09:51,580 --> 00:09:55,260 the social effects of the kind of energy sources we use? 103 00:09:55,260 --> 00:10:01,500 So I think we have to also look at the European value added of cooperation, and that's where 104 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:10,620 you can see the benefits of making our grids compatible, or taking action together and 105 00:10:10,620 --> 00:10:18,740 speaking with one voice against Russia, for example, or with Russia on energy issues, 106 00:10:18,740 --> 00:10:21,020 and also towards the rest of the world. 107 00:10:21,020 --> 00:10:29,780 And we can explore the technological possibilities in Europe, for example, as we do with what 108 00:10:29,780 --> 00:10:38,900 is called a technology platform, to find new ways of dealing with hydrogen as a new power 109 00:10:38,900 --> 00:10:42,740 and a new source of energy as well. 110 00:10:42,740 --> 00:10:49,100 So I think that there are a number of areas where there is clearly a European value added 111 00:10:49,100 --> 00:10:51,300 of cooperation. 112 00:10:51,300 --> 00:10:59,140 Do you think that renewable sources of energy can be a viable solution in economic terms? 113 00:10:59,140 --> 00:11:05,340 Absolutely, and we have to decide that we want to invest in this, and we have to explore 114 00:11:05,500 --> 00:11:12,500 what are the barriers for using renewable energy that has already been developed to 115 00:11:12,500 --> 00:11:14,080 a certain point. 116 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:22,140 Why is it that it is not profitable to use it, or why is it that it cannot be disseminated 117 00:11:22,140 --> 00:11:23,820 across Europe? 118 00:11:23,820 --> 00:11:32,540 So I think that the potential is much bigger, and I see it only in using solar energy, where 119 00:11:32,540 --> 00:11:37,820 even in a poor country like Sri Lanka, where I used to live, every house would have a solar 120 00:11:37,820 --> 00:11:44,260 panel to make use of that to heat their bathing water or whatever. 121 00:11:44,260 --> 00:11:48,580 And I think the potential for using solar energy is enormous. 122 00:11:48,580 --> 00:11:54,460 And maybe with these high oil prices, we will have reached that limit where it will become 123 00:11:55,460 --> 00:12:02,460 also competitive and, I would say, profitable to start to invest in renewable energy. 124 00:12:02,460 --> 00:12:05,460 OK, thanks. 125 00:12:05,460 --> 00:12:09,460 Last year you travelled around Europe and met numerous European citizens. 126 00:12:09,460 --> 00:12:16,460 So my question is, do your meetings with these people often have a high opening effect for you? 127 00:12:17,460 --> 00:12:24,460 I think this is the most rewarding part of this job, to be able to travel in Europe to 128 00:12:24,460 --> 00:12:31,460 meet with citizens on the ground, and those who are not politicians, those who do not 129 00:12:31,460 --> 00:12:36,460 belong to the political elite, but do have an interest in their own future in Europe, 130 00:12:36,460 --> 00:12:39,460 and also want to have a say. 131 00:12:39,460 --> 00:12:45,460 I mean, I prefer to meet with young people because I think that they want to know. 132 00:12:45,460 --> 00:12:48,460 So how do we do with education? 133 00:12:48,460 --> 00:12:53,460 How about the jobs and opportunities for us in the future? 134 00:12:53,460 --> 00:12:55,460 What about travelling in Europe? 135 00:12:55,460 --> 00:12:58,460 What about the role of the European Union in the rest of the world? 136 00:12:58,460 --> 00:13:04,460 So I get most out of those meetings, I have to say. 137 00:13:04,460 --> 00:13:10,460 But lately, I must admit that it was something that I read in a book that has really been 138 00:13:10,460 --> 00:13:18,460 an eye-opener, because I read a book where the author said, these days I very rarely 139 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:23,460 hear somebody talking about the future for our grandchildren. 140 00:13:23,460 --> 00:13:30,460 Have we lost that perspective, that interest in thinking about the future? 141 00:13:30,460 --> 00:13:37,460 And he said, we are like alcoholics, anonymous, that we take things day by day. 142 00:13:38,460 --> 00:13:42,460 We are not able any longer to make plans for the future. 143 00:13:42,460 --> 00:13:44,460 And I think that was really an eye-opener. 144 00:13:44,460 --> 00:13:47,460 That was something that made me very sad. 145 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:53,460 But I also think that's the ultimate challenge, to make sure that we can let the rest of the world 146 00:13:53,460 --> 00:13:56,460 and the future get into the picture. 147 00:13:56,460 --> 00:13:58,460 Right. Thank you very much. 148 00:13:58,460 --> 00:14:02,460 President Barroso nominated seven female commissioners out of 25. 149 00:14:02,460 --> 00:14:05,460 And this was regarded as an achievement. 150 00:14:05,460 --> 00:14:11,460 Do you think there's a lot left to do to reach total equality between men and women? 151 00:14:11,460 --> 00:14:14,460 Absolutely. There is still a lot to do. 152 00:14:14,460 --> 00:14:22,460 And I think that there are sort of basic things which have to do with the way we work 153 00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:31,460 to allow more women into the institutions, from working hours to childcare and what have you, 154 00:14:31,460 --> 00:14:39,460 to the more sort of structural things which have to do with education and opportunities for women in society. 155 00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:46,460 And I just read an article in The Economist also giving all the economic rationale 156 00:14:46,460 --> 00:14:55,460 for allowing women to take place in the decision-making and everywhere in society. 157 00:14:55,460 --> 00:14:58,460 So we still have a long way to go. 158 00:14:58,460 --> 00:15:01,460 Could you tell us a little bit more about the article? 159 00:15:01,460 --> 00:15:06,460 Well, they were looking at sort of the international picture, 160 00:15:06,460 --> 00:15:13,460 saying that the fact that women have entered into the labor force, into the labor market, 161 00:15:13,460 --> 00:15:16,460 women's role in society has changed. 162 00:15:16,460 --> 00:15:20,460 That has actually changed the world more than anything else, 163 00:15:20,460 --> 00:15:23,460 and that there is still such a huge potential. 164 00:15:23,460 --> 00:15:32,460 You know that the United Nations and UNESCO argue that if you educate a man, you educate an individual, 165 00:15:32,460 --> 00:15:36,460 but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole family. 166 00:15:36,460 --> 00:15:41,460 And I think that this is still true, not only for developing countries, 167 00:15:41,460 --> 00:15:46,460 but we should invest in women and gender equality. 168 00:15:46,460 --> 00:15:49,460 You're writing a blog which is very successful. 169 00:15:49,460 --> 00:15:53,460 Now, why did you start blogging in the first place? 170 00:15:53,460 --> 00:15:59,460 Well, I wanted to establish a direct contact with citizens, 171 00:15:59,460 --> 00:16:06,460 and I also wanted to be able to be a bit more personal without being private, 172 00:16:06,460 --> 00:16:09,460 because I think one has to be careful there, 173 00:16:09,460 --> 00:16:15,460 but to give my personal impressions of what is going on with my own language 174 00:16:15,460 --> 00:16:24,460 is not always filtered through the sometimes incomprehensible language of the European institutions, 175 00:16:24,460 --> 00:16:30,460 and it provides me with a lot of really useful contributions and useful views 176 00:16:30,460 --> 00:16:36,460 from those who normally are not part, again, of the establishment, the political establishment. 177 00:16:36,460 --> 00:16:39,460 So to me it has been a very good experience. 178 00:16:39,460 --> 00:16:45,460 But do you think the participants in the blog are representative of the European citizens in general? 179 00:16:45,460 --> 00:16:48,460 No, I don't think that they represent anything else than themselves. 180 00:16:48,460 --> 00:16:52,460 I mean, they do not speak on behalf of any group, 181 00:16:52,460 --> 00:16:57,460 and that is also maybe a strength, so you have to take it for what it is. 182 00:16:57,460 --> 00:17:04,460 But I think that this is also interesting, to have those voices, 183 00:17:04,460 --> 00:17:08,460 some of them extremely clever, of course, and well-informed, 184 00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:13,460 and with very constructive and good ideas for all of us, so we can learn from that. 185 00:17:13,460 --> 00:17:18,460 And they give a somewhat different profile, but important. 186 00:17:18,460 --> 00:17:19,460 Thank you. 187 00:17:19,460 --> 00:17:23,460 We would like to thank you very much for this opportunity that you gave us to meet you, Margot. 188 00:17:23,460 --> 00:17:26,460 It has been very interesting for us, and we wish you all the best in the future. 189 00:17:26,460 --> 00:17:28,460 Thank you very much again. 190 00:17:28,460 --> 00:17:29,460 Thank you. 191 00:17:29,460 --> 00:17:37,460 Thank you for providing good questions and good contributions to our European debate. 192 00:17:37,460 --> 00:17:44,460 And I say the same thing to you as to young people I meet when I travel in Europe, 193 00:17:44,460 --> 00:17:47,460 that you are the very important persons. 194 00:17:47,460 --> 00:17:53,460 You are tomorrow's decision-makers and business leaders, and what have we. 195 00:17:54,460 --> 00:17:58,460 So what you think about the European Union is the most important. 196 00:17:58,460 --> 00:17:59,460 Thank you. 197 00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:00,460 Thank you.