Downing Street Says » Press conference with President Sarkozy

A transcript of a press conference given by the Prime Minister and President Sarkozy of France in London on 12 March 2010.

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Can I welcome you to this press conference with President Sarkozy. I m so very glad to welcome the President of the French Republic, a great European, a very good friend of mine, back to Downing Street.

Your presidency of the European Union, Nicolas, during these very difficult months in 2008 is something that will be remembered as a demonstration of leadership at its very best. And we are looking forward to you being the first world leader to assume the presidency of both the G20 and the G8 next year and I believe that the agenda that you will set for that year will show that the world can come together and meet and address all the major challenges that we face. And I look forward to our government working with yours to prepare for the G8 and G20 presidencies.

The strength of our relationship and the relationship between our two countries is such that Britain and France are working ever more closely together on all the central issues that the world faces on economic matters, on environmental matters, on energy matters, on nuclear matters, on security matters and I believe our cooperation as two countries is greater now than at any time since the Second World War. And it is due to the strength of the relationship that we have built up over these last few years and I m very pleased that you ve come to London today.

We share an incredible history, but Britain s alliance with France is also an alliance for the future. It is an entente formidable de grande vitesse and we do work at high speed and we do work to a very common shared agenda. The basis of our relationship is a profound belief that both France and Britain are at the centre of the European Union, that Britain should always be, like France, at the heart of all developments in Europe, and that we should work against any extremism in Europe and never pander to it.

Now, first, the actions that we agreed to promote the economic recovery. Both of us are worried about the fragility of the global economic recovery. We re worried about the risks to it, so we both need to maintain, and are agreed that we should, the stimulus, to stick to the course, to remain resolute in our determination to create high global growth. But we believe that the G20 must move with more determination and more consistency and more speed. And we believe we need more global cooperation now not less. And we believe our national growth policies must be consistent with strong, sustainable and balanced global growth. So we agreed today that we need to develop a globally coordinated approach, to ensure that the banks make a proper contribution to the cost of any crisis and to our society as a whole and we are working on options that include the financial levy that both of us have supported.

Some people would never believe that Paris and London would be connected by a single train journey, but today over nine million people travel by Eurostar each year. Now we want a high speed rail link between our cities from the north of our country right through to the south of France and the proposals we announced yesterday means that journey times between Birmingham and Lille, for example, could be just over two hours, and of course we will reach Paris from these areas 45 minutes faster than today. So the connections by rail and by transport are growing every year.

We talked also about extending internet connections and both being part of a high-speed digital revolution. And we are both convinced that nuclear power should be at the heart of our response to climate change and today we have renewed UK-France cooperation on nuclear power and on nuclear centres of excellence and we are going to embark on deeper partnerships to share expertise and build skills, ensuring nuclear power can be exploited safely and effectively across the world. Part of this means that the European Union should move more quickly to being a low-carbon economy.

I just want to add that we continue to speak out in defence of free speech in Iran. We will push for European Union action to stop the flow of hate and propaganda that we are condemning. We condemn Iran s denial to the international media of the freedom of expression and we will work together to reduce Iranian access to equipment used for repression and censorship. We want to see effective United Nations sanctions and we will back that up by even tougher European sanctions. We also agreed that there must be both security and justice in the Middle East and we will work together to build a peaceful settlement in that area.

I ve said that our countries are more connected than ever before. I look forward to maintaining our close personal connections in the coming weeks. We will meet again at President Obama s nuclear summit in Washington and of course we look forward to continuing the cooperation on economic, environmental and all matters related to the future of our countries.

You are a great European. You have led Europe in difficult times and we look forward to your leadership of the G8 and G20 in the times to come and I m grateful to you for the personal friendship that you have shown, grateful to you and Carla for the personal friendship you ve shown to me and Sarah.

Thank you, Gordon. I in turn am very happy to be here once again in London. Now, I haven t changed my line since I last came in 2008. I believe in the importance and the relevance of a major agreement between France and Britain in order to shift the lines in Europe and shift the lines in the world that needs our combined efforts. I have found in Gordon Brown a reformer, a convinced and convincing reformer and it is together, hand in glove, that we have tried to find the right answers when the economic and financial crisis almost swept us all away.

Now, I know that we have differences: he is British, I am French. He s a socialist, he s Labour and I’m not. That s not as serious, actually, as the first point. But at the same time I owe you the truth. We have always worked in partnership and in a spirit of confidence and trust and heaven knows we ve had obstacles to surmount there was the Lisbon Treaty, the crisis, re engineering and regulating capitalism, regulating commodity prices and it has been a true pleasure to work with Gordon throughout all of this. In fact, I will have the honour of being the President of the G20 and G8 as of November next and who suggested my candidacy and that of France? It was Gordon Brown and I will not forget that, I do not forget that, and I say something which is the absolute gospel truth. I do not believe that there was any hidden agenda, simply a desire on the part of both of us to get things moving and when I put ideas forward I would discuss my ideas with Gordon and the reverse being equally true. That doesn t mean we agree on everything, but I remain convinced that the place of our British friends is bang in the middle of Europe, because we need you.

You have a lot to contribute to us, and this is very important. Now I do know that it does not behove me to play politics in Britain. It would be totally wrong, no more than Gordon would do so in France. It would appear that you have elections on the agenda. Well, there s a big debate should you come before the elections? But you know what? If I were not to come before the elections, and then I couldn t come straightaway after the elections, because portfolios haven t been redistributed, then I would never come. I felt, on the contrary, that it was very important for me to be here.

Now we have worked together on Iran: on Iran we have exactly the same position. We are very firm stance that what is going is utterly unacceptable. On regulating capitalism, it is not because we seem to be moving out of the crisis that we must stop reforms quite the contrary, quite the contrary. We are coming out of the crisis precisely because we got reforms or at last regulation going. Now is certainly not the time to stop: we must continue and make sure that what we heads of state and government are saying and promising and pledging actually is translated into regulations and rules.

We are talking about this with reference to the future French presidency of the G8 and the G20. When I am an in touch with Mr Obama or other heads of state, I report to Gordon Brown, or at least talk to him about them, and he does likewise in other words, we exchange views, and that is right and proper or else, what is the point of building and shaping Europe? And for me it was very important to come here, also on the issue of climate change, of combating deforestation, Gordon s concerns, which I share to a very large extent, and totally in fact, as to what we need to do to help Africa develop, as I said in Rwanda recently, we should not get bogged down in the long standing past rivalry between France and Britain as to who does what where. I really believe this. I believe this profoundly. This means nothing any more.

And whenever I have talks and discussions with Gordon Brown, I feel enriched by them. Now, if you have any questions, I m happy to answer them.

Do both of you believe that you can reach an agreement on regulating hedge funds in Europe between now and Tuesday? Second point: the refuelling aircraft dossier, Mr President, do you think this is a matter that is over and done with? What are you going to say to President Obama when you see him?

Well, on these two issues. First of all, on the refuelling aircraft, the tankers. I must say I was not at all happy with this decision, and I ll be very upfront with you: Gordon Brown and I are against protectionism, quite simply. We are allies of the United States of the America. Let me remind you, just simply remind you, the fact that this was a contract in response to a call for tenders, which was won by a European company which had joined ranks with an American company. Then, the call for bids and call for tenders was turned on its head, and then a new list of detailed specifications which to the very least, was not unfavourable to Boeing, was drawn up.

And I have just learned that before even the second round has been completed, our American partner in other words, the EADS American partner is pulling out of the competition. Well, at least there, we know what the answer is going to be: if the only competitor in the course is one company, then we know who is going to win the competition. That is no way of going about things.

This is not the right way for the United States to treat its European allies, and it s not the right way for the United States to behave, because we are talking about a major, major nation, a major leader. We are close allies of the United States, and also, in combating protectionism if they want to be spearheading the fight against protectionism, they should not be setting the wrong example of protectionism. You know, in life, there is what you say and then there is what you do.

Now, on the hedge-fund issue, we talked about it with Gordon Brown. I have always believed that these hedge funds domiciled offshore bore a heavy share of responsibility in the financial crisis, a very heavy burden of responsibility, and they needed to be regulated. In fact, Gordon has always agreed with me on that. Furthermore, that the British Prime Minister should wish to defend the interests of the City is only right and proper: I mean, if he were not to do so, we would be astonished, likewise, I defend the interests of the French economy. So our teams are working together to try and find a point of equilibrium whereby we can regulate, ensure transparency, avoid systemic risk and ensure that the City which is a major asset for Europe does not feel harmed or threatened. That is precisely what we are aiming to find, that point of equilibrium. Have we found it? Not yet. That was the point of our lunch, and our ministers of finance, and our teams and our advisors, will do this.

These are very detailed issues, when you actually look at the draft proposals. I believe, as Nicolas does, that we can reach a solution over the next few days on these issues. I m pretty confident that people right round Europe want more transparency, and that is the basis of the move forward, but equally, I think we can show as we will do by the discussions and by the conclusions that we will reach that we have not harmed, indeed protected, the interests of the financial-services sector across Europe, as it tries to rebuild after the financial recession, and particularly make sure that there is no harm done, and there is protection for the City of London. So we have had good talks on this, and I am pretty confident that we can get a very satisfactory outcome in our discussions over the next few days. And, of course, it is a matter for the finance ministers next week.

I too am disappointed about the American decision, and we have made our views known about this as well. We believe in free trade, we believe in open markets, we believe in open competition, and clearly, it is a disappointment to us that the market or the offer that has come from Europe has not found the favour that we believe it deserved in the United States of America.

You see, today we ve been discussing a number of key issues as we move forward to the future: financial services, defence, nuclear security. I don t think we ve been in disagreement about anything, except perhaps that I think England will win the World Cup, and you think France will win. So there we are.

I wasn t quite clear from your opening remarks whether you had reached complete agreement on the question of a global bank tax, international bank levy and whether you ve agreed not just the principle, but also the details of such a levy. And to the President, could I ask, will you be urging David Cameron to rejoin the European People s Party and to drop suggestions that, if he was in power, he might take Britain out of the European Defence Agency?

This has been a very important meeting because we have been looking ahead to what the world economy will look like over the next few months and particularly over the next year or two. What we have decided is that we need an extension of the cooperation that existed at the G20. The opportunity to prepare for the French presidency of the G8 and the G20 is an opportunity for the world to actually work far more closely together, perhaps with an executive or secretariat that the G20 could have as it prepared the work that involves China, India, Asia, Brazil, South Africa, as well as the traditional G8 countries. So it is a very important enterprise that we are setting out to do today, intensifying the level of global cooperation, making sure that Europe is at one on these issues is incredibly important too.

As far as the global financial transactions levy is concerned, I made a number of proposals a few months ago; Nicolas also made a set of proposals and we find ourselves in harmony on the way forward on this. The banks are organised at a global level now, their global contribution to society has got to be measured in some way. We cannot have one set of banks undercutting another set of banks by moving from one country to another, as tax havens or regulatory regimes make it too easy to operate without paying any taxes at all. So the global financial levy is something that is not only on the agenda but will be the subject of a report that will appear in the next few weeks. I believe that the French and British positions are entirely the same on this and we can move forward and build support as we are doing it. I think you saw Japan came out in favour of it only a few days ago and the Americans have adopted a levy themselves already at a national level. This is an argument that started with a number of very sceptical people, but Nicholas and I have stuck with this idea and we believe that we are seeing progress in other countries supporting it now.

Frankly it is better to have worldwide regulation if you want a fair competition and a level playing field. I believe, like Gordon, that we need some kind of tax on financial transaction. I believe in the fast start. I believe in achieving or trying to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This is not going to be achieved simply out of our own budgets, so we have to find innovative financing mechanisms; in other words, the more worldwide these rules are, the less risk of protectionism there will be.

Of course we have to make efforts vis- -vis one another; I think Gordon suggested a tax on shipping, we decided we would prefer tax on financial transactions but we can talk about this. What is clear cut is that the more broad-based these regulations are, the fairer the competition will be between us, and that has got to be the golden rule: fair competition.

I don t want to meddle in domestic affairs, but if you ask if I would have preferred the Tories to remain within the EPP, the answer would have been yes, or is yes. The EPP, the European People s Party, is a good bunch of people; although I am very happy to work with a British Labour Prime Minister, the EPP is a good thing. I was the one who got the Gaullist Party, our party, into the EPP years ago, and I think Europe has every interest in having forward looking, organised strands of thought where everyone with their specific skills can contribute to the overall political architecture. Yes, I regretted them having pulled out, but that being said, it is not my decision and I have enough problems to deal with at home without taking on other people s. Anyway, opening up is a good thing. Opening up to others is a very good thing.

A question on the general proposal of a European Monetary Fund: what could this look like? Is the idea to stand against the IMF and should Britain be part of this? Then to you, Mr Sarkozy, the British press has rumoured a lot of things about your private life. Do you intend to respond to that?

Well, on the European Monetary Fund, as a matter of principle I never throw any idea out because it is always interesting to talk about all of this. I was explaining to Gordon Brown that when you are in the Euro zone, you have to show solidarity vis- -vis those who share the same currency. I have nothing against the IMF; when I was in the presidency of the European Union I requested $25 billion for Hungary which is not a part of the Euro group, so it is not at all the same thing. Every day a new idea is put on the table and there comes a point when we are going to have to sit down around the table and put on our thinking caps.

As for the rest, you must know very little about what a President of the Republic actually has to do all day long. I certainly don t have any time to deal with these ridiculous rumours, not even half a fraction of a second. I don t even know why you have used your speaking time to put such an idiotic question.

On the European Monetary Fund, we are of course prepared to look at any proposals that come forward. I believe a solution to the problems that Greece has faced is possible within the existing arrangements and that is what people are working towards. I do think that the measures that Greece have taken are measures that will satisfy people in Europe that Greece is doing everything in its power to deal with the deficit problems that have arisen as a result of crisis and some bad reporting over a period of years about what the Greek financial figures are.

As far as the British press is concerned, I have been able to tell Nicolas that I don t believe everything I read in the British press.

Mr Prime Minister, just to ask if you could take this opportunity to condemn the British Airways strike that is going to cause misery for millions of travellers later this month, and also to the President if I may, just following on from the earlier question I just wondered if you would want to take the opportunity to deny the speculation that is surrounding your marriage at the moment?

Can I say, I call on all parties to work together to avoid these strikes. The disruption to services is completely unacceptable. This difficulty will place passengers who have already booked their flights or who are planning flights in a very difficult position, and this is bad news if this happens for the British economy. I am not only disappointed, but I want to see a resolution of this as quickly as possible. In my view it is essential that the parties continue to talk now, even at this 11th hour. I hope they will do so, but I remind them of the danger and risk to the British economy of disruptive strikes going ahead. Thank you all very much.

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» Wednesday, February 12, 0110

Press conference with President Sarkozy

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