WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:10.400 So hello, hello and welcome to today's press conference at the summit on European digital 2 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.120 sovereignty. Welcome to everyone in the room and also to everyone following us on the live 3 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:22.960 stream. We'll now start the press conference by having the statements. First of all, 4 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:30.000 Minister Karsten Wildberger will give a statement and that will be followed by the statement by the 5 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.640 French Minister for Digital Anne Le Hénanff. And you know how this works. You just raise your 6 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:42.480 hand and I'll give you the floor and you and you can ask your fresh questions in German, 7 00:00:42.480 --> 00:00:50.720 French or English. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, 8 00:00:50.720 --> 00:01:00.480 Madame Le Hénanff, it's great to have you all here. Thank you also to our French colleagues 9 00:01:00.480 --> 00:01:08.080 and friends for organizing this joint work. It's a very special day for us, for Germany, 10 00:01:08.080 --> 00:01:13.760 France, and for our European partners. We are sending out an important signal, 11 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:21.280 namely that we want to shape digital sovereignty in Europe and for Europe and we want to do this 12 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:29.360 on an equal footing with other nations. This summit represents independence, 13 00:01:29.360 --> 00:01:38.400 resilience and competitiveness. And the fact that Chancellor Fiedz and State President 14 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:47.200 Macron will join us this afternoon simply underlines just how important how pivotal the 15 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:53.040 issue of art artificial intelligence and digital sovereignty are for our future in Europe. 16 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:59.520 It's also a great pleasure to have vice president Virkkunen here. We just had a great round table 17 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:08.640 on the digital omnibus. It's a very important step and I'll say a few things about streamlining 18 00:02:08.640 --> 00:02:16.720 things to make them better. We also have the digital ministers from 23 EU member states here. 19 00:02:16.720 --> 00:02:23.520 Many of the leading technology companies, SMMES, startups and large companies are represented 20 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:31.040 and also many creative people from the startup scene, from associations and from civil society 21 00:02:31.040 --> 00:02:37.920 are also represented here. That of course is very important and we will also announce some important 22 00:02:37.920 --> 00:02:45.840 partnerships that will really put some flesh on the theoretical concepts that I'm mentioning now. 23 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:56.240 My special thanks goes to my colleague Minister Levano and to the other ministers involved, to the 24 00:02:56.240 --> 00:03:05.600 other ministries, to the federal chancellory, to the colleagues from my ministry for this fantastic 25 00:03:05.600 --> 00:03:13.440 organization because it's quite hard work to put together a summit like this. in particular in 26 00:03:13.440 --> 00:03:19.440 addition to the summit that, in addition to all the other work you're doing and I know just how 27 00:03:19.440 --> 00:03:25.040 much work has gone into this and I would like to thank take this opportunity to thank them. So what 28 00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:31.920 is digital sovereignty? It sounds complicated but I think it's something very important. We 29 00:03:31.920 --> 00:03:40.000 in Europe and in Germany want to not only use technology as customers, we want to develop 30 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:46.160 products and business models for Germany, Europe and the world. We want to actively participate in 31 00:03:46.160 --> 00:03:54.640 this growth and over time we've turned customers to an excessive degree and it would be fatal if 32 00:03:54.640 --> 00:04:02.480 that remained the case in the age of AI. And this age of AI has already started and it is developing 33 00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:09.440 very fast. So we have all the talent that it takes in order to be in the lead group. So Europe has 34 00:04:09.440 --> 00:04:14.640 this talent and we're working on very important issues and we are working on important topics in 35 00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:21.680 order to make this happened. So also it's always good to have a choice to decide what you want to 36 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:29.200 use and not to be dependent. So that gives you a more defensive option. So you can defend your 37 00:04:29.200 --> 00:04:38.720 values but you can also shape your own future. You can develop new products and only yesterday 38 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:49.200 I had a great pleasure of participating in the laying of the foundation stone in Lübbenau of 39 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:58.320 a data center that will be created by Schwartz group. So it will be a data factory in fact and 40 00:04:58.320 --> 00:05:04.400 it will be very important. So it starts out with a size of 200 megawatts that's already quite large 41 00:05:04.400 --> 00:05:12.720 and there is an also the possibility to expand on that even further. So that is very important. So 42 00:05:14.320 --> 00:05:21.120 we also heard about the new benchmarks. So we've heard that the extra flop is actually the fastest 43 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:26.640 in Europe and one of the fastest in the world. It's highly energy efficient and that has now 44 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:33.200 been officially proven. So what do we have to do? First of all, regulation that gives 45 00:05:33.200 --> 00:05:43.120 more room to innovation. And let me clarify one thing. Data protection, security, data privacy, 46 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:51.280 addressing risks in AI. This is something that is not on the table. It is essential. It is clear 47 00:05:51.280 --> 00:06:00.320 that all of this has to be ensured. So this will not be taken away. There's always this disclaimer 48 00:06:00.320 --> 00:06:08.320 in everything I say. However, I'd like to say the way that we organize regulation is a way in which 49 00:06:08.320 --> 00:06:16.800 we are actually impeding innovation. And we have to have both. We need both. We need values and 50 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:22.560 we also need innovation. We need to be able to actually build products and then regulate them. 51 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:27.920 And this doesn't work to a sufficient degree. And this is why it's so important to actually 52 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:37.440 allow for greater progress to leave more room for innovation and to actually then regulate. This is 53 00:06:37.440 --> 00:06:46.080 what we want and I hope that the omnibus tomorrow will show us some steps forward in this way. But 54 00:06:46.080 --> 00:06:52.320 at the same time, it's something that will take time and it will have to be a gradual process. 55 00:06:52.320 --> 00:06:59.600 Just imagine one thing. Imagine that we are among the front runners on innovation and on having a 56 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:06.800 regulation that actually protects and defends European values, civic rights and also allows 57 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:13.600 for innovation. What a competitive advantage that would be. The second point, European cooperation 58 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:20.960 will be extremely important. We have to actually expand on that because each of our nation states 59 00:07:20.960 --> 00:07:27.600 are too small in themselves. We have great friends in Europe. We have France on our side, but I would 60 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:33.200 also like to include all European countries. We have a single market and 450 million people 61 00:07:33.200 --> 00:07:39.840 living in Europe. And if we work together in all the differences that we have with our different 62 00:07:39.840 --> 00:07:47.120 capabilities, if we bring all this together and if we actually harness our potential, then we will 63 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:56.720 really have a very powerful asset for now and for the future. So we need to work together at startup 64 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:05.440 level, at SME level and among large companies. And we also need to make sure that our SMEs, which are 65 00:08:05.440 --> 00:08:10.400 the backbone of the German and many other European countries economies that they can actually benefit 66 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:18.160 from AI from data use and that they can actually generate growth. So European cooperation is very 67 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:27.040 high up on the agenda. And the third point, how can we actually succeed to harness the value of 68 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:35.760 our market? 450 million potential customers and how can we actually harness all the data that 69 00:08:35.760 --> 00:08:44.480 we have? We have an incredible asset of data in our SMEs. So how can we actually harness them in 70 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:51.440 a sovereign way? So can we how can we stop this data from diffunding away? So how can we create 71 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:58.320 an environment that allows companies to actually develop their products here rather than offshoring 72 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:07.280 to countries where there's a framework that is leaner. So we want to keep these companies in 73 00:09:07.280 --> 00:09:13.120 Europe and that is why it is so important to me that we create a framework that allows companies 74 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:23.040 to actually experiment to harness this data and to learn and to then ensure security as well as 75 00:09:23.040 --> 00:09:28.960 innovation because AI has inherent risks but the only way of addressing these risks is to 76 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:37.120 actually master that the technology that is a very important issue, and we have this internal market 77 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:45.680 of 450 million people and their data. So, we'll have a very strong afternoon, but I can already 78 00:09:45.680 --> 00:09:55.200 tell you that what we will be presenting today will send a very strong message of a fresh start 79 00:09:55.200 --> 00:10:01.440 from Berlin, from Europe, together with France and all the other member states. Europe is ready. 80 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:09.440 We need to be ready to actually be a leading stakeholder, a leading actor on the global stage 81 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:16.640 on AI, on data models. And we haven't missed the boat yet. So we yes, we need to catch up, 82 00:10:16.640 --> 00:10:24.800 but we haven't missed the boat yet. There's a lot of room for innovation. And I'm really hoping that 83 00:10:24.800 --> 00:10:34.880 we will regain the joy of innovation because it's really part of our DNA. And I think we should send 84 00:10:34.880 --> 00:10:49.280 out a clear message that we want to work and shape our technological future based on our own values. 85 00:10:50.560 --> 00:10:56.000 and we continue with the French minister, Ms. Levano, 86 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:00.400 your statement. 87 00:11:00.400 --> 00:11:04.880 Thank you. 88 00:11:04.880 --> 00:11:12.080 So, good morning everyone. I'm delighted to be in Berlin today. It's the first time I've 89 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:17.920 come to Berlin. It's always been my dream to come and I hope I will have some time. 90 00:11:17.920 --> 00:11:31.600 It's a fantastic city. So, thank you colleagues. Thank you for your remarks. 91 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:36.640 I could stop my introductory remarks already because I fully agree with everything you've 92 00:11:36.640 --> 00:11:46.560 said in your speech. So, thank you for that. But let me make a few additional remarks. 93 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:55.920 France sees this summit as an important event. It was organized in summer — since August, we've 94 00:11:55.920 --> 00:12:01.520 started preparations. We met in August in Toulon. And it's a pleasure that we are now putting this 95 00:12:01.520 --> 00:12:09.920 into practice. For me and probably for you as well, it is important that we truly walk the talk. 96 00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:19.600 We're here to speak to present France's position. We are fully in line with the German position. We 97 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:25.600 want to show that the German French friendship is strong and that in the field of digital 98 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:33.440 sovereignty. We want to advance our joint vision together. And this is not something that you only 99 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:41.200 lay down in in legislative texts. We work together. We've worked very closely together 100 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:47.120 over recent weeks. Thank you very much for having been available all the time and explaining your 101 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:53.520 position. I was able to explain our position, the position of France and I'm also here today because 102 00:12:53.520 --> 00:13:05.280 this summit will deliver concrete results. We walk the talk. So digital sovereignty maybe it's 103 00:13:05.280 --> 00:13:14.400 a topic where we not always have the same approach to or we share the same analysis when it comes to 104 00:13:14.400 --> 00:13:21.520 European preferences. What what we look for is a priority or preference for European products 105 00:13:21.520 --> 00:13:29.680 and services. We believe that in the U we have 27 countries 450 million people. So we believe 106 00:13:30.400 --> 00:13:40.480 that we should give preference to the European industries 107 00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:49.040 that is these 27 member states should be given preference and maybe it's it seems exaggerated 108 00:13:49.040 --> 00:13:58.320 but I fully share this position I fully support this approach minister Wildberger thank you for 109 00:14:00.640 --> 00:14:06.320 the discussions we've had I think we could you you have a slightly different position here but 110 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:14.480 I think Germany and France can work together on building trust and maybe define what a European 111 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:20.080 digital service could actually be. It is a question we should think about and we've seen 112 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:27.120 this in other sectors as well and we can do it in the digital sphere as well. Minister Wildberger 113 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:37.600 our teams we agreed on that our teams will reflect on this together with the other European partners. 114 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:47.600 So this is the first point. The second result I would like to see from this summit in Berlin 115 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:51.600 from a French perspective and I think colleagues you will agree 116 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:58.720 is data protection. The protection of our data from extraterritorial interference 117 00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:07.600 is important especially when it comes to cloud services. We need a clear position. 118 00:15:07.600 --> 00:15:16.640 We need developments to make sure that data protection for European citizens is upheld. 119 00:15:16.640 --> 00:15:22.560 Such interference could lead to data flows to other countries, third countries and we need 120 00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:29.840 to look at that. The third result I'd like to see from a summit or the third big topic is the 121 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:41.440 digital markets act. We have a similar position here regarding clouds from third countries 122 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:46.800 and that such service providers play by the rules of the DMA. So 123 00:15:46.800 --> 00:15:54.080 these are the expectations that I have as a French representative and 124 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:58.240 this is the way I see European digital sovereignty. Minister, you've already given 125 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:06.080 a definition. Digital sovereignty means that we give preference to European office and that we 126 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:13.360 identify technological dependencies that we have regarding third countries. 127 00:16:14.880 --> 00:16:19.840 We need efficient rules that we can truly implement. So we need to 128 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:26.480 identify dependencies and this is something we want to do together. We want to look at 129 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:33.680 our dependencies together on whom we are dependent on. And the third point regarding 130 00:16:33.680 --> 00:16:45.440 digital sovereignty is values that we have in Europe. We've seen that over recent weeks 131 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:49.920 and we have protective regulation built on these values. We've seen 132 00:16:49.920 --> 00:16:56.160 it with regard to China. We had na national legislation 133 00:16:56.160 --> 00:17:04.080 as a result. But we were also able to work together with the EU and the commission. 134 00:17:04.080 --> 00:17:16.080 We said we have a similar situation in many European countries. Probably the were 135 00:17:16.080 --> 00:17:26.240 child pornographic dolls that was sold on a Chinese platform Shein and this online shop 136 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:33.040 offered these dolls. So we work together France and the commission to make sure that there is 137 00:17:33.040 --> 00:17:44.000 protection in all European member states from such offers on the Shein platform. 138 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:57.760 Leapfrog innovation is another important topic. AI, cloud, quantum technology and cyber security. 139 00:17:57.760 --> 00:18:04.160 We stand up for our values. We take many important steps. We protect our companies 140 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:15.600 and our citizens. This is the European DNA and it really makes Europe a reflection of what we are. 141 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:22.960 Thank you. Thank you very much, Minister Levano. 142 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:37.360 We have a question from Mr. [ __ ] and then Mr. Rinka 143 00:18:37.360 --> 00:18:44.160 Johannes Kumel. Mr. Wildberger, you said the state could be an anchor client. 144 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:52.720 How does the federal government see the EU process 2026 and the procurement directive 145 00:18:52.720 --> 00:19:01.200 that is coming up? And you said in summer that Palantir is something you would be open to 146 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:06.560 regarding its use by the federal government. Has your position changed on that when it comes to the 147 00:19:06.560 --> 00:19:17.360 issue of sovereignty? And Minister Levano, with regard to the geopolitical situation, 148 00:19:17.360 --> 00:19:22.800 what would you like to see in terms of industry policy approaches or 149 00:19:22.800 --> 00:19:36.640 initiatives? Do we need an Airbus for AI? Do we need more commitment to deregulation? 150 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:43.920 Thank you very much for these questions. Yes, the state as an anchor client and the role we 151 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:54.960 play here also when it comes to European procurement regulations in my ministries. 152 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:03.360 We have procurement regulations. We enlarged these for AI having many more criteria than 153 00:20:03.360 --> 00:20:14.800 just the price. How far-reaching are capabilities in this software? Uh what about the key and is it 154 00:20:14.800 --> 00:20:21.440 an open standard or is it a closed system? important criteria and we have two current 155 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:35.120 projects for cloud solutions that we have in a tendering process and for us it's a new thing 156 00:20:35.120 --> 00:20:44.560 and of course many European competitors are welcome to participate other concrete topics 157 00:20:44.560 --> 00:20:54.640 we are in discussion with companies of all sizes is how can you help us with your technology to 158 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:00.720 help us with complex administrative processes like for example approval processes? How can we 159 00:21:01.360 --> 00:21:08.880 automate them? How with regard to of course skilled the shortage of skilled labor and that 160 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:13.920 means that we as a state become a business model and we'll pay for such services. So we can be an 161 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:19.280 anchor client and then the question of computer centers, data centers, how can we orchestrate a 162 00:21:19.280 --> 00:21:24.640 process to make sure that demand is so big that more investment comes in. So there are 163 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:37.760 many topics that we absolutely address at full speed and it will be a process a dynamic process. 164 00:21:37.760 --> 00:21:43.520 How sovereign we will be at the end is a question of our capabilities. This will of course develop 165 00:21:43.520 --> 00:21:51.520 over time. We will adjust different things during the process and regarding your question in the 166 00:21:51.520 --> 00:22:00.400 beginning security software for example like from the company you mentioned gives me the opportunity 167 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:05.920 to explain the context a bit more and that's important to me. The first question we always 168 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:18.000 have to ask ourselves is in how far do we the state and also companies need to use software 169 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:25.440 that is based on connected data systems to detect patterns to protect ourselves. Why is this so? 170 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:32.000 Because also malicious forces are using these technologies. So when it comes to technologies, 171 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:39.120 we need to be at a higher level than others. So the software you mentioned is certainly one 172 00:22:39.120 --> 00:22:44.240 of the most powerful solutions in the world both when it comes to civilian purposes and military 173 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:51.120 purposes. But then and that's important to bear in mind is when we work with such a solution you 174 00:22:51.120 --> 00:22:58.800 also need to look at the national context and it depends very much on how you implement this 175 00:22:58.800 --> 00:23:04.320 solution where are data being stored how do you make sure that data are not flowing out 176 00:23:04.320 --> 00:23:11.360 and it is possible to do that I don't know how one would do that in an individual case 177 00:23:11.360 --> 00:23:19.760 but I know that the questions that are being raised is how are such data being used? These 178 00:23:19.760 --> 00:23:23.920 are of course questions that we have on the agenda and the next point is very important 179 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:33.360 to me. We are also currently as a ministry to look at technology from Europe technology that 180 00:23:33.360 --> 00:23:37.600 can do many things. Sometimes it's lagging behind. Sometimes we have things that these 181 00:23:37.600 --> 00:23:42.880 techn technologies can do better. Our ambition needs to be that we have such technologies in 182 00:23:42.880 --> 00:24:00.720 Europe. So thank you very much for addressing this issue in a broader context. Thank you. Uh 183 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:07.280 I understand that there are two components in this. First of all, it's about deregulation, about 184 00:24:07.280 --> 00:24:16.800 reducing regulation and the second question is do we expect there to be any champions in Europe. So 185 00:24:16.800 --> 00:24:24.480 first of all, yes, we need to deregulate. This is something we need to do across all sectors. 186 00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:33.760 Business generates innovation and we want our companies to flourish and we want to actually 187 00:24:33.760 --> 00:24:41.120 help them achieve the next level and become the next European champions. That's the objective 188 00:24:41.120 --> 00:24:50.000 I have set myself for France and also for Europe. And sometimes European regulation, 189 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:59.040 we've already heard about this, that is too strong or that is too detailed and this can actually put 190 00:24:59.040 --> 00:25:05.680 the brake on development particularly in the field of AI. So this is really something that 191 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:13.440 slows down the European sectors and it's not about undermining the European principles. It's not 192 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:23.440 about undermining the data protection regulation in Europe or undermining the AI act. So all of 193 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:30.320 this is highly important to us in Europe and of course fundamental rights need to be protected but 194 00:25:30.320 --> 00:25:37.120 at the same time we need to strengthen innovation allow for leapfrog innovationss and all of this 195 00:25:37.120 --> 00:25:45.840 means that we also need to simplify things streamline and deregulate things and to also 196 00:25:46.480 --> 00:25:53.200 look at the time frame for AI regulation and we haven't become clear we haven't been clear 197 00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:01.440 enough and that creates a lack of legal certainty for the sector. Um, I'm now addressing the second 198 00:26:01.440 --> 00:26:12.800 part of your question. I think we do have European champions in the making and we'll get to know some 199 00:26:12.800 --> 00:26:18.800 of them today. I don't want to preempt on the proceedings today, but we do have companies in 200 00:26:18.800 --> 00:26:28.880 Europe. We need to support them. Um and we also need to first of all we need to loosen the brakes 201 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:34.560 that slow them down. And as my colleague has said, my counterpart has said we cannot do this 202 00:26:34.560 --> 00:26:44.800 on our own. We need European financing. We need to reform the ways in which we invest so that we can 203 00:26:44.800 --> 00:26:54.240 actually harness funding in different countries. We also need to make sure that u a single that a 204 00:26:54.240 --> 00:27:01.200 single stakeholder can actually finance a second stakeholder in a different member state. So this 205 00:27:01.200 --> 00:27:11.040 is something that we should really get going. Furthermore, there are certain necessities that 206 00:27:11.040 --> 00:27:17.680 are absolutely indispensable and together with the other 27 member states with we need to work 207 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:25.040 together on quantum technology. So unless we have 27 member states working on quantum technology 208 00:27:25.040 --> 00:27:32.400 and work together with many strong actors and stakeholders, unless we develop a shared vision, 209 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:45.920 we will not be able to develop a joint vision and that will cause us to really fall behind 210 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:50.240 and of course it otherwise it will be the Americans 211 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:55.120 or the Chinese and perhaps some other nations that will actually make the next 212 00:27:55.120 --> 00:28:01.360 leap in the field of quantum technology. So quantum technology in Europe, well, 213 00:28:01.360 --> 00:28:09.840 we need to work together on this and it's absolutely indispensable. 214 00:28:09.840 --> 00:28:18.000 So perhaps we've fallen behind on the cloud. Maybe we were a bit early on that. that we are now ready 215 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:31.120 to create our own sovereign cloud. We are also working on a on ways to create a minimum level 216 00:28:31.120 --> 00:28:41.200 of cyber security. So we haven't fallen behind too much on AI and our European AI is a very 217 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:48.240 special type of AI that is unlike every other AI because it is ethical, it is sustainable, it's 218 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:56.560 transparent, it's not biased and I think that is actually a competitive advantage internationally. 219 00:28:56.560 --> 00:29:03.520 Lately I talked to a health expert actually a minister of the minister of health from Tunisia 220 00:29:03.520 --> 00:29:10.400 and they share our values and they are interested in our solutions and we really need to move ahead 221 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:20.480 on this. It is a competitive advantage for us. Thank you very much Mr. Rinka Mr. Rinka 222 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:31.600 and we need to close at 12:15. So please keep your questions and answers concise. I'd like 223 00:29:31.600 --> 00:29:38.560 to follow on from what my colleague said. So doesn't digital sovereignty show that Germany 224 00:29:38.560 --> 00:29:45.120 has to become more French? So the chancellor said yesterday that he was hesitant to actually take 225 00:29:45.120 --> 00:29:54.480 over this French term and that actually France is already advanced on many of these areas. they 226 00:29:54.480 --> 00:30:00.720 have attacks on digital and some other areas. So to be a bit more provocative or to phrase it in a 227 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:04.960 more provocative way, do we need to become more French and less American? That's one question. 228 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:10.720 The second one is the capital markets union. So I know that both of you are not in charge of this, 229 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:17.520 but it's a project that has been delayed for 20 years and how should startups actually develop 230 00:30:17.520 --> 00:30:22.320 confidence in the fact that this is going to happen at some point? Can you give us 231 00:30:22.320 --> 00:30:31.680 any time frame for this because as I said this has been going on for 20 years now. 232 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:45.680 Should should I do this? Okay. So, first of all, there's a lot we can learn from France a 233 00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:51.200 lot that we can perhaps copy and I hope that other countries can learn something from us 234 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:58.400 and copy from us but at the same time it's ne it's necessary to actually work together 235 00:30:58.400 --> 00:31:05.520 in friendship and we need to find our own ways a way that works for us so what we can learn from 236 00:31:05.520 --> 00:31:13.440 France is their way of actually addressing these issues in a very determined Okay. 237 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:20.560 So less of something else and more to protect ourselves. Well, I'm team innovation. I want 238 00:31:20.560 --> 00:31:28.880 to move forward. Our freedom, our growth will depend on the extent to which we will be leaders 239 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:34.560 on technology. This is what it's about from my point of view. And this means that if we want 240 00:31:34.560 --> 00:31:41.280 to be leaders on technology, if we want to have greater confidence in German European companies, 241 00:31:41.280 --> 00:31:47.680 then there will be also more choice and if we have more companies that way we will have 242 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:53.040 more companies that can actually become scale-ups and that will again generate more choice. So it's 243 00:31:53.040 --> 00:32:00.640 about innovation and we've talked about time. So we've seen too little happen in the past 10 to 20 244 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:06.720 years. So as far as the capital markets union is concerned, well it's something that we are highly 245 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:13.520 involved in. I can't give you a time frame but there's a very intense debate and I think that 246 00:32:13.520 --> 00:32:21.360 we will manage to do it because time is really running out and we've been talking about this for 247 00:32:21.360 --> 00:32:27.040 10 to 15 or 20 years and now we expect everything to happen within six or nine months and this goes 248 00:32:27.040 --> 00:32:35.120 across all areas defense infrastructure just take your pick we can take any given subject and I'll 249 00:32:35.120 --> 00:32:42.480 tell you well we are taking this very seriously in particular the issue on innovation. So we know 250 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:51.040 that we are more dependent on other things but well it's it's something that's the reason is 251 00:32:51.040 --> 00:32:56.240 that for the past 15 to 20 years we haven't done enough and we are really addressing this. We want 252 00:32:56.240 --> 00:33:01.520 to fight for this and it will also happen in this area. yesterday and I'm soon going to close. We 253 00:33:01.520 --> 00:33:09.120 had a great meeting with very very powerful startup entrepreneurs. some of them of very 254 00:33:09.120 --> 00:33:16.560 big startups and they've talked about financing and we are talking to the ministries involved and 255 00:33:16.560 --> 00:33:22.080 we're working on this and of course I would wish that everything would just happen in a moment and 256 00:33:22.080 --> 00:33:28.960 in a blink but we're working on this as hard as we can and innovation really is the key and 257 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:33.520 it's always the key and this is something we can learn from France well we can always learn from 258 00:33:33.520 --> 00:33:46.400 France Um do you have something to add? I would just like to give to add some precision to this. 259 00:33:46.400 --> 00:33:52.480 So the German the Franco-German partnership is something that has shown that we have a lot more 260 00:33:52.480 --> 00:34:01.760 in common than we actually differ on and this is something I would simply like to underline. 261 00:34:01.760 --> 00:34:06.720 So the state as an anchor customer, is this something that you think is 262 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:12.720 desirable? Should it work the way that it works in Schleswig-Holstein for instance, 263 00:34:12.720 --> 00:34:21.600 so that you actually throw Microsoft out? Well, thank you for this question. 264 00:34:21.600 --> 00:34:29.280 Well, when I talk about exits, I like to talk about new starts and OpenDesk is something that 265 00:34:29.280 --> 00:34:33.920 we are actually looking at very closely. We're using it at our ministry. We're inviting other 266 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:39.520 ministries to do so as well. And the question is how can we actually start something new and what 267 00:34:39.520 --> 00:34:45.200 Schleswig-Holstein is doing is very interesting. We are in close dialogue with them about this. 268 00:34:45.200 --> 00:34:52.800 We are already working with Senec. We're working we're having project side support. We also look 269 00:34:52.800 --> 00:35:00.880 at development capacity and in some other areas we need to add some more capacity. So what can 270 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:08.720 we actually do to get this project scaled up more quickly and this is a very important issue that is 271 00:35:08.720 --> 00:35:15.280 also being worked at in parallel to everything else. And of course, we would like to have 272 00:35:15.280 --> 00:35:21.200 projects and programs that we can actually shape and that might even be better. And my ministry 273 00:35:21.200 --> 00:35:29.200 has made available the necessary resources and we will also actively use it, promote it. Thank you 274 00:35:29.200 --> 00:35:34.640 very much. Unfortunately, I have to close this press conference now. Um, you can send us any 275 00:35:34.640 --> 00:35:40.080 additional questions and as per usual, we will answer them in a very reliable way. Thank you 276 00:35:40.080 --> 00:35:45.120 very much for your interest. I would also like to say goodbye to our viewers on the screen.