Author: Laurent Brihay

Madam President, Secretary-General, Excellencies, My generation was raised with the idea that our children and grandchildren would be better off than us. But a cascade of crises has now set back progress towards our Sustainable Development Goals. First, the pandemic. Then Russia's war of aggression, with its devastating impact for global food and energy security. All of this with th...
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Hello, good afternoon, We have convened here the informal meeting of the [EU] Ministers for Foreign Affairs. This is a traditional meeting, we do that every year when all of us come to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings. As you know, the UN General Assembly is the high level, the high moment for the political life of the United Nations. Everybody is here. ...
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Today, the Commission held its second High-level Digital Dialogue with China. Co-chaired by Vera Jourova, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, and Vice-Premier of China, Zhang Guoqing, this dialogue hosted in Beijing covered key issues such as platforms and data regulation, Artificial Intelligence, research and innovation, cross-border flow of industrial data, or the safety of product...
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Today, we had a really useful Eurogroup meeting. It was great to be back with all of our colleagues in this inspirational setting where we all thanked Nadia Calviño for her hospitality and for the wonderful welcome that we have all received. Most of the meeting was taken by an extensive exchange of views with regard to economic developments. It is a varied picture across the euro area. Here in Sp...
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The Eurogroup today gave its support to the candidacy of Piero Cipollone to become the new member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board. Piero Cipollone is currently the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy. The Council is expected to formally adopt its recommendation to the European Council, composed of the heads of state and government, by the end of this month. The European Counc...
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Brussels, 15/09/2023. After the hottest months of June and July on record, following the climate disasters which occurred this summer, and before the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York, mobilizations will take place around the world from 15 to 17 September responding to the call of Fridays For Future and hundreds of international organizations united under the banner of Global Fight to End Fos...
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Mayor, Ladies and gentlemen, It happened exactly 1 year ago. On 16 September 2022 a young woman died in an Iranian hospital. Her friends knew her as Mahsa. To her family back home she was Jina. That was the name that her mother cried while sobbing at her grave. Jina, a beautiful Kurdish name. It means ‘life'. Mahsa ‘Jina' Amini had just turned 21 when she was killed by the Iranian mora...
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On the occasion of the International Day of Democracy, the European Union reaffirms its unwavering commitment to support and defend democracy, based on universal human rights, at home and beyond its borders. Democracy has transformed and improved societies around the globe. However, the erosion of democracy and human rights is a reality that spares no one. Russia's war of aggression ag...
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Today I have received a letter by the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom related to the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA). They recall that they had registered their concerns that Iran was not meeting its commitments under the JCPoA and had referred this matter to the Joint Commission under the JCPoA Dispute Resolution Mechanism (DRM),...
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