Dear speech-fans and -friends,
‘It's a little late, perhaps, for new year’s resolutions.
But I'd like to suggest that we all make one anyway: To do our bit to
help Europeans get involved in building a bright future for Europe.’
This quote is from EU Commissioner Margrethe
Vestager, in her Competition and the future of Europe speech, delivered on 17
January 2018.
We the speech-fans and -friends do our bit through writing and promoting great speeches. You'll find this speech and many more good quotes and speeches on logospathosethos.eu
Enjoy the latest selection - and keep the resolution.
Best wishes,
Great speeches,
Isabelle
Ethos
The world is changing. But that doesn't mean the right
way to respond is by changing our Union. By creating new institutions, drafting
new treaties, producing new legislation by the barrowload.
All those things might seem to carry the stamp of action.
But they won't necessarily make people's lives better or help us play a more
forceful global role. And the measure of our success in facing up to the future
shouldn't be how much we change our institutions, but how much we change
people’s lives, and improve everyone’s opportunities.
Read the full
speech here: Margrethe Vestager, Competition and the future of Europe, 17
January 2018
Ethos and pathos combined
Calling to memory past matters (also known as
anamnesis)
Who, if
not you – the descendants of Spartacus, the inheritors of the oldest
European statehood, you, who never ever lost a flag in any battle – would be
better placed to rise to this important and exceptionally difficult task, that
is to renew the European perspective for the whole of the region?
Proving a statement by referring to common knowledge (also known as apodixis)
What makes our European
economies strong is the Single Market. The British know this well, since it was
the main reason why they joined the EEC in 1972.
Read the full speech here: Michel Barnier, Trends Manager of the
year 2017, 9 January 2018
(English translation below, French and Spanish translations on the
website)
"Concordia domi foris pax" – "Eintracht innen, draußen Friede" (...) "Eintracht innen" – das ist eine Herausforderung in fast allen Demokratien. Aber nicht nur dort. Die Polarisierung vieler Gesellschaften, wachsende Unversöhnlichkeit von politischen Gegnern und eine größer werdende Distanz zwischen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen sind mir auf Reisen im In- und Ausland immer wieder begegnet. Der Druck der Globalisierung und die veränderte Debattenkultur im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung stellen den inneren Zusammenhalt unserer Gesellschaften auf die Probe.
"Concordia domi foris pax" – "harmony inside, peace outside" (…) Ensuring "harmony inside" is a challenge in almost all democracies. On my travels both in Germany and abroad, I have seen again and again the polarisation of many societies, growing irreconcilability between political opponents and increasing distance between social groups. The pressures of globalisation and the changed culture of debate in the digital age are putting our societies’ internal cohesion to the test.
Par un habile renversement, le
mensonge se drape des atours de la vérité cachée au peuple (...). Et la charge de la preuve est inversée
: là où les journalistes doivent prouver sans cesse ce qu’ils disent – ce qui
est l’éthique même de leur métier, ils doivent montrer qu’ils disent ou
écrivent le vrai –, les propagateurs de fausses nouvelles crient à la face du
monde : « À vous de prouver que nous avons tort ! »
Lisez
le discours intégral: Emmanuel Macron, Voeux à la presse, 4 janvier 2018
Adding one example to another to another
This year, I do not want to talk only about the space
industry per se but about all other industries - enabled by space.
The digital market depends on Galileo’s geo-localisation
services
Copernicus allows to track the shipment of goods along
European highways thanks to satellites’ imagery. It therefore enhances the
integration of the internal market.
The safety of our aviation industry is much owed to the
EGNOS technology. 2017 was the safest year in aviation history, despite more
difficult weather conditions of recent years. EGNOS V3 will increase even more
the precision in and around Europe.
Our security and the way we defend our borders, track
migration patterns and provide emergency aid in remote areas - are all
significantly reinforced by space services
I haven't even mentioned the contribution of satellites
to our financial services which now have a precise stamping time on
transactions.
I could go on and on but you see my point. We speak about
space as an industry where it definitely has its own merits. But we should
always remind ourselves that space is an enabler to practically all other
industries. That is my first message for you today.
Adding one example to another to another
in a sequence of increasing force (also known as auxesis),
building a climax
The figures are telling:
where the US invests in developing one type of tank, in
Europe we have 17 different types.
While the US have 4 different frigates, in Europe we have
29.
For jet fighters, it is 6 versus 20.
A reporter once remarked: this is an area where even
socks for soldiers have national specifications and are procured
nationally.(...)
There are surely good reasons for having different
national specifications and for doing things separately in defence, as in other
areas. But even more are there good reasons to do things together.
Rhetorical questions
I think
we can live with (the current situation), but it does not make any sense. So
that is why I want to concentrate on the procedure.
So what
should be different?
The
biggest challenge for this (multi-annual budget framework) is to change in the attitude of the co-legislators.
Do we
only concentrate on the amount of money or do we concentrate on the content of
the budget?
I think
both are relevant, but you cannot take one over the other.
So, if I
was still the Prime Minister of my country, what I would do?
Read the full
speech here: Jyrki Katainen, A Budget for the EU27, 8 January 2018
Relate figures,
especially huuuuge figures, to people’s lives
We simply cannot understate the value of (peace) in
today's world. The value of sustainable peace, built in partnership, through
dialogue, respect, and mutual understanding. Last year, the estimated economic
costs of violence were over 14 trillion dollars – or almost 2,000 dollars for
every person on the planet.
**************************