Watch the first part of Talk of Paris, Ulysse Gosset's interview with Bono.

The G8 Summit, which will be held in Japan this July, is the next stop for anti-poverty crusader Bob Geldof: “I will be in Tokyo, again, and I will ask the political leaders to keep their commitments.”  Never one to give up, the singer points out that the commitments made at these huge conferences are not always implemented: “In 2005, the richest economies promised to double their aid to Africa before 2010… as of today, only 14% of the promised aid has actually been granted.”

Bob Geldof knows the important role the European Union plays in the development of Africa. He has called on the next president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to “lead the European fight against poverty.”

Modernising Europe’s institutions represents another challenge for France’s European presidency, the native Dubliner acknowledges as he tries to explain the Irish ‘No’ vote: “People in France or Ireland feel disconnected from what happens in Brussels. People do not want to be told what to think in language that is hard to understand.”

But if the institutional crisis threatens the EU, Bob Geldof remains optimistic and calls upon his fellow Europeans: “Do not be afraid of globalisation. The world is going through a difficult economic time but remember that we live in the richest continent that ever existed.”