We cannot create jobs without company owners, the state cannot create jobs by decree.

We can't start dividing people up into categories. In the past, France has often committed the error of not speaking to everybody because there was a belief that some countries could be neglected.

The European community of values is unique: It combines democracy with the market economy, individual freedoms with social justice. How can we expect the U.S. or China to defend these values, this one-of-a-kind European balancing act that has developed over the course of decades?

Every country has its own diplomacy. Being part of Europe doesn't mean giving up one's independence or no longer being able to take the initiative.

Since 2005, when the French and the Dutch voted "no" on a constitution for Europe, nobody has developed a real project for the EU. And certainly not France. If there were ideas, they came from Wolfgang Schäuble or Joschka Fischer, and these German ideas were downright quashed by France. I want to put an end to that.

The U.S. is a great government, is a great country. The U.S. did sign the Paris Agreement. It's extremely aggressive to decide on its own just to leave, and no way to push the others to renegotiate because one decided to leave the floor. It doesn't fly. I think it's a big responsibility in front of history, and I'm pretty sure that my friend President Donald Trump will change his mind in the coming months or years. I do hope.

Ambition is never modest. If modesty means to have middling success, then I can only say: I'm not interested.