It's important to recognize that we in Europe will either succeed together or fail together.

In politics, there are different categories of friendship. My friendship with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, for example .

I note that many British MEPs belonging to the UK Independence Party (UKIP) have used all their time in Parliament to work against the institution of which they are members. I would not presume to advise them on what they should or should not do. However, since the UK could not leave the EU fast enough as far as they were concerned, I can imagine that they will not stay any longer than they have to.

I have changed the focus of the work of my Commission so that we no longer concern ourselves with trivial details and concentrate on the key issues instead. By doing that, we met a large number of the legitimate demands made by the British people. The Commission really did do everything it could to create the conditions for a positive campaign.

With their charm and legendary sense of humor, the British directly or indirectly paved the way for a large number of European compromises.

In Europe, even more so than in national politics, we have to follow the principle laid down by Martin Luther: Use language that the people will understand, but don't just tell them what they want to hear.

As a human being I am personally saddened, as I have a great deal of respect for the large number of British colleagues I have worked with over the years. That is why I personally invested countless hours, days and nights, in negotiating a fair deal for the United Kingdom.