Angela Merkel did the right thing. Her decision and the extraordinary willingness of the German people to take in refugees conveyed an image of Germany that is still having positive repercussions today. Unfortunately, people in Germany are no longer seeing that.

Now it is firstly a matter of a clean divorce, because citizens and companies need legal certainty. Can there be a new partnership with the United Kingdom one day? All 27 Member States would have to agree to that. And the United Kingdom would first have to reflect on what it wants itself.

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

If someone complains about Europe from Monday to Saturday then nobody is going to believe him on Sunday when he says he is a convinced European.

My friendship with Martin [Schulz], by contrast, is completely different in that it goes far beyond politics.

Yesterday's shining heroes of Brexit have become the sorrowful heroes of today.

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.