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

During our religious instruction in school, we always asked: How can one prove the existence of God? And I have learned that the Catholic Church, which is never at a loss for an answer when it comes to existential questions, responds as follows: This question simply does not arise.

Between now and then, after 43 years of European marriage, the whole body of legislation will therefore have to be disentangled. That entails a whole range of specific and very complex questions: what will be the future legal status of the millions of EU citizens in the UK and the millions of Britons on the continent?

Decisions can only be reached in Europe if France and Germany agree.

In the highest government office, you have to be ready to bow out at any time, otherwise you are not a free individual anymore.

Without the Turkey agreement, tens of thousands of refugees would still be stuck in Greece. The Commission presented proposals for securing Europe's external borders early on, but they languished in the Council for months. As you can see, the Commission isn't asleep. Oftentimes it has to wake up the others.

I assumed office to bring the EU to a point from which there is no going back. Instead, I am having to unwind the EU to a certain extent.