I'm always quite amazed that people in Europe become unnerved when two institutions or two people have different views.

I have a plan. It entails leading to a fair deal and relationship with the British. We will be reasonable, but we will also negotiate firmly and without gullibility. I believe we must come to an agreement for the people of Britain and the people on the Continent, but not under exclusively British terms.

The good thing about the European Union is that the joint project ultimately benefits all Member States and not just a few.

When the going gets tough, you have to lie.

For my generation, the monetary union has always been about forging peace.

I was never presented with the details as far as the collective bargaining system is Greece. I am in favor of a normal system without giving the labour minister the right to extend the results to extend the result of the collective bargaining to the whole of the real economy. The government has to make sure that the results will not harm the situation of small and medium enterprises.

The European family may well be anything but perfect.