My main concern is to protect people from detriment.

I have no doubt that the U.S., even under Trump, will stick to the mutual defense commitment in the NATO treaty in the event of an emergency. Trump described NATO as being obsolete during his election campaign, but he made clear afterward that he considers the alliance to be an indispensable necessity.

I believe neither the French nor the Dutch really rejected the constitutional treaty.

You can consider this carved in stone: I rule out becoming Herman Van Rompuy's successor.

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.

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.

We must also take this opportunity to learn from the situation [of Brexit], just as we learned from the refugee and debt crises.