I am for secret, dark debates.

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

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

There is a distorted perception of what goes on in Brussels. No one reports on the Commission taking a hundred initiatives from its predecessor off the table in order to shift competencies back to member state governments.

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.

Many in Germany are saying that Macron should be helped. That's also how I see it. But Germany cannot solve France's problems. The French president and his government will have to seriously knuckle down in order to pull France out of its slump.

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.