We no longer have the pact from 1997; it was radically amended in 2005 and the Commission is applying this Stability Pact with wisdom and rationality.

I wouldn't like Greece to stay recession. I do think that everything has to be undertaken to reconnect with growth.

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

I am in favor of the European institutions being led for the next two-and-a-half years as they have been thus far. We need stability.

There is a proposal to divide the currency zone into a north and a south euro. There is also the idea of setting up a core monetary union in the middle of Europe. I disapprove of these debates. Instead, we should devote all of our efforts to supplementing the monetary union with a political union.

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.

With hindsight, it is always easy to blame everyone else.