My aspiration is not to be loved. It is that my government be respected and credible.

There is no government in Europe where ministers go through that kind of confirmation process, which in fact is modeled on the way the U.S. cabinet members are confirmed.

This is certainly not the first case in which a merger approved in one place hasn't gone through in the other. There was a case last year where the merger between two EU companies was approved here and blocked in the U.S.

I believe that in Europe, we have a collective leadership.

If governments let themselves be fully bound by the decisions of their parliaments without protecting their own freedom to act, a breakup of Europe would be a more probable outcome than deeper integration.

I am certain that most Germans have instinctive liking for Italy, just as Italians admire Germans for their many qualities.

If the euro becomes a factor promoting Europe's drifting apart, then the foundation of the European project is destroyed.