We are living through an epochal shift. If we aren't careful, the elementary foundations of our pluralistic democracy will be threatened.

I am strictly against making cuts in the current budgetary period for things such as research funding and investments as a reaction to Brexit. I think that we can do an excellent job of explaining this to the German people.

European policy is always an interplay of rationality and emotion.

Primary responsibility for Brexit lies with British conservatives, who took an entire continent hostage.

Imagine a German as president of the European Commission. If he or she goes to some particular country and says do this or that, it won't be very well received. The president quickly ends up being the evil German. But if the president is elected by and controlled by 700 representatives from all EU countries, that legitimizes him or her in a very different way.

People who work hard for their money cannot be placed in a worse position that those who allow their money to work for them.

We have committed ourselves to pursue joint policies, but then national governments say, "We aren't bound by that." That is a dramatic situation, because solidarity is a basic principle that cannot be had on an à la carte basis. If we have rules that nobody adheres to, then the community will break apart.