Jean-Claude Juncker

“Of course Brexit means that something is wrong in Europe. But Brexit means also that something was wrong in Britain.”

“Europe must not distance itself from Africa's universal ambitions.”

“In 1913 many believed that there would never again be a war in Europe. The great powers of the continent were so closely intertwined economically that the view was widespread that they could no longer afford to have military confrontations.”

“I believe that if we don't offer legal ways of emigrating to Europe and immigrating within Europe, we will be lost. If those who come - who are, generally speaking, the poor and needy - are no longer able to enter the house of Europe through the front door, they'll keep making their way in through the back windows.”

“Being described as a stupid bureaucrat with no link to representative democracy is difficult to take.”

“I have met in my life two big destroyers: Gorbachev, who destroyed the Soviet Union, and Cameron, who destroyed the United Kingdom to some extent, even if there is no wave of Scotland to become independent.”

“No, we should not be afraid of the populists; we should embrace those they are fighting.”

“Anyone who believes that the eternal question of war and peace in Europe is no longer there risks being deeply mistaken.”

“In a union of equals, there can be no second-class consumers. I will not accept that in some parts of Europe, people are sold food of lower quality than in other countries, despite the packaging and branding being identical.”

“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.”

“The populists themselves are dangerous, but they are far more dangerous when the traditional, classic parties adopt their harmful proposals.”

“If we allow Catalonia - and it is none of our business - to separate, others will do the same. I do not want that.”

“As complicated and complex and as difficult as we are, the unity of Europe is a pre-condition for a better organized world, and if the European Union would fail or decompose, or other members left, the U.S. would have a more difficult role to play in the world.”

“My main concern is to protect people from detriment.”

“However painful or regrettable Brexit may be, it will not stop the E.U. as it moves to the future; we need to move forward.”