Jean-Claude Juncker Quotes

When the going gets tough, you have to lie.

When it becomes serious, you have to lie.

I'm ready to be insulted as being insufficiently democratic, but I want to be serious ... I am for secret, dark debates.

One shouldn't pursue the wrong policies just because one is afraid of not being reelected. Those who intend to govern have to take responsibility for their countries and for Europe as a whole. This means, if need be, that they have to pursue the right policies, even if many voters think they are the wrong ones.

A united Europe is our Continent's only chance to avoid falling off the world's radar. The heads of government of Germany, France and the United Kingdom also know that their voice is only heard internationally because they speak through the megaphone of the European Union.

I believe neither the French nor the Dutch really rejected the constitutional treaty.

I notice with a certain sense of regret that far too many Europeans are returning to a regional and national mindset.

Decisions can only be reached in Europe if France and Germany agree.

In Europe, even more so than in national politics, we have to follow the principle laid down by Martin Luther: Use language that the people will understand, but don't just tell them what they want to hear.

It is not acceptable that European Union countries are divided into those who give and those who take.

I am chilled by the realization of how similar circumstances in Europe in 2013 are to those of 100 years ago.

It is not more Europe or less Europe that we need. We need a better Europe.

Since it took up office, the Commission which I lead has pursued a clear policy: we need less interference from Brussels when it comes to the things that Member States can deal with better on their own. That is why we no longer regulate oil cans or showerheads, but concentrate instead on what we can do better together rather than alone - such as tackling the refugee crisis or securing our external borders. Only in that way can we make people feel that Europe makes a tangible difference.

It's important to recognize that we in Europe will either succeed together or fail together.

I am for secret, dark debates.

We must go back to teach Europeans to love Europe.

I'm convinced that, in the long term, a monetary union includes a joint debt policy under strict, mutually agreed upon conditions.

But anyone who believes that the eternal issue of war and peace in Europe has been permanently laid to rest could be making a monumental error. The demons haven't been banished; they are merely sleeping, as the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo have shown us.

You can't deepen the European Union against the wishes of the European countries.

Much as I would have liked to respond factually and truthfully to each and every piece of misinformation spread by the Brexit campaign, it was important that I stayed out of the domestic political debate. It was David Cameron's task to win the UK referendum, not ours.

I have known a great many politicians who have not managed to stay in power for 16 years. I have nevertheless already managed to remain at the helm for 18 years. I still want to achieve a great many things for my country. Experience is not a disadvantage here, especially as the head of government of a small country in a European setting that has become more difficult.

You can consider this carved in stone: I rule out becoming Herman Van Rompuy's successor.

Article 50 governs the exit from the European Union and here there can also be no renegotiation.

God understands more about the financial markets than many who write about them.

The way some German politicians have lashed out at Greece when the country fell into the crisis has left deep wounds there. I was just as shocked by the banners of protesters in Athens that showed the German chancellor in a Nazi uniform.

The person who is ahead in the end will have the advantage.

The will of the British people must now be put into effect as quickly as possible. Under Article 50 of the EU Treaty the UK must leave the European Union within two years at the latest.

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

Trump is a partner for us who cannot be easily categorized. Putting it in the noblest way possible, his understanding of politics is a little different from ours here in Europe. The way he acts forces us Europeans to take on a new responsibility. We are not standing with our backs up against the wall, but, to put it as pithily as the German chancellor has: We can no longer rely on the U.S. the way we could in the past.

I have another explanation [of Brexit]: In its 43 years of EU membership, Britain has never been able to decide whether it wants to fully or only partially belong to the EU.

For my generation, the monetary union has always been about forging peace.

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.

My main concern is to protect people from detriment.

After 30 years in Brussels, I can tell you: The relationship between the Commission and the Parliament has probably never been as good as it is now.

I'm not deaf and the Commission isn't operating in a parallel world of legal texts.

Now people are criticizing Europe, the European Commission, Juncker and the whole lot because the distribution of refugees didn't succeed immediately. But you also have to recognize that close to 20,000 refugees have already been redistributed. There are only a few member states that do not want to take part.

During our religious instruction in school, we always asked: How can one prove the existence of God? And I have learned that the Catholic Church, which is never at a loss for an answer when it comes to existential questions, responds as follows: This question simply does not arise.

Greece is not a country that can be humiliated. It is a matter of finding an intersection between the reasonable elements of both sides [EU and Greece] which has to be done.

I was never presented with the details as far as the collective bargaining system is Greece. I am in favor of a normal system without giving the labour minister the right to extend the results to extend the result of the collective bargaining to the whole of the real economy. The government has to make sure that the results will not harm the situation of small and medium enterprises.

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.

Between now and then, after 43 years of European marriage, the whole body of legislation will therefore have to be disentangled. That entails a whole range of specific and very complex questions: what will be the future legal status of the millions of EU citizens in the UK and the millions of Britons on the continent?

Stories are invented: Juncker wants to introduce the euro everywhere or immediately deepen the EU - although I publicly stated the opposite that same day.

The European family may well be anything but perfect.

Without the Turkey agreement, tens of thousands of refugees would still be stuck in Greece. The Commission presented proposals for securing Europe's external borders early on, but they languished in the Council for months. As you can see, the Commission isn't asleep. Oftentimes it has to wake up the others.

You can't have euro bonds without more interconnection among the national budget policies.

It is always said that Europe is a project of the elite. That's incorrect.

We do not attract Russian money to Luxembourg with high interest rates.

The problem is: When two governments or institutions in Europe hold differing opinions, it is immediately a crisis.

I have always considered it to be a minor miracle that after the war, people in Europe's border regions were able to forget everything and, in accordance with the slogan "Never Again War," develop a program that still works today.

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