I'm just one generation between someone who cheered when Germans were burning and someone who doesn't even know that there is a border. That's a miracle - really is a miracle - and it gets me really emotional.
— Frans Timmermans
Responsible politicians should never indulge in nostalgia - it is too much of a distraction at a time when a rapidly changing world throws up so many challenges, when we need to keep our wits about us.
The Treaty of Lisbon gave the European parliament a stronger role as co-legislator and the European Council its own president. Furthermore, the treaty introduced checks on subsidiarity - the concept that decisions should be taken as close as possible to the citizens - in an effort to cut back on unnecessary rules and regulations.
For me, arguably, the European Parliament is the best-functioning European institution. They are extremely good at law-making; they're extremely good at finding compromise under pressure.
We need to be able to answer not yesterday's challenges but to tomorrow's challenges.
The German car industry has a clear vision of the necessity of stability in the continent that goes beyond selling cars. For Germany, the economy is an instrument in a much wider issue of stability in continental Europe and overcoming the mistakes of the past.
Since when is politics consistent?
For all its shortcomings, European co-operation and integration has created an understanding of shared destiny. We no longer point guns at each other; we fight it out at a conference table. And we will continue to do so when the U.K. is no longer a member state but, I hope, still a friend.
Europeans distrust a Europe that overpromises and underdelivers.
I think the E.U. means different things to different countries. In the U.K., traditionally, if you know anything about the U.K.'s history and its relationship with the E.U., it is about the common market; it's about being part of something that is good for jobs and growth.
One of the principles upon which the E.U. is built is the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.
If Europe does not understand that our sister continent, Africa, a stone's throw away, is going to face a demographic explosion, if there is no real economic and political restructuring, if we do not understand we have a collective responsibility for Africa, there is not a fence high enough to stop people coming to Europe.
The main actors on the world stage are the size of continents, be they nation states or voluntary groupings of nation states such as the E.U. Nostalgia can help us ignore these harsh realities for a while, but it will not make them go away.
The U.K. is leaving the E.U. but not Europe.
The Netherlands believes in a vigorous Europe with a commission that is independent and robust.
Being part of the E.U. in Poland means that for the first time in a millennium, nobody disputes Poland's borders, and it brought a level of freedom that Poland has never known before.
Is it not in human nature sometimes, based on the facts that you now know, to reconsider?
Plastic waste is undeniably a big issue, and Europeans need to act together to tackle this problem because plastic waste ends up in our air, our soil, our oceans, and in our food.
