Every country in the E.U. should make a personnel and a financial contribution in that area. We shouldn't leave alone countries like Italy and Greece that have external borders; rather, we must make the external borders safe together.
Europe needs an engine, and the Franco-German motor has provided that when the two nations have converged on important topics during critical periods. But that partnership shouldn't be a directorate for other EU members.
In fighting the debt crisis, E.U. countries have enhanced co-operation and carried out reform with tremendous courage. This is laudable.
Collective European Union action could mean no hiding places for evaders, no safe haven for tax avoiders, and no treasure islands for money launderers.
Austria can only be strong if we are not just members of the European Union but also actively help to strengthen the European Union.
We need a change of course in the European Union. The most important is the focus on the big questions and a European Union that steps back on the small questions.
Norway has a relationship with the EU which is very close. It has to accept most EU rules. It has to pay EU membership fees. It has free movement of people just like other EU countries, but it's not actually in the EU.
The U.K. and Ireland are like-minded on E.U. matters, and the process of working together in Brussels has built an immense store of knowledge, personal relationships, and trust between our governments.
Turkey must feel at ease. It mustn't say, 'For me, it's the European Union at all costs.' That's my view.
I am critical of the fact that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is pulling out of everything - the joint approach to the refugee issue, for example. He cannot disparage his colleagues in the EU either - that's not how we treat each other. We require solidarity: in refugee policies, just as in the financial architecture of the structural funds from which countries like Hungary have strongly profited from for years.
