Frans Timmermans Quotes

I am not, never have been, and never will be a politician. But I want to tell you the United States has always been proud of having the support of the United Kingdom, of keeping Britain in Europe. We need Britain in Europe.

Britain is a European power. We cannot change our geography. Our involvement in the politics of European cooperation is one of necessity. Our wealth and our security depend upon it.

Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or a very remote relation, hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

I do not want Britain to turn its back on Europe or the rest of the world.

We believe that government in Britain should be working to restore our reputation on the international stage after Iraq and engage better within Europe.

In an era of billion-person countries and trillion-pound economies, we need to find ways to amplify our voice. We are most likely to be heard when the Chinese negotiate with a £10 trillion E.U., not a £1.5 trillion Britain.

I am not a British isolationist. I don't just want a better deal for Britain. I want a better deal for Europe too.

In Europe it is particularly important that we build good relations to everyone who holds political responsibility because Europe can only be build together.

It does not seem to me that the steps which would be needed to make Britain - and others - more comfortable in their relationship in the European Union are inherently so outlandish or unreasonable.

In a world where global politics is no longer a zero-sum game, it is - or should be - counterintuitive to pursue one's interests without considering the interests of others.

To be influential in tomorrow's world, to defend our values and our development model, France needs Europe and Europe needs France.

We must stop posing as victims of the West and behaving negatively towards the West. We must participate with the West on an equal footing in the reconstruction of the world.

Today we will find most nations to be both our partners and our adversaries—sometimes simultaneously.

… we have learned to live securely, in peace and mutual prosperity among our Asian and Pacific neighbors. We will not be cut off from our British and European cultures and traditions or from those economies. On the contrary, the more engaged we are economically and politically with the region around us, the more value and relevance we bring to those old relationships. Far from putting our identity at risk, our relationships with the region will energize it.

Europe needs us just as much as we need Europe and it's time to stop fiddling for a solution, it's time to implement the solution.

Whichever country we are talking to, we are concerned with economic cooperation, how to deepen our mutual dependence, how to find new areas of win-win.

China and the U.S. need each other very badly. Yes, we should argue about some things, but it's not an 'us versus them,' it's an 'us and them' type scenario.

I hope that we will find a solution that leaves Britain as a partner in a lot of the European activities that we need them to be a partner in.

The most important thing is that Europe has to remain united.

The U.K. is much stronger as a part of Europe, and Europe is much stronger with the U.K. as a driving force.

At the European table, we are systematically the most determined to advance a strategy of increased cooperation.

I'm a big believer in Europe.

Universities have a big role to play... making it very clear to their counterparts, their networks, that the U.K. is not walking away from the world. We still value multilateral cooperation, we still see the EU as a significant partner.

I think that U.K. together with Europe will be stronger, and I also think Europe with U.K. will be stronger.

If there is one thing Britain should learn from the last 50 years, it is this: Europe can only get more important for us.