Jean-Claude Juncker Quotes

It is impossible to build Europe on only deregulation ...

We have direct elections for the European Parliament. We have the [European] Commission that is independent from the member states. Of course we all belong to a country, but we are independent from our governments.

The EU aspired to transcend nation-states, but its fatal flaw has been its consistent failure to recognize the persistence of national differences and the importance of addressing threats on its frontiers. One consequence of this oversight has been the rise of political parties that aim to restore national autonomy, often by appealing to far-right, populist, and sometimes xenophobic sentiments

I think that each country must protect its own borders, and that is why I'm simply asking for the abolition of Schengen.

Europe must act quickly where it's needed and must, once and for all, let member states handle what is their exclusive domain.

As the Eurozone takes steps towards closer fiscal and economic integration, and as the E.U. continues to develop, we need to be absolutely clear when it is most appropriate to take decisions at the national or local level, closer to the people affected, and in other cases when it is best to take action at the E.U. or global level.

The issue of migration has played a key role in all of our member states, wherever we are. Only we, as a European Union, can convince our citizens that we do have an answer to this - not deny migration, not pretend you can solve it by building fences and walls, not pretending we can solve it by letting everybody in.

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.

I hope that we increasingly shift power to local governments.

I do not have the slightest bit of confidence in the European Union to protect the borders of the European Union.

In my eight years as governor, I did everything I could to resist federal control of issues that belong to the states.

Republicans believe that problems are best solved at the level closest to the people and that the nation's strength comes from the diversity of its people, not from an all-powerful central government.

States know better than the federal government how to allocate and manage resources to address the needs of their people.

Schengen cannot survive without the most dramatic reform, and the external borders of Europe must be rapidly strengthened.

Soros wants to fill Italy and Europe with migrants.

We need to fight to prove to people that it is possible to form an E.U. migration policy that is in line with the Hungarian national interest.

We are looking at how you change the relationship between central and local government and how to use public resources to the best effect at the local level.

Between the summer of 2015 and spring 2016, Austria became one of the European countries most affected by the migration and refugee crisis.

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.

The final objective is not to distribute the migrants among various European countries but to prevent them from entering Europe and from departing from Africa. We need to intervene in Africa. We need to have a Marshall Plan for Africa to improve living conditions in the countries of origin.

A Europe without internal borders can only exist if it has functioning external borders.

Fellow conservatives, particularly within the Republican Party, typically do a good job arguing against totalitarian, one-size-fits-all approaches to policy. What works for a family in New York City might not work in Jenison, Michigan, or Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Whoever boards a boat and tries to enter Europe illegally has ruined his chances of gaining asylum in Europe and will be sent back.

There is a clear link between illegal migrants coming to Europe and the spread of terrorism.

Europe can't take in huge masses of foreign people in an unlimited, uncontrolled manner.