Angela Merkel Quotes

Turning away Turkey from the EU would be a great, long-term - a century-long - error by Europe.

Norwegian legislation is more in conformity with the rules of the European Union than most member states.

We have to ask ourselves, is it really right that the E.U. should just continue to expand, conferring upon all new member states all the rights of membership?

And being in the EU has given Britain a stronger voice in the world. Britain leads in Europe, from trade to climate change, from good governance to debt relief for the poorest nations, and in turn Europe helps to lead the world.

Twenty-seven member states cannot even organise a takeaway curry, let alone what they are going to do on free trade deals with the rest of the world.

70 percent of Turkey’s citizens favored the EU; today it is only 50 percent. If you ask if they want Turkey to become an EU member, 60 to 65 percent still say yes. But if you ask: Do you believe Europe will accept Turkey, 60 percent say no.

At the core of the European Union must be, as it is now, the single market. Britain is at the heart of that Single Market, and must remain so.

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.

As somebody who campaigned to leave the EU, I believe we have a bright future ahead of us- but we have to get it right.

I put my money on Brexit. The EU Financial Stability Commissioner, Jonathan Hill from Britain, still owes me a pound.

Yesterday's shining heroes of Brexit have become the sorrowful heroes of today.

[on Brexit] It's time for change. I just hope the right people give the right leadership.

While we're members of the European Union, we don't have an immigration policy. We can't have an immigration policy. It's a charade for people to pretend we do.

I think that the Brexit negotiations have to be a big thing that determines the democratic fight-back and galvanizes democratic Europe again against this rising tide of nationalism.

I think the longer Britain is in Europe the better.

I had no intention of returning into the British political debate, really at all, even though I've obviously got very strong views on it, until Brexit happened, because I think Brexit is a destiny-changing decision for my country.

unlike other countries, we're not skeptical at all when it comes to EU expansion. In fact, we are in favor of admitting Ukraine and Turkey. In this sense, one can hardly say that we are focusing unilaterally on our own national interests. Austria, for example, has held up the negotiations for Turkey's admission to the EU. Why am I against deeper involvement in the EU? There are several reasons for that.

Turkey will "inevitably" join the EU in our lifetime unless we vote to leave.

We must also take this opportunity to learn from the situation [of Brexit], just as we learned from the refugee and debt crises.

Just as I believe that Britain should want to remain in the EU so the EU should want us to stay.

I want the European Union to be a success. And I want a relationship between Britain and the EU that keeps us in it.

Britain could make her own way in the world, outside the EU, if we chose to do so. So could any other Member State. But the question we will have to ask ourselves is this: is that the very best future for our country? We will have to weigh carefully where our true national interest lies.

You do not need to be in the single market we do not need that we are the word's fifth biggest economy. Most economies can agree free trade deals within two years the EU is taking 10 years or never at all, why?

The two key words for the European Union are creativity and fruitfulness. That's the challenge.

The Financial Times is pro-British membership of the European Union. We have taken that position for decades. But we are not starry-eyed about the European Union. And we do not believe and have not believed for at least 10 years that Britain should be part of the euro.