Wolfgang Schauble
In the long term, Germany didn't need a finance minister who was absent during important negotiations in the European Council. But the chancellor strongly encouraged me to stay. And everything did work out for the best in the end.Collection: Finance
As for the role of France and Germany: French politics is often more self-confident then German politics due to the catastrophe in the first half of the last century. If Berlin and Paris don't agree, then it is difficult to make progress in Europe.Collection: Politics
I would caution against fueling cheap populism. First of all, every German who has spent a vacation in Greece knows that the standard of living there isn't higher than it is in Germany. Second, Greece is paying a high price for European assistance.
If you are prepared to run for public office, you also have to be willing to accept a debate about you.
Greece's debts are all denominated in euros, but it isn't clear who holds how much of those debts. For that reason, the consequences of a national bankruptcy would be incalculable. Greece is just as systemically important as a major bank.
I would wish for more British involvement in Europe, not less.
There are several silver linings on the horizon. The current account deficits in Spain and Portugal are declining because they have become more competitive and they're exporting more.
Crisis and pressure help foster change - that's why I'm not so pessimistic towards crises.
If we were to have a presidential election in Europe it would be an event that would spark a huge interest in people from Lisbon to Helsinki, just like national elections. And it would create a completely different political setting in Europe.
The presidency of the Euro group is an interesting and important task.
As a wheelchair user, you can't move about freely. That's the only thing that bothers me a little. When I'm in the Euro Group in Brussels, colleagues who want to talk to me have to come to me. But I hope they know that this has nothing to do with arrogance.
Politics means competition, especially in senior positions. If you don't know that, you're not especially suited to politics.
We cannot allow the bankruptcy of a euro member state like Greece to turn into a second Lehman Brothers.
It is true that no member state can be required to make payments to others. But if countries want to offer voluntary assistance, as in the Greek case, this isn't only allowed, but it's also in Germany's interest. We all benefit by ensuring the stability of the euro zone.
I think there will be no government bankruptcy in Greece.
My private financial situation is such that I don't need to worry about my investments. I don't have much to invest.
Even when one is doing well, one still worries that things might go badly again in the future. This is an old observation based on human experience.
This much is true: When we created the euro, it wasn't possible to create a political union along with it. People weren't ready for that. But since then, they've grown more willing to go in that direction. It's a process, one that is sometimes laborious and sometimes slow. But it's important to keep the populations involved.
I've been a politician long enough to know that every year will find us living in a situation that one couldn't have imagined a year previously. Sometimes it's better than we imagined, sometimes it's not as good.
Europe should speak more effectively and clearly with one voice in the world.
Germany has always stood for an E.U. of the 27 countries. But in light of Britain's continued resistance to further integration steps, as we saw with the fiscal pact, there are limits to my optimism in this regard. It's quite possible that we will have to create the new institutions for the euro zone first.
Mr. Geithner is an excellent minister. We have a good personal relationship.
The United States lived on borrowed money for too long, inflating its financial sector unnecessarily and neglecting its small and mid-sized industrial companies.
The German export successes are not the result of some sort of currency manipulation, but of the increased competitiveness of companies. The American growth model, on the other hand, is in a deep crisis.
Reliability is the precondition for trust.Collection: Reliability
History shows us a lot of things. It shows why the Lord's Prayer includes the supplication: "And lead us not into temptation." In my day, dissertations were still written by hand, or drummed out with a typewriter. In the past, you had to round up the literature, find the books and find the passages. Nowadays you click on Wikipedia or Google and you have everything you need. This probably makes it more difficult to resist temptation.Collection: Prayer
If you live beyond your means and have to restructure as a result, you pay a price.Collection: Mean
My job is not to predict everything that might happen in the future, but to address what we can do today.Collection: Jobs
You can lead a happy life if you recognize that it's limited and completely unpredictable from one moment to the next.Collection: Happy Life
Our balanced budget has an important psychological function. It is a signal that we can't continue to constantly take on debt.Collection: Important
During the centuries-long process of Reformation and Enlightenment, Christian churches had to accept some things they didn't like. Islam will have to do the same; otherwise it isn't part of Europe.Collection: Christian
I don't want to change Islam, but if there is to be a European Islam, it must incorporate European values.Collection: Islam
Europe has grown through crises. Each crisis also presents opportunities, and Europe has emerged stronger from each one. That is the way history unfolds. Europe is sometimes slow, and it reacts sluggishly, but it is capable of finding solutions.Collection: Opportunity
Most of the mosques were built in our cities in recent years because Turkish citizens in those neighborhoods feel a growing need for places to pray.Collection: Years
If we want to avoid a clash of cultures - and the jury is still out on whether we can - we'll have to make different cultures and religions compatible with the universal nature of human rights and tolerance. But I can promise you this: Anyone who calls me an infidel at the conference will be in for a fight.Collection: Fighting
As a wheelchair user, you cant move about freely. Thats the only thing that bothers me a little. When Im in the Euro Group in Brussels, colleagues who want to talk to me have to come to me. But I hope they know that this has nothing to do with arrogance.Collection: Moving
I don't want to interpret the pope's words, especially as I am one of those horrible people who fell away from the Roman church after Martin Luther.Collection: People
If you make the state responsible for everything, you shouldn't be surprised when you end up with a state that bears some resemblance to a dictatorship.Collection: Bears
It has been clear for some time now that we have to do more for domestic and external security. I am prepared for that.Collection: Clear
Many things can happen very quickly in times of crisis.Collection: Times Of Crisis
If there are possibilities for strengthening investments, they will not fail because of us. Emmanuel Macron is right when he says that we need to do more and talk less.Collection: Failing
We need more personnel within our security agencies.Collection: Agency
I'm a firm believer in the monetary union.Collection: Unions
I can't think of many other laws we might need. For now, though, we'll be talking to German Muslims over issues of coexistence.Collection: Thinking
We know that the abilities of European Union member states are not infinite. As such, it makes little sense for us to criticize each other.All of us accepted Sweden's decision to introduce border controls too. And that is a country that was for decades the most open to immigration.Collection: Country
I suggested that countries with tighter finances think about such a [fuel] tax. We don't have the time at the moment for months of discussion.Collection: Country
If the Schengen system (of border-free travel) is destroyed, Europe will be seriously endangered politically and economically. That is why we Europeans have to invest billions in Turkey, Libya, Jordan and other countries in the region as quickly as possible everybody as much as they can.Collection: Country
In the EU, we agree that the pressures causing migration must be reduced.Collection: Migration
For Martin Schulz, the chancellor candidate for the center-left Social Democrats, friendly wishes don't go far enough. He would like to see much more enthusiastic support for Emmanuel Macron than that shown by Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose comments so far have tended to be reserved. As she put it, she doesn't see a need to change her policies because of Macron.Collection: Support