By common consent, most European countries support the maintenance of robust welfare states and are comfortable with taxation systems that support them.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Over time, Europeans have come to rely on governments to protect them from the rougher facets of private enterprise and to look after them in old age.
The countries of Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the necessary prosperity and social development. The European states must constitute themselves into a federation.
European citizens expect that there will be also a fair system inside the European Union and in the euro, and that's why we have to have quite hard discipline.
I see four principles as laying the foundations for the kind of economic recovery Europe needs: fairness, efficiency, solidarity and growth.
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.
Of course the EU and member states must work to ensure that people moving from one country to another understand their obligations and their rights in areas like health, road safety and further education.
The Europeans governments have massively changed the landscape in Europe. There is no doubt about it. They have put together the European Financial Stability Fund. They have discussed and approved the European Stability Mechanism.
But what sets Europe apart is we insist on a social model that consists of solidarity, equal opportunity and a certain amount of redistribution.
Europe has a lot of strength. We need to pool that strength, and I am very much in favour of that - more of a deeper political union.
The majority of decisions in Europe are done by unanimity. That's why it is important to be to have good relations with all parts.
No opposing quotes found.