Top 42 Quotes & Sayings by Jose Manuel Barroso

The euro area must not be treated as an 'opt out' from the European Union.

My mother wanted me to be a professor, because I have several people in my family who are professors at university.

What people call serendipity sometimes is just having your eyes open.

I believe that Europe without Britain at the heart will be less reform-driven, less open, less international Europe.

Even when governments take the right steps to reform, these can be negatively impacted by events outside their control.

By the way, the European Union Member States together - even the euro area Member States together - are by far the biggest contributors to the IMF.

I'll put it frankly - Britain has more influence in China than Norway or Switzerland, with all respect for the other countries.

Let us not forget that the European Community started as a project for peace after the terrible Second World War. And today people take for granted the freedom to travel, to study, to work abroad. And the citizens of one country have almost exactly the same rights as another country.

I think diversity can also be a resource, an asset, especially in a world that is becoming globalized, to deal with difference, to deal with variety, to deal with complexity.

Smart, sustainable, inclusive growth is the key to job-creation and the future prosperity of Europe.

You see in times of crisis that extremist forces, populist forces, have a better ground to oversimplify things and to manipulate feelings. Feelings of fear.

The new narrative for Europe should be about the need to have a responsible organisation, the need to be able to defend our interests and promote our values, like human rights.

You have to understand that to have a revolution when you are 18 years old is completely different from normal political leaders who were born in a democracy and will die in a democracy and never to have experienced that change. I have seen that change.

Usually I don't comment on comments of others.

The E.U. is founded on the Treaties which apply only to the Member States who have agreed and ratified them.

For investor confidence, it is important that there is certainty about the future of Ireland in E.U.

There's a tendency in many politicians to become inward-looking, more protectionist, more nationalistic and more defensive, in the bad sense of the word.

I have full confidence in the IMF. It is a very strong international institution.

A new state, if it wants to join the European Union, has to apply to become a member of the European Union like any state.

The Eurogroup decisions are always taken unanimously.

I am a very committed European.

Decisions taken by the most democratic institutions in the world are very often wrong.

Governments are not always right.

We need open, competitive, market economies... but at the same time with effective regulation and supervision.

I don't know why my son was born conservative.

Internal protectionism in Europe would be deadly, really a disaster for European economies.

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

I very often compare relations between states to relations with people. Sometimes we are nicer to those we don't know well, who are not our friends, than we are to our friends, because with our friends we don't need to be nice all the time.

I say to my friends, 'Don't just listen to the vuvuzelas; look at who scores the goals.' And this is the important thing.

There is no stability without solidarity and no solidarity without stability.

Norway or Switzerland are two marvelous countries, I very much admire, the most advanced countries in the world in fact with great qualities of life.

Growth based on debt is unsustainable, artificial.

Germany is the biggest economy of Europe and we need Germany on board for the economic reforms of Europe, including, of course, the deepening of the internal market, resisting protectionism, and supporting further economic policy coordination.

Financial transaction tax raises problems of competition.

In the age of globalisation, pooled sovereignty means more power, not less.

The dynamic of globalisation in financial and economic terms, but also in geopolitical terms, confronts Europeans with a stark choice: live together, share a common destiny and count in the world; or face the prospect of disunity and decline.

The euro area must not be treated as an "opt out" from the European Union.

Responding to the challenge of climate change is the ultimate political test for our generation...Our package not only responds to this challenge, but...is an opportunity that should create thousands of new businesses and millions of jobs in Europe.

Climate action is central for the future of our planet.

In the age of globalization pooled sovereignty means more power, not less.

At least in Europe, we consider the right to privacy a fundamental right and it is a very serious matter.

If we say leaders are incompetent, we are going to fuel extremist, populist, xenophobic and ultra-nationalist parties.