Triggering Article 50: Jean-Claude Juncker Interview

But saying that, we should not be naive.

I want to say that we have to tackle the problems which are ahead of us.

And I think that we are best prepared to do so.

But we are not in the best form and shape we could be in.

Well, there are some who have compared the vision on Saturday

of the 27 leaders there to musicians on board the Titanic.

I mean, it's not as dramatic as that.

What words would you give to the people of Europe?

You have put down on a paper certain visions for the form of Europe.

Countries then unified around this idea of bringing peace

But now there doesn't seem to be that vision

Yes, but that's not the reason not to tell the people that the very

origin of the European Union, European integration,

European construction, was the result of World War II.

We have to remind those we are living with that,

this was the real reason for the European Union.

But as I said, this is not a sufficient explanation

or narrative, as we are saying today, because it is

My generation is an inter-generation.

We are children of those who experienced the Second World War.

And we have children and grandchildren.

Yes, we have grandchildren too, who don't know anything about that.

But we have to organise in the best way possible in the future for them.

You obviously, as President of the European Commission,

are a great believer in the European Union.

But when Theresa May is not there on Saturday,

what will be in your mind as the way to stop others following suit?

Other member states walking out the door?

Will you try and use the negotiations around

Even if the British PM is not there, I will have the British

Because Britain belongs to Europe in a way that

So Brexit or not Brexit, we should not forget

that the European continent has a duty when it comes to Britain,

because without Churchill and without the resilience

of the British people, we wouldn't be here at where we are now.

So I'm everything but in a hostile mood when it comes to Britain.

But I don't want others to take the same avenue, because,

let's suppose for one second that others would leave.

Two, three, four, five - that would be the end.

How do you balance that in Brexit negotiations?

On the one hand, wanting to keep UK close, as you've said.

But on the other, wanting to ensure that others are put off leaving.

I mean, could those negotiations not turn nasty?

When it comes to negotiations, the European Union and

the Commission, having been tasked with this negotiation,

will negotiate in a friendly way, in a fair way, and we are not naive.

Reflecting former commitments by the British Government

There will be no sanctions, no punishment, nothing of that kind.

But Britain has to know, and I suppose that the Government

does know it, they have to honour the commitments,

I was mentioning, years ago, it was 50-60 billion,

We have to calculate scientifically what the British commitments were,

You cannot leave like that as if you had never been a member

Britain was a member of the European Union.

Britain was taking on its shoulders the commitments.

And these commitments have to be honoured.

Again on Saturday, although the leaders will be

meeting to celebrate, there's a lot of talk

There are 4.5 million Europeans who are very nervous at the moment.

3 million living in the UK, European citizens in the UK,

1.5 British people living elsewhere in the European Union.

Does that remain, like the British Government says,

for the Commission, a priority to make sure that they

The British did take in a sovereign way the decision they have taken.

Women, men, workers, independent people, children.

We don't have the right to eject them from our system.

I shouldn't say that, this, as President Hollande wrote,

I am strongly committed to preserve the rights of Europeans living

in Britain and of the British people living on the European continent.

This is about respecting human dignity.

The next big challenge, if you like, in the calendar, once, you know,

Article 50 has been officially triggered and everything -

Will you be talking to President Hollande

It could easily happen that I would talk with

But I have to say that although in some corners

of my imagination being very much concerned about the outcome of these

elections, I have to say that we shouldn't consider elections

The countries going for elections, France, Germany, as the Dutch did

And so there is place, room, for a normal democratic debate,

and so let's be confident in the wisdom of those

And do you think a corner has been turned?

At the end of last year I was hearing voices

in this building saying, this could be the end of this

project, we have so many challenges, look at rising populist nationalism.

But you've had the Dutch elections, Macron is doing very well in France,

Do you think Europe is being pulled into different directions -

populist nationalism, and the other side very pro-EU?

I do think that we have to make a clear distinction

between populist, radical populism, those being against all the others,

being only reflecting on their own destiny,

I have huge understanding for those who have more questions than answers

when it comes to the European Union, and we should respect that

I don't like the extreme right parties, that's

But talk, discussion, debating with those who are

Eurosceptic because they have, as I said, more questions

than answers, is something we should proactively engage with.

Do you think there was enough from your side,

from the European Union, engagement with the Eurosceptics

in the United Kingdom before the referendum?

I mean, you are a President of the Commission who does

How will you feel on Wednesday when that letter of notification,

that formal letter of notification, arrives here in Brussels?

I will be sad, as I was sad when the vote, the referendum

It is such a long, intense, interrelated history

between the Continent and Britain, that I don't have an explanation

for that, although I have particular puzzled explanations.

But does it feel like a failure, President Juncker?

What would be your words on the EU's 60th anniversary for the 52%

of the UK who voted to leave, and the 48% who voted

to stay and are now very worried about their future?

And the fact that 48% of the British people were voting yes and the fact

that 52% of the British were voting no should not lead us

to the conclusion that Britain is definitely separated

President Junker, thank you very, very much for your time.

Hello there. Sunny skies being followed by clear skies. After a

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falling