The thing now tonight is we have to seek clarifications, particularly on the backstop, there is this whole thinking in the UK that this backstop is inevitable, that it will be triggered. I can assure you one thing, there is nobody in their right mind in European Union who wants to trigger the backstop because this is bad news not only for the UK but also for European Union.

Mark Rutte

Categorized in : World

We are extremely vulnerable because we take too much time to implement the necessary measures. This is a painful process. When you go through a painful process - make it as short as possible

vulnerable too-much painful

This goes back to the main challenge we are facing, because Europe at the moment is not competitive. We have many imbalances and my big worry is that we will slow down in Europe in terms of fiscal consolidations and reforms, whilst we have to step up.

challenges worry europe

The annual cost of cybercrime to the global economy is more than... by Mark Rutte

The annual cost of cybercrime to the global economy is more than $4 billion

billions economy cost

The good thing about the IMF is there is no European politics inv... by Mark Rutte

The good thing about the IMF is there is no European politics involved.

imf involved good-things

No-one likes this, but theres really something bigger at stake. We have to stop the Netherlands from coming to a halt and jobs being lost unnecessarily.

(China's) Premier Li Keqiang and I with our delegation discussed ... climate mitigation and adaptation ... at length. It will also create a lot of new jobs in the new economy.

For now, we are overcome by a sense of horror and disbelief at th... by Mark Rutte

For now, we are overcome by a sense of horror and disbelief at the terrible events of today.

This tax needs to be reasonable, it needs to deliver significant CO2 reductions, without chasing companies away.

This depends on Turkey, we didn’t seek this fight. by Mark Rutte

This depends on Turkey, we didn’t seek this fight.

We want to help to relieve the problems in the region by making the existing facilities more manageable, it will take energy and money and manpower, but we can work toward a situation where there is more security in the region and we can avoid people boarding boats to Europe.

most-read-articles

We are talking about the group that can go back, whose governments would take them back, but they don't want to go back.

It's good that so many of the Dutch want this government to conti... by Mark Rutte

It's good that so many of the Dutch want this government to continue ... and that's what we will do.

I estimate the chance that we will go back up on July 1 very small, but we need to research the consequences of less gas extraction.

This is what the European Union is all about. A strong market wit... by Mark Rutte

This is what the European Union is all about. A strong market with a strong currency.

about european-union currency strong

As we all know from the Roman empire, big empires go down if the... by Mark Rutte

As we all know from the Roman empire, big empires go down if the borders are not well-protected.

down big go know

England has collapsed politically, monetarily, constitutionally, and economically. It is not reasonable to demand from them to trigger Article 50.

trigger reasonable demand england

Our national prosperity is built on our open borders. However, the reality is that if a points system is introduced in the UK it would be unavoidable for us in the Netherlands to implement similar proposals - and inevitable that many other EU countries would follow suit.

suit follow us reality

The U.K. is outward-looking, trade-oriented, growth-oriented, and we do not have enough of that storyline, that tradition, that culture within the European Union.

within tradition enough culture

I believe on the issue of immigration, you have to deal with it s... by Mark Rutte

I believe on the issue of immigration, you have to deal with it sensibly.

you i-believe immigration believe

Never waste a crisis. by Mark Rutte

Never waste a crisis.

never crisis waste