SPAIN: On the Nice Treaty: "All the member states must feel comfortable within a treaty on which it was very difficult to reach agreement."
On European Union expansion: "This is a historic opportunity which we must not miss, and a significant economic opportunity because our business will have access to a wide market."
On European Union structural and cohesion funds: "Spain, just like Ireland, has effectively used the various instruments of economic and social cohesion policies to narrow the wealth gap with richer European Union countries.
"These instruments are designed to reach certain targets, and it makes no sense to retain them once these have been achieved."
On his new law to ban the radical Basque party Batasuna, passed by the Spanish parliament this week: "This party is not ETA's political wing, it is an essential part of ETA's organisation."
His response to critics of this law: "They may have the best of intentions, but I would like to ask them: how has the legality of Batasuna contributed to preventing the deaths of thousands of terrorist victims in Spain?"