Video of this event is also available in the original languages here.

A full transcript of this event, provided by the Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, is now available (in German) here.

A transcript of Jürgen Habermas' remarks is also available (in English) here.

Around 600 people crowded into two auditoriums at the Hertie School on 16 March for a discussion between German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, French Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and German Foreign Minister and social democrat Sigmar Gabriel. President of the Hertie School Helmut Anheier opened the evening, and Vice President Henrik Enderlein moderated the lively discussion.

Addressing the question, “Which future for Europe?", Habermas delivered a keynote speech calling on political elites to have faith in fostering public debate. “The national populations will be able to recognise and decide what is in their own respective interest in the long run only when discussion of the momentous alternatives is no longer confined to academic journals – e.g. the alternatives of dismantling the euro or of returning to a currency system with restricted margins of fluctuation, or of opting for closer cooperation after all,” he said.

The event took place just one day after Dutch voters re-elected centre-right Prime Minister Mark Rutte, rejecting the anti-Europe populist candidate Geert Wilders in a vote that was seen as a barometer for the upcoming French and German elections in May and September, respectively.