Martin Schulz Quotes

As leader of the Fine Gael Party, I will also use our position in the European People's Party to clearly state our views with our European political partners.

The obstacle for us is not Islam, but the bureaucrats in Brussels.

For many people, politics in Brussels and Strasbourg might as well be happening on another planet.

I have said I will not work with the parliamentary party in Strasbourg again but of course I will continue to be a member of Ukip.

If we were to have a presidential election in Europe it would be an event that would spark a huge interest in people from Lisbon to Helsinki, just like national elections. And it would create a completely different political setting in Europe.

The EU is not a country and it's not going to become a country, in my view, now or ever in the future. It is a group of countries working together.

I think that we must come together progressively, with the British, the Germans, the Spanish, the Italians and with the new members of the European Union, we must make an effort to forge closer links.

I would wish for more British involvement in Europe, not less.

It's been President Clinton's dream that we'll have finally a fully integrated Europe.

We believe that the European Union is facing a truly historic choice.

If the constitutional treaty is rejected it will be back to square one, just at a time when we want Europe to be a more effective force for good in the world, when we need to buttress ourselves against the pressures and insecurities of globalization.

United States of Europe

We have direct elections for the European Parliament. We have the [European] Commission that is independent from the member states. Of course we all belong to a country, but we are independent from our governments.

The European Union ranks among the most extraordinary political achievement of modern times. It has abolished tariffs, established a common currency, and spread peace and prosperity to democracies across Europe.

Western Europe has been redefining the nation state since 1945 when it formed the European Union following World War II.

In the 1990s, while the Maastricht debate was raging, I was a minister in the Major government. Every single piece of legislation we proposed had to be scrutinised for compatibility with E.U. law.

Anything that keeps the U.K. close to the E.U. and best of all, in the E.U., would make me personally very happy.

'Ever closer union' is one of the totemically controversial phrases in the European Union's Treaties. It seems to give weight to the view that the scheme is designed to end in a single state and that those who agreed the texts have long know this, even if they have been unwilling to admit it to the British people.

The Netherlands believes in a vigorous Europe with a commission that is independent and robust.

For me, arguably, the European Parliament is the best-functioning European institution. They are extremely good at law-making; they're extremely good at finding compromise under pressure.

There are so many problems in the E.U. that several countries are warming up to the idea that after the single currency, a deeper integration could also be created.

The European Union is not only a great idea, but it's also an idea we must keep working on.

Europe is a community of half a billion people, more than Russia and the United States combined.

The European Union is here to stay.

The European Union, ok, right, it has a bureaucracy, right. It's sometimes difficult to deal with but so what? You hire a couple of people like me to work the European Union, and it can be done. It's pretty good.