Jean-Pierre Raffarin Quotes

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.

United States of Europe

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.

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.

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

I see us very much at the heart of Europe. We are founding members of the single market; we are founding members of the euro.

There's going to be a need for a system of cooperation within the continent of Europe including the U.K. that covers both economic and political cooperation.

The European Union is here to stay.

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

Economic necessity will override patriotism and cause the nations of Western Europe to band together--if not under a single government, then certainly in a close politico-economic alliance

We must build a kind of United States of Europe.

The EU is an English-speaking power. The single market was a British idea…. If you refuse please don’t expect us to help you wreck or paralyze the EU.

There are achievements of European integration that cannot be haggled over: for example the principle of free movement and the principle of non-discrimination.

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.

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.

My struggle led to the reunification of Germany and the creation of the state of Europe. We destroyed the borders; globalisation is on the horizon.

Throughout the years following World War II and until the formation of the European Economic Community in 1958, I was very active as a national or international rapporteur at many of the international conferences aiming to establish an European community.

Among peoples who are geographically grouped together like the peoples of Europe there must exist a sort of federal link. It is this link which I wish to endeavour to establish.

The decisive factor for the future of Europe - and before all things, for the 'restoration' of Europe - will be whether political thought and national feelings are influenced by the reality of internationalism.

Yes, Jean Monnet was the father of the concept of a United States of Europe and his efforts more than those of any other single man helped change the thinking of European leaders.

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.

Let us not forget that the European Community started as a project for peace after the terrible Second World War. And today people take for granted the freedom to travel, to study, to work abroad. And the citizens of one country have almost exactly the same rights as another country.

This much is true: When we created the euro, it wasn't possible to create a political union along with it. People weren't ready for that. But since then, they've grown more willing to go in that direction. It's a process, one that is sometimes laborious and sometimes slow. But it's important to keep the populations involved.

I do not separate France from Europe.