Francois Hollande Quotes

Among peoples who are geographically grouped together like the peoples of Europe there must exist a sort of federal link.

The nations of Europe constitute a federative league, a commonwealth of nations which, though it has no central head, is so intimate and elaborate as to subject the action, and sometimes even the internal affairs, of each to surveillance and intervention on the part of all the others.

There will always be nations. The United States will last a long, long time, I believe. France and Germany and Japan, China, other nations, they're going to exist. But they're losing their significance and ability to deal with certain matters.

Transferring our sovereignty and decisionmaking power to the WTO, to the United Nations, or any other international body is not in the long-term interests of our people.

As the Eurozone takes steps towards closer fiscal and economic integration, and as the E.U. continues to develop, we need to be absolutely clear when it is most appropriate to take decisions at the national or local level, closer to the people affected, and in other cases when it is best to take action at the E.U. or global level.

Complementing the nation-state as it reaches its limits amid globalization: That is what Europe must offer.

Poland is smaller than France or Germany, for example. What would a common foreign policy look like? Would the trip I took to Kiev last week require a detour through Brussels in the future? Would it require approval from Brussels? While the West, for its part, doesn't think twice about other countries when it comes to its projects?

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.

It is a mystery why any Americans would support the concept of the EU.

Perhaps our own opposition to even the level of European integration we have now, let alone any more, is well known.

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.

So, the international community are all the countries that are important: the United States definitely everywhere; the European Union because it is very important, and also, they do show a great deal of international responsibility; and then the local players.

I do not consider the Lisbon Treaty to be a good thing for Europe, for the freedom of Europe, or for the Czech Republic.

To be influential in tomorrow's world, to defend our values and our development model, France needs Europe and Europe needs France.

Before, Europe was about treaties, laws and our sovereign right to govern ourselves. Now, it's about everyday lives.

I defy anyone - and I have said this to the Germans - to build a solid, articulated, and viable Europe without France's consent.

I believe that in Europe, we have a collective leadership.

As for the role of France and Germany: French politics is often more self-confident then German politics due to the catastrophe in the first half of the last century. If Berlin and Paris don't agree, then it is difficult to make progress in Europe.

Acknowledge that a more closely integrated Europe is no longer an unqualified American interest.

If there is no real European federation and if Germany is restored as a strong and independent country, we must expect another attempt at German domination…. The only reasonably hopeful possibility for avoiding … this is some form of federation in Western and Central Europe.

Limitless enlargement of Europe means the death of political Europe.

Every government is in some respects a problem for every other government.

Worries about misplaced sovereignty [at the UN] … appear to come primarily from people aggrieved to find the United Nations so full of foreigners.

In Western Europe there are now only small countries—those that know it and those that don't know it yet.

The EU represents a highly developed system for mutual interference in each other’s domestic affairs right down to beer and sausages.