David Lidington 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.

German and European unification are two sides of the same coin.

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

The creation of a United States of Europe is a necessity if one considers the economic and technical situation.

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

Ireland has a role to play in making the E.U. united and strong.

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.

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.

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

Peace in Europe can only come through union in one economic system. The United States of Europe are overdue.

United States of Europe

We must build a kind of United States of Europe.

Germany is the united heart of an ever increasingly united continent.

European union is our destiny.

The European Union is here to stay.

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.

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.

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

Integration is the most important asset Europe has, and the key component to European integration is the euro.

We've got to demonstrate why European unity and integration, our vast single market, our single currency, equip us with the strength to embrace globalization.

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

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

I have been supporting the European Union, but we are still a work in progress. We have to become more of a United States of Europe. We should talk about electing a president of the E.U., rather than having one selected from the heads of government.

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.