John Major Quotes

The most important thing is to defend the euro.

The euro is... a failed currency, a wrong currency, a failed experiment.

We have no intention of leaving the euro. In no way will we experiment with the future of our country.

Indeed, the creators of the euro envisioned it as an instrument to promote political union.

Not all Greeks are ready to do whatever is necessary to stay in the euro.

The Euro was a terrible mistake, one that is very difficult to unmake.

The euro is not a currency. It is a political weapon to force countries to implement the policies decided by the E.U. and keep them on a leash.

While it was an experiment to bring them together, nothing has divided Europe as much as the euro.

Let's start with the euro. What on earth were we thinking? How could anyone with the faintest grasp of economics have believed it was anything other than sheer insanity to yoke together diverse national economies such as Greece, Ireland, Germany and Finland under a single exchange rate and a single interest rate?

Europe is one thing. The euro is something else.

The strongest institution in the hands of the European Union is the euro.

I think it's often discussed that leaving the Euro is an option for Greece. I think this is really not an option.

It will not be possible to solve the current crisis with euro bonds.

The 1992 crisis proved that the existing system was unstable. Not moving forward to the euro would have set up Europe for even more disruptive crises.

It is a responsibility we perceive from the entire international community to protect the stability of the single currency as well as the European frame work.

We must stress that the euro has been beneficial to the European Union because, otherwise, in this context of international turmoil, every country would have to devalue their currencies.

The bottom line is that the euro is a failed experiment.

It is obvious that the monetary union among 17 very different European countries does not work. As an economist, I know that the Eurozone is not an optimum currency area, as defined in economic theory.

Europe unified its monetary policy through the euro before it unified politically, therefore sustaining member countries' abilities to pursue the kind of independent fiscal policies that can strain a joint currency.

Interest rates do not have to be identical across the whole euro area, but it is unacceptable if major differences arise from broken capital markets or concern about a euro area break-up.

It's political glue inside Europe to keep it together - the euro is the best thing going for it since the creation of the common market.

The Europeans governments have massively changed the landscape in Europe. There is no doubt about it. They have put together the European Financial Stability Fund. They have discussed and approved the European Stability Mechanism.

We must break up the eurozone. We must set those Mediterranean countries free.

I was sure we would never see the adoption of the Euro. Countries giving up their currencies for a common tender was, it seemed to me, completely out of tune with currency being a carrier of people's cultural identity, celebrating national heroes and events, as it had been for hundreds of years.

I can confirm that Poland should become a eurozone country, and not just because of the treaties that have been signed, but because I consider it of strategic interest both for Poland and the E.U.