European Union Membership Quotes

If we want to change a law, we can do that in Parliament. That is a democratic right that has often been taken from the E.U.

Croatia did not want Europe to be divided as to the start of Croatia's EU entry talks.

Would I have voted to leave the European Union? Yes, I would. My theory there is that Britain was fed up having won two World Wars against the Germans and had reached the boiling and breaking point of being told where to live and what to do by a bunch of bureaucrats in Belgium. It was out of that frustration that the vote to leave was made.

Let's take back our currency; then we can discuss at what conditions we can stay in the E.U.

A desire to see significant reform and change is perfectly compatible with our belief that membership of the E.U. is in our national interest.

We have the character of an island nation: independent, forthright, passionate in defence of our sovereignty. We can no more change this British sensibility than we can drain the English Channel. And because of this sensibility, we come to the European Union with a frame of mind that is more practical than emotional.

Boris Johnson's experience in life is telling a lot of porkies about the European Union in Brussels and then becoming prime minister.

In Western Europe, Turkey is regarded as uncivilized, so they can't come in into the European Union until they're civilized. I think it's the other way around. If you could achieve the level of civilization of, say, Turkish intelectuals, it would be quite an achievement.

The institutions of the European Union, and the states that belong to this union, each and every one, are paying the price of our failures, hesitations and contradictions. We should each ask ourselves how personally responsible we are.

For German Social Democracy, Europe is vital to the national interest.

Turkey will "inevitably" join the EU in our lifetime unless we vote to leave.

I think that it is becoming more and more clear that the European Union is an indispensable partner in some fields.

If Britain becomes a member of the Community, it will be healthier for Britain, advantageous for Europe, and a gain for the whole world. I do not know of many economic or political problems in the world which will be easier to solve if Britain is outside rather than inside the Community.

I'm a great supporter of the European Union. I didn't support entry to the Euro, not because I'm against it in principle but because I didn't think it was economically right for Britain. But that doesn't make me any less pro-European.

I think it is very difficult for somebody who campaigned to stay in, who thinks there will be disaster if we leave and so on to suddenly turn it around and start believing that we can make a go of it.

Britain should not be forced to make a choice between joining the single currency and leaving the EU, because if we're forced to make that choice we would leave the EU.

David Cameron says he wants to keep Britain in the EU, but his tactics are so divisive that, if he gets what he wants it will be at the price of huge ill-will in Europe; or if he doesn't, it will be at the price of increased anti-EU sentiment in his own party and in British society.

If Turkey become a member of the EU, of course Turks would lose a part of this identity, just as Europe would lose a part of its own. It would also be a different Europe then. Accepting Turkey into the EU is an ambitious political endeavor of historical proportions. Europe would become a strong, multi-religious unit.

70 percent of Turkey’s citizens favored the EU; today it is only 50 percent. If you ask if they want Turkey to become an EU member, 60 to 65 percent still say yes. But if you ask: Do you believe Europe will accept Turkey, 60 percent say no.

Nobody in their right mind will even attempt or even think of leaving the European Union, because they will understand that it is not in their best interest.

Given the right to - given the opportunity to vote, I voted for Brexit because I've never approved really of the European Union, I never approved of it because of its attempts to confiscate national sovereignty in all the issues that matter.

The Turks know that if they want to join the EU, then they must respect our rules. We are a union of beliefs, not a bunch of squawking chickens. But if we continue talks with Erdogan, that doesn't mean we have to bow down to him.

I'd say that I'm a pro-European.

We need to find a fair and viable solution on the basis of U.N. resolutions and the incompatible with the fact that Cyprus is an E.U. member state.

The most important thing is that Europe has to remain united.