"We have our own dream and our own task. We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked, but not comprised. We are interested and associated, but not absorbed"...Sir Winston Churchill.

*****************************
"The outstanding role played in the midst of the storm of the Second World War is owed not only to Britain's profound national qualities but also to the value of your institutions...With self-assurance. almost without being aware of it, you operate in freedom a secure, stable political system. So strong are your traditions and loyalities in the political field that your government is quite naturally endowed with cohesion and permanence; that your parliament has, throughout each term of office, an assured majority; that this government and this majority are permanently in harmony; in short that your executive and legislative powers are balanced and work together...
Thus, lacking meticulously worked-out constitutional texts, but by virtue of unchallengeable general consent, you find the means, on each occasion, to ensure the effective functioning of democracy... "
General de Gaulle speaking in 1960 - What would he think of the EU constitution?

*****************************

"A shrewd conqueror will always enforce his exactions only by stages...The more numerous the extortions thus passively accepted, so much the less will resistance appear justified in the eyes of the people, if the vanquished nation should end by revolting against the last act of oppression in a long series. And that is especially so if the nation has already patiently and silently accepted impositions which were much more exacting
Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf
*****************************
"There is no question of eroding any national sovereignty; there is no blueprint for a federal Europe. There are some in this country who fear that in going into Europe, we shall in some way sacrifice independence and sovereignty. these fears I need hardly say are completely unjustified" Edward Heath, British Prime Minister 1972
*****************************
"The aim was, and is... ever closer political union. The means... were and are economic"...
Edward Heath 1989
*****************************
In response to the question "Did you have in mind a United States of Europe in 1972?"
"Of course, yes"...Edward Heath 1990.
*****************************
In his 1995 book 'Ayes to the Left' Peter Hain, Minister for Europe, said
"The policy, legally enshrined in the Maastricht Treaty, of a European bank independent of democratic control and dedicated almost exclusively to price stability must be reversed. It is economically disastrous and politically dangerous.."
Is it not amazing how being offered a government job with your own chauffeur can change your views?
*****************************

"There is good reason to accept this text as the basis for an eventual European constitution"
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder The Irish Times, 16th October 2000
*****************************
"The Charter of Fundamental Rights should be seen as the central element of a process culminating in the European Union's adoption of a constitution"..Resolution of the European Parliament..Agence Europe, 16th March 2000
*****************************
The enlargement we are talking about is not just any enlargement, but rather a decisive step towards the unification of the continent, a change in nature and in scale"
M. Pierre Moscovici, Minister Delegate for European Affairs
An address to the students of the Ecole Polytechmique, Palaiseau, 31st January2000
*****************************
"Here in Brussels, a true European government has been born. I have governmental powers, I have executive powers for which there is no other name in the world, whether you like it or not, than government"
EU Commission President Romano Prodi European Parliament, November 1999
*****************************
"But what is the Commission? We are here to take binding decisions as an executive power. If you don't like the term government for this, what other term do you suggest? ... I speak of a European government because we take government decisions."
EU Commission President Romano Prodi The Times, 27 October 1999
*****************************
"We must recognise that political unity of purpose will be vital if the euro is to work. Countries will not be able to dine a la carte at the European table any more ... "
former Irish Prime Minister, John Bruton
*****************************
"It contains others who, like us, are completely committed to the European Union."
Conservative MEP Christopher Heaton-Harris on Radio 4's Today programme 6th January 2000 when discussing the EP inter-group SOS Democracy
*****************************
"Britain does not dream of some cosy, isolated existence on the fringes of the European Community. Our destiny is Europe, as part of that Community."
Baroness Thatcher as Prime Minister 1989
*****************************
"We must now face the difficult task of moving forward towards a single economy, a single political entity... For the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire we have the opportunity to unite Europe"
EU Commission President Romano Prodi European Parliament, 13th October 1999
*****************************
"It is only natural that the eastern part of the continent will become our preoccupation for years to come because Germans see this as a matter of historical destiny. The most fundamental priority we have is trying to integrate all of Europe. But for France the underlying issue is all about coming to terms with its loss of influence in the world."
Herr Immo Stabreit, former German ambassador to Paris International Herald Tribune, 11th September 1999
*****************************
"The whole logic of moving borders and the formation of new nations must be broken through. As long as one remains within this logic, there will be just one bloody round after another in the Balkans. We must counter nationalism with European integration."
Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister Irish Times, 20th July 1999
*****************************
"The introduction of the Euro is probably the most important integrating step since the beginning of the unification process. It is certain that the times of individual national efforts regarding employment policies, social and tax policies are definitely over. This will require to finally bury some erroneous ideas of national sovereignty... I am convinced our standing in the world regarding foreign trade and international finance policies will sooner or later force a Common Foreign and Security Policy worthy of its name... National sovereignty in foreign and security policy will soon prove itself to be a product of the imagination"
German Chancellor Schroder 'New Foundations for European Integration', 19th January 1999
*****************************
"The Council of Ministers will have far more power over the budgets of the member states than the federal government in the United States has over the budget of Texas"
Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank The European, 13th December 1998
*****************************
"Transforming the European Union into a single State with one army, one constitution and one foreign policy is the critical challenge of the age"
Joschka Fischer, German Foreign Minister The Guardian, London, 26th November 1998
*****************************