Hvaða hafa þeir sagt um hið fyrirhugaða evrópska stórríki?

Það liggur fyrir að stefnt er leynt og ljóst að því innan Evrópusambandsins að breyta sambandinu smám saman í eitt ríki hliðstæðu við Bandaríki Norður Ameríku. Hér er hins vegar ekki á ferðinni eitthvað sem verið er að gera í sátt og samvinnu við íbúa aðildarríkja Evrópusambandsins heldur gæluverkefni elítunnar sem ræður ríkjum innan sambandsins og sem hefur takmarkaðan áhuga á að standa í því að taka tillit til sjónarmiða almennings í þeim efnum. Fyrirhuguð stjórnarskrá Evrópusambandsins, sem engan veginn er tímabært að afskrifa þó henni hafi verið hafnað af bæði Frökkum og Hollendingum í þjóðaratkvæðagreiðslum á síðasta ári, er lykilatriði í hönnun þessa evrópska stórríkis sem beinlínis hefur verið kallað Bandaríki Evrópu ("United States of Europe") af ýmsum forystumönnum Evrópusambandsins. En hvað hafa forystumennirnir beinlínis sagt opinberlega um þetta mál? Hér á eftir fara nokkur dæmi um það.

„The Constitution is the capstone of a European Federal State.“ (Guy Verhofstadt, forsætisráðherra Belgíu, Financial Times, 21. júní 2004)

„The European Union is a state under construction.“ (Elmar Brok, formaður utanríkismálanefndar Evrópusambandsþingsins)

„Our constitution cannot be reduced to a mere treaty for co-operation between governments. Anyone who has not yet grasped this fact deserves to wear the dunce's cap.“ (Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, formaður stjórnarskrárnefndar ESB, í ræðu í Aachen 29. maí 2003)

„Our continent has seen successive attempts at unifying it: Caesar, Charlemagne and Napoleon, among others. The aim has been to unify it by force of arms, by the sword. We for our part seek to unify it by the pen. Will the pen succeed where the sword has finally failed?“ (Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, formaður stjórnarskrárnefndar ESB, í ræðu í Aachen 29. maí 2003)

„We know that nine out of 10 people will not have read the Constitution and will vote on the basis  of what politicians and journalists say. More than that, if the answer is No, the vote will probably have to be done again, because it absolutely has to be Yes.“ (Jean-Luc Dehaene, fyrrv. forsætisráðherra Belgíu og varaformaður stjórnarskrárnefndar ESB, Irish Times, 2. júní 2004)

„Creating a single European state bound by one European Constitution is the decisive task of our time.“ (Joschka Fischer, utanríkisráðherra Þýskalands, The Daily Telegraph, 27. desember 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, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said yesterday.“ (The Guardian, 26. nóvember 1998)

„We must now face the difficult task of moving 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.“ (Romano Prodi, forseti framkvæmdastjórnar ESB, í ræðu í Evrópuþinginu 13. október 1999)

„Are we all clear that we want to build something that can aspire to be a world power? In other words, not just a trading bloc but a political entity.“ (Romano Prodi, forseti framkvæmdastjórnar ESB, 13. febrúar 2001)

„Anyone in Britain who claims the constitution will not change things is trying to sweeten the pill for those who don't want to see a bigger role for Europe. The constitution is not just an intellectual exercise. It will quickly change people's lives.“ (Lamberto Dini, fyrrv. forsætisráðherra Ítalíu, The Sunday Telegraph, 1. júní 2003)

„In Maastricht we laid the foundation-stone for the completion of the European Union. The European Union Treaty introduces a new and decisive stage in the process of European union, which within a few years will lead to the creation of what the founding fathers dreamed of after the last war: the United States of Europe.“ (Helmut Kohl, fyrrv. kanslari Þýskalands, apríl 1992)

„Federalism might make eurosceptics laugh but, with the creation of the euro, the halfway stage would be reached. Four key organisms would have a federal or quasi-federal status: the Central Bank, the Court of Justice, the Commission and the Parliament. Only one institution is missing: a federal government.“  (M. Jacques Lang, talsmaður franska þingsins í utanríkismálum, The Guardian, 22. júlí 1997)

„European government is a clear expression I still use, you need time, but step by step, as in the Austrian case, the European Commission takes a political decision and behaves like a growing government.“ (Romano Prodi, fyrrv. forseti framkvæmdastjórnar Evrópusambandsins, The Independent, 4. febrúar 2000)

„Monetary union is there, the common currency is there. So our main concern nowadays is foreign policy and defence. The next step, in terms of integration of the European Union, will be our constitution. We are today where you were in Philadelphia in 1787.“ (Jean-David Levitte, sendiherra Frakka í Bandaríkjunum, á blaðamannafundi 3. apríl 2003)

„The process of monetary union goes hand in hand, must go hand in hand, with political integration and ultimately political union. EMU is, and was meant to be, a stepping stone on the way to a united Europe.“ - Wim Duisenberg, fyrrv. bankastjóri seðlabanka Evrópusambandsins)

„The last step will then be the completion of integration in a European Federation ... Such a group of States would conclude a new European framework treaty, the nucleus of a constitution of the Federation. On the basis of this treaty, the Federation would develop its own institutions, establish a government which, within the EU, should speak with one voice ... a strong parliament and a directly elected president. Such a driving force would have to be the avant-garde, the driving force for the completion of political integration ... This latest stage of European Union ... will depend decisively on France and Germany.“ (Joschka Fischer, utanríkisráðherra Þýskalands, í ræðu sem haldin var í Humboldt University 12. maí 2000)

„There is no example in history of a lasting monetary union that was not linked to one State.“ (Otmar Issing, fyrrv. aðalhagfræðingur þýska seðlabankans, 1991)