Off the cuff

We welcome wholeheartedly the ceasefire that has just been proclaimed in Gaza and that was being strongly called for by the European Union and the international community.

José Manuel Barroso, European Commission President

22 November 2012

The gravy train of MEPs commuting between Brussels and Strasbourg has become an expensive laughing stock. The EU's structural funds have been misspent, the Common Agricultural Policy is counterproductive, and more than ever before voters feel like they are being taken for a ride by the EU.

Will Straw, associate director at the Institute for Public Policy Research

16 November 2012

The world now knows that there is either a deal on aircraft emissions that applies globally, or the EU will impose a regime on flights in its airspace in 12 months time.

Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat MEP

13 November 2012

In the post-national globalised world of tomorrow, big trading blocks, emerging markets and continents such as India, China and the US will lead the world. Our European nation states are far too small to play a role in the world of tomorrow.

Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE leader in the European Parliament

12 November 2012

We have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.

Barack Obama, President of the United States

7 November 2012

Surveys indicate the American people are much less polarised than the political class that claims to represent them.

Francis Fukuyama, Stanford University felllow

6 November 2012

If Romney is elected, he might ask more of Europe and also clash with Europeans on Russia, the Middle East and Iran. Historians might look back at Obama's first term as a trial separation, with Romney provoking a divorce.

Mark Leonard, European Council on Foreign Relations

2 November 2012

This idea that we should – or could – extract ourselves from the bulk of EU obligations is nonsensical. It is wishful thinking to suggest we could effectively give ourselves a free pass to undercut the single market only to then renegotiate our way back in to the laws that suit us.The rest of Europe simply wouldn't have it.

Nick Clegg, UK deputy prime minister

1 November 2012

President Romney would not be as terrifying a prospect as many Europeans think - and it's also worth noting that there's little prospect of a nice, cuddly Obama either.

Richard Gowan, policy fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations

31 October 2012

In my view the British voice is sorely needed in this competition of ideas. I firmly believe Europe would be the poorer without this input to our debates. Britain should retain and regain a place at the centre of Europe.

Wolfgang Schaüble, German finance minister

30 October 2012

A lot of governments have yet to realise that they lost their national sovereignty a long time ago. Because, in the past, they have allowed their debt to pile up, they now need the goodwill of the financial markets. That sounds like a paradox, but it is nonetheless true: it is only once the euro area countries are willing to share sovereignty at the European level that they will gain sovereignty.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank

29 October 2012

The global recovery has suffered new setbacks and growth has been disappointing. Output is contracting in the euro area and growth has decelerated in many other countries. The IMF projects global growth at 3.3 per cent in 2012 and 3.6 per cent in 2013; in advanced economies, output is projected to expand by only 1.3 per cent this year and 1.5 per cent next.

Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund Managing Director

26 October 2012

The eurozone crisis has created an opportunity for nostalgic souls in the Bundesbank to restore its hegemonic position.

Paul de Grauwe, London School of Economics

23 October 2012

I would like a UK fully engaged in Europe, but I can't decide in place of the British. I see that for the moment they want to be more in retreat.

Francois Hollande, President of France

17 October 2012

Germany and France have no other choice but to come together. Otherwise, they will be in conflict. That's why the European idea, despite all its mistakes and failures, remains unavoidable.

Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of France

13 October 2012