Off the cuff

To stop a partial collapse of the currency union, member states will need to negotiate increasingly treacherous political and economic waters. We believe that the end of the eurozone in its current form is all but certain.

Daniel Solomon, of the Centre for Economics and Business Research

14 June 2012

The euro crisis is worsening dramatically - we must offer solutions, not threats. The deterioration of the situation and the way it is spreading to other economies is pushing us to the point of no return. Neo-liberal fanaticism will lead us to the end of the euro.

Jürgen Klute, German MEP

12 June 2012

We already have, in certain areas, a quasi two-speed Europe. That will increase. Whoever is in a currency union will have to move closer together. We have to be open about this.

Angela Merkel, German Chancellor

8 June 2012

European defence is not an option - it's a necessity. What makes a global power? A strong economy, a common currency, a common foreign policy and a common defence policy. We are making good progress.

Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market

6 June 2012

Can the European Central Bank fill the vacuum of lack of action by national governments on fiscal growth? The answer is no. Can the ECB fill the vacuum of the lack of action by national governments on the structural problem? The answer is no.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank

31 May 2012

It is not possible to allow Bashar al-Assad's regime to massacre its own people. Military intervention is not excluded provided it is carried out under the auspices of international law.

Francois Hollande, French president

30 May 2012

We have a political class of kleptomaniacs that needs to put back what it has stolen - from their bank accounts to their lofts - and then, because we don't want them sneaking off to the Seychelles, be put before a jury.

Beppe Grillo, Italian comedian and blogger

28 May 2012

Every few weeks European leaders sit down to yet another crisis summit, where another temporary solution is agreed. The tree is falling, and we are pruning one leaf at a time.

Nick Clegg, UK deputy prime minister

24 May 2012

Growth financed by debt? Those are the recipes from the day before yesterday. The arguments that France's new president Francois Hollande is putting forward again are nonsense.

Maria Fekter, Austrian finance minister

22 May 2012

What has been said quite clearly is that the fiscal stability treaty will not be ratified as is and that it must be completed with a chapter on growth.

Pierre Moscovici, new French finance minister

17 May 2012

The total costs of a Greek exit from the eurozone remain much larger than any benefits for the single currency area or for Greece itself.

Sony Kapoor, managing director of Re-Define

15 May 2012

If Greece left the eurozone, the ratings of those sovereigns currently on negative outlook - Cyprus, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia and Belgium - would be at most immediate risk of a downgrade.

Ed Parker, managing director of sovereigns at Fitch Ratings

11 May 2012

It is not too late. Europe can still emerge stronger from its current economic woes. The EU is changing direction at last.

Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament

9 May 2012

'God lives in France' goes an old saying. No more; these days, he travels between Shanghai and Silicon Valley.

Josef Joffe, fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University

4 May 2012

We view as destructive attempts to politicise sporting events. A successful (Euro 2012) championship will be a victory not for politicians, parties or ideologies, but for all Ukrainians and Poles. Its failure will be a loss for millions.

Ukraine Foreign Ministry

3 May 2012