DIFFERENT VOICES

Date: 10/10/1996

“Like cyclists going up a hill, we have decided to get out of the saddle and push harder.”

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar speaking after EU leaders agreed at their informal summit last weekend to stick to the original timetable sketched out for the Intergovernmental Conference and rejected any idea of scaling back its scope.

“I fail to see why 14 governments should always have to sacrifice their vision of Europe, and their principles, to keep on board a government which may jump ship in any case.”

European Parliament President Klaus Hänsch delivering a blistering attack on the UK's attitude towards the Union in a speech on the eve of the Dublin summit. His remarks were later described by UK Prime Minister John Major as “offensive”.

“Look before you leap is a much better watchword for the EU than leap before you look.”

UK Prime Minister John Major criticising his EU counterparts for allegedly moving too quickly without enough thought for the consequences.

“We will probably not solve all the problems we face. Perhaps we will have a Maastricht III.”

German Chancellor Helmut Kohl speaking in Dublin ahead of the summit, in response to a question about how he would respond if this IGC produced only minimal reform.

“The work of the IGC is on course. We will not simply be making small changes.”

Irish Prime Minister John Bruton speaking after the summit.

“There is plenty of political will to speed up the talks. But it still has to be seen whether there is the political will to compromise.”

Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok acknowledging that no significant breakthroughs had yet been made on the substance of the IGC talks.

“We are at a historic juncture. As we enter the next century, many challenges are facing us in Europe and you in Japan. Many of these are shared challenges which we can face together ... the common interests between us are striking.”

Commission President Jacques Santer stressing the importance of EU-Japan ties in a speech in Tokyo.