Dear speech-fans and -friends,
The debate on the future of Europe is in
full swing with one Member State leaving the European Union in just one year,
European elections coming up shortly after, in May 2019, and the next
multi-annual financial framework (Which priorities? How much money?) currently discussed.
Different views, different speakers, all
mobilising rhetorical tools to serve their vision and rally support.
See this month’s selection of best quotes and speeches below and click on ‘read more’ to get the whole selection.
Best wishes,
Great speeches,
Isabelle
Strong opening
You had a choice today.
You could have listened to a speech in the UK about a future without Europe. Or
a speech in Berlin by someone who believes in Europe and wants to talk about
the best way to move forward with Europe. I’m glad you’re here.
Make it concrete, visual
The European Union is
not, in my view, an unstoppable train speeding towards federalism (…).
To use a painful
metaphor: the fact that the Dutch national football team won’t be competing at
the next World Cup is not a reason to send a European team in 2022. The
Netherlands is going to get there on its own.
Repetition
A deal is a deal. (six occurrences of this guiding principle).
Read Mark Rutte, Underpromise and
overdeliver: fulfilling the promise of Europe, 2 March 2018
Egalement disponible en français
Auch auf Deutsch
Building your credibility
Perhaps because Portugal
returned to Europe after a lengthy 48 years of dictatorship, 13 years of an
anachronistic colonial war in Africa, and because we suffered the tensions of
the revolutionary founding period of our democracy, Portugal fully understands
that being European is not just a happenstance of geography or history. More
than a single currency, more than a single market, Europe is a community first
and foremost of values.
Watch Antonio Costa, Future of Europe, 14
March 2018, available in 7 languages
We’re all better off when
we have confidence in each other. Because that lets us choose the solutions
that work for us all. But it takes effort to build that sort of confidence. And
it means we need to act together, not unilaterally. It needs the global rules
and institutions that we’ve built up so carefully, piece by piece, over seventy
years, ever since the last time that mistrust between nations tore our world
apart.
In Europe, we understand
that very well indeed. Because the whole history of the European Union has been
a story of building trust between our nations. It's been a story of creating a
Union of law, where the rules are the same for everyone, no matter where
they’re from. And that has allowed Europe to prosper and succeed.
That’s why we in Europe are absolutely
committed to a world that makes trade fair as well as free. And we will do all
it takes – as I'm sure will others around the world – to defend the rule of law
and global institutions that ensures the prosperity our global economy brings.
Read Margrethe Vestager, The importance of
being open – and fair, Harvard University, 2 March 2018
Building a rapport with the audience
It's a particular
pleasure for me to see that so many people here in the US take a genuine interest
in the future of Europe. So let me say at once – that feeling is mutual. Europe
and America do best when we work together. When you walk the Freedom Trail here
in Boston – and hear the stories of the American Revolution – you can't help
noticing that this nation was built on values that we share. Values of freedom,
and fair treatment, and democracy, and the rule of law.
And in today's very
complex and challenging world, we should be building on that shared background,
to help us meet our challenges together. Not trying to build barriers at each
other’s expense.
Read Margrethe Vestager, The importance of
being open – and fair, Harvard University, 2 March 2018
I want to, first and
foremost, wish BusinessEurope a very happy birthday. Certainly from my own
experience, I can tell you that this is when life really gets going, at 60.
With the European economy expanding strongly, I can say with confidence that
your best days are ahead.
The main source of my
respect for you is that — at the end of the day — businesses, both large and
small, hold the key to the success of the European economy. You are on the
front-lines of making Europe the workshop of a changing world economy.
Politicians do not create jobs, generate wealth or adapt to technological
revolutions; enterprises and employees do, working hard each day in a global
market place that does not tolerate complacency or waste.
Read Donald Tusk, BusinessEurope 60th
anniversary, 1 March 2018
Whom do you quote in a speech to the European
Parliament plenary?
The challenges that lie
ahead are demanding. But whenever we doubt our ability to overcome them by
working together, we must remember the words of Simone Veil, first President of
the directly-elected European Parliament: «Je suis, je reste toujours
optimiste. La vie m’a appris qu’avec le temps, le progrès l’emporte toujours.
C’est long, c’est lent, mais en définitif, je fais confiance.»
Watch Antonio Costa, Future of Europe, 14
March 2018, available in 7 languages
Whom do you quote when you address the Académie française
on ‘French as a world-language’ day?
Gabriel Faye, Salah
Stetie, Edouard Glissant, Ali Zamir, Heinrich Heine, Paul Celan, L’abbé
Gregoire, Assia Djebar, Abdou Diouf, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, le combat des
Québécois, des Belges, des Suisses, des Luxembourgeois, pour porter haut le français,
Charlemagne, Louis XII, François 1er, Du Bellay, Louise Labe, Jean Rouaud,
Leïla Slimani, Les Ecrits Coruscants D’ahmadou Kourouma,
Driss Chraïbi, François Cheng, Milan Kundera, Hampâte Bâ, Aimé Cesaire, Nimrod,
Erik Orsenna, Noël Corbin, Racine, Fatou Diome, Victor Hugo, Umberto Eco, Dany
Laferriere, Maryse Conde, Nathacha Appanah, Alain Mabanckou, Gaston Miron,
Cornelius Castoriadis, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Honoré De Balzac, Hampate Ba, Alexandre
Dumas, Nabil Ayouch, Mahi Binebine, Ivan Tourgueniev, Leonardo Sciacia, Isaac
Babel, Gustave Flaubert, Guy De Maupassant, Pierre Michon, Colette, Jean Giono.
To avoid looking pedantic, humility, humility, and
humour at the beginning:
C’est avec beaucoup
d’humilité que je viens aujourd’hui essayer dans ce lieu de vous parler de
francophonie. Je dis avec beaucoup d’humilité parce que la dernière fois que
j’en ai parlé c’était dans une université à Ouagadougou, peut-être certains qui
étaient avec moi s’en souviendront. Et je n’ai eu absolument aucun succès
(…)
and at the end :
Le français ne sera
jamais une langue hégémonique, parce que c’est une langue de combat et
d’intranquilité, parce qu’il continuera à être une langue de traduction et
d’étymologie et parce qu’on aura beau écrire des dictionnaires, il faudra
continuer à les refaire.
Read Emmanuel Macron, Stratégie sur la
langue française, 21 mars 2018
Contrast
We're at an age of
incredible disruption and everything's going to change within years, not decades.
The way we produce, the
way we live, the way we relate, the way we meet other people – everything's
changing and this leads to a lot of uncertainty in our society and this is such
an exciting time because this leads to so many people wanting to embrace the future – a more equal
future, a better future.
But also people who fear the future so much that they
believe in an image of the past – a past
that was better. And they embrace the image of the past with everything
that that entails.
And I think this is the
big ideological confrontation of our day.
Read Frans Timmermans, International
Women's Day 2018, 8 March 2018
I want to thank the
(organisers) for giving me this opportunity to talk about democracy this
morning. Actually, we shouldn't be
talking about it, but we need to talk about it. It should be something like the
air, or the water, but sadly it isn’t, so there are many reasons for us to
discuss this.
Read Frans Timmermans, Invigorating and
Strengthening European Democracy, 5 March 2018
Call to action
When my grand-daughter looks back on
this moment in history, I want to be able to say that we didn't just despair.
But that we answered the call to action. And took concrete steps to help banish
gender-based violence to the history books (…). For my grand-daughter and for yours, for those who had the courage to
speak out, and those who still suffer in silence – thank you for being here
today, and for helping to ensure that we leave no one behind.
Read Neven Mimica, Leaving no one behind:
ending violence against ALL women and girls, 12 March 2018
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