German entrepreneur
When you travel the world and you see how complicated it is, for instance, to cross the border between Canada and the United States, you realize how far Europe has come. In fact, the Europeanisation of day-to-day life has made much greater progress than the integration of the political and administrative structures. As citizens, we must remind the EU every so often that its institutions exist for the people and should not be living a life of their own.
Europe has shaped our lives so deeply and gets so much taken for granted that one doesn’t think about it any more. Any rail crossing is more noticeable than crossing the border into Holland or Belgium.Younger people don’t even know what it was like to pay in pesata or shillings.
What I am afraid of is that Europe could simply fizzle out, if we are aren’t sufficiently committed to it. I want European integration to continue.
United Europe, competitive and diverse: I really like this name. It describes this beautiful colorfulness of Europe, this diversity that allows different life scripts, that is tolerant and open toward the rest of the world. That’s what we absolutely have to keep alive.