Jean-Pierre Raffarin

I think that the proposed constitution is one of the European legal documents with the strongest social dimension I have seen since I began following European issues.

It's true that the question of Iraq divided Europe.

We shall say clearly that any symbol conspicuously displaying religious affiliation in school is prohibited.

Prohibiting a visible religious sign, which isn't a manifestation of militancy, would look like a fight against religions.

It's a different outlook, and one that I understand. When you are a former member of the Warsaw Pact, when you have lived behind the Berlin Wall, when you have experienced the communist systems that existed in these countries, for them, the West represents hope.

Let them be reassured, it has never been one of our intentions to ban religion in society, but solely to protect the national education system from any conspicuous display of religious affiliation.

When I see the cultural diversity that exists today, I feel that we must defend it, and we need Europe, because otherwise we are going to live in a society with a single model, the Anglo-American model.

I was a Member of the European Parliament for a period of time and I saw a lot of European laws and treaties.

We believe that the European Union is facing a truly historic choice.

We must stress that the euro has been beneficial to the European Union because, otherwise, in this context of international turmoil, every country would have to devalue their currencies.