President Juncker delivers speech on the 25th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty

Today European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker gave a speech to students at the University of Maastricht on the occasion of the 25 year anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty. He spoke of the Treaty’s achievements in creating the Economic and Monetary Union. Looking to the future, he called for more unity, structured cooperation and defence of our common achievements. He said “We can no longer explain European integration through its past. We have to explain the European Union through what it can bring for the future.” President Juncker explained that Europe is the smallest continent in the world and that only together can European nations continue to be influential on the world stage, saying “Those who think the time has come to deconstruct, to put Europe in pieces, to subdivide us in national divisions are totally wrong. We won’t exist as single nations without the European Union”.