But the idea is gaining currency that Britain may be an intolerable obstacle to European unity.
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In abandoning the D-mark, Germany has already made the biggest sacrifice of all for European unity.
"Europe and European unity is not only our destiny, but our desire, " he said.
This, she thinks, would give the Palestinians a tangible gain and maintain European unity.
It also threatens the second pillar of the European project: the promise that European unity will deliver prosperity.
But the then-President George Herbert Walker Bush said German unity, European unity, is indeed something that deserves our support.
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama and Chancellor Merkel Press Conference
At the same time, a newly united, confident Germany accelerated the process of European unity and preparations for a single currency.
We need to play a full part by the force of our ideas, and to set them in the context of practical European unity.
As someone told me in France recently, he backs greater European unity as long as France - and Germany - remains in the driving seat.
European unity is all very well for winning biennial team competitions.
Perhaps as a consequence, British historians are less likely than their French or German counterparts to assume that European unity is necessarily synonymous with peace and cultural progress.
Could austerity, the deficit cutting, end up destroying European unity?
The 19th-century idealists who first dreamed of a united Europe assumed that Russia would be part of the new system: Victor Hugo's appeal in 1849 for European unity was addressed to Russia, as well as to France and Germany.
' That was really his tremendous motivation, " she says, "He was a very keen European, he believed in unity.
Mr Walesa challenged the European Union to work for the unity of Europe, torn by recent rows over budget and future shape.
BBC: The event is being marked by three days of celebrations
Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, also urged European leaders to find some ground for unity.
However much European politicians want to talk up further unity, the reality is they are picking apart their social programs while stalling their economies.
He said the European Union had been much more positive about Palestinian unity efforts.
And there are serious challenges to the unity of Europe, which is very evident now because the European common market arrangements did not include the economic arrangements that would be necessary to bring about a consolidated market.
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