“The union of Europe cannot be based on good will alone. Rules are needed. The tragic events we have lived through and are still witnessing may have made us wiser. But men pass away; others will take our place. We cannot bequeath them our personal experience. That will die with us. But we can leave them institutions. The life of institutions is longer than that of men: if they are well-built, they can accumulate and hand on the wisdom of succeeding generations.”
Jean Monnet, September 1952