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Kalergi, A European spirit must precede Europe's political unification

        The question is often asked whether the unification of Europe should take its momentum from politics or from economics or from a change of spirit. In practice, preparatory work must go forward at the same time on all three planes - in politics through regional union and a realistic peace policy, in economics by the removal of most-favoured nation treatment and the inception of a European system of preference, in spirit through the propagation of the European idea... As Europe's collective security must precede an economic union, so a European spirit must precede Europe's political unification. So long as extreme nationalism prevails, every signed guarantee of freedom remains a scrap of paper that can be torn up at any time by its signatory or his successor in the alleged interest of his nation. Only a guarantee of freedom which is borne on the broad current of public opinion can become the foundation of European union....  Read Complete

      Cf.  Proudhon, Principe Fédératif * Le mémorandum d'Alexis Leger * The Briand Memorandum * La Construction de l'Europe selon Jean Monnet * Plan Fouchet * L'Union Européenne selon Altiero Spinelli * Mitterrand and Kohl urge European Political Union