"We decide on something, leave it lying around and wait and see what happens. If no one kicks up a fuss, because most people don't understand what has been decided, we continue step by step until there is no turning back." (1999)

"If it's a Yes, we will say 'on we go', and if it's a No we will say 'we continue'." (On the 2005 French referendum on the Lisbon Treaty)

""Britain is different. Of course there will be transfers of sovereignty. But would I be intelligent to draw the attention of public opinion to this fact?" (2007)

"When it becomes serious, you have to lie." (2013)

"There can be no democratic choice against the European treaties, one cannot exit the euro without leaving the EU." (2015)

This mentality contributed a lot towards Euroscepticism. It is not as if Brussels is a confederacy of angels.