“If there is a lesson we can learn from the wars that ravaged our continent, it is that there is never a winner. That what unites us is much stronger than what separates us. Europe is more than a simple sum of States”, said the Chairman of the EPP Group, Joseph Daul, during the key debate on 100 years on from the First World War: lessons to learn and the future of Europe.

Daul gave an overview of Europe's evolution: "The First World War was an accident that should never have happened, a consequence of national egoism which led to the horrors of the Second World War. Despite this brutality, our sense of humanity survived and it allowed us to build peace. The same peace that we have enjoyed for over 60 years and that qualified us to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This peace we owe to Schuman, de Gasperi, De Gaulle, Adenauer, Pfimlin and so many others. A peace built and maintained by some of the great figures of our time: Pope John Paul II, Helmut Kohl, Vaclav Havel, Lech Wałęsa and all those men and women that contributed to Europe’s ‘reconciliation with itself’.”

In his last speech as a Member of the European Parliament, Joseph Daul warned that keeping peace is a duty for everyone: “Violence still exists. It is latent. The dangers of egoism, nationalism and crises of ego are still present. I am convinced that if Europe succumbs to populists and Eurosceptics, we will go back in time, we will return to chaos and war. Here, in this Parliament, our role is to ensure that accidents like those of 1914 and 1939 never happen again. Our duty as pro-European parliamentarians is to act for greater integration, to build more common policies, and to participate in the creation of an area of partnership for the peace and prosperity of our continent.”