Speech at the historic inauguration of the Channel Tunnel - 6 May 1994, Eurotunnel, Coquelles

At the official inauguration of the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II addressed President François Mitterrand in French: "The mixture of French élan and British pragmatism has proved to be a highly successful combination!". In his speech, François Mitterrand paid a fulsome tribute to the construction of Europe and to the two political figures who were instrumental in the relaunching of the project at the beginning of the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher and Pierre Mauroy, both Prime Ministers at the time: "This new communication route prefigures a Europe at the cutting edge of technology... So much more could be achieved through unity and solidarity!"