Regards, Ivan
Posted on 01/13/2003 3:34:03 PM PST by MadIvan
A SCHEME for France and Germany to present a common voice on the world stage hit turbulence yesterday before a meeting today of President Chirac of France and Gerhard Schröder, the German Chancellor, to finalise plans for a grand relaunch of the Berlin-Paris alliance.
Berlin’s senior official in charge of the Franco-German relationship said that talk about a new European foreign policy would be meaningless if France sided with the United States against Germany in a future United Nations Security Council vote on Iraq.
Differences over Iraq, with Germany opposed to any military action and France open to a UN-approved use of force, highlighted the hurdles facing M Chirac and Herr Schröder as they meet in Paris tonight to finalise the renewal next week of the 1963 pact between the former wartime foes.
“Iraq will be the acid test for the claim that we want to cultivate special relations between the two countries,” Rudolf von Thadden, the co-ordinator for Franco-German relations, said. “If Germany and France do not vote together on the Iraq question . . . then it will be difficult to pursue a common foreign policy in coming years.”
The remarks reflected frustration at the gulf between French talk of support for European Union actions and the assertive, nationally minded role that M Chirac’s administration plays in international relations. Although Germany strongly supports an EU approach to foreign policy, France, like Britain, has no qualms about flexing its muscles as a permanent member of the Security Council.
A common voice at the 15-member council, at which Germany and Spain hold rotating seats this year, is part of the Franco-German scheme for bolstering the partnership and reshaping the EU.
The two leaders will announce the plans next week on the fortieth anniversary of the Franco-German Elysée treaty. To amplify the historical moment, M Chirac and Herr Schröder will speak at a joint session of their two parliaments at Versailles.
Versailles carries painful memories as the place where Bismarck declared the founding of modern Germany after the Prussian defeat of France in 1871 and where the victorious First World War allies imposed reparations on Germany in the 1919 peace treaty.
The strains of the past decade persist, but Paris and Berlin say that they are determined to revive the co- operation that was born of the pact between President de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, the West German Chancellor, in January 1963 and pursued under the partnerships of President Giscard d’Estaing and Helmut Schmidt and President Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl.
M Chirac, whose personal relations with Herr Schröder are cool at best, says that a functioning Franco-German motor is vital for the EU. “When France and Germany are getting on, Europe advances. When they are not, Europe is blocked,” he said recently.
Seen from Paris, Germany’s present economic troubles have led the relationship to revert to the old pattern, in which France called the shots.That has been reinforced by Herr Schröder’s political weakness and M Chirac’s emergence as the EU’s dominant leader.
An example of the old order was M Chirac’s manoeuvre in Brussels last October, in which he sidelined Tony Blair and persuaded Herr Schröder to accept French demands to delay for at least five years any reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
To symbolise their mutual commitment, the two Governments will try to align legislation, starting with aspects of taxation, family law and the mutual recognition of professional qualifications. They are to appoint new high-level secretaries-general to supervise their relationship and ministers may attend Cabinet meetings in the other’s capital when co-ordinated legislation is being discussed, expanding an established exchange of senior civil servants.
The heart of the relaunched axis will be proposals for revamping the EU power structure through the new constitution that is being drafted in Brussels. Although differences remain to be settled by next week, the Franco-German vision for Europe is expected to call for strengthening the council of member governments by creating a full-time president or chairman.
This reflects the French desire, shared by Britain and Spain, to bolster the hand of the member governments. At the same time, in deference to the more federalist leanings of the Germans, Paris and Berlin are expected to support the idea of endowing the President of the European Commission with more political legitimacy through election, probably by members of the European Parliament. Britain is thought likely to accept this. They are also expected to recommend increased powers for the assembly.
German media reported yesterday that Joschka Fischer, the federal-minded German Foreign Minister, had set his sights on succeeding Romano Prodi as President of the Commission next year.
Paris and Berlin have tabled proposals for a new European defence force, arms procurement agency, prosecutors, police and harmonised business taxes and VAT. Britain and other states are quick to point out that such plans are merely a “contribution to the debate” over the EU’s future.
EU leaders were given warning yesterday against tinkering too much with the hybrid EU power system, which has been in place for the past four decades.
“This system has stood up well to the test of time. In this unstable and dangerous world, this solidity and this legitimacy are merits we need to preserve,” M Giscard, who is chairing the constitutional convention, wrote in Le Monde. “In trying to alter this balance and concentrate power in a single EU institution, we risk a conflict over legitimacy and equality, which would endanger EU unity.”
Regards, Ivan
Man that'd be sweet. Oh to dream.
Wouldnt it be great if this blew up into a full bore Germany vs. France War?
Question is, who surrenders first?
This is what the German media is like.
Meet at high noon on the border --- say at Metz France.
Twenty paces, --- turn and fire.
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