Posted on 10/28/2002 11:42:11 PM PST by MadIvan
President Chirac has threatened to cancel a Franco-British summit following a slanging match with Tony Blair over the future of Europe's £30 billion-a-year Common Agricultural Policy.
Suits me, Jacques. I haven't had anything worth repeating in polite company to say to you lot in years - Ivan
The row is one of the most serious between a British Prime Minister and a fellow EU leader since Margaret Thatcher attacked Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand over their plans for a single currency in the late 1980s.
As details emerged yesterday of the confrontation at last Friday's EU summit in Brussels, neither Downing Street nor the Elysée Palace tried to deny that heated exchanges had taken place.
Downing Street's decision to forgo normal diplomatic niceties and admit the row, was seen by Tory MPs as evidence that Mr Blair was trying to distract attention from a French success in preserving the farm subsidy regime.
Possibly. Also you win popularity with the British public by bashing the French. I have to admit, I am smiling at the thought of us giving the French another thrashing. - Ivan
The argument flared in front of other EU leaders in the middle of the Brussels meeting after Mr Blair accused M Chirac of trying to renege on a commitment to reform farm policy in 2004.
M Chirac, who strongly defends the policy because France is the chief beneficiary, reportedly told Mr Blair: "You have been very rude and I have never been spoken to like this before."
The Prime Minister must have said something to Chirac directly rather than went off on a philosophical tangent to nowhere, as the French prefer - Ivan
He also made clear to Mr Blair that in light of their disagreements he was not sure it would be a good idea to go ahead with a planned mini-summit at Le Touquet, scheduled for late November or early December.
Mr Blair's spokesman refused to confirm details of what had been said during what was being dubbed in Westminster as "le row". But he admitted that strong opinions had been aired.
"I am not going to get into particular comments or private conversations but, yes, there were vigorous exchanges," he said.
"You expect that at European councils because people have their own country's interests to speak up for and sometimes that does mean speaking up vigorously".
Later the spokesman said it would be up to the French to make arrangements for the Le Touquet meeting as it was their turn to host a get-together. But he appeared to cast doubt on it going ahead.
"It was hoped that there would be one before the end of the year," he said.
Although the spat surprised officials it is not the first time M Chirac has rounded on Britain at a summit.
When he was prime minister in 1988 he swore at Mrs Thatcher during an argument over agricultural subsidies, accusing her of talking "balls". Helmut Kohl, then German chancellor, asked him to withdraw the remarks.
Mr Blair discovered on arrival at the Brussels meeting that M Chirac and Gerhard Schröder, the German chancellor, had already struck a deal to keep CAP spending at around its present levels until 2013.
The Prime Minister was furious not only because he was excluded by Europe's two biggest power brokers, but by what they had decided behind his back.
Mr Blair had called for a root and branch reform of CAP and viewed the deal as a ploy by the French to dodge a 1999 commitment by EU leaders for a revamp in 2004.
Adding insult to injury, M Chirac also used the summit to renew his demand that Britain give up its £1.8 billion rebate from the EU budget.
We pay a great deal more into the EU budget than we get out of it. Drop dead, Jacques. - Ivan
British officials claimed that Mr Blair had won in the end, securing by the time the summit wound up a new commitment to look at CAP in 2004.
In a statement to the Commons yesterday, Mr Blair took aim at the French again when he told MPs: "In our view such a blanket opposition to reform would have been wholly unacceptable."
He denied Conservative charges that he had been out-foxed by M Chirac, insisting that Britain's commitments to enlargement of the EU and reform of CAP to help pay for it, remained on track.
Iain Duncan Smith mocked Mr Blair over his regular insistence that Labour had put Britain "at the heart of Europe" shaping its decision-making. This had been exposed as "nonsense".
"A deal to extend the life of CAP has been struck behind Britain's back," said the Tory leader.
On Britain's rebate, Mr Blair pledged: "No, it's not up for grabs." Britain had stood firm in the past and would do so again.
Diplomats said the argument between London and Paris over CAP was one of many.
Downing Street is frustrated by France's refusal to back a United Nations resolution on Iraq that would open the way for military action to topple Saddam Hussein if weapons inspections failed or were obstructed.
There are also tensions over the development of Europe's foreign and security policy.
"The problem is that Chirac is Chirac," said one EU diplomat. "He has recently been re-elected and he is throwing his weight around. It is all very, very French."
The average family in Britain pays an addition £1500 on their food bill because of the Common Agricultural Policy and to maintain French farmers. To add insult to injury, the price of food is calculated into welfare payments. The CAP has to go and immediately.
The French have been behaving disgracefully lately between this and Iraq. I wonder if President Bush could be persuaded to put them into the Axis of Evil? ;)
Regards, Ivan
Regards, Ivan
Personally, if I were W, I'd send an email to Chirac with a white flag of surrender, superimposed over the French flag. The next photo would be that of the American and British flags aligned side-by-side. The note would read, "Get out of the way. We got a Texan in charge now." Signed, George W. Bush.
The French served notice that any English longbowman who might be caught would be penalized by losing his middle finger, thus making him useless for archery. When the English stomped all over the French (as usual), they expressed their disrespect for their prisoners by prominently displaying their intact middle fingers.
I'd like to see Tony Blair flip Chirac the bird, right to his face.
-ccm
... I did it from memory ... how did I do?
Oh well, time to teach the Frogs another lesson... 
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Speaking of Agincourt, supposedly the well-known 'bird' or middle finger gesture as a token of extreme contempt dates from that famous battle.
The French served notice that any English longbowman who might be caught would be penalized by losing his middle finger, thus making him useless for archery.
Actually, in England it's a two-fingered gesture, performed palm inwards with index and middle finger raised. These days it simply means "F*** You". The French threatened to cut off index and middle fingers, since these are the two used to draw the longbow.
You're absolutely right. I had forgotten that.
-ccm
You could well be right. As an aside, I remember reading somewhere that the origin of the word 'f***' is fairly obscure: although often referred to as Anglo-Saxon in origin, there apparantly isn't much evidence for its early use.
World Wide Web Fights Grudge Match--English Soccer Hooligans vs. The French Army
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