Paris, 03/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - In Paris on Saturday, President Chirac had a some two-hour meeting with the President of the Palestine Authority, Yasser Arafat, who declared to the press that he hoped in an "effective, important and rapid role by the European Union in this critical stage, so as to rekindle the peace process, in coordination with the United States, with other Arab partners and with the other great sponsor, Russia". The Elysée's spokeswoman Catherine Colanna stipulated that Chirac and Arafat had in particular discussed the creation of a Palestinian State and the questions of the redeployment of Israeli forces on the West Bank, and that the President of the Republic would "consult his European partners".