Madrid / Vienna, 01/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - With visits to Rome on Friday and The Hague and Hanover on Saturday, President Chirac will have completed his rounds of EU capitals prior to the Nice Summit.
In Madrid, where he met Mr. Aznar, Mr. Chirac admitted that he was "not in favour of what may be called an "uncoupling" between Germany and France (which would give Germany more votes in the EU Council). When de Gaulle and Adenauer wanted reconciliation "between our countries, they said they would do it on an 'equal footing'", he recalled.
In Austria, Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in an interview published in Der Standard that, in Nice, "there will be no room for negotiations" over an immediate ceiling for the Commission, and that she foresaw "very difficult negotiations" on the proposal of a deferred ceiling too. As for Chancellor Schuessel, in an interview with Die Presse he confirmed his opposition to the introduction of qualified majority voting for immigration and asylum policy, saying that these issues must foremost be decided by "Austrian, German and Italian societies".