18/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - Last Wednesday, two days before the Anglo-Italian Summit (see EUROPE 15 February, page 14, outlining the objective adopted on this occasion for the European Council of Barcelona), the British Minister for European Affairs, Peter Hain, made an important declaration. He was speaking at the launching of a pamphlet by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, "Germany and Britain, An Alliance of necessity". Mr Hain explained that the alliance was much more than an alliance of necessity and was a partnership that had been chosen in order to strengthen both countries. Mr Hain expressed his desire that Germany would join Britain in fighting against bureaucracy, and pointed out that despite the current economic climate in Germany, "Productivity remained higher than in the United kingdom". He also recognised the enormous effort that had been made in reunification and welcomed the initiatives of the German government that aimed at assuming a more active international role, particularly in security and defence matters.