An unjustified surprise. In the business of the tightening of Franco-German links, it wasn't the recent information that was the most surprising- indeed, there was nothing really new- it was the reactions of surprise or concern. The new ambitions for rapprochement between France and Germany have been apparent for some time. Without going as far back as the common positions presented to the Convention, the signs were many, and, at the risk of being repetitive, this section has always emphasised the eagerness of Paris and Berlin for a "leap in quality" of integration, within a Community framework if possible, without if needs be (for the "defence" aspect, see this column of 13 November).
Significance of "Euroregions". Not all of the signs were picked up on. To give an example, when, in late October, the French government approved eleven measures on "European citizenship" (see our bulletin of 31 October, page 3) on the initiative of Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Noëlle Lenoir, the objective was two-fold: to state what France and Germany are going to do together, and to mark their willingness to include other Member States. The measures announced were largely psychological and cultural in nature, and they may have led to a few mutterings on the inveterate European rhetoric; but aside from the linguistic aspects (which are not to be taken lightly), and other initiatives to get young people used to "thinking European" from an early age, there is also a very solid project: the status of the Euroregions, which straddle the borders of two (or more) Member States. The significance of this initiative was confirmed a few days later, when President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder met with a certain amount of formality in Valenciennes, with representatives of French and German regions, to improve the definition of Euroregions and to launch the first projects following on from the Strasbourg-Kehl district, which was started up on 30 June. I do not presume to summarise in a few lines the significance of cross-border regions in Franco-German history, but I will quote a few sentences by a French senator, Denis Badré, a few days ago, to the Senate's delegation to the EU (our translation): "the European Union is the best solution to the resentment born of the history of our populations, such as Alsace and Lorraine, which were carved up between France and Germany. The EU will also be the best solution for the nightmare of clashes between national minorities in the Balkans, which does not of course mean that they should have to forsake their origins. For the Hungarian minorities, the initial stage in this will be the accession of Slovakia, and it is to be hoped that it will be followed in due course by that of Romania and Serbia".
In my view, this quotation sums up the profound significance and the ambitions of Franco-German rapprochement in its various forms, as well as the lessons to be drawn from this by other regions of Europe. It's breaking with the past and starting a new history. Furthermore, there are a few initiatives of the same kind in the East; our bulletin announced last week that three Austrian regions and their neighbours in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, have created a new Euroregion called "Centrope". We could dream of something similar one day, for our children and our grand-children, between Germany, Poland and Russia for the Kaliningrad region, which is teeming with problems at the moment, caused by the madness of war and aggression, because Kaliningrad is just the former city of Königsberg, where Immanuel Kant was born, and thought, and died. Other examples are possible, but have yet to reach fruition, politically and in the minds of the people.
Making the effort to understand. Whatever they may say today, neither Jacques Chirac nor Gerhard Schröder were originally pro-European, by education or in spirit. They are politicians first and foremost, who have both understood that alone, their country is unable to make its voice heard in the world, to have ambitions and genuine autonomy, but that as Europe, anything is possible. If you look at the reasoning behind it, you can avoid talking in terms of leadership or a wish to dominate the Union. I have had occasion to highlight the need to understand, the attitude of the British, the Poles and of other central and eastern Europeans, in the light of history; the same effort should be made to understand what motivates those who want a more integrated Europe; and I'm not just thinking of France and Germany, but also of Belgium, and others. The signals are increasing, even if just now hopes for the success of the Constitution are slowing initiatives down. But even if this hope disappears, the initiatives will continue, and no longer will they be mainly symbolic, like some of the ones mentioned above. But there is one danger, which I'll go into tomorrow.
(F.R.)