Brussels, 22/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - One week on from the collapse of the Brussels, IGC Summit, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder and Tony Blair may be planning to meet in February 2004 or earlier to discuss the international situation and European defence policy, according to the Financial Times of 22 December. The paper notes that the three-way summit will highlight the increasing importance attached to this trilateral relationship by the British prime minister.
In an article entitled 'Les leçons de Bruxelles' published in various European newspapers, the French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin discusses the structure of tomorrow's Europe, which probably won't be able to preserve the simplicity of the early days of the European project and will no doubt have to be focus on a common base supplemented whenever necessary by more flexible co-operation. He said the base would be a European area of prosperity and solidarity (the Common Market, regional aid, big infrastructure projects, transport, research, innovation and training) for which common standards would apply to all and there would only be temporary exceptions. De Villepin said further integration should take a more flexible form and be composed of member states of the EU prepared to forge ahead and able to do so under the future Constitution. He said it was a matter of consolidating the EU while allowing for the possibility of 'further integration' among some countries in line with specific rules and respecting Community solidarity, while providing information for all and preserving the cohesion of the European institutions by inventing special measures for the pioneering groups. Such further integration projects, he said, would find their place in the same way that France, Germany and the UK had worked together over non-proliferation in Iraq. De Villepin said this precedent could be repeated by, for example, strengthening partnership between defence industries and launching political or solidarity initiatives in Africa or elsewhere.
In the 20 December issue of Le Monde, the Chairman of the European Convention, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, commenting on whether it was the right moment to launch an avant-garde, said it was not the right time and for the moment, attention should concentrate on adopting the Constitution, holding discussions with states that are still hesitating and trying to understand their demands. He said progress could be made with a new Commission and a new Parliament to express the views of citizens. VGE said France and Germany were vital but the group of founder members is probably better placed because it better reflects today's realities, including both the biggest country (Germany) and the smallest (Luxembourg). Other countries, like Greece, Hungary and Denmark support the same positions. Let's talk of all these countries, said VGE, and imagine their role.
Chancellor Schroeder, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag, repeated his criticisms of Warsaw and Madrid, noting that Germany had always felt it was legitimate to pursue its own national interests, but this should not come before European integration. Poland and Spain do not agree, he added. Schroeder said he was certain unanimous agreement could be reached on a draft Constitution next year, although maybe not during the first three months.
Jose Maria Aznar, in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on 21 December, said he had worked towards a compromise in Brussels, noting that some countries, like Spain, wanted to agree, but others had arrived at the Summit clearly determined to not strike a compromise. He said the criticisms of the Italian Presidency, Spain and Poland were unfair. The Spanish prime minister said agreement was possible before the end of 2004, commenting that a two-speed Europe already existed. On defence matters, he cited a two-speed Europe of growth and lack of growth (alluding to his country's economic performance).
During a debate about the IGC at the Délégation pour l'Union européenne de l'Assemblée nationale in Paris on 17 December, the President of the Délégation (and Convention Member) Pierre Lequiller, said that future pioneering groups should be formed of both old and new Member States. According to a Délégation report, Lequiller said that France had agreed to give up its parity with germany by accepting the double majority system at the Council, although keeping the system unchanged would be as much in France's interests as in the interests of Spain and Poland.