Brussels, 17/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - In comments on the Franco-German-British summit on Wednesday in Berlin (p 5), Pat Cox president of the European Parliament declared that Whenever key EU leaders meet among themselves, excluding the others, whatever form the meeting takes, ""it is always a potential source of anxiety for those who are not present". He also appealed for, "leaders who can provide some motor force and acceleration to the European process…We need some fresh air, some new thinking, some real vitality and spirit of change. Anything they can do to bring that energy to the table, I would welcome".
According to Cox, assessment of this kind of summit has to "focus less on the attendance list and more on the balance sheet of results", namely, "whether such meetings achieve something real for Europe or are simply about people trying to cover their own interests".